Don't be perturbed by the sloganeering, Hitler's not back. However, viewing the eCommerce arena as an insider, one can always say that consumer demands are no less than Hitler-ish diktats.
The fact that the 'class' of consumers is varied and their expectations ambiguous, there is no set of rules to determine what they desire. Some are compulsive shopaholics who will buy whatever they stumble upon, some might be prudent buyers who take count of industry pricing before purchasing and some are interested in absolutely technical stuff.
Anyone can easily set up an online store what with its huge advantages in store. If you want to deconstruct the business of eCommerce simply, here's what I feel are its 3 essential factors:
a. Ranking by search engines have to maintained.
b. Conversion rates need to be maintained by engaging customers to actually buy things.
c. Retention is successful when those customers come back again.
Let's have a look as to what do consumers possibly expect to find in online stores.
1. Pricing and Shipping Information
What makes online stores attractive for a buyer is the availability of all kinds of information within a click's reach. The most important being pricing and shipping info. The buyer wants to invest his money in a safe zone and be assured that the product will reach his doorstep intact. As several studies show, the "sticker shock" (the unexpected inflation of final price due to shipping and taxes) is the number one reason for cart abandonment by customers. So be sure to hand out basic information such as a short product description, pricing, shipping rates, warranty tenure etc.
2. Design That Looks Promising
We are told as children to never judge a book by its cover, however, online marketing is a lot about how you present things. The thumb rule is not to go overboard nor underdo 'The Look'.
Remember your website is your first key to success. The best and honest way to improve the trustworthiness factor is by adopting a professional website design. Add little somethings called as security badges, store ratings, a professional email address, links to the social media pages, have a blog link on your contact page. Avoid slip-ups like a expired SSL certificate warning message.
This will automatically show that you are a genuine business enterprise and customers would want to explore what you are offering.
3. Serve Mini Menus
We are not certainly talking of food here but what is possibly an essential ingredient of consumer retention. Linked to the previous point about site design, we now speak of the homepage. Most businesses simply have a single product display. Customers are inquisitive people, wanting to know more. What you feel is your best product may not always be "the" thing a buyer is looking for. Hence, the possibility that the buyer will go further into the site is slight.
A balanced move in such a case is to have a main merchandise display on the homepage, followed by what we call mini menus or description of similar products on which the sale is on. This eases out a lot of "click-n-search" work for the buyer.
4. Cost Calculator
Customers always appreciate small details. Providing tax and shipping charges before a buyer checks out of doing a transaction, will surely save the "midway abandonment" chances. While this does not automatically improve conversion rates but goes a long way in building a name for your site.
5. Search Tools
Buyers do not know everything by a mere look. Most websites have a search tool in place to help customers navigate from one page to other. However, as a standout eCommerce online store, you should constantly recheck the functionality of your search tool. Customers expect an easy navigation and info site that helps them find what "They" are looking for, not what "You" dispense as important.
As a industry specialist suggests "Web users are becoming more comfortable with Google’s 'suggest' feature, the search engine will suggest terms as the user types. More and more e-tailers are adopting auto-complete tools to improve usability and relevance of search results and reduce 'zero results found' occurrences. It’s possible users may expect suggestions, and even product results, as they type, rather than after they hit submit."
6. Privacy Statement
Once anything comes online, it is virtually the property of whoever wants to use it. However, as businesses we need to quench customer anxieties by assuring them of privacy and genuine products. While most of us shopping online do not bother to read the legal fine points that appear at the bottom of the page or come with that shiny asterix, businesses cannot choose to do away with this.
7. User Reviews
As easy and hassle free online shopping sounds, it can be a little risky as compared to shopping in a real store. The buyers do not have the try and test option readily. In this case, user reviews and testimonials about your services and products, are quite useful for new customers visiting your site.
On the flip side, testimonials help boost your search rankings as keywords used by the customers also add to your existing product descriptions.
8. Live Chat
Customers today, are a curious lot. They do not want to make a bad purchase and want to know all about the things that they are buying. A one on one live chat is a genuine experience to build customer relationships.
9. Social Media Presence
Social media is a great tool to communicate with the audience. Customers are also much more upfront and open about their queries and appreciation on social media sites. Linking social media buttons on your blog or website adds a small touch in promoting your online presence. It is but obvious that customers look for the presence of brands on common social networking platforms.
To validate all that we said above, here is a statistical analysis by Oneupweb :
These are some easy to understand pointers we felt are what customers expect. Do let us know if you have anything more to add by leaving us a reply in the comments section below.
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