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Customers put products into website shopping
carts for many reasons. It may be competitors checking out your
site, consumers comparing prices, and finding out your trading
policies, novice shoppers who find your site too difficult to
use. Equally, customers may use your site and then place the
order by telephone. So remember that abandoned shopping carts
aren’t necessarily negative and browsing your site is just like
browsing a store.
These tips are the recommendations Actinic,
the ecommerce software developer,
give its users, to encourage consumers to complete their
purchase and to buy again.
1.
Most importantly, build trust and more trust.
And, keep your site simple and easy to use.
2.
Provide your contact details throughout
the site, including a telephone number and physical address.
Promote confidence, respond quickly to emails, and answer the
telephone professionally.
3.
Communicate your postage and packing costs
early in the transaction. If the customer proceeds to checkout
and decides the postage is too expensive, you have lost the
sale. Positively, to justify the postage charge, a customer may
buy more than one product.
4.
Explain your guarantee and returns policy.
A rock solid guarantee goes a long way to persuading people to
buy.
5.
Describe your terms and conditions
and privacy policies.
6.
Explain your security and encryption
process.
This could come from using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) or
bank-approved software like Actinic’s - with 128-bit encryption.
7.
Provide alternative ordering methods.
As a vendor, even if you are pushing web sales hard you should
give alternative ways of ordering such as by fax or telephone.
A few people will take advantage of the facility but for the
rest it provides an aura of confidence.
8.
Make the site fast. Use graphics effectively, not for
the sake of it. Make the checkout process as easy as possible.
Again, ensure that the site is not dynamically database driven
unless this is absolutely essential – nothing is faster than
doling out straight HTML.
9.
Manage customer expectations.
In an e-store you need to make sure that customers know exactly
what they’re getting and when. Amazon tell you that a book
“normally ships in 2-3 days” so you aren’t too upset if it takes
four days. If you offer “24 hour delivery” then when do the 24
hours start? You need to be clear about any time cut-offs. e.g.
"Orders received by 4pm normally ship the same day".
10.
Remember customer service is key.
Encourage repeat business by going out of your way to meet
customer needs. A happy customer will tell his friends, but an
unhappy one will tell everybody who’ll listen.
Supplied
by Actinic, the ecommerce software developer,
www.actinic.co.uk, 0845 129 4800
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