FINAL WORD
can get anything they need from the
touchpoint they are asking it on.
Location
As the saying goes, location is everything.
When it comes to using location for
website experience, consumers have a
few expectations and preferences such as
shopping in their own language and seeing
localised imagery and products. At the
very least, retailers need to ensure store
information is correct on their website.
Nick Durrant, Managing Director at
Bluegrass Digital
item might fit their body type. Brands that
develop guides (whether it’s for sizing or for
suggestions on how to pair products) are
offering an experience consumers won’t
soon forget.
‘Shop the look’ guides, for example, offer
editorial-like experiences with e-commerce
functionality. With evidence suggesting
that holiday shoppers buy as much for
themselves as they do others, retailers
can quickly develop guides that both
complement gift giving and self-giving.
The guides can be in the form of product
pairings on a product page, a navigation
option on a website that leads to product
search results and/or an email campaign
with selected items.
Images
Regardless of device, consumers count
images (products in use and products not in
use) as the most important type of content
when purchasing a product on a brand’s
website or mobile app. Providing multiple
image types (lifestyle, still) and views is a
sure-fire way to increase conversions and
reduce returns since expectations are met.
Digitally mature companies should also
use a shopper’s location to deliver relevant
promotions and pages to them as they
browse a site and make their intent known.
On their next visit, the site should remember
them and the local elements presented to
them before. On-site search Shipment tracking
Second only to free shipping, most
consumers indicate that easy-to-use product
search function is the most important
feature on an e-commerce website. Retailers
that invest in site search are the ones that
will have conversion success. If nothing
else, they need to make sure that searches
ending in ‘no results’ have suggested
content instead whether it is complementary
products or a gift guide, which can help
extend the customer journey versus abruptly
ending it. Shipment tracking is a must-have element
on e-commerce websites, consumers want
to know where their shipment is at any point
in time.
Quick site
A fast website is a must-have feature for
e-commerce sites. A site that requires visitors
to wait while it loads doesn’t invoke a lot
of trust for shoppers. Image optimisation
and code minification are two ways to very
quickly speed up a site while using skeleton
screens is another. Skeleton screens show the
user that the site is loading by displaying the
website’s outline similar to how Facebook
loads when there is a delay.
Knowledgeable agents
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Returns info
Brands shouldn’t take it personally, but
shoppers don’t trust retailers they’ve never
done business with before. As they look for
the perfect gift, they are also looking for
reasons not to buy. Ambiguous or missing
information will frustrate most shoppers
who think returns information is a must have
feature of an e-commerce website and for
consumers who look at the returns info when
visiting a site for the first time. Savvy retailers
display trust indicators like 'free returns' in
prominent places on their site.
Personalisation
Whether it is a bot or a person, consumers
want quick and accurate answers to their
inquiries. Often this means enabling
employees and systems with complete
visibility into an organisation so a customer
in customer data and surface it through a
CMS), but last-minute personal touches can
be made such as displaying a ‘welcome
back’ banner to returning visitors and
immediately surfacing the products they
viewed last time.
Retailers that personalise customers’
online experiences win in the form of more
first-time conversions as well as repeat
purchases. True personalisation requires
several scenarios to make it work successfully
(i.e. an e-commerce platform that can pull
Website security
The media is full of stories about data
breaches and other security incidents, so it
is no wonder that website security is top of
mind with consumers. Using software that
automatically mitigates hacking attempts
can give businesses the reassurance they
need to conduct business safely. Shoppers
also want to feel secure about a company’s
data collection processes.
To provide more personal info, consumers
demand greater transparency into how their
information will be used to benefit them,
how it will be stored and secured and who
has access to the information.
Third-party payment providers
Integrations with third-party payment
providers are crucial for generating
conversions. Retailers need to splash these
partnerships across relevant pages to ensure
consumers know there will be no friction
when getting to the payment step. With this
high level of intent, retailers need to move
out of shoppers’ way and let them check out
with their preferred payment method. n
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