You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as
bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated - send to: diana@ohiohelp.netHow to Increase Sales with Automation Improvements
How popular is online shopping? And is there room for improvement? Let’s check out some pros and cons of automated shopping and see.
Digital carts offer convenience for people around globe 24 hours a day. Yet an estimated 4 percent of shoppers make purchases, up from 3.5 percent in 2003, reported by DoubleClick, an online marketing company.
And approximately 30 percent of shopping carts are abandoned, according to recent surveys by BizRate.com, a shopping search engine.
The main reasons for shopping cart abandonment are*:
·High shipping prices (72%) ·Comparison shopping or browsing (61%) ·Changed mind (56%) ·Saving items for later purchase (51%) ·Total cost of items is too high (43%) ·Checkout process is too long (41%) ·Checkout requires too much personal information (35%) ·Site requires registration before purchase (34%) ·Site is unstable or unreliable (31%) ·Checkout process is confusing (27%)
To decrease shopping cart abandonment and increase sales, simple minor improvements in automation can be highly effective. Here are some tips that work best for clients and workers alike of OhioHelp.net, an Ohio-based company that specializes in helping businesses worldwide with their marketing, public relations and freelance writing services.
TOP TIPS FROM OHIOHELP.NET
1.Calculate all handling charges and fees in with your price whenever possible, so that you can offer no-cost shipping. And check for specials like Flat Rate packages with Priority Shipping.
2.Don’t have people pre-register, fill out lengthy forms, wait for email confirmation, find their password / user ID and figure out how to log in again and continue to fill out more detailed forms and click through a half-dozen pages. Ugh! People want to shop, buy and go. Period.
3.On EVERY page of your site, shopping cart, receipt and Thank You or other automated reply, list complete contact information. Include a specific person to follow up with, business phone number and postal address (no P.O. Box) and a direct email address like diana@ohiohelp.net (i.e. not info@ohiohelp.net). Then if Internet connection fails, site goes down or any number of other technical issues occurs, shopper immediately has concrete information for follow up.
