Geoffrey Grow says, “The rise of e-commerce offers consumers better access to goods, lower prices and an improved shopping experience—these are just some of the many benefits driving growth in the $1 trillion global e-commerce industry. From a business perspective, e-commerce gives exposure to a larger audience than could be reached with traditional retailing. However, it can also expose businesses and their customers to serious data risks. Businesses have the responsibility of collecting and transmitting private information from consumers; therefore, these retailers must be aware of... [...]

Greg Wise says, “Remember that old game show, Let’s Make a Deal? Contestants were given the choice between a prize they could see—such as $1,000 right here, right now—and a prize they couldn’t. Let’s see what’s behind door number two! While we watched at home, yelling at the contestant for being so stupid as to give up the certain prize for the cheap toaster that inevitably waited behind the closed door, we still knew deep down that we’d have taken the chance on the possibility of a bigger prize. It’s the same anticipation that drives us to play the lottery—to give up our... [...]

Corey Beale says, “Designing and developing an ecommerce website seems pretty straightforward, doesn’t it? Display the products and prices, provide a shopping cart and payment portals, and you’re done. Or are you? A simple ecommerce site may be easy enough to launch, but will it reach all your buyers at any time? With so many different shopping styles and personalities out there, you can be sure your simplified design leaves a chunk of buyers out in the cold. How can you plan for the many different shoppers so that you can be prepared to convert them to customers at any time? We’ve... [...]

Gregg Crystal says, “The adage “patience is a virtue” doesn’t apply online. Even a one-second delay can drastically reduce pageviews, customer satisfaction and drop conversions. The speed of your site even affects your organic search rankings. Since 2010, Google has been accounting for a site speed in its algorithm. So what’s the biggest factor contributing to your page speed? Size. It takes browsers time to download the code that makes up your page. It has to download your HTML, your stylesheets, your scripts and your images. It can take a while to download all that data“. 5... [...]

Paul Rouke says, “In previous articles I have discussed my admiration for the online experiences offered by the likes of ASOS, Booking.com and (yes, honestly) Lingscars.com. Now it is time to add another online experience to the pantheon of greats; the phenomenal ecommerce experience that is AO.com (formerly Appliances Online). My opinion is that AO.com is among the most customer-centric retailers I have had the pleasure of knowing in more than 15 years working in the ecommerce industry. Background I first became aware of AO.com back in 2008, when Matthew Lawson contacted PRWD concerning... [...]

Morgan Jacobson says, “Nothing about running an ecommerce website is straightforward and easy. The goal is, of course, to present a product, entice buyers to purchase, and then process the payment. This is how even the most basic ecommerce site should run. For those that really want to increase sales through the use of psychology and maybe even a little wheedling, there are some other tactics you can adopt. A/B Testing Absolutely every aspect of your site could be tested for improvement, including images, headlines, product descriptions, and even the overall design. Even if you think you’re... [...]

Ryan Nicholson says, “There is another dimension beyond which is known to most marketers. It is a dimension that is vast and chaotic and as timeless as the sales process itself. It is the middle ground between the introduction and the close, between engagement and disengagement, it lies between the deepest of our marketing fears and the heights of our marketing knowledge. This is the 4th dimension of the sales funnel. It is an area which we’ll call… The Sales Continuum. We all have a concept of the sales funnel. It fits nicely into a very linear framework of time. The human mind loves... [...]

Greg Wise says, “Getting people to spend money online is easier than ever, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy for everyone. There are still plenty of consumers out there who aren’t comfy passing along financial information, no matter how secure the transactions get. One small slip, and you could turn them off of shopping with you for good. So, how can you get your visitors to trust you enough to convert to customers? Here are some tips to help. Updated Design Anyone who shops online is familiar enough with websites to recognize old or bad design. If you haven’t updated your design lately,... [...]

Kath Pay says, “When creating and optimising our ecommerce customer journey, not only do we need to ensure that we make this as frictionless as possible, but also that we make it as persuasive as possible. Our journey today When creating and optimising our ecommerce customer journey, not only do we need to ensure that we have made this as frictionless and easy to use journey as possible, but also that we have made this journey as persuasive as possible. Working Psychology defines Persuasion as being: Persuasion attempts to win “the heart and mind” of the target. Thus persuasion... [...]

Zia Daniell Wigder says, “In last year’s global eCommerce predictions report, we wrote that in 2015, cross-border eCommerce would become “more seamless and less apparent to shoppers”. We’ve started to embark on this path: Today consumers around the world have access to growing selection of products as more retailers make their offerings available to shoppers in other countries. My colleague Michelle Beeson recently documented that cross-border sales in Europe alone will reach €40 billion by 2018. Retailers that haven’t yet started to ship cross-border—and those that... [...]