Electronic commerce, or "e-commerce," is one of the biggest buzzwords
in today's business world. In its simplest form, e-commerce just means taking
things that your company is already doing in person, through the mail, or over
the telephone, and doing those things in a new place--on the Internet.
It may
seem special now, but in a few short years it'll be just another part of how
every company does business. In fact, we're rapidly headed for a time when businesses
that aren't on the Internet will be as far out of the mainstream as a business
without a telephone number is today.
Businesses can do things with e-commerce that would be prohibitively expensive
or logistically difficult to do through older channels of commerce. A Web site
is naturally a 24-hour-a-day operation, unlike a traditional 9-to-5 company.
It is much easier to keep a Web site up to date with all your company and product
information than it is to do the same thing with print materials. And the interactivity
and completeness of an e-commerce Web site can engage customers more directly,
giving them a feeling of empowerment and control that is difficult to duplicate
through other methods of doing business.
8 CONVENIENCE FACTORS:
Which do you prefer -- going out to the mall where parking spots are scarce
and crowds are plentiful?
Or shopping from the comfort of your robe and slippers
and finding exactly the items you want?
When designing and developing your e-commerce site, the assumption should be
that your customers are online because they have limited time; they want to
find items quickly and easily; and they often have a specific need for a certain
product.
That being said, here are some important factors of convenience you should consider
before launching your Web store:
Accept credit cards and as many other forms of payment
as possible. There is little to be gained if you launch a great site and then
ask for payments to be mailed to you in the form of a check or money order.
It is better to wait for your merchant account to be approved before going
live prematurely.
Carry as many items in stock as possible to avoid
backorders. Often convenience goes hand-in-hand with timeliness and customers
want to know right away if they have to wait three days or three weeks for
an item.
Send an e-mail confirmation for all orders. Some sites
state on the final transaction screen, "Print this page for your records."
Well, what if the customer doesn't have an accessible printer at the time
of the order?
Only ask for the basic information required for order
processing - shipping address, billing address, e-mail address, payment data.
You can follow-up with your market research questions another time.
Offer a variety of shipping options including overnight
express. You don't want to eliminate orders from last-minute shoppers because
the only form of shipment constitutes a five-day wait for delivery.
Your site should be searchable by keywords or phrases.
Many customers want to get in, find the item, checkout and get out.
Post all the company's contact info visibly. Sometimes
a customer just needs a quick question answered before making the final click
that processes the order. Don't run the risk of abandonment because a shopper
couldn't find your toll-free number.
Make sure all the components of the site load quickly.
That includes all text, graphics and interactive elements. In this instance,
time is definitely money. Customer frustration starts to build as they wait
for pages that don't load.
Providing a shopping experience that is as quick and painless
as possible will help to generate a loyal repeat customer base. If a consumer
gets just as frustrated at the keyboard as they do at the mall, they may find
little reason to click and spend.
LAST MINUTE:
Consumers have accepted the e-commerce business model less readily than its proponents
originally expected. Even in product categories suitable for e-commerce, electronic
shopping has developed only slowly. Let your customers select and order different
products and pay you online. Make it easy for them to do business with you.
