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A Successful eCommerce Website - Part 2
Succeeding with an eCommerce website is a dream for many these days. It can be done no matter how difficult it may sometimes seem. this series covers some of the basic success factors - things you must consider in creating, implementing, managing...
eCatalog - a Key Component of Your eCommerce Initiative
In recent years, Internet virtually has become major driving force of economic and technological growth in many industries. It is fundamentally changing the way companies operate, do their trade and interact with each other and it is giving birth...
Evaluating Vendors of Ecommerce Fulfillment Services
Once your website has secured an order, you have to fulfill it. While the fulfillment of digital goods is usually handled online, the delivery of physical goods is handled in a "brick-and-mortar" world.
When choosing a fulfillment company ( ...
Is eCommerce Right For Our Business
If your business features products or services for sale, undoubtedly the topic of eCommerce has come up. What is eCommerce? Literally defined as "the conduct of financial transactions by electronic means," it refers to purchases made over the...
Microsoft Ecommerce Web-development: Great Plains Econnect .net Approach – Highlights For Programmer
In our small article we’ll consider Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains Sales Order Processing module as eCommerce backend. Plus we’ll cover what is possible and impossible in eConnect and why.
Microsoft Great Plains is one of the most...
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eCommerce Fundamentals
"Blocking and Tackling" - A quick take a some eCommerce
fundamentals
eCommerce can be VERY complex. To offer a world class customer
experience, retailers must incorporate technologies and
functionality that exceeds rising customer expectations.
On the flip side however, site fundamentals still play a very
large role in converting visitors into customers. Many retailers
surprisingly lose sight of these site basics and leave
significant sales on the table. This brief examines 4 quick
"fundamentals" every eCommerce manager cannot afford to lose
sight of.
Think Fast
Speed has become less of a problem due to the penetration of
broadband, but don't forget that a significant number of people
still shop by a dialup connection. When creating a site
framework, designers and e-commerce teams should ensure that the
site is developed with pages loading in less than 9 seconds
(over a dial-up connection).
Our recommended page size is within 60-70k in bytes. At that
amount, sites will likely load within the maximum wait time of 9
seconds. Online retailers should avoid flash at all costs within
their transactional site. Flash's artistic aspects may help you
establish a brand presence - but it will likely lose potential
customers before they have even searched within your store.
Image is important
Images are a very important aspect of selling online and are
often neglected. All product images should be of the highest
resolution possible, be much larger than the product page
original, and have multiple views. Dynamic imaging capabilities can improve the
user experience to an even higher level by increasing
interactivity (zoom & rotate). At a minimum - retailers should
have at least two additional views outside of the product page
image to help build emotion.
Be my guest
Shoppers do not like being forced to do anything, especially
when they are ready to open their wallets. Forcing a shopper to
register on your site before purchasing is a sure way to drive a
portion of your traffic to your competitors. Too often, shoppers
do not have the time or the inclination to fill out a lengthy
form explaining what types of information they desire.
Always offer the ability to checkout as a guest. You will see
less customer leakage within the checkout process and can still
offer the option to register when the sale is completed.
Make sure it's "above the fold"
Your homepage is the most important page within your eCommerce
store. It sets the initial tone for the shopping experience and
offers your best promotions and products to your visitors. Users
typically visually scan a web page from top to bottom and then
from left to right. All critical content and navigation options
should be obvious to the shopper without having to scroll down.
If you have your best promotions "below the fold" - you can bet
that a large percentage of browsers are not scrolling down to
see it.
About the author:
http://www.trinityinsight.com
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