Last week we discussed the fact that consumers are increasingly using websites and mobile apps to research gifts or directly fulfill their holiday shopping needs. It became clear that marketers will want to put more money and consideration than usual into online advertisements. But what if you’re an online retailer – or e-tailer – looking to capitalize on this increase in online spending? After all, there are numerous sites to compete with once a consumer has broadened his or her sites to the entirety of the Internet. Simply having the lowest prices or flash deals isn’t enough by itself anymore. Below are some tips on designing your e-commerce website to draw in the shoppers this holiday season.
• Recommend users to items they might like based on what they’ve browsed and bought in the past.
• Store shoppers’ profile and purchasing information to make it easy to checkout with multiple purchases and multiple visits.
• Your search function should operate quickly and intuitively to help users narrow down a wide array of items based on parameters they select.
• As always, strong menus are important to help website visitors quickly locate the items they’re seeking on your pages.
• You also need easy-to-use tools and procedures for clicking through pages – this is especially true of your checkout process.
• Recently, consumers have responded well to e-commerce websites with reviews and rankings from other shoppers who have previously purchases the item they’re considering.
• Last but not least, attractive pictures and plenty of useful stats and specs on items help shoppers make informed choices.
These suggestions operate like virtual sales associates who can help simplify and allow them to comparison shop. After all, the reason most people are shifting their shopping to the Internet is for increased convenience – so it only makes sense to indulge them through layouts and technological additions that will make shopping easy and cheap.