Post on 14-Dec-2015
2
Lecture aimsAfter this lecture you should: Understand the importance of customer
experience. Know the essential components in an e-
commerce storefront. Understand good practice in storefront
design. Have seen some store examples and
identified good and bad practice.
3
Before you start designing…
You have: a business plan likely to succeed defined the purpose of your site made a project plan thought about content / features /
functionality
4
What is a customer? Your most important resource Have specific requirements / wants Not dependent on you Not an interruption Not somebody we are doing a favour for Different from each other Not you!
5
Customer or User? A customer is a user, but more…
They have the element of CHOICE Usability is important…
Sees, touches, feels, interacts with…. Remove frustration
But customers are also interested in: Business goals, merchandising, messaging,
features, flow of core processes You need to influence, motivate and
encourage
6
Customer centric practice
“If you're trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language in which they think.”-David Ogilvy
7
Customers care most about
Security Navigation Selection price
Customer experienceCustomer experienceHow do I find “____”?How do I find “____”?What features does “____” have?What features does “____” have?How do I order?How do I order?How do I pay?How do I pay?How/when do I get “____”?How/when do I get “____”?How do I return things?How do I return things?How do I claim on the warrantee?How do I claim on the warrantee?Can I speak to somebody?Can I speak to somebody?Is this site safe?Is this site safe?What will you do with my details?What will you do with my details?
8
Bad customer experience 62%* of Internet shoppers have given up
at least once while looking for products. 42%* on one or more instances have fled
the Web for more traditional channels to make their purchases.
$3 billion* in lost sales annually.
Is this acceptable? Imagine if this occurred elsewhere; 62% of people leave Is this acceptable? Imagine if this occurred elsewhere; 62% of people leave a supermarket because they cannot find the item on the shelf easily…a supermarket because they cannot find the item on the shelf easily…
* Zona Research’s Online Shopping Report, 1999* Zona Research’s Online Shopping Report, 1999
9
Bad customer experience…
Error 404 - page not found
Is this acceptable? Imagine if this happened to 42% of shopping trolleys at Is this acceptable? Imagine if this happened to 42% of shopping trolleys at a supermarket…a supermarket…
11
Impact of bad customer experience
Lower conversion rate. Customers may abandon your site
completely; customers have choice; plenty of competitors out there.
When customers have a bad experience on a website, they tell an average of 10 people.*
* Forrester Research, inc* Forrester Research, inc
12
Impact of good customer experience
Increased conversion rate $$$ Viral Marketing; customers
recommend your site to others e.g. epinions.com
Increased customer loyalty Strong equity in your brand
13
Impact of increased conversion rate
2,000,000 visits/month, average sale = $252,000,000 visits/month, average sale = $25
Conversion %Conversion % Revenue/monthRevenue/month
0.010.01 $500,000$500,0000.0150.015 $750,000$750,0000.020.02 $1,000,000$1,000,0000.050.05 $2,500,000$2,500,000
customer experience – conversion rate – bottom line $customer experience – conversion rate – bottom line $
14
Improving customer experience
Make customer experience central Shift strategy to:
Achieving simplicity Solving customer problems Improving conversion rate
Ensure customers find it easy to find and buy what they want from your site
Monitor the Customer Experience Gap Make funds available to improve CEG
15
Customer Experience Gap
CustomerCustomer WebsiteWebsite
SimplicitySimplicity
ServiceService
Accomplish a goalAccomplish a goal
ComplexityComplexity
TechnologyTechnology
Compelling featuresCompelling features
Customer Experience Gap: The difference between what customers want and what they get
16
Rules for good customer experience
Keep it simple: Do not clutter with features, use clear and
concise wording. Provide a good “feel” Do not waste customers time Provide an appropriate search
mechanism Good navigation, should be intuitive
17
E-commerce storefront components
Basic functions: A catalogue display Shopping cart Transaction processing
18
Shopping Cart Online forms were first used for online
shopping. Shopping carts are dynamic, interactive
and efficient. Often implemented by the website
programmer, but sometimes an “off-the-shelf” product.
SalesCart is one company that makes this type of shopping cart software.
Shopping carts are an ideal place for product placement
19
Searchcatalogue
Add productsto cart
Enter detailsProceed through
checkout
Browse products
purchase
Customer interaction with store
20
Catalogue A static catalog is a simple list written in
HTML that appears on a Web page or series of Web pages.
A dynamic catalog stores the information about items in a database.
This technology is implemented on the server side.
Besides a catalog, many sites provide a search engine that allows customers to enter descriptions to quickly find an item.
22
Shopping CartProduct placementProduct placement
Item titleItem title
Product placementProduct placement
23
Implementing a shopping cart
Can be implemented using server side technology or client side technology
The Web is a stateless system unable to remember anything from one transmission or session to another.
It must distinguish one shopper from another.
One way to uniquely identify users and to store information about their choices is to create and store cookies.
24
Transaction processing Transaction processing occurs when the
shopper proceeds to the virtual checkout counter.
Transaction processing is the trickiest part of the electronic sale.
Security issues, failed transactions etc… Payment processing involves the website
communicating externally (e.g. to a payment service provider)
25
Home page
Consider the message that the site is conveying Does it match your branding? Does it move customers towards a
purchase? Do not hide your shop front Needs to convey what a person can do
26
Customer registration Do not intimidate your customers! Bad policy to enforce registration Do not take information of
customers that you do not need. Provide a valid incentive for them
to register e.g. save time on return visit Promotion / discounts
27
Merchandising
Display and promote your products Use space wisely: Homepage is
expensive real estate. Encourage impulse buying Product placement Featured products
28
Navigation If customers get lost or bored they will leave
your siteConsiderations: Where am I? Where can I go? What can I do here? How do I get to where I want to go? Have I been here before? How can I get back to where I was? Where is the checkout?
29
Labelling Use consistent and explicit page
labels for all pages in the site. (House Style)
Do not make customers work to match product names with images
Use appropriate labelling e.g. Use context to help explain size
Allow customers to compare similar products
30
Search Understand the shoppers perspective Taylor searches to a person or
situation People shop differently Provide several (suitable) ways to find a
product(e.g. text search, category, search by genre, search by age, search by availability etc…)
31
Shopping cart Allow customers to navigate to it, from
wherever they are Make it easy to add, remove, update
items Show total charge, and all other
charges: delivery, tax etc… Do not let customers add items that are
out of stock Allow customers to review their items Make the checkout button prominent Use contents to focus product placement
32
Checkout and fulfilment Checkout must be quick and easy –
frustrated customers will abandon carts Provide information about:
Order number Delivery Returns policy Tracking (if available) Customer service
Fulfilment is the last but crucial part
33
Adding value
Useful extra features store locator instructions and advice / how-to
guides wish lists / bookmarks single click buy selection wizard’s customer reviews
34
Conclusions A customer is more complicated than a
user Failing to address the complete
customer experience has a dramatic impact on the bottom line ($$$)
Successful e-commerce sites make customer experience a high priority and constantly monitor customer experience.