Ecommerce - Expand Your Business
Part One - Building Trust
Online shopping for the last two months of 2005 totaled roughly $30.1 BILLION, a 30% increase from the same period in 2004. According to a KPMG report, 53% of the consumers surveyed purchased items via the internet. Make sure your business is reaching this ever expanding market.
While 40% of the people surveyed indicated they were very satisfied with their online shopping experience, that leaves 60% feeling there was room for improvement.
According to a Questus January 2006 report, price was a key factor for 68% of the purchasing decision. Product information (38%), site design (37%) and ease of checkout (32%) heavily influenced the decision.
Above all, a consumer must trust from whom they are purchasing a product or service. Human interfacing studies have shown that a web site visitor determines the trust factor within 5 seconds of viewing the web site. Site design and availability of information are critical factors in developing a sense of trust.
Follow these guidelines to gain the viewers trust. When a viewer trusts a site, they are far more likely to view additional page, make purchases, and become a return visitor.
-
Have a Privacy Policy posted
-
Use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and prominently display this fact
-
Prominently display a Condition of Sales policy including any guarantees and return policies
-
Provide multiple means of communication information including email, telephone, and postal address
-
Pages must load quickly
-
Optimize all images for fast loading
-
Navigation should be quick, easy, and consistent
-
Primary pages should be reachable within 2 mouse clicks
-
All products/services should be reachable within 3 clicks
-
Use thumbnail images, linking the thumbnails to larger, detailed product views.
-
Use detailed product descriptions
-
Product images should have multiple views when applicable
