Everyone is well aware of the popularity of online shopping and the convenience it offers. This is the main reason it has grown every years since its inception. The ability to view thousands of products in a matter of minutes is a powerful tool that is at the heart of its success. Low prices are now expected by shoppers, as overheads are typically much less than on the high street stores, but recent trends are showing that customers expect much more than just low priced goods. The new focus is on customer experience, and the successful web based retailers are providing a much improved buying environment that attracts and retains customers.
The big question is how do you improve the shopping experience when there is no face to face contact between the buyer and the seller? One way is to make the site more appealing to visitors by creating a welcoming environment. Most online shoppers make their minds up about a site within a few seconds, and decide whether to stay or leave based on what is in front of their eyes. The landing page acts like a shop window to the store, so it is vital that there is something on it to capture the attention of the visitor as soon as possible. Most retailers choose to advertise their lowest priced items or their best deals on the landing pages in an attempt to entice the potential customer to stick around and delve deeper into the site. It needs to be tastefully done however, or the affect can be lost under a cascade of banner adverts and flashing graphics. The argos store is a good example of how to capture attention without losing focus on the customers needs, with subtle reminders of the best products on sale appearing throughout the site without being too obvious.
Other methods of enhancing customer experience can be found in the usability of the site. Any online store needs to be easy to use and navigate through. Customers do not want to have to search too hard to find the products they want to browse and buy; they want instant access to them. Providing this should be the priority, but it is amazing to see the amount of stores that get this wrong, losing many sales in the process. The Littlewoods catalogue is one store that has spent a great deal of time and effort into improving their site from a customer viewpoint, and the result has been improved sales and profits because their visitors keep coming back for more. Endless clicking around any site is a sign of poor design and attention to detail, and it detracts from the shopping experience. It doesn’t even matter if the prices are low, if people cannot find what they are looking for then they will go some place else in a hurry. There will no doubt be better and more effective services provided by the retailers in the future, and the real winners will be the shoppers, which is the way it should be.
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