| 1. |
Imagine you are your customer. How would you shop
on-line? How would you look for products? What would you want
to know about the products before buying? What would you want
to know about the merchant? What kind of customer service would
you expect? Got it? Good! Now design a shop around these answers.
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| 2. |
Ensure your home page and other main pages make it completely
clear to any visitor, including complete idiots, exactly what
your shop sells. If people entering your web site can't immediately
figure out what you sell, they'll probably go somewhere else.
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| 3. |
Keep it simple. No one is going to buy from you because you
have a complex shop with cool graphics, exciting java and stunning
animations. They are going to buy from you because you have products
they need. Make it easy for customers to find what they want.
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| 4. |
Put your navigation bar (the links to other pages
on your web site) on the left hand side of the page. People using
the web naturally expect to find navigation on the left.
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| 5. |
Ensure customers can get from any one page to any other page
on your web site with a minimum number of clicks. If potential
customers have to click too many times to find what they are looking
for, they will probably click out of your web shop. The best way
to minimise clicks is by having the same comprehensive navigation
bar on every page of your web site.
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| 6. |
Provide as much product information as you possibly can. In
bricks and mortar shops, customers can immediately ask questions
of sales people. In on-line shops, customers usually need to e-mail
questions. But they will almost certainly have left the shop by
the time the question is answered. It's better to ensure questions
are answered in the product descriptions. Bonus: having a lot
of product information normally results in better ranking on search
engines.
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| 7. |
Make sure your general terms (ie. the rules and restrictions
of doing business with you, product returns, legal restrictions,
etc) are clear and readily findable. General terms should be on
a readily findable "Terms" page as well as on the click-to-purchase
page. This prevents misunderstandings which could turn into disputes.
Make major restrictions clear from the beginning - for example,
if you only sell your product in your country, tell customers
on your home page, not as an error message when they are attempting
to complete a purchase..
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| 8. |
Inspire trust. The main reason why half of Europeans and Americans
say they will never buy on-line is because they don't trust on-line
transactions. Be transparent; use secure systems for collecting
payment information; be responsible with customers' personal data
and explain exactly what you will do with it; have clear explanations
of all processes; ensure there are contact points all over your
web site so customers can contact you; give your address and telephone
numbers; respond promptly to queries; ensure your customer service
policies are clearly explained; etc; etc; etc...
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| 9. |
Ensure there are clear e-mail links and telephone numbers for
making complaints (and ensure you respond to complaints quickly
and honestly). Most complaints start as misunderstandings. If
a potential customer is upset about something and then has to
spend half an hour to find an e-mail address which may or may
not be suitable for complaints, she will almost certainly become
an ex-customer.
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| 10. |
Test your web shop thoroughly from the conceptual stage, through
development to completion. Ask friends and family to try out your
web site while you watch and take notes. Have them point out aspects
which are confusing, incorrect or simply bad. Don't explain anything
to your testers (after all, you won't be by every customer's side
as they shop on your web site). Make notes and implement corrections.
Test again. Be sure to test on users using dial-up modems and
older computers as well. |