ECOMMERCE BEST PRACTICES
Optimizing the User Experience
ECOMMERCE UX OVERVIEW AND BEST PRACTICES
Well-performing eCommerce sites have one thing in common: they
provide an outstanding customer experience. How they accomplish
this, however, can vary and tends to change rapidly as technology
and eCommerce evolve. That said, there are a few core elements
that must be present to provide a superior eCommerce customer
experience. According to a recent Gartner Research Note (April
2013), the core underpinning of a great customer experience can
be boiled down to three simple things: finding products, getting
help and checking out. If customers aren’t able to do these three
things easily, they’re not going to be customers for long.
FINDING PRODUCTS
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)
Search engines still provide the best way for your customers to find you and good SEO practices will
allow your site to be at the top of the rankings organically.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Create and administer websites that are fully optimized for search
engine accessibility
• Set up and manage unique meta tags, including titles, keywords and
descriptions for all web pages
• Automatically generate search-engine friendly vanity URLs
• Support XML site maps for easy indexes by major search engines,
including Google, Bing and Yahoo
• Add and control page content to improve organic search placement
• Implement 301 redirects to protect and maintain search engine placement
• Share content with popular blog and news sites with RSS feeds
CREATE BUZZ
Use all social channels that are available to you. Online social sites such as Facebook, YouTube
and Twitter are now commonplace for consumers. Be sure your site gives people the opportunity
to talk about your products with their social graph.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Implement “Add This” to allow site visitors to share content with more than 300 social
networking services; this feature generates a broad range of analytical reports detailing
how visitors are sharing your content
• Automate cross links with social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
YouTube, etc.
• Enable customers to create, manage and share “Wish Lists,” “Favorites,” “Tell-a-Friend”
and “Gift Registries”
EMAIL IS STILL IMPORTANT
Stay in touch with customers through emails about special offers and new products, and consider
creating a newsletter.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Include a newsletter sign up and product update forms on content and catalog pages
• Offer customers the option of emailing product favorites to friends and family
• Segment customers by geographic, demographic, purchase and other information attributes
to support creation and execution of outbound marketing campaigns
• Create unlimited fields of information (attributes) to support direct and highly targeted
marketing campaigns
• Manage lists for outbound marketing campaigns in the EDGE email engine
BEYOND DEVICE
Today’s consumers expect to be able to search and shop regardless of the device they’re on or where
they’re located. They expect the experience to be seamless across each of those touch points.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Capture and aggregate orders from multiple online and offline sales channels and sources
in multiple formats, and aggregate them into a centralized data repository and
management environment
• Order channels include consumer direct, distributor, wholesaler, retailer, reseller, public and
private marketplaces, government and military, and others
• Order sources include B2C, B2B and mobile device websites (EDGE-based or external),
call center(s), public marketplace(s), internal and external systems, EDI vans, application
direct (EDGE CSR module) and others
• Order formats include Web Services, XML, EDI, FTP .CSV files, email and other electronic
file formats
• Build websites in Agile that can be viewed by all mobile devices operating on iOS,
Android and BlackBerry
• Format vertical page views for catalog, product detail, shopping cart and check out
• Render pages in both portrait and landscape formats
• Display website automatically based on browser compatibility
ENDLESS AISLES
Stores often provide a limited assortment of the overall product assortment available from a
company. Providing access to the digital catalog in the store enables store associates to offer
the entire assortment to customers and not lose a sale because it was not available in-store.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Catalog is virtual and accessible from anywhere
• Capture and aggregate orders from multiple online and offline sales channels and
sources in multiple formats, and aggregate them into a centralized data repository and
management environment
• Order channels include consumer direct, distributor, wholesaler, retailer, reseller, public
and private marketplaces, government and military, and others
• Give store clerks the ability to place sales orders and distribution orders (same items to
multiple recipients) directly through the CSP and Order Management modules
SITE NAVIGATION
Best practice is to keep it simple and intuitive. Overly complex or hard-to-find navigation links should
be avoided as they will cause user frustration. Top and left navigation is the norm today. Provide
options to navigate your site by (e.g., categories, style, most popular, etc.). It is recommended that a
site offer product information within one to three clicks from your home page. For eCommerce sites,
product information takes precedence over “slick” design elements.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Flexibly implement multi-level menus for intuitive site navigation
• Dynamically activate or deactivate site navigation links, controlling placement within
the website
• Establish parameters for filtered guided navigation, such as price range, product type,
brand, product attributes and more
• Automatically display catalog query breadcrumbs
SEARCH
Visitors to your website should have the ability to search on every page. Also, they expect relevant
results. Include multiple ways to filter and sort the search results set, giving the customer more display
options. For example, if you sell a line of products with a wide range of prices, a customer should be
able to sort from the least expensive to the most expensive. Customers may choose to purchase the
higher-priced items if they’re presented as options.
EDGE Capabilities:
• EDGE supports all major advanced guided search applications and utilizes SOLR as its
standard solution
• EDGE supports filtered and advanced guided search (SOLR), including:
» Keyword search
» Descriptive phrase and multi-word search
» Mistyping/misspelled phrase correction
» Thesaurus synonym lookup
» Natural language search
» Logical evaluations
» Specific attributes like relevance, price, name, brand, best sellers, etc.
» Multiple-parameter submission
» Stemming pluralization (both plural and singular word forms included in keyword search)
» Keyword redirects
• Allow customer to remove one or more keywords from search
• Provide multi-dimensional array of keywords within the refinement options, i.e., an item
can be assigned multiple values for a single refinement option class
• Dynamically recalculate and refine the available options based on the product search
results presented to the consumer
• Display item counts associated with each refinement value
• Control (or allow the customer to control) catalog item search results, including sort order,
number of items displayed, display format (e.g., list or grid view)
• Add search tools for refining search by category, product, price range, attribute (e.g., size,
color) and dynamic fields
• Enable the customer to remove refinement options previously selected
• Manage list of search terms
• Control keywords, descriptive phrases and misspelling corrections recognized by search engines
• Add, modify and/or remove thesaurus entries
• Offer an array of search features, including hit highlighting, faceted search, dynamic clustering,
database integration and rich document (e.g., Word, PDF) handling
PERSONALIZATION
Use every opportunity available to up-sell and cross-sell products that logically go together. This also
helps to provide a level of personalization to the customer based on what they are looking at and it
helps them become more engaged.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Use suggestive merchandising tools to manage product relationships, support cross-sell,
up-sell and related product display
• Allow customers to personalize ordered products using EDGE native or third-party plug-in
applications. Product Personalization includes additions or modifications to product text, images,
logos, icons, colors, positioning and more.
• Control and display product pricing based on product personalization treatments and
business rules, such as customer type, group affiliation, business account, marketing
affiliate and more
EASY TO FIND
Locate products in more than one category so shoppers can find what they’re looking for quickly
and easily.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Create unlimited categories and sub-categories to organize and manage large and
diverse catalogs
• Assign products to one or more catalogs, categories and subcategories individually
or via bulk upload
• Schedule for future publication or immediately display catalog item additions, deletions
and changes
• Activate or inactivate catalog items individually or categorically via bulk process
PRODUCT DETAIL AND INFORMATION
Provide as much information about your products as you can on your site. This can include sizing
guides, dimensions, reviews, ratings, social information, inventory levels; anything and everything you
have to help describe your product should be easily accessible to your customer. Product detail pages
should be keyword rich. Each product should have its own detail page as this enables your site to
rank for each product page. Furthermore, this also prompts other sites to link directly to your product
pages, which is an important “off-page” factor in search rankings.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Control display of catalog item based on inventory disposition
(stock status), back order rules and member permissions
• Display item inventory status (in/out of stock or quantity on hand)
in catalog
• Support single- or multi-SKU dimensional catalog items consisting
of styles, sizes, colors and other variable attributes at the product,
product-category or product-type level
• Dynamically create product information attributes for display in
catalog without database programming and IT involvement (information
fields can be displayed as text, text box, check box, multi-select drop
down box, radial buttons, etc.)
SHOW RATHER THAN TELL
The more photos the better. Include multiple views of each product. Use rich media, including thumbnail, hover, zoom, 360 degree - rotate, color/texture swatches, etc.) and multimedia files (images,
videos, electronic docs, audio files, links, etc.) to give your customer as much “hands-on” experience
with your product as possible.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Classify, manage, search and display digital files (image, videos, audios, electronic
docs, etc.) on website content pages, customer profile pages, catalog pages, etc
• Assign digital product image files to inventory SKUs enabling product images to be
printed on fulfillment docs and order invoices
• Upload digital assets to the repository individually or in bulk via file upload options
• Search files by name (alpha numeric), type (e.g., GIF, JPG, PNG, etc.), class (e.g., audio,
video, zoom, thumbnail, etc) and create file groups
• Create, copy, view and edit file details, including name, description, class, type, links,
etc. and add multiple language descriptions
• Embed file links to the internal repository and external sources, such as external URLs,
email, etc.
• Control the display of one or multiple images (thumbnail, hover, zoom, 360°-rotate,
color/texture swatches, etc.) and multimedia files (images, videos, electronic docs, audio
files, links, etc.) assigned to individual catalog items, catalog categories and catalog pages
REVIEWS
User reviews are a great promotional tool. Sixty-one percent of customers read online reviews before
making a purchase decision, while 63% of customers are more likely to make a purchase from a site
that has user reviews, according to stats from iPerceptions.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Add customer product reviews to product detail pages using Bazaarvoice™
• Add product comparison to product detail pages using Bazaarvoice™
• Provide catalog feeds to comparison-shopping engines such as Google Base, NexTag,
PriceGrabber, Buy.com, etc.
GETTING HELP
MAKE IT EASY TO FIND HELP
Customers should have multiple ways to get in touch with you if they have a question or problem.
Different communication options should be provided to allow the customer to choose the method
they prefer, such as FAQs, customer service, live chat, email and telephone number. These options
should be easily found on any page of your site.
BE PROACTIVE
Web chats, virtual assistants and collaborative browsing are all great ways for you to be proactive in
helping your customer find what they want, or answer questions they may have. These tools also
have been shown to decrease abandoned shopping carts and increase customer satisfaction thereby
promoting a return visit.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Manage implementation of third-party applications to support enhanced front-end
website capabilities such as Live Chat, and virtual assistant tools
ERRORS
Customer will do things on your site to cause errors. Make sure that when this happens, you
handle those errors gracefully. Display a clear, easy-to-read and easy-to-find error message.
Include information about how to get in touch with you if they continue having trouble.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Manage error messaging and display through EDGE Agile CMS platform
CHECKING OUT
ACCESSIBLE EVERYWHERE
Make sure the checkout process is easy to access from every page (i.e., display perpetual “Add to
Cart” or “View Cart” buttons).
EDGE Capabilities:
• Position mini carts on any web page enabling
shoppers to quickly and easily view items and
item totals via mini cart mouse-over pop-up
and pop-over that can be expanded into
full cart display
DON’T DISTRACT
Steps should be taken to minimize or eliminate
navigational choices during the checkout process as
this will improve sales conversion rates. Don’t try to
up-sell or cross-sell during the checkout process; this
could result in losing the entire sale. Keep it simple
and get them through the checkout process as
quickly and conveniently as possible.
SIMPLIFY YOUR CHECKOUT PROCESS
Like navigation, the checkout process should be simple for users. All efforts should be made to
remove unnecessary barriers to order completion. For instance, forcing customers to log in or
register before they can place an order is not recommended as it contributes to cart abandonment.
Additionally, difficult contact collection screens that force a user to change behavior, such as requiring
a different format on phone numbers, addresses, etc., also can contribute to low conversion rates.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Support guest (no login) and expedited return customer checkout (login) (billing and
shipping address information is automatically populated for return customers)
• Enable guest (first-time shopper) to create an account (customer profile) and allow
returning customer to edit profile
• Recognize return visitors through use of cookies
• Display checkout breadcrumbs at top of page
• Create and store multiple domestic and international billing and shipping addresses
• Activate customer shipping address validation and correction at check out, registration
and profile update using Melissa Data
• Validate customer telephone and email address format
• Automatically populate shipping address from “same as billing address”
• Enable customer to select from preferred credit card on file
• Ship multiple ordered items or individual line items to multiple shipping addresses
using different ship methods
MAKE IT EVEN EASIER
Complicated navigation or too many pages in the checkout process are common reasons for
bounce rates and cart abandonment. Use a simple, single-page checkout process to make it
even easier for customers.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Streamlined check out and, one-step check out process
• Single-page order creation and checkout
COMPLETE TRANSPARENCY
Clearly display pricing and shipping options early and often. Don’t wait until the end to reveal the full
cost of the order to the customer. This will lead to higher conversions and less irritated customers.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Display shipping options and applicable shipping and handling costs
• Display tax
• Dynamically recalculate totals as customer makes edits to the order
CART RECAP
Your checkout should show images and provide an easy way to see the product being ordered. This
helps to reaffirm the purchase for the customer.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Provide order summary on the cart and checkout pages, including number of item information,
item images, shipping, subtotals, discounts, tax and order total
MULTIPLE PAYMENT OPTIONS
Provide as many payment options as possible. Everything from credit cards to PayPal should
be included.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Accept multiple payment options, including credit cards, debit cards, gift cards,
purchase orders and PayPal
DELIVERY OPTIONS
Provide multiple delivery options, e.g., same-day, next-day, in-store pickup, at-home delivery, nearest
store delivery, etc. Customers today expect an omnichannel experience where they are able to choose
how they want their products delivered and when they want to receive them.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Apply complex business rules to govern how B2C and B2B orders are managed and
processed through their life cycle from capture through delivery execution across one
or multiple fulfillment points
• Automatically route fully executable “perfect” orders to the optimal fulfillment
provider based on configurable business rules
• Improve order delivery performance, time and costs by order sourcing logic driven by customer
promise date, provider proximity to customer, inventory availability (ATP), carrier services
supported, carrier time in transit, hours of operation, holidays and other relevant factors
• Configure rules to allow order line items to be sourced to multiple fulfillment providers
for shipment
• Delivery disposition (tracking number) of items shipped by provider
• Create, view and edit provider attributes/operational profile to support decision logic
for provider selection, including:
» Location time zone
» Hours of operation
» Maximum order processing capacity
» Turnaround SLAs
» Daily cut-off time
» Transportation carriers and associated TNT
• Automatically source orders from the manufacturer or other drop-shipper location.
RETURN POLICIES AND HELP
Return policies need to be clearly visible, as should access to customer service. Including phone
numbers for store locations also is a good idea. Customers feel more confident knowing they can
call you if they have a question or if there’s a problem with their order.
EDGE Capabilities:
• Customer service information can be exposed throughout the checkout process
• Add a store locator that displays the store profile and maps, providing customers with a
list of nearby store locations in order of proximity, and include store telephone numbers
SECURE
Be sure to make the customer feel comfortable about their purchase by displaying customer service
phone numbers and providing security assurances, such as SSL certificates and security banners.
EDGE Capabilities:
• IP Filtering
• Integration Authentication requires HTTPS
• SSL Encryption
• HIPAA/Safe Harbor/PCI-DSS certified
• Control permissible billing and shipping countries and/or territories at check out
Contact Jagged Peak today
to speak to an experienced
eCommerce professional.
Jagged Peak, Inc.
3000 Bayport Drive, Suite 250
Tampa, Fl. 33607 USA
Telephone: 813.637.6900
Toll-free: 800.430.1312
Email: [email protected]
www.jaggedpeak.com
©2014 Jagged Peak, Inc. All rights reserved.