I like to shop at 7am over a cup of coffee…

Do so in my kitchen in my pajamas (which I would wear to business meetings if I thought I would still get business)…

Find great deals and coupons…

There are some sites I have been shopping at for a while. They have the cheapest deals on the items they carry (usually an online boutique that is very specialized) and a great selection. I have a comfort level with them and go back often. I can even sometimes find a coupon making their rock-bottom prices even better.

So why is it that I have to pull my hair out when I try to shop there. A recent experience was at one of these boutique online retailers. I am not going to give them the satisfaction of mentioning their name since all press is good press.

They recently overhauled their site. I’m sure it’s easier for them to track purchase, offer promotions, capture leads. But really. Do I have to suffer for the business to have a better experience? Can’t we have it both ways?

Not only was it hard for me to find where to actually purchase products. It was also hard for me to purchase them. I had to be sold on using the site first which insulted me as a returning customer.

I finally figured out how to buy from them and started *shopping*! =) I filled my cart, got excited when I found a coupon and then went to check out. Happy that I had also qualified for free shipping. It was a rocky start but in the end – well the middle – of my transaction, I was a happy, satisfied customer.

How quickly these things change back to frustration and annoyance.

I was asked to complete a new customer login since I had only ever shopped as a guest (my preferred way of shopping but now no longer an option). I even had to agree to their terms and conditions. I thought it was funny that a coffee company had terms and conditions but they were pretty boiler-plate.

So I agreed and hit “create my account”. All of a sudden, I was sent back to the home page and my cart was empty. Are you kidding? I had over $75 worth of coffee in my cart and now I am going to have to start over with my purchase from scratch. I back-arrowed to the cart screen and tried again…cart empty. I back-arrowed again figuring maybe I could just copy product codes from the list – no codes.

So now I am sitting here, almost out of coffee and not sure I want to buy it from the cheapest, best selection coffee company on the interent.

And the thing is, this is not unusual. Companies spend good money creating e-commerce that is clunky and user-unfriendly. And they are paying a LOT for these sub-par solutions. I guarantee they are not trying to create a bad user experience.

I was on newegg also earlier today. I hit “add to cart” and then “continue shopping” and was taken back to a featured product list instead of back to the list I was shopping from.

30% of consumers are using local content-driven web sites as the main way they learn about new products and services. Imagine how many customers you would have just by having an average online shopping experience for your customers. How about a GOOD shopping experience….

You would surpass most small to large companies vying for the consumer’s dollar and your bottom line would reward you handsomely for it.

What kind of experiences have you had shopping online? Help me make a “to do” list of how companies can improve their online shopping experience.

My list…

• Comparison Shopping
• Wish List
• Back to search after adding to the cart
• Clear and detailed photos of products
• Detailed descriptions with the consumer in mind and not just from the point of the manufacturer
• Coupons! and free shipping offers
• Good selection
• Clear and easy access to products and services

What other ways can we improve the shopping experience?

“Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.” Mitchell Kapor

I am using this particular quote: “Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.”   Mitchell Kapor – for the title because I feel that way sometimes. Trying to learn something new, do research on a project or keep up with the industries I spend time working in. I feel overwhelmed sometimes. There is so much information out there. And it’s easy to get swept away by a well-written blog or article but I often stop and wonder where they got their information from.  And then there are the multitude of pages that turn out NOT to be useful information but a sales letter trying to sell me on why their useful information is worth paying for. That has turned into to an art form as clever as the Ad Men.

As a local business owner with an internet presence, keep in mind what your visitors are exposed to on the internet. The average person spends less than 7 second on a site (how many sites can you look at in 13 yours if you are only spending 7 seconds there?). And that’s assuming it loads. In 2009, studies show that they were only willing to wait *2* seconds for a page to load before going to another site. (source)

If you want to create and increase revenue from your internet presence, you want to have dynamic information that is updated frequently. This can be done with changing specials, new testimonials, guest articles, updated news or a blog that the owner or a staff member updates regularly. Blogs are a great place for new and changing content because you can let your customers get to know you better, have guest bloggers on that you interview or repost and cover areas beyond trying to sell the customer your products or services.

Adding a revenue source to your site is also important. Consumers are not just reading, interacting and learning online. They are SHOPPING online.

“Today’s consumers demand a fast, engaging and secure online shopping environment when searching for a product online. We see a direct relationship between online revenues and site performance and therefore, we have to ensure our site performs well and loads fast,” said Michael Cooper, Vice President and General Manager, HomeDepot.com.

You can offer this through affordable e-commerce options that are dynamic, high tech and secure. There are also options offered by top online retailers like Amazon.com and MarketAmerica.com that allow you to earn additional revenue through your site without having to add inventory, shipping or customer service of those products.

Create an oasis for your visitors with rich content, up to date design, quick page loading and ways for them to enhance their lives either through learning, relating, supporting or buying.

Thanks to techcrunchies.com where they have a plethora of statistical information and data available including the source of the studies they are quoting and summarizing.

Recently, I learned that an effective web presence should have a video of the company’s owner welcoming visitors to the site above the fold on the home page. Below is some more advice to keep your website competitive and effective in the fast-paced world of online business.

Julia Talevski at the Sydney Morning Herald writes, “The Web is known for fast-paced change, so it’s absolutely crucial that your business Web site meets a customer’s expectations.” Talevski consulted with Australian Web experts Alex Hill and Greg Muller to get some details about what Web users expect and how businesses can cater to their site visitors for better results!

Make it Interactive; Make it Your Web Presence.

Muller suggested applying “interactive elements” to a Web site, and these elements should be customized to match! the business’ culture. Muller said interactive features of a site sho uld “focus on your brand and how you want it to be perceived.”

Hill echoed Muller’s advice. He told the Sydney Morning Herald that today’s Web sites are “moving from a magazine-style format of pictures and text to being more interactive and dynamic.”

How many business Web sites have you visited with that “magazine-style” format? These businesses are your ideal prospects! Set up a walkthrough with their Decision Maker(s) and let your Product Specialist demonstrate how easy it is to make an interactive and engaging site! They’ll see that they can embed videos, enable customer reviews and wishlists, add driving directions directly to the site and even create a layout that suits the unique nature of th! eir business! Whether it’s a playful clothing boutique or a no-nonsense law firm, the tools available in your Web solution empower a businesses in any industry to establish the look and feel they want to convey with an eye on their business’ one-of-a-kind brand, just as Muller recommended.

Keep it fresh!

Naturally, Hill and Muller encourage site owners to update their Web sites regularly! As Hill told Talevski, “The biggest mistake a lot of Web sites make is that once they’ve got it up, they don’t pay any attention to it.”

That doesn’t appeal to site visitors and it certainly doesn’t help the site’s ranking on search engines. In fact, it’s practically like having no Web site at all!

“It’s a cornerstone of your marketing and co mmunication activities. Today’s generation doesn’t look at the Yellow Pages, they look online and you need to be found online,” Hill said.

Consumers trust businesses that update their Web sites with new, interesting information! In fact, the status of a business’ Web presence reflects directly on the business itself.

“If people can see something happening on the site every day, they know it’s a functioning site and business,” Hill explained.

Find Room for Improvement with Site Statistics.

Finally, the two experts told Talevski that businesses should keep a close eye on their Web site’s statistics. Doing so will reveal “how visitors spend their time on the Web site,” according to the ! ;SMH.

Business owners can access tons of informative data in the site statistics section of our Web solution. They can monitor their most effective search keywords, discover which search engines drive the most traffic to their site, establish where visitors are spending the most time on the site, and much more! With this powerful data at their fingertips, business owners can analyze their Web marketing efforts and make the modifications necessary to reach their full potential!

Enjoy! Post comments. I’d love to know your thoughts.

- Trista Polo, Website Development and Business Owner Development

“The way consumers shop for everyday products continues its transformation towards the Web,” wrote David Wiesenfeld, Nielsen’s VP of Brand Advertiser Solutions Online Division.

Wiesenfeld offered the following prediction: “In the future your children will likely conduct the majority of their shopping online.”

He adds, “Nielsen estimates that online consumer packaged goods (CPG) sales alone increased 25% to 30% between 2004 and 2008. And there are compelling reasons to believe that growth will continue, as overall online sales are projected to increase almost 200% between 2008 and 2012.”

In fact, Nielsen’s predicting a total of $475 billion will be spent in the e-commerce market by 2012. And $16 million of that total is CPG!

Wiesenfeld attributes the transition to the Web to three major factors: Convenience, choice and value!

These three factors are becoming more important to Web users every single day! With a professional online presence, small- and medium-sized businesses can offer convenience, choice and value…all while increasing their profits and decreasing costs!

That’s not all…2011 and 2012 are looking even better! Sales will increase nearly 11% in 2011, hitting $149.8 billion, and another 11% in 2012 to reach $166.3 billion!

These projections show that the Web will continue to be an integral part of consumer shopping habits, even after the economy recovers! Small- and medium-sized businesses can get their share of those billions using our Web solution.

comScore’s Gian Fulgoni said, “It is likely that the more precise targeting ability of the Internet—especially in terms of accurately reaching the desired demographic segment—is a key reason for effectiveness. This is meaningful in and of itself, but when you take into account the fact that online advertising is generally less costly than television, these results take on even greater significance.”

Fulgoni says it all! As a marketing tool, your Web solution is a more effective and less costly investment over the long-term than other advertising mediums—especially television!