ECOMMERCE BEST PRACTICES. Optimizing the User Experience

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1 ECOMMERCE BEST PRACTICES Optimizing the User Experience

2 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. 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. 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

3 IS STILL IMPORTANT Stay in touch with customers through s about special offers and new products, and consider creating a newsletter. Include a newsletter sign up and product update forms on content and catalog pages Offer customers the option of ing 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 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. 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, 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. 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

4 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. 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 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

5 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. 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. 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

6 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. 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. 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, , 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

7 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. 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, 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. 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. Manage error messaging and display through EDGE Agile CMS platform

8 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). 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. 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 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

9 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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

10 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. 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. 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

11 Contact Jagged Peak today to speak to an experienced ecommerce professional. Jagged Peak, Inc Bayport Drive, Suite 250 Tampa, Fl USA Telephone: Toll-free: Jagged Peak, Inc. All rights reserved.