E-commerce

Discussion articles

  • 10 ways to improve the usability of your ecommerce site
    "More and more money is being spent online as consumers switch to shopping on the web. Yet so many websites don't seem to have considered the usability of their ecommerce site and of their ordering process, resulting in users prematurely giving up and abandoning their shopping basket. Here are ten ways to improve the usability of your ecommerce site, so that you can maximise your conversion rate and help convert the contents of users' shopping baskets into orders."
    (Neil Turner)

  • Amazon: no longer the role model for e-commerce design
    "Many design elements work for Amazon.com mainly because of its status as the world's largest and most established e-commerce site. Normal sites should not copy Amazon's design."
    (Jakob Nielsen)

  • Ask once and remember
    Have you ever tried to place an order with a salesperson or waiter and found yourself answering the same questions over and over again? There are many sites on the web where this occurs, such as those with product locator searches, shopping carts, and other functions that are supposed to make websites more interactive.

  • Attract and keep your customers: site design tips to improve your sales
    Research has long shown that the leading factor in persuading shoppers to buy from an e-commerce website is ease of navigation. If usability is the key to a better bottom line, then what specifically will improve your site's ease of use? For that, we turn to the preeminent figure in the field of user-friendly online design, Dr. Jakob Nielsen.

  • B2B: help your fans convince their bosses
    "B2B websites must support a more complex buying process than B2C sites. Three key goals are to make a buyer's shortlist, offer a downloadable advocacy kit, and build a reputation for great service."
    (Jakob Nielsen, Alertbox)

  • B2B usability
    "User testing shows that business-to-business websites have substantially lower usability than mainstream consumer sites. If they want to convert more prospects into leads, B2B sites should follow more guidelines and make it easier for prospects to research their offerings."
    (Jakob Nielsen, Alertbox)

  • Beyond the buy button in ecommerce
    The best way for ecommerce sites to increase subsequent orders is to treat customers well after they place their initial order.

  • Big boxes and shoppertainment: more lessons for web design from mall and retail design
    In part two, the author explores several tactical issues in structuring and presenting content on the web, again looking to traditional retail design for inspiration.

  • Business-centred web design: designing websites that sell
    In traditional user-centred design, focus is on users' needs and their use of the product, while marketing is left to the marketing department. On the web, usability and marketing go hand in hand. Whether commercial or not, a web site has to meet the need of its users and at the same time convince them to take action, for the objectives behind the site to be meet.

  • Can internet shoppers be described by personality traits?
    Are there shared traits among online users that are more influential on buying behaviour than just one's gender or age?

  • Confusion zones in the navigation of online retail sites
    "A basic requirement of any e-commerce site is to enable customers to find whatever product they're looking for, quickly and effortlessly. However, we found at least one 'confusion zone' within the navigation pathways of every one of the 15 leading online retail sites we analysed. These will certainly be damaging sales but may also be damaging each site's entire online brand image."
    (Mike Baxter)

  • Consumers on the web: identification of usage patterns
    Consumers are increasingly integrating the web into their daily life. Research has addressed customer preferences, marketing implications of digitisation, and human interaction with electronic environments. Published longitudinal research on how consumers use the Internet in their daily life is relatively scarce. It is in this area that the present study positions itself. The purpose is to explore what characterises consumer actions on the Web and what kind of usage patterns emerge.

  • Customer support on the web
    "Customers avoid web-based customer support if information is not relevant, out of date or hard to find. Without a business commitment to addressing these issues, customers will continue to prefer contacting a service representative by phone."
    (Daniel Szuc and Gerry Gaffney)

  • Deceivingly strong information scent costs sales
    Users will often overlook the actual location of information or products if another website area seems like the perfect place to look. Cross-references and clear labels alleviate this problem.

  • Designing for real people: additional lessons for web design from mall and retail design
    Just as a vacation in an unfamiliar culture can build a new sense of resolve and purpose upon the return home, this "visit" to malls and retailing can help reinvigorate you and your work and give you new ideas and sources of inspiration.

  • E-bill usability
    People are increasingly relying on web channels to check on their billing relationship with companies, but not all billing applications present information that's easy to navigate and action. Based on recent work on an E-bill application, this article discusses the issues and findings to consider when presenting online billing information.

  • E-commerce mainstream, measurements lacking
    The Internet has become as legitimate as any other sales channel for most of the 300 executive respondents to the e-tailing group's annual merchant survey, suggesting that e-commerce is as mainstream as a trip to a local mall. However, despite e-businesses' increasing awareness of the online challenges, 19 percent of the survey participants do not know their conversion rates and 47 percent do not know their shopping cart abandonment rates.

  • From bricks to clicks: building customer trust in the online environment
    Although many designers and e-commerce merchants don't appreciate it, transacting on the Internet is very different from shopping at the mall for most consumers. Bricks and mortar establishments provide a variety of explicit cues conveying information about the professionalism and competence of the staff. E-commerce transactions are disembedded interactions. There is no building or staff to evaluate. There are only pictures of merchandise.

  • From brick to click - bridging the divide part 1 of 7: understanding e-commerce
    We have only barely begun to take advantage of the opportunity presented by e-commerce. Even though there are signs of progress the vast potential of digital commerce remains untapped. What can we do to bridge that divide, to help move purchasers and companies away from brick and over to click?

  • From brick to click - bridging the divide part 2 of 7: effective virtual salespeople
    Salespeople add real value to the experience of shopping in a traditional store. They answer questions. They provide insight and advice. They represent a human connection, the direct interaction that not only makes the process of shopping more pleasant, but also engenders trust in the store and the product--increasing the likelihood of a purchase.Existing e-commerce sites certainly attempt to address these issues. Let's explore some of their current methods and analyse the strengths and weaknesses apparent in each.

  • From brick to click - bridging the divide part 3 of 7: e-commerce and experience design
    Physical environments provide the opportunity to create lush solutions that deeply affect the five human senses. These simply cannot be replicated on the web. How can we touch all of the senses on the web, and what is the process to go from where you are today to realising those solutions?

  • From brick to click - bridging the divide part 4 of 7: mastering virtual customer service
    The lack of physical, human interaction puts e-commerce at an inherent disadvantage from traditional commerce in so many ways, one of the subtler being our neglecting to focus on properly taking care of ongoing service.

  • From brick to click - bridging the divide part 5 of 7: providing immediate gratification
    The factors that culminate in people wanting something now, essentially demanding instant gratification, are important to eCommerce providers who hope to create a differentiated business model.

  • Galleries - the hardest working page on your site
    "The galleries -- the list of links to content -- are your site's hardest working pages. They are the final page that separates those users who find the content they are seeking from the users who won't. A well-designed gallery page will drive users to success every time. A poorly-designed site will only serve to drive users away."
    (Jared M Spool - User Interface Engineering)

  • Good information architecture increases online sales
    The creation of an effective shopping cart--and everything else that's related to the buying experience--poses challenges that are very different from programming the site. These issues can be addressed by applying the basic principles of information architecture, which offer several tools to refine the process and ensure that the overall business objectives of the site are met.

  • Inconspicuous consumption: lessons for web design from mall and retail design
    The similarities between web design and retail shops, suggest that the retail environment, which has centuries of experience behind it, might have a few lessons to teach those of us in the emerging discipline of web design.

  • Informational articles must ask for the order
    Unless you have explicit links to product pages from article content, users who visit articles directly from search engines might never realise that you sell related products.

  • Introducing the customer-centric worldview
    Whether online or offline, customers now have unparalleled power to research and transact with companies exactly when, where, and how they choose. There is a new worldview at work that companies must either embrace, or ignore at their peril.

  • Less: what customers really want
    You can create value for customers by stripping away the obstacles that surround your products and services: the unwanted junk mail, the unnecessary--and wasteful--repetition, the unwelcoming attitude of overstressed employees, and the senseless bureaucracy that attemtps to take root in nearly every human organisation.

  • Majority of US consumers research online, buy offline
    There are those who walk into a store not knowing what they may find. Then, there are those that come in to a retailer already knowing exactly what they want because they've done their product research online. Forrester Research has a name for it: "cross-channel shopping." It's rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with. Cross-channel shoppers actually comprise the majority of all online consumers, 65 percent in 2004. Of these, 51 percent are characterized as active cross-channel shoppers who made at least one purchase in the past three months. The trend is bound to continue; the number of new cross-channel shoppers in the past year was 30 percent.

  • Microsoft B2B site case study
    In February 2004, Microsoft UK launched Advisor, an extranet targeted at business and technical decision makers in the mid-market. The end product was the result of over a year of research, planning, design, development and pilot testing. A number of theories were floated around as to why "Call Me" wasn't getting the usage we anticipated. Someone had the bright idea of asking the customers. It was one of the most intensive and thorough design processes I have been involved with. I learned a great deal along the way about how to create an offering that really meets customer needs. It is these learning points I want to share because I believe the design principles can be applied to practically any kind of Web development project.

  • Online retail user experience benchmarks 2004
    "The study focuses on 15 of the most popular retail sites in the UK and compares them, side by side, against a variety of metrics. Top online shopping websites featured include Amazon, Argos, Tesco, Figleaves, johnlewis.com, Carphone Warehouse, Dialaphone, O2 and dabs."
    Note: report must be purchased
    (e-Consultancy)

  • Online retail user experience benchmarks 2006
    "E-commerce has come a long way in the 18 months or so since we published our first Online Retail User Experience Benchmarks study. So what do online, offline and multichannel retailers need to know about the consumer internet habits in 2006? Is there such as thing as "E-commerce 2.0"?"
    Note: report must be purchased
    (e-Consultancy)

  • Prepare for the holiday shopping season
    Many B2C sites make a disproportionate share of their profits in Q4. If the holiday shopping season is important to your company, the following seven last-chance tips can help you get your site in shape for the holidays while there's still time.

  • Putting a face on B2B websites
    How do you lead your business-to-business clients down the right path without sacrificing every design, usability, and information design principle you've ever learned? And how do you make these websites engaging for users? Nancy Carl offers advice for creating successful B2B websites.

  • Show prices for common scenarios
    "B2B sites often have overly complex pricing structures or can't show prices at all. To help prospects with early research, list representative cases and their prices."
    (Jakob Nielsen, Alertbox)

  • Supporting customers' decision-making process
    When people buy things, they engage in a decision-making process. Research shows that one of the major problems with commerce sites is that they fail in supporting the customers in this process. By understanding their needs and concerns as they progress through the decision-making cycle, we can build better and more successful commerce sites.

  • Technology and trust: the evolution of e-commerce
    More than having a negative impact on the brands of offending companies, poorly implemented e-commerce actually serves to impair the industry as a whole, reducing trust in the technology and medium.

  • The customer sieve
    We've learned that using a website is a progressive process. Each user transitions from one stage to the next, as they work to accomplish their goal. The stages act as a sieve: each stage inadvertently filtering shoppers out before they reach the next stage. By focusing on this filtering, we can see more users accomplish their goals.

  • The new look of e-commerce: the customer experience
    The key to improving customer experience is to understand and cater to the expectations and needs of your online customers. A good first step often involves usability testing, where customers sit down and react to the site based on their goals. Surveys and focus groups are less effective.

  • The time lag between visiting and buying
    "Users often convert to buyers long after their initial visit to a website. A full 5% of orders occur more than four weeks after users click on search engine ads."
    (Jakob Nielsen)

  • Top 10 reasons not to shop online
    With all the hype at the coming of web commerce, web sales still pale in comparison to bricks-and-mortar, and for good reason. Commercial websites are still, in the main, scary, difficult, and undependable. Here, Bruce Tognazzini outlines the top 10 reasons why users are better off going to the physical store.

Research articles

  • From interactions to transactions: designing the trust experience for business-to-consumer electronic commerce
    Business-to-consumer electronic commerce on the Internet has revolutionised the purchase of products and services by giving consumers round the clock access to worldwide providers. However, B2C e-commerce has also shown to be associated with a myriad of factors hindering adoption and usage by private customers. Such factors include concerns regarding security and privacy, the unfamiliarity of some online services, lack of direct interaction with products, salespeople and fellow shoppers and the generally low credibility of online information. These factors were collectively defined as "trust issues", as they refer to a purchase decision customers have to make in a situation of uncertainty and risk.
    (Florian N. Egger)

  • Preliminary examination of global expectations of users' mental models for e-commerce web layouts
    Preliminary results of an online global survey to investigate user expectations of standard e-commerce web objects are presented. The web objects included Back to Home, Advertisements, Internal Links, External Links, Shopping Cart, and Help. Participants were asked to position each object on a blank web page in the location where they would expect it to be found. Comparisons of the responses from users from four geographical areas worldwide show that, in general, participants had similar expectations on the location of the web objects. Implications for designers of international websites are discussed.

Presentations

  • The psychology of e-commerce: choice overload and other paradoxes
    "People generally believe that the quality of personal freedom goes up every time the range of available options increases in quantity. Although there are certainly situations where "more is more," the number of consumer choices on the Internet overwhelms even the most vigorous surfer. Psychologists have documented numerous paradoxes that pop up when people are free to pursue their own preferences. Surprisingly, more choice does not necessarily lead to better decisions. And because of inconsistencies and biases in decision-making, situations that increase the range of options often cause people to feel less satisfied about the choices they make. This talk will review recent research relevant to the design of purchasing choices presented through the web. Besides cataloguing the kinds of mistakes people typically make, information architects and designers can glean tips in how to help people deal with choice-overload."
    (Paul Whitmore - E*Trade)

Books and book reviews

  • E-commerce usability
    This website is for people who want to improve the usability of their e-commerce site. It accompanies the book E-commerce Usability, but you don't need to own the book to get some value from the site.