The Five Most Commonly Encountered, Off-putting E-commerce ErrorsWritten by Marcia Yudkin
While getting less public handwringing than during holiday season, "abandoned shopping cart problem" continues to wreak havoc on online sales. Recently I judged a raftload of sites for Webby Awards (my second time) and for Inc. magazine Web Awards, as well as for my own clients. Here are five irritants and obstacles that most frequently disrupt visitor's shopping experience at e-commerce sites. 1. Lack of quick orientation for first-time visitors. What does site sell? I've had to poke around for several minutes sometimes to understand focus of a site. Jargon is one culprit. Another is lack of context, like an airline site that sells tickets not giving a single clue on home page in what countries or even what continent it flies. 2. Explanations that don't explain. What does product do and not do? Another basic, but it happens often that a site doesn't explain whether their "Turbocharge VT27-Plus" is a one-time download, a subscription, a Web-based service or something else. An alternative payment system's site failed to offer a clear, systematic description of how it works.
| | Ask Mr. D - ECommerce SalesWritten by Bill Daugherty
Dear Mr. D,After spending about a year as an affiliate for other companies, I have come up with my own product. My product is similar to one that I was selling as an affiliate. I made real good money selling this product as an affiliate, but my product, which I think is superior to that one, is not selling hardly at all. My price is same and I am getting a lot of traffic, but as I said, very few sales. Can you please take a look at my website and see if I have a problem there? Something is wrong. Signed, No Sales ____________________ Dear No Sales, There is an old adage in sales, don't sell steak - sell sizzle. Your site does a good job of describing your product. That is what's meant by selling steak. But, it falls short on selling benefits a buyer will gain by using your product. That is called selling sizzle.
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