Hello all,
Here’s an opportunistic blog post. Some co-workers and friends have been bouncing ideas back and forth about what’s important in a ecommerce website for us, as individuals. I put on my “lab rat” shoes and went to work. Since I spent time writing this, I thought I might as well make it into a post here as I’m sure many of you reading will have your own set of opinions on this… Please do share by commenting! This conversation is also taking place in LinkedIn, so make sure to add your thoughts there too if you have something to add about your online shopping experience.
When I’m shopping on a e commerce site, it’s important that:
- I feel safe. When I don’t see the little lock icon on the browser I get a bit uneasy about the purchase.
- That I can start adding items to my cart without being signed on. I like looking at the scenario of the purchase before I have to share any personal info.
- No errors. Nothing annoys me more than finding errors on the site. Buttons that don’t work, product that have been removed and so on. It affects the whole trust aspect for me as well. The machine needs to work well.
- Incentives are key! If I see a “free shipping with blah blah blah”, or anything that makes me feel like I’m getting a deal it’s easier to purchase.
- GOOD PHOTOS! Having TOP QUALITY photos, that you can zoom in, see the details of the product, different angles, is VERY IMPORTANT to me. The better the photo looks, the more sold I am.
- INDIVIDUAL PRODUCT VIDEO. I can’t tell how much I love to see a little video demonstrating the product I’m interested in. Something short will do most of the time. When watching the video, I want to see a person using it, the dimensions, I want to hear why they love it, and I don’t want to feel like I’m being sold… It’s just a demo. Amaze me. (This is where the guy from ShamWOW rocks my world, ahahahah - Just kidding… BUT SERIOUSLY!)
- Easy and clean check out pages. I also like to see the images saying who they use for protection, any cool little animation that helps assure me this is safe. Maybe a few testimonials about how the product arrived safely and fast.
- When I’m done with my purchase, I also like having the chance to log back in somewhere to check on the status of my order.
In terms of usability, if the product I’m looking for isn’t in the home page, I like having it in my sight within 2 or 3 clicks. For that to happen, a site needs a powerful search engine and a well organized category/tab system.
Last but not least, if there are similar products, I do like the option to compare them side by side, like here:
Have a good one!
