"The Five Most Commonly Encountered, Off-putting E-commerce Errors"
While getting less public handwringing than during holiday season, the "abandoned
shopping cart problem" continues to wreak havoc on online sales. Recently
I judged a raftload of sites for the Webby Awards (my second time) and for the
Inc. magazine Web Awards, as well as for my own clients. Here are the five irritants
and obstacles that most frequently disrupt the visitor's shopping experience at
e-commerce sites.
1. Lack of quick orientation for first-time visitors. What does the site sell?
I've had to poke around for several minutes sometimes to understand the 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 the home page in what countries
or even what continent it flies.
2. Explanations that don't explain. What does the 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.
3. Missing prices and shipping charges. How much? You shouldn't have to put
something into a shopping cart or enter your credit card information to learn
how much an item costs, including shipping. Unfortunately, you still find this
mistake at sites that have had plenty of time to get their act together.
4. Unreadable text. Say what? Creativity gone haywire seems to be the hallmark
of some Web designers. Orange letters on a blue background, olive green on black,
light gray on white and blue on blue were combinations that sent me packing,
as did lettering too small for over-40 eyes.
5. Inconsistencies. Huh? One site says, "To sign up, click on the Sign
Up link at the top of every page." But the site does not have any "Sign
Up" link, only "Sign In." Such carelessness wastes the time of
earnest shoppers and gets them frustrated and fed up, never to return.
Blunders are equally rampant at well-funded corporate sites and those from
home-based businesses. The good news is that many of the errors are extremely
easy and inexpensive to fix.
About the Author:
Marketing guru Marcia Yudkin is the author of Poor Richard's Web Site Marketing
Makeover: Improve Your Message and Turn Visitors into Buyers, from Top Floor
Publishing (http://www.yudkin.com/mmakeover.htm) and numerous other books on
marketing. She recently began offering Web site reviews for just $40 (http://www.yudkin.com/sitereview.htm). |
