Converting visitors to customers

Simple Websites

It is very important that the online retailer makes the purchase as simple and trustworthy as possible.

The online retail store should allow a customer to navigate the store easily. This can be achieved with good design and navigation. There must be clear directions as to how to purchase online.

The retailer should promote online purchasing as, by doing anything to encourage the consumer to leave the store before making the purchase, you are increasing the likelihood of the consumer not closing the transaction.

It must be easy for the customer to track and review his/her purchases using good shopping cart software. The customer should be allowed to delete products from the cart at anytime.

The customer should also be allowed to exit the store when s/he wishes. The retailer should include contact information to reassure customers, to allow easy contact and to facilitate offline sales as an alternative.

Abandoned Shopping Carts

Industry studies estimate that up to 75 percent of Web consumers abandon their shopping carts before making purchases online.

By understanding the online shopping experience that their customers have on the Web, retailers can increase the effectiveness of their ecommerce offering.

The key reasons include:

	Concerns about privacy or security
	High or unexpected delivery charges
	The overall price is too high
	Some save the purchase until later
	The buying process is too long
	The site or cart appears unstable or unreliable
	The checkout process is confusing
	Shoppers compare prices or products over a number of sites before completing the purchase

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Cross Promote and Up Sell

The time to increase the value of a transaction is when the customer is about to complete his or her purchase. Then they are at their most receptive to an additional offer.

For example, cross promote by offering an additional related item - "you've bought a widget so how about buying a widget holder?" Perhaps the cross promoted item could come at a discount.

Up sell by offering an alternative but better product or service at a once off discount. Either way you will increase the transaction value.

Counter Security Concerns

Customers value and expect to do business with professionals who care about keeping their data confidential. Your efforts can range from simply developing and posting a Privacy Policy to a complex set of security tools and procedures.

The level of effort is based on the value of the data and type of transactions taking place at your site. If you are conducting transactions that have your customer entering credit card data the use of encryption methods will ensure the protection of your customer's data.

Many of your customers will tend to lump all of their concerns under the term security. Their main concerns will include:

	fraud - which is countered by integrity, i.e. some form of encryption that encodes information.
	alteration of their data - which is countered by authentication of the data, typically by introducing a Digital Certificate that verifies the identify of the user.
	privacy - which is countered by sound internal security combined with an effective firewall to keep out unauthorised visitors.