In last month's article, you were introduced to the research online, buy offline (ROBO) shopper. While the majority of your customers fit the ROBO mold, some prefer to finalize the sale online vs. offline. If you haven't focused on your e-commerce presence, you're likely leaving dollars on the table.
No. 1 Meet Shoppers' Expectations
Confidence is won or lost the moment someone views your site. If you don't have a great looking site that includes all the elements shoppers have come to expect from a modern e-commerce site, it will be difficult to convince anyone you are a legitimate business. In addition to the important first impression your branding and general site aesthetics can make, it is important that you consider overall navigation and usability. The study of usability has become both an art and a science, and if you work with an e-commerce website provider, you will reap the benefit of their expertise and the research they've conducted to create navigation, site structure and other features, including sophisticated search tools that are the most intuitive to the industry's average users. If you're tasked with creating your own user experience, just remember that the goal of usability is to make your website navigation so intuitive that your site visitors don't have to use any brain power while surfing. Make it easy for them to find what they need and purchase. Anticipate what your site visitors want, and quickly guide them to the correct destination on your site. Those destination product pages are the most important pages on your site, as they are the final barrier between the customer and the sale. Be sure these pages fully communicate all of the product's attributes, including size, color and price, and all other relevant details provided by the manufacturer. Product photos are a must, and adding video can make the experience of virtually interacting with a product more engaging.
No. 2 Mobile Optimization Matters
According to Internet Retailer, mobile commerce now accounts for 21 percent of e-commerce sales, an estimated $84 billion industry. If the fact that one out of five shoppers is utilizing a mobile device isn't enough to persuade you that you need to go mobile, perhaps the fact that Google updated its search algorithms in April 2015 to increase the ranking of sites that are mobile-friendly will. Is your site mobile-ready? Not sure? Google's Mobile Friendly test will analyze your URL and report if the page has a mobile-friendly design. If you get a negative result, call your website provider to correct this critical error.
No. 3 Shopping Cart Options
Once you've optimized your shopping experience for desktop and mobile users, make it just as easy to check out, removing any unnecessary steps to improve your conversion rate. Offer a simple, visual experience at all times. There's nothing more frustrating than having to hunt down a website shopping cart to check out. The cart and its contents should be easy to access from any page on your site, so that online buyers can quickly double-check features, quantities and costs before completing their transactions.
No. 4 Security Concerns
With major security breaches at some of the leading online retailers, customers are hypervigilant when it comes to protecting their credit card data and personal information. The first step is to ensure your online payment system is compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), a set of requirements designed to ensure that all companies that process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. Depending on your e-commerce volume, you have a couple of options. A payment gateway is a service that authorizes and processes credit card payments. It's the equivalent of a point-of-sale terminal, except it's specific to your e-commerce orders. PayPal Express is also a viable option if you have a PayPal account. This checkout option allows consumers to purchase goods with a credit/debit card or via a PayPal account. Just be aware that you will pay per transaction, so if you anticipate high order volumes, a payment gateway could be your best bet. Now that you have your payment processing squared away, be sure that you're also giving your visitors the peace of mind that their personal information is safe on your site. All pages that collect personal information should be secured with a Secured Socket Layer certificate (SSL) that automatically displays the pages in the address bar proceeded with https://. A small lock icon should display in the address bar in browser windows on secured pages. This icon is clickable to view the site's SSL issuer, type and expiration date. Prominently display the shield icon and/or logo of your SSL provider on your home page to provide your site shoppers an added visual reassurance of your website security. Need help navigating SSL? Talk to your website provider. Be sure you fully consider these four points as you look to complement your traditional brick-and-mortar sales with an online store.
Read all the articles in this series at homecaremag.com/digital-sales-marketing-2015
Basic Payment Card Data Storage Guidelines
Data Dos and Don'ts
- Do understand where payment card data flows for the entire transaction process
- Do verify that your payment card terminals comply with the PCI Personal Identification Number (PIN) Transaction Security (PTS) requirements
- Do verify that your payment applications comply with the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS)
- Do use strong cryptography to render cardholder data unreadable; use layered security technologies to minimize risk
- Do ensure that third parties who process payment cards comply with PCI DSS, PTS and/or PA-DSS as applicable
- Do not store sensitive authentication data contained in a payment card\'92s chip or magnetic stripe, including the card verification code, after authorization
- Do not have payment terminals print out personally identifiable payment card data; printouts should be truncated or masked
- Do not locate servers or other payment card system storage devices outside of a locked, fully secured and access-controlled room
- Do not permit any unauthorized people to access stored cardholder data
Information courtesy of the PCI Security Standards Council LLC
