Archive for August, 2009

Product Reviews more important than ever to drive conversions

Friday, August 21st, 2009

We’re constantly reminding our website shop clients to make sure they feature customer generated product reviews and service testimonials on their online shops. When there are so many unfamiliar companies selling products out there on the net, a good assortment of customer reviews and testimonials is a great source of reassurance for online shoppers.

Customer Generated Product Reviews

Customer Generated Product Reviews

Research conducted for Feefo which is an outsourced online customer feedback forum (clients include Thomas Pink & Charles Tyrwhitt) has confirmed the importance of product reviews. Over half of those polled said they are more likely to buy from websites carrying independent product (53%) and service (51%) reviews from past customers. Another survey by Bazaarvoice found that product reviews can increase conversions by 20% and push up order values by 15-30%.  

With this in mind, a few tips for you on product reviews:

- Include some of the less favourable reviews you get as well as the good ones (maybe showing how you addressed the less favourable ones) because this is more credible than a list of reviews that only say how wonderful the product/your service is.

- Make sure your ecommerce website software has a product review feature that allows customers to easily give you their feedback and also shows those customer reviews prominently on the relevant product pages. It’s also helpful for website shop owners to have a filtering facility for all reviews they receive before publication. Try to have at least 4/5 reviews per product.

eCommerce Software Product Review

eCommerce Software Product Review

- Include a selection of testimonials on your home page or via a prominent link from the home page. Testimonials that talk about your service (delivery, customer care etc) are just as important as product reviews especially when there’s loads of competition out there selling the same products as you.

- Incorporate expert reviews from the media or any magazines that your product or website shop has been featured in. These are very powerful, so make use of any PR channels open to you. Also if your business has won any awards, always show these on your website.

- Encourage your customers to give you feedback (via customer surveys) or via a forum/blog. You could ask for feedback via email or include an insert in your delivery package. You might consider an incentive for these reviews (automatic entry to a competition, for example).

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Latest Research into ecommerce shopping habits

Friday, August 14th, 2009
Some interesting research has been published in the last few weeks which highlights areas of ecommerce best practice for website shop owners. We’re referring here to Channel Advisor’s white paper on ‘How Consumers Shop Online’ (US) and data/research into online customer satisfaction by IMRG/eDigitalResearch.
How Consumers Shop Online

How Consumers Shop Online

- Online shoppers now spending more time researching. According to Channel Advisor onine shoppers are spending more time researching and spending less (not suprising given current economic environment). Interestingly, a result of this is that consumers are using more sophisticated, specific research to seek out exact products. For ecommerce website owners this means that more clever use of keywords is necessary in their product descrptions and titles (Google has reported an 8% increase in searches comprised of 3 words or more) 

- Maximum exposure for your ecommerce website. Channel Advisor also points out that as consumers are so focused on finding the  best deals it is imperative for website shops to have as strong a presence on as many channels as possible - search engines, comparison shopping engines, marketplaces, affiliates, email. As we’ve said before, it’s no good just publishing your online shop and then hoping consumers will find you.

- Make the most of your Product Pages. As we’ve also stressed on this blog before, make sure you make the most of all features that your ecommerce website software offers to sell your product off your web pages. Video, images, compelling copy etc - see our earlier post ‘Optimise your Product Descriptions for increased conversions’ for more info.

- Free Shipping delivers conversions. According to Channel Advisor, Free shipping has the biggest influence on web shoppers, followed by product ratings/reviews and Free Returns. So, in the run up to the essential Xmas shopping season, ecommerce website owners would be well advised to review their shipping/returns policies. If you can’t offer free shipping to all, consider free shipping above a certain order value threshold, or maybe free shipping for repeat purchases or if customers ’refer a friend’ and make sure you make your delivery charges are as visible as possible wherever a potential customer is on your site. We’ve written before about customer generated product reviews (include some not so good reviews as well for a  a more credible mix). Expert (press/media) reviews are also helpful if you can get them.

Free Shipping Delivers Conversions

Free Shipping Delivers Conversions

- Focus on customer satisfaction and response rates. According to IMRG/e-Digital Research customer satisfaction in online shopping is at its lowest level since 2006. The worst performing areas identified in the survey include the speed that online retail customer services respond to queries and the ease of access to online help with purchases. We always recommend to all our website shop clients that they must publish a (visible) telephone number and contact email address, but that’s no good if you don’t respond. Online chat is also recommended. You have a much better chance of converting visitors to customers if you respond to requests for info/advice. Consider also the addition of telephone ordering as an alternative to online transactions. Online customer service expectations grow all the time - so don’t get left behind with a poor end-to-end customer experience.

Focus on Customer Satisfaction and Response Rates

Focus on Customer Satisfaction and Response Rates

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Don’t skimp on your ‘About Us’ Page

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009

All ecommerce websites have an ‘About Us’ page, don’t they? But do they all make the most of this essential feature?

What’s your first port of call when you arrive on a website shop that you’ve never come across before? Like most people, you’ll probably seek out the ‘About Us’ page to find out more and get reassurance before making a purchase from an online shop we’re not familiar with.

About Us Page

About Us Page

So why is it that so many of the less well known (after all Amazon and Tesco don’t need an ‘About Us’ page) website shops fail to make the most of  the opportunity to tell their visitors a bit about themselves - some don’t even bother to have an ‘About Us’ page atall.

Here are some thoughts on how to make the most of your ‘About Us’ page.

- Think of this page on your website shop as a ‘Why use us’ or ‘Why Buy from us’ page rather than just an ‘About Us’ page.

- Don’t hide your ‘About Us’ page - better to appear in the main navigation than hidden away in an obscure link at the bottom of your Home page.

- Create interest by talking about the background to your business; how it came about, its history, any interesting facts & features.

- Communicate in a style which you think is right for your customers and that reflects your preferred way of doing business.

About Us

About Us

- Put across a compelling reason to buy; why your product is unique/better than your competitors, your customer service ethos (plus key features, for example if you offer free or next day delivery, broadcast that fact)

- Include testimonials or mini case studies to back up your points, use customer quotes and even pictures if you can.

- Make your business more personal by including photos of yourself and/or the key staff (or even a video message)

- Include your shop contact details and encourage customer interaction and invite visitors to sign up for your newsletter.

- If you have a bricks and mortar shop/business as well, show photos of it.

- If you have any press/media coverage, then include it. Or if you’ve won any awards for your product or business, show details. If you support any charities, let people know.  

- Make sure your About Us page looks as professional as your website shop technology and/or your skills will allow. If you can afford to splash out on a bit of graphic design to enhance the page, then do so.

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