High-End Strategies for E-Biz Webs
The high-end consumers you're targeting demand to be handled with care. Here
are 15 things that many e-biz sites have that every e-commerce site should
emulate.
- Locate-ability:
- Make it easy for people to find your site by, for example, picking an easy-to-remember URL. Add your URL to your e-mail signature file, to your letterhead and to all of your advertising.
- Intuitiveness:
- Make it clear how someone can use the site. Have a search window on every page. Make it easy to get answers; if it takes more than two or three clicks to answer a question, your customer will think of your site as poorly designed.
- Product details:
- If you run a newspaper ad campaign, make sure that the same information is on the Web site, and vice versa. Make sure product pricing and payment options are presented upfront. Don't make the user hunt for it. If you don't have it, don't advertise it, or make sure an "out of stock" notification is prominent. Appropriately, if you expect it to become available again, it might be nice to indicate when.
- Customer recognition:
- Recognize repeat customers and give them benefits for coming back. Answer e-mail questions promptly. Your customer also wants security and privacy information to be very easy to find.
- Shipping options and return processing:
- Base shipping cost on the actual size of the item being purchased and don't restrict choice of shipping company. Returns on some sites run as high as 40%. Use customer service to help lower that number and make sure returns are processed efficiently.
- Minimize ads:
- Users don't like ad overload. Don't send customers away from your business by giving them needless links to other sites.
- Globalize:
- It doesn't apply to every business, but consider offering the site in multiple languages.