by Cadyna M.
Ecommerce has become one of the mainstays for online players and the double digit growth figures tell a good story. Year-on-Year growth in global ecommerce has been growing at more than 40% per annum. Though the data provided above is a bit dated, the growth has slowed down only by a few points and that does not really matter as the absolute figure now runs into '00s of billion dollars. Some of the encouraging signs for this growth stem from the fact that:
1) Many brick and mortar services such as financial services have moved on to the internet in a big way in the last few years. Banking, trading and a whole gamut of online financial services have helped increase the growth of online commerce.
2) Steady investments have gone into making the internet a secure place to transact in. Secured servers, encryption technology have made online transaction safer than they were 5 years ago. Other than that, increase in broadband availability, city-level Wi-Fi networks (specially in the US) have made it possible for users to access the internet very easily.
3) Small businesses are yet to go online and make ecommerce an important aspect of their bottom-line. In September 2007, Small Business Research Board eCommerce Study further confirmed the fact that 30% of small businesses were expecting online sales to increase significantly in the next 12 to 24 months.
America continues to lead in the ecommerce race with more and more Americans booking travel, completing their financial transactions and buying day-to-day needs online. However, Europe and most of Asia are fast catching up to the ecommerce phenomenon and is likely to speed in the next couple of years
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Changing trends in eCommerce
by CADYNA M.
Throughout the world, eCommerce spending is increasing at a steady clip and is expected to exceed $7 trillion in 2008. As consumers increasingly opt for virtual stores over traditional brick-and-mortar ones, the manner in which buyers and sellers interact is also undergoing a paradigm shift. James Kuczmarski has an inserting take on this changing phenomenon, which he expressed in the business magazine Fast Company (April 2008). A quick look at his views on the matter:
• A survey was conducted by Pui-lai To (writing in Technovation) with an intention to discover why consumers were increasingly shifting online to address their buying needs. Pui-lai distributed questionnaires relating to shopping incentives to over 200 students and workers from Taiwan. Cost, convenience and the variety of selection were the expected answers; but what was new was the satisfaction of the users while using this new technology and the sense of adventure associated with trying out this new mode of shopping. Pui-lai calls these "hedonistic motivations"; and it was also noticed that consumers prone to these kinds of motivations had an inclination toward impulse buying when online. Knowing this, online sellers are designing their websites in such a manner that appeals to the sense of adventure and technological competence of these buyers.
• Looks matter! While many consumers are still concerned about online security and poor vendor reliability, it has been noticed that these concerns are generally reduced when the customers comes across well-designed websites. They are more comfortable while buying form sites that project an aura of professionalism. Also, trust increases when the website is easy to navigate and is user-friendly in other ways (e.g, uses rich web applications intelligently). Comfort leads to an increase in the trust factor, which ultimately leads to more purchases.
• Negative reviews can easily be overruled by positive experiences. In the online world, perceptions are volatile and prone to change fast. So even if a vendor has got a not-so-good review, the effects can be negated if the Internet shoppers have a positive, personal experience.
eCommerce, in spite of its recent gains, is still in its infancy. As more people come online, the more will the dynamics between the buyer and the seller change. But one thing seems certain – online shopping is growing fast, and there’s no turning back!
Throughout the world, eCommerce spending is increasing at a steady clip and is expected to exceed $7 trillion in 2008. As consumers increasingly opt for virtual stores over traditional brick-and-mortar ones, the manner in which buyers and sellers interact is also undergoing a paradigm shift. James Kuczmarski has an inserting take on this changing phenomenon, which he expressed in the business magazine Fast Company (April 2008). A quick look at his views on the matter:
• A survey was conducted by Pui-lai To (writing in Technovation) with an intention to discover why consumers were increasingly shifting online to address their buying needs. Pui-lai distributed questionnaires relating to shopping incentives to over 200 students and workers from Taiwan. Cost, convenience and the variety of selection were the expected answers; but what was new was the satisfaction of the users while using this new technology and the sense of adventure associated with trying out this new mode of shopping. Pui-lai calls these "hedonistic motivations"; and it was also noticed that consumers prone to these kinds of motivations had an inclination toward impulse buying when online. Knowing this, online sellers are designing their websites in such a manner that appeals to the sense of adventure and technological competence of these buyers.
• Looks matter! While many consumers are still concerned about online security and poor vendor reliability, it has been noticed that these concerns are generally reduced when the customers comes across well-designed websites. They are more comfortable while buying form sites that project an aura of professionalism. Also, trust increases when the website is easy to navigate and is user-friendly in other ways (e.g, uses rich web applications intelligently). Comfort leads to an increase in the trust factor, which ultimately leads to more purchases.
• Negative reviews can easily be overruled by positive experiences. In the online world, perceptions are volatile and prone to change fast. So even if a vendor has got a not-so-good review, the effects can be negated if the Internet shoppers have a positive, personal experience.
eCommerce, in spite of its recent gains, is still in its infancy. As more people come online, the more will the dynamics between the buyer and the seller change. But one thing seems certain – online shopping is growing fast, and there’s no turning back!
Monday, December 8, 2008
eCommerce Tips
eCommerce Tips
The 5 Habits of Highly Effective eCommerce Stores
by register.com - WEB BUSINESS MONTHLY Newsletter
1. Think like a consumer, and put your products in more than one category. The online businesses that make their goods and services easy to find reap rewards in two ways: People purchase more and they experience greater overall satisfaction with the Web site. Consider up sell and cross sell opportunities by offering products that make logical sense together. If you sell paintings and frames, show the frames that best complement the paintings. If you sell a line of products that have a wide range of prices, show the progression from the least expensive to the most expensive. Customers may choose to purchase the higher priced items if they're presented as options.
2. Keep it simple. Many people cite overly complicated navigation or too many pages in the purchase path as reasons they don't complete their online sale or abandon their shopping cart. Successful eCommerce sites simplify the checkout process and display clear pricing and shipping information. They also post clear return policies and access to customer service. Putting your brick and mortar store's phone number in a visible place on your Web site is a good idea. Studies suggest that consumers feel more confident knowing you're just a phone call away if they have a question or if there's a problem with their order.
3. A picture really is worth a thousand words, so use photos of your products and go easy on the text. Online usability studies suggest that people do not read; they scan. It's 25% harder to read on the Web, so keep these guidelines in mind for optimum readability: Headlines should be 8 words or less, shoot for 9-12 words on a line (people don't want to read across the entire screen), keep sentences short (15-20 words) and try to keep summaries under 30 words and hold paragraphs to 40-70 words. In this way you can maintain compelling product descriptions alongside your product offerings.
4. Market your site once it's live. It's not enough to just build a Web site. You need to make an effort to market and promote your Web site to new and existing customers. Collect email addresses on your site to help you keep in touch with customers and consider creating a newsletter. Seek links from other sites that complement yours. Optimize your site's content for relevance and submit it to the major search engines. With ProStore, you've got an incredible built-in marketing opportunity in that you can promote your products to millions of eBay customers. Take advantage of this capability to reach a whole new set of customers.
5. Make payment processing easy. Online shoppers need a way to give you money online. That's easy these days. You can accept credit card payments with either a PayPal account or an online merchant account. PayPal is ideal for anyone trying out the eCommerce waters since there's less of an upfront commitment, but you may end up paying more per transaction. If you know from the beginning you're going to have strong sales and lots of online transactions each month, you may want to consider setting up an online merchant account. The thing to note about PayPal is that both the buyer and the seller need a PayPal account, but that's hardly a barrier to entry. It's so easy to create a PayPal account that more than 96 million consumer accounts have been created at PayPal since it was founded in 1998 and it's estimated that PayPal has a 24% share of all U.S. online payments.
The 5 Habits of Highly Effective eCommerce Stores
by register.com - WEB BUSINESS MONTHLY Newsletter
1. Think like a consumer, and put your products in more than one category. The online businesses that make their goods and services easy to find reap rewards in two ways: People purchase more and they experience greater overall satisfaction with the Web site. Consider up sell and cross sell opportunities by offering products that make logical sense together. If you sell paintings and frames, show the frames that best complement the paintings. If you sell a line of products that have a wide range of prices, show the progression from the least expensive to the most expensive. Customers may choose to purchase the higher priced items if they're presented as options.
2. Keep it simple. Many people cite overly complicated navigation or too many pages in the purchase path as reasons they don't complete their online sale or abandon their shopping cart. Successful eCommerce sites simplify the checkout process and display clear pricing and shipping information. They also post clear return policies and access to customer service. Putting your brick and mortar store's phone number in a visible place on your Web site is a good idea. Studies suggest that consumers feel more confident knowing you're just a phone call away if they have a question or if there's a problem with their order.
3. A picture really is worth a thousand words, so use photos of your products and go easy on the text. Online usability studies suggest that people do not read; they scan. It's 25% harder to read on the Web, so keep these guidelines in mind for optimum readability: Headlines should be 8 words or less, shoot for 9-12 words on a line (people don't want to read across the entire screen), keep sentences short (15-20 words) and try to keep summaries under 30 words and hold paragraphs to 40-70 words. In this way you can maintain compelling product descriptions alongside your product offerings.
4. Market your site once it's live. It's not enough to just build a Web site. You need to make an effort to market and promote your Web site to new and existing customers. Collect email addresses on your site to help you keep in touch with customers and consider creating a newsletter. Seek links from other sites that complement yours. Optimize your site's content for relevance and submit it to the major search engines. With ProStore, you've got an incredible built-in marketing opportunity in that you can promote your products to millions of eBay customers. Take advantage of this capability to reach a whole new set of customers.
5. Make payment processing easy. Online shoppers need a way to give you money online. That's easy these days. You can accept credit card payments with either a PayPal account or an online merchant account. PayPal is ideal for anyone trying out the eCommerce waters since there's less of an upfront commitment, but you may end up paying more per transaction. If you know from the beginning you're going to have strong sales and lots of online transactions each month, you may want to consider setting up an online merchant account. The thing to note about PayPal is that both the buyer and the seller need a PayPal account, but that's hardly a barrier to entry. It's so easy to create a PayPal account that more than 96 million consumer accounts have been created at PayPal since it was founded in 1998 and it's estimated that PayPal has a 24% share of all U.S. online payments.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Best Hosting - IMHO
Media Temple has been wonderful. Most tech issues are answered within a few hours. I am hosting serveral websites and have had zero down time. Impressive!!
15 e-commerce Tips
#1 - Where am I?
Whenever a user is navigating inside a store with more than 1 sub-level of navigation, it's critical to show them where in the site structure they are. This should be accomplished with headlines, sub-headers and breadcrumbs (e.g. Home > Category > Sub-Category > Product).
#2 - Navigation
When a user starts to "narrow" their navigation inside a particular category (in this case by selecting a specific designer), it's only right to allow them to remove those navigation selections rather than forcing the use of repetitive "back button" clicks.
#3 - Allow Sorting
The standards are "Price - low to high," "Price - high to low," "Popularity," aka "Best Selling," "Featured," "User Ratings" and "New" or "Latest."
#4 - Show the Products
Unless you've got more than 200 products total in a sub-category, it's only right to offer the user the option of seeing every product on one page.
#5 - Refining Options
If you can provide the user with a useful refinement option, you've made their experience better. In the instance of sizing, this is particularly important, as users loathe finding that "perfect" piece of apparel, only to discover you don't carry it in their size.
#6 - The More Specifics, the Better
#7 serves to illustrate a difference between refining your browsing in a section vs. navigating to a new sub-category. Offering the latter as an option where relevant and valuable is a wise decision.
#7 - What does it Costs & What I'm Saving?
Some product category pages shows items without the detail users are craving. It's particularly important for discount sites to show pricing, but nearly every website can benefit from providing an extra bit of detail before the click to the product page. Tell them materials, give a tiny description or list the sizes/colors/options you have in stock.
#8 - Search Bar Access
When a search has been performed, don't just show the search and the results, do like the engines and make the search bar front and center, while maintaining the user's query in the box for potential modification.
#9 - Search Refinement Options
If you have an advanced search system, or can allow users to select prices, options, colors, sizes, models, do it. Your bottom line will thank you - users often rate "search" as the most frustrating part of many e-commerce sites.
#10 - Critical Information
Many products are designed to "fit" certain criteria, whether it's a laptop or a body with clothes. In every instance of potential matches, show the critical information in the product details.
#11 - Stock Availability
There are still sites out there that let you click "add to cart" or even "checkout" before discovering the awful truth - not in stock.
#12 - More Photos
Since you don't get to see the item in real life, photos, reviews, videos and even fancy, 3D interfaces are invaluable to helping the user feel like they've "experienced" the product prior to purchase.
#13 - Delivery Options and Return Policies
It's best to make the link obvious in the permanent navigation.
#14 - Email Receipt
Rather than leaving customers in the dark, notify them immediately of the order via email.
#15 - Give All the Order Details ASAP
When you send out order confirmations, make sure to include all of the product details to re-assure the buyer that they've selected properly. If I accidentally ordered the size 9 instead of size 8, I want to be able to fix it before the package arrives.
Whenever a user is navigating inside a store with more than 1 sub-level of navigation, it's critical to show them where in the site structure they are. This should be accomplished with headlines, sub-headers and breadcrumbs (e.g. Home > Category > Sub-Category > Product).
#2 - Navigation
When a user starts to "narrow" their navigation inside a particular category (in this case by selecting a specific designer), it's only right to allow them to remove those navigation selections rather than forcing the use of repetitive "back button" clicks.
#3 - Allow Sorting
The standards are "Price - low to high," "Price - high to low," "Popularity," aka "Best Selling," "Featured," "User Ratings" and "New" or "Latest."
#4 - Show the Products
Unless you've got more than 200 products total in a sub-category, it's only right to offer the user the option of seeing every product on one page.
#5 - Refining Options
If you can provide the user with a useful refinement option, you've made their experience better. In the instance of sizing, this is particularly important, as users loathe finding that "perfect" piece of apparel, only to discover you don't carry it in their size.
#6 - The More Specifics, the Better
#7 serves to illustrate a difference between refining your browsing in a section vs. navigating to a new sub-category. Offering the latter as an option where relevant and valuable is a wise decision.
#7 - What does it Costs & What I'm Saving?
Some product category pages shows items without the detail users are craving. It's particularly important for discount sites to show pricing, but nearly every website can benefit from providing an extra bit of detail before the click to the product page. Tell them materials, give a tiny description or list the sizes/colors/options you have in stock.
#8 - Search Bar Access
When a search has been performed, don't just show the search and the results, do like the engines and make the search bar front and center, while maintaining the user's query in the box for potential modification.
#9 - Search Refinement Options
If you have an advanced search system, or can allow users to select prices, options, colors, sizes, models, do it. Your bottom line will thank you - users often rate "search" as the most frustrating part of many e-commerce sites.
#10 - Critical Information
Many products are designed to "fit" certain criteria, whether it's a laptop or a body with clothes. In every instance of potential matches, show the critical information in the product details.
#11 - Stock Availability
There are still sites out there that let you click "add to cart" or even "checkout" before discovering the awful truth - not in stock.
#12 - More Photos
Since you don't get to see the item in real life, photos, reviews, videos and even fancy, 3D interfaces are invaluable to helping the user feel like they've "experienced" the product prior to purchase.
#13 - Delivery Options and Return Policies
It's best to make the link obvious in the permanent navigation.
#14 - Email Receipt
Rather than leaving customers in the dark, notify them immediately of the order via email.
#15 - Give All the Order Details ASAP
When you send out order confirmations, make sure to include all of the product details to re-assure the buyer that they've selected properly. If I accidentally ordered the size 9 instead of size 8, I want to be able to fix it before the package arrives.
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