Home -> News List -> INTS TO HELP YOUR eCOMMERCE BUSINESS HIT ALL THE RIGHT NOTES ON THE ONLINE HIGH STREET

INTS TO HELP YOUR eCOMMERCE BUSINESS HIT ALL THE RIGHT NOTES ON THE ONLINE HIGH STREET

Top tips for running an online store and steering your check-ins to the check-out!

With rough trading conditions and major high street and online retailers like La Senza recently going into administration, using the internet effectively to help your business sell is now more essential than ever.

Thanks to more than seven out of ten internet users currently being online buyers and with the gap narrowing all the time, shop owners simply can’t afford to ignore the benefits of taking their business onto the World Wide Web. Securing a spot on the online high street doesn’t automatically secure purchases however, and so that’s where a few golden rules come in handy to turn those check-ins into checkout confirmation clicks!

“Whether you’re a business looking to set up on the online high street for the first time or already running an ecommerce website but wanting to yield better results, one thing is essential – making sure your website’s checkout process runs as smoothly as possibly,” explains Andy Roberts, Managing Director of Doncaster based Need More Clicks.

“Many think just a slick looking website is enough to dazzle shoppers into making a purchase, but the key to making it a success, definitely lies in the checkout process,” he goes on. “Fine tuning this is therefore absolutely crucial and so certain features and functions should always be included to maximise your conversions.”

Need More Clicks suggest the following to help your business steer check-ins to the check-out:

Thumbnails: always include these so that customers know they’re buying the right item - they don’t want to have to start the whole process again!

 

Progress indicator: browsers like to know exactly where they are in the purchasing process so featuring this is a must.

Calls to action: these are key, so keep them concise and prominent. Never place the remove from cart button next to the checkout button.

Backlinks: give the customer freedom to go back if they want.

Dedicated freephone number: this will put at ease any shoppers who may feel uneasy at ordering online. If they know they can talk to someone directly, it could give them that final nudge into purchasing!

Cross selling: show customers different items relating to the product that they might like but subtlety’s the key - don’t overdo it!

Save the cart: many people looking to purchase online use the cart as an idea collector, so make sure they can log into it another time.

Diverse payment options: allow customers to use the payment channel that they feel most comfortable with, otherwise you could lose a sale simply through not being diverse enough.

Security: always include third party reinforcement such as Verisign. Many shy away from shopping online due to fear about internet security, so show them that they can shop confidently on your site.

Allow changes: make altering items at the checkout easy, such as colour or size.

For further information, please visit http://www.needmoreclicks.com or telephone 01302 515 335.