To a large extent the design of Web stores is still a new science (or art?) and much experimentation is still needed before it is possible to establish exactly what does and doesn’t work. And what will work for you may be totally different from everyone else depending on the unique nature of your business.
However, it is possible to lay down some tips, guidelines, and advice that will help you toward designing an effective Web store.
Fast Loading
Keep the HTML simple, the graphics small and forget about plug-ins and Java applets. Think carefully before deciding to use frames; if you do decide to use them then include a frameless version as well.
Keep It Simple
Don’t let too many choices distract the visitor; research into interface design shows that users start to feel overwhelmed when faced with 7 or more choices on a menu so try and stay within this limit.
Use a Shopping Cart
Virtual shopping carts enhance the shopping experience by allowing customers to select items for purchase and continue browsing the store before placing an order.
Good Navigation
Try and design your store so that customers can be at the ordering point within three clicks of entering your site. And remember that potential customers may enter your site from many directions (i.e. not just your home page) so make sure each page includes full navigation or a clear link to your home page as a minimum. Build into your site search capabilities that will let users sort by subject, item, or some other category.
Get Global
Remember that the first two “Ws” in “WWW” stand for world-wide and that your store will be accessible to people around the world. As a minimum you should include details of what the shipping costs and transit times to international destinations will be. Depending on the type of customer you are expecting and the product or service you are offering, you may want to consider having your Web pages translated into other languages.
Maximizing Ways to Order and Ways to Pay
Quite simply, when designing an effective web store, the more ways you can accept orders and payment the more orders you will receive. It is particularly important to offer secure processing of as many credit card types as possible.
Establishing Credibility
Although internet scams and rip-offs are greatly exaggerated by the media, they do exist and unless you trade under a major brand name you will need to convince customers that your not going to take their money and run. There are several ways of doing this, some simple and free others more complex and relatively expensive:
- Include details of your bricks-and-mortar address, telephone number and fax numbers.
- Include verifiable testimonials from previous customers
- Offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee
- Register your site with Verisign
- Register your site with TRUSTe
Offering a Personalized Service
If you believe all the hype, Web stores offer a marketing nirvana where what customers see in a store is fine tuned to match their demographics and previous purchasing behavior. The reality is that this level of personalization is still not readily available particularly to lower budget ventures. However, it is still possible to provide a degree of personalization by collecting some basic data from your visitors and selecting and presenting information accordingly, e.g. by producing newsletters with content tailored to subscribers preferences.
Pre-Sales Support
Provide every possible piece of information about your product that a customer might need to reach a buying decision. Make yourself easily accessible should the customer require more information and respond promptly to e-mails (preferably within 24hrs but definitely within 48hrs).
Post Sales Support
Maintain a high level of service after you receive the order. Try and provide the following:
- Acknowledgment of each order with a unique reference number for tracking
- Online order tracking or a dedicated e-mail address for order progress
- Confirmation of dispatch of goods
- An area within your site for ongoing product support
Realistic Pricing
Visitors to your store know that it is cheaper for you to do business over the Web than in a bricks-and-mortar store and expect to see this reflected in the price you are charging them. This will not be a major concern to you if you are selling in to a niche market, but if you are selling a commodity item you are going to have to price your products competitively.
Remember to Sell
Finally, remember that many of the selling techniques that have been proven to work in the real world will work equally well in your Web store. Contests, promotional discounts, coupons and aisle-end specials have all been used successfully within Web stores. However, don’t neglect the basics – surfing through the Web it is amazing how many Web stores miss out on this, by not selling the benefits of their product or service or by failing to ask for the order.
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