When did you last wander your on-line store?
July 29th, 2010 by Jodi
With so many ecommerce websites on the web and, no doubt, a host of competitors in your marketplace, it pays to keep track of the “shopping experience” being offered by your company. Online stores that do not offer customers exactly what they need will end up losing out as consumers head to a “better” place to shop.
One way to check if your site is a great place to shop is to try it out for yourself. This might seem like an obvious thing to do but many ecommerce site owners overlook this basic strategy.
Perhaps you should try a little MBWA, or “Management By Walking Around”. This concept came about in the Sixties and advised shop managers to get out on to the shop floor to see what was going on. These days, the same approach can be applied to online stores.
Online store managers may not have aisles to walk but they can try to buy products from different “categories”. And while they may not have an actual checkout counter they could experience the check-out process online.
It’s worth doing an MBWA session one a week or every fortnight. Simply buy a product, put it in a basket, check out and pay for it, or not. Why not also ask your customer service a few questions while you’re at it?
Then if any problems do crop up you can quickly fix them – so that your real-time customers will not face the same potentially off-putting glitches.
Here are some key points to check while carrying out your MBWA:
• Look at the most common entry page. This might not be your home page. Check your website stats and analysis to find out where most people enter your on-line store. Perhaps you need to add a few messages and sales points to this page.
• Do you have a welcome email message? If not, set one up. Why not add in a discount voucher? Many people keep such emails in their inbox.
• Can you easily find all the products you search for? If not, what can be done to make this process easier?
• Is the checkout process too long or complicated? Do you ask too many questions?
• Is there a confirmation page? Customers like to know that the sale has gone through correctly. And makes sure there is an automated “confirmation email”.
You’ll be surprised what you find and what can be simply sorted. Happy wandering!
If you are interested in having an online shop, drop by WebCreationUK. We currently have on offer an e-shop summer special.
Tags: Ecommerce