'Net Features : shopping carts

Orders: Points of E-Commerce Interest

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 20:55:00 GMT

: Address Order Management Right Now :

Consumers (online shoppers) will see rather important shifts in the Internet retail landscape happening in the coming years, and merchants will need to be prepared. But prepared for what? What experience is it that buyers are looking for? Well, the "perfect" order management experience, of course!

Every Internet retailer (even those online sellers providing non-physical goods) should address, monitor and optimize order management. Improvements to the entire virtual ordering process can result in significant and dramatic improvement to the bottom line. If the aim is to ensure customer satisfaction and optimize after-sale care, there is no better way than for merchants to focus on end-to-end order management capabilities, as it is the fastest and arguably best way to move the digital needle in the right direction.

Let the following ideas act as inspiration when developing a new e-commerce presence or recreating the one you have. There are two ways to do this, from creating customer-centric order policies to getting better (much better) at communicating.

The Policy Approach: The first way to optimize the order management process is simply to make it better for the user, weighting it in the online shoppers favor. If improving the "experience" (using internal business policies set forth by management) is more appealing to your enterprise, there are several options to consider such as the use of extended return periods, online order tracking, in-store pickup or providing complimentary shipping returns. Keep in mind that making policy changes to improve order management requires careful business analysis to determine long-term impact.

The Communication Approach: Another approach merchants can take, if making policy changes are out of the question, is to optimize the communication experience. Providing customer service and support in whatever channel your audience is using - from the Web, to phone, email and even social - is the perfect start. Emails remain the most traditional means by which you can make a good impression and reduce order management headaches. In the least, merchants should provide order confirmation emails and an email that confirms products were shipped. Take it a step further by following up these emails with another that requests either a review of the product they've purchased or offering a discount on a future purchase. For those Internet retailers will an audience that trends younger in age, the use of text updates (of the same information) should also be a consideration.

Use Progress Indicators for a Standout, Multi-Page Checkout

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 20:50:00 GMT

As you read this, consumers are filling their virtual shopping carts and the industry, as a whole, is on pace to shatter all previous e-commerce records this holiday season. Even so, there are merchants that won’t benefit at all from the increased seasonal buying activity. The reason is their checkout process, of course. It’s been proven time and again to either influence (negatively or positively) the success of retailers depending on how well it is thought out, monitored and measured.

Website Magazine has written extensively in previous issues on the essential elements of the checkout process – those elements that every e-merchant must address in order to stand out in the hyper-competitive retail landscape. But the checkout process, at each and every online store is unique.

For retailers using multi-page checkout or single-page checkout, there is simply no right or wrong, just what results in a conversion for your online retail enterprise. That being said, if you’re using a multi-page checkout, progress indicators can save the day. It seems like such a basic approach – let users know just how many steps remain until their order is completed - but is widely underused.

Progress Indicators for Multi-Page Checkout
Progress indicators often have a bad reputation. They can be seen as an incentive for users not to complete what they set out to do (e.g. “there are too many steps in the checkout process – forget it!”). In reality, including progress indicators within a multi-step checkout process is important to implement because the mind (that of the consumer) automatically breaks down complex purchase process into smaller, simpler parts for understanding and comprehension. When merchants opt to visually lay out the multi-step process, users are as likely to complete their order as they would be on a single-page checkout.

Another interesting consideration to make is a retailer's audience. In the case of a retailer selling higher-priced items, or items designed for an audience that does not buy online regularly, multi-page checkouts make more sense. The consumer may feel safer in a slower process, where it's possible to double-check their order before completing it. This may also prevent the checkout process from seeming overwhelming. For this audience specifically, this is often the case when they are forced to interact with longer, one-page checkouts. These pages typically require address and billing information immediately for order completion.

Progress Indicator Best Practices
There are several things to keep in mind when developing a progress bar. An Internet retailer should number the steps, provide action visuals, such as arrows to suggest a sense of action is possible, should always highlight the user's current page and should include a “review order” step in the process.

A merchant’s responsibility also extends to the form functionality itself, regardless of whether it is a single- or multi-page checkout. Online retailers should make every effort to “carry” information, such as billing address to shipping address fields to reduce repetition by users. They’ll also need to remove distractions so the user can focus exclusively on the transaction – although there is something said for introducing a last-minute offer or product suggestion.

Progress Indicator Showcase
There are myriad uses of progress indicators on websites – and it’s not necessarily exclusive to retailers. Progress indicators can be used for multi-step forms, product tours, and, of course (and for our purposes here), online ordering. Let’s showcase a few progress indicators in action during this holiday 2012 shopping season:

Amazon.com: Amazon takes a rather minimalist approach to its checkout process. It includes a progress indicator, but deemphasizing it by placing it at the top of the page, nearly out of direct view of the shopper.

DrugStore.com: The point of including a progress indicator is so users can see in a near instant where they are in the checkout process. Drugstore.com does this well by using bright colors in its checkout progress indicator.

Macys.com: The use of color is an important consideration in relation to progress indicators, but not so important that retailers should sacrifice brand recognition. Macy’s does a good job by highlighting the active step by using its familiar red color and greying out the other steps.

LLBean.com: The best progress indicators leave no doubt about the reason for their presence and can quickly indicate to users through a variety of means (e.g. color, highlighting, etc.) where the user is in the checkout process. LLBean does well to present its checkout progress indicator predominantly and forcefully.

Magento Rules Ecommerce Community

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 20:15:00 GMT

An October 2012 survey of the top one million sites (in Alexa) puts into perspective just how popular Magento, the ecommerce platform within Ebay's X.Commerce platform), has become.

Magento captured 23% of the market according to research conducted by Tom Robert Shaw, a UK Magento developer at Meanbee. That equates to just over 8,000 sites of the top one million (Magento also lead in the top 100,000 sites). Magento has seen growth in every edition of the that particular survey since it began 2 years ago, experiencing a 20 percent growth rate since the last survey in February 2012.

Ecommerce platform ZenCart also seemed to fare pretty well, capturing 12 percent of the market. Both Magento and ZenCart both released new versions since the previous survey. Also noteworthy were that VirtueMart and OSCommerce experienced a dip in market share, while PrestaShop and OpenCart saw significant increases.

AspDotNetStorefront Releases MultiStore 9.2

Linc Wonham — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 05:00:00 GMT

AspDotNetStorefront, provider of the world’s leading .NET shopping cart, has released the latest version of its software. MultiStore 9.2 focuses on security and ease-of-use, says the company, and introduces the new feature MultiPay.

“This is our MultiPay concept,” says AspDotNetStorefront CEO Dana Greaves. “Give the shopper the ability to use whatever method of payment makes him feel the most comfortable and safe. Beyond the 33 dependable integrated gateways, we now have embedded the biggest names in off-site checkout: PayPal Express Checkout, Google Checkout and Checkout by Amazon.”

The newest release also makes a play for the international market via global payment methods that open the door to a combined 100 different local (international) debit cards. As Greaves notes, “With all those options, every merchant using our store can decide to no longer capture credit card data and transmit it for processing, but instead to let one of these services, embedded into our cart, take on the heavy lifting of PCI compliance.”

Thousands of users have switched to MultiStore since March 2011, when it was re-launched under the banner “MultiStore – now available one store at a time”. Over 85 percent of users start off with just one store, and many may never expand to more stores.

Visit AspDotNetStorefront.com for more information about MultiStore 9.2.

Product Merchandising and SEO Tools at BigCommerce

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:22:00 GMT

The latest release of shopping cart software provider BigCommerce (version 7.1) provides merchants with tools for search engine optimization and product merchandising.

"With this release we’ve introduced advanced URL customization options to improve keyword proximity for our clients looking to outrank their competitors in the SERPs," said Chris Iona, product development manager for BigCommerce. "We’ve also improved functionality around product merchandising, specifically for verticals where options are important such as apparel, computers and health.”

The new features within this release include custom URL formats (for product, category, news and Web pages), and rules for product options (price, weight, and stock) among others. While these tools are not unique among shopping chart software providers, they will certainly be a welcome addition for merchants using the BigCommerce platform.

Big Commerce also released storage and transfer statistics to show merchants how much storage and transfer they are using. Storage reports provide information on total usage, along with usage for database, email, and images. Transfer reports on total usage, incoming HTTP, outgoing HTTP, incoming FTP and outgoing FTP are within the reports.

All stores running BigCommerce 7.0 or above are being automatically upgraded to 7.1 over the coming week.

Fight, Fight Against Cart Abandonment

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:23:00 GMT

Shopping cart software 3DCart announced a partnership with email marketing service Listrak to provide its merchants with Listrak's automated Shopping Cart Abandonment Solution.

Cart abandonment is estimated to cost Internet retailers roughly $18 billion dollars each year, according to Forrester. As it stands today, 7 out of 10 carts are stranded. Merchants would obviously be wise to start developing a strategy to recoup some of those lost earnings.

Listrak's offering will help 3DCart merchants recapture abandoners via automated email marketing campaigns. The solution incorporates dynamic merchandising to remind abandoners of the items left in the cart and prompt them to complete the transaction. To help recover those lost sales, Listrak’s solution also provides the opportunity for retailers to do a series of messages, test offer and non-offer messages, and incorporate product reviews.

“Our partnership with 3DCart enables us to provide merchants with an automated solution that is easily integrated with the platform and provides immediate impact to the merchants’ bottom line by recouping lost revenue from abandoned carts,” said Ross Kramer, Listrak CEO. “Our focus is on revenue and ROI, and this partnership enables us to provide that for 3DCart clients more easily,” added Kramer.

Guest Post: ‘Tis the season...to abandon your shopping cart

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:25:00 GMT

by Charles Nicholls, Founder, CSO of SeeWhy, Inc.

While past seasonal trends suggest that ecommerce conversion rates rise in the holiday season, there is some evidence that this year may be different. Will the 2009 holiday season be the biggest abandonment year on record? SeeWhy tracks shopping cart abandonment rates across a wide variety of ecommerce sites and has watched the rate increase steadily in 2009 as the holiday season gets into full swing. For October 2009, the average shopping cart abandonment rate was at 71 percent, the highest this year so far.

In normal years, click through and conversion rates can be expected to increase as the deadline of Christmas approaches, and customers seek to find presents for loved ones.

But this year we’ve seen significant changes in buyer behavior as customers have searched for better deals. According to Hitwise, searches for promotion codes are up 40 percent year over year. The significantly increased sale volumes driven by the holiday shopping season have the effect of amplifying underlying trends.

The two main underlying changes in behavior seen this year are:

- Increased use of shopping carts as ‘wish lists’ where items are bookmarked by leaving items in the cart
- Buyers looking for a better deal, by comparing prices or searching for free shipping and voucher codes, especially among higher income buyers

This reflects the prevalent consumer behavior in 2009: more window shopping, more cautious and looking for a bargain. In addition, a pre-holiday season survey by the National Retail Federation revealed that customers are expecting to receive holiday promotions and will defer purchases in anticipation of finding a better deal. This doesn’t suggest that Holiday 09 will be a high margin, high converting period for ecommerce.

A recent Forrester survey conducted in Q3 09 highlights the primary current causes of shopping cart abandonment.

It’s worth noting that this study highlights behavioral reasons for abandonment. These are, to a significant extent, out of the marketer’s reach. High shipping costs have long been the single most significant cause of abandonment, and marketers are well aware of this. A recent SeeWhy survey into e-marketer’s promotional plans this Christmas shows that free shipping offers and discount promotion codes, distributed by email and via social media, are the tools of choice.

The Forrester data also highlights how little ecommerce teams can do about shopping cart abandonment: most ecommerce sites are now locked down from changes so the only weapons left in the marketer’s armory are price changes, promotions (especially free shipping) and abandonment remarketing.

So, this holiday it’s going to be fascinating to see whether extensive promotions, distributed by email and increasingly social media, will win out and drive high conversion rates; or whether a new breed of ecommerce-savvy consumer is emerging post recession who will search extensively for the best deal and only buy when incentivized with free shipping and other baubles.

Whatever, it’s clear that remarketing is going to be big in 2010. Customers are expecting it. In fact, they’re waiting for those free shipping offers.

About the author: Charles Nicholls is founder and chief strategy officer of SeeWhy and author of “In search of Insight” which has established a new agenda for the analytics industry. As a veteran of the analytics space, he has worked on strategy and projects for some of the world’s leading ecommerce companies, including Amazon, eBay and many other organizations around the globe. Incorporated in 2003, SeeWhy helps companies improve website conversion rates by bringing back up to 50 percent of visitors that abandon sites prematurely.

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