Ecommerce Usability Specialist | UK

Guest checkout

If your checkout process only offers customers the ability to log in or register you may be turning away a growing number of customers who don't like to register with websites.

• The reasons people don't like to "register" vary. A common reason is that it suggests their details will be kept on file, another reason includes that it feels they will be creating a purchasing account (perhaps linked to store cards or finance).
• Ultimately, we need to cater for these people and reassure them that the checkout is trustworthy, simple and quick.
• Of course the customers still need to complete their details in order to place an order, but re-labelling or redeveloping the checkout slightly can neutralise any doubts that potential customers can have.
• From our experience, over a third of customers choose a quicker checkout process when the option is available.

Guided purchasing

Guided Purchasing is a technique to show a range of products and explain the benefits of each. For example, if you sold Rucksacks you may have 20L, 40L and 80L options, a novice user would simply need to know that a 20L is ideal for a day trek and an 80L is suitable for camping. We can also combine the different options with price savings, for example "For an extra £15 you could buy a 40L rucksack giving you more space".

• To take this further, we can create required product accessories that allow the customer to add two products to their basket in one click. For example, a customer could be looking at a Remote Control Car; we would show the batteries it needs and allow the customer to add both lines to the basket in one click.
• Guided purchasing gives the customer a little more product knowledge and makes the shopping experience easier. It also encourages upsells and can add more lines to orders.
• Guided purchasing is also about showing what other customers have purchased. For example "70% of customers purchase this product" shows its popularity and may help encourage the visitor to purchase.

Upselling and cross sells

Cross selling is a powerful addition that allows you to continuously upsell and cross-promote different items.

The methods we use to cross selling items vary depending on your audience and product range:

• If selling high performance computers we may continuously link through to the next superior model that is a little more expensive but has a better feature "Why not try the IW33 that has 2GB more memory for only £20+VAT more?". We would probably also combine this by selecting equal performance monitors and accessories in a "You may also like..." section.
• If selling clothing it's difficult to upsell a particular item as people buy based on style/looks. However, we can enable features like "People who bought this also bought..." which would link through to complimentary lines and accessories. And "Also from this range..." which would link through to lines by the same brand.
• The goal of upselling and cross selling is to ensure that all customers are made aware of the range of products that are available and to try and achieve a higher average order value.

Almost qualifying discounts

If you offer "Free delivery when you spend £40", or "Spend £50 and save 10%", why not let the customer know how much more they need to spend in order to qualify?

• This simply addition can help to increase your average order value and also informs customers of promotions that they have access to.
• Taking this further you can "daisy chain" promotions, i.e. "Spend over £40 for free delivery", "Spend over £60 for free delivery and 10% off" and "Spend over £100 for free delivery and 15% off". Then use "almost qualifying" messages to encourage customers to go past the next level.

Seasonal gift finder

Approaching Christmas you may wish to create a new range of categories that break your products into gift ranges (e.g. for him, for her, under £20, between £20 and £40, over £40) and design a "gift finder" feature that advertises your products as being ideal gifts.

• Whilst this is quite a basic thing to do, it helps to make customers think about buying for other people (as they probably visited your website to buy for themselves). This is the same logic that 'real world' shops use - especially supermarkets.

Increase buyer confidence

The internet is still unfortunately a victim of fraudulent websites and as new customers are becoming more tech-savvy it's important to give complete buyer confidence. Simple additions to websites can help this.

• A few examples include showing the payment gateway logos, using a branded EV SSL certificate (which makes the URL bar turn green for extra reassurance), using trusted third party services (like hacker safe), having a customer-focused returns policy, and showing affiliation with any major brands/organisations.
• In addition you should also ensure your privacy policy, delivery information and terms and conditions of sale are readily accessible. Try and answer every question that a new customer may ask about the security and trustworthiness of your website.
• These things, often overlooked, can help to convert potential buyers into paying customers.

Live chat (iPhone support)

Website Live Chat is not a new technology but is something that has required constant monitoring from a desktop PC in order to become a success. This often causes a problem for smaller companies. Lately, Live Chat suppliers have introduced iPhone/Android support to get-around this problem.

• Live Chat opens up a new communication channel allowing you to deal with visitors/customers in real time. Not only can you log enquiries and respond instantly, but you can "push" visitors to specific pages on the website, giving you the opportunity to upsell and convert enquiries to sales.
• Larger Live Chat systems account for sales team usage and can offer reporting software in order to see conversions, team activity and staff performance.