Let's start with the bad news, and there's kind of a lot of it, before we move on the good news of how to fix it. About three-quarters of
Problems like these aren't uncommon. In fact, it seems many sites are severely lacking in the customer service department. If customers don't prefer online shopping to brick-and-mortar shopping, it's because retail sites haven't done enough to make the online shopping experience a good one.
Ready for more bad news? Here are ways many sites have failed to serve their customers:
- Only 37 percent offer multiple images views of products.
- Only 33 percent offer customer reviews.
- 62 percent have difficult to read fonts.
- Only 14 percent allow customers to change the font.
- Only 43 percent offer free shipping.
- Almost two-thirds do not offer in-stock information on the product page.
- While just over half of online retailers have physical stores, only 10 percent offer in-store pickup.
- 58 percent do not offer shipping costs early in the checkout process. One third have checkout processes with more than 4 steps.
- Only 58 percent correctly answer an e-mail question within 24 hours.
- Around 80 percent don't seem to get that more ways to pay means more ways to buy. 20 percent offer pay-by-check, 10 percent offer Google Checkout, 20 percent accept PayPal and 18 percent offer Bill Me Later.
- Search is fundamental. Be there at every entry point possible.
- The landing page is crucial. You should have a landing page relevant to the search term. Yes, this is going to take some time to develop. But it doesn't take any time for a potential customer to abandon you. In fact, it takes four seconds, it takes less than half a blink to hit the back button. Just remember, information seekers
- Images are vital. One day, when smell-o-vision, holographic imaging, and virtual reality tactile-experience suits are reality, we can better recreate the actual store-bought experience. Until then, we have pretty pictures, even video demonstrations. e-tailing group reports these ten features and functionalities as the most important to customers, according to a survey.
1. Product overview
2. Merchant's guarantee
3. Stock status/availability
4. Quality of image
5. Customer service links
6. Product specific information
7. Long description
8. Size chart
9. Toll-free number
10. Ratings and reviews - Images are vital. One day, when smell-o-vision, holographic imaging, and virtual reality tactile-experience suits are reality, we can better recreate the actual store-bought experience. Until then, we have pretty pictures, even video demonstrations. e-tailing group reports these ten features and functionalities as the most important to customers, according to a survey.
That's a lot of ball-dropping. Fortunately, it can all be corrected to give yourself a leg up on the competition. Hint: Just inverse some of those numbers above to understand what you should be doing.
Here are some more tips:
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