Over the past few weeks, I have spoken to a few
senior IT decision makers from e-tail, retail and other industry segments where
e-commerce is becoming the new business magnet. Alongside, I have also flipped
through tons of content on what makes or mars the prospects of an e-commerce firm.
The result: this blog post you are going through
right now. What I have done is distilled some industry best practices and do’s
and don’ts that can be helpful for e-tail newbies as well as fast-growing
e-commerce sites. Given that there’s little spare time for people working in
this realm, here you go:
Aim for simplicity: Designing a user
interface is a highly evolved discipline now. All the same, it is the online
users who are the most evolved of species! Which is why keeping the UX simple
yet elegant, rich yet devoid of unnecessary complexity, appealing and vibrant
without being gaudy or over-the-top is more important than ever. What is the
one thing that strikes us about a Google or Apple product? Its simple yet
amazing user design, isn’t it?
Ensure easy site navigation: Many of
the high-traffic e-commerce sites today boast of millions of products across
hundreds or even thousands of product categories and sub-categories. One key
thumb rule in designing navigation is that the user should not be made to click
too many times (some call it the three-click rule) or find it too difficult to locate
a product. Site search, in this context, is extremely important.
GetElastic.com, a popular e-commerce blog, points out that even the biggest of
e-com sites often
fall flat in optimizing site search. It says: “Site visitors that use
search boxes are more likely to know specifically what they want and are closer
to conversion than those just browsing.”
It goes on to suggest that the merchandising team
must anticipate variations in how consumers might be looking for certain
things; for instance, they can type “two piece bathing suit”, “2-piece bathing
suit”, or “2 piece bathing suit” (without the hyphen). Unless search
dictionaries or tools accommodate such “correct misspellings” (in addition to
commonly misspelt terms and synonyms), the potential buyers might be
disappointed with search results.
Choose your e-commerce platform carefully:
With hundreds of tools that let you set up an online shop, it’s a crowded
market out there. For those who wish to play safe and do not have too much time
researching or experimenting with options, going with an established platform such
as Shopify, Magento or ZenCart makes ample sense. For the more adventurous,
there are plenty of tools to fiddle with. The site www.ecommerce-platforms.com has even put
up a comparison
chart of some such tools available in the market. Among the things one
should look out for in an e-com platform: availability of hosted/self-hosted
environments, payment options supported, stock size (for which you want to
build the e-store), credible case studies in a given industry segment, etc.
Look out for mobile-best customer
experience: In this age of ubiquitous mobility, it would be foolhardy
to ignore the significance of an optimum mobile user experience. Whether it is
achieved through a mobile app or responsive web design (in which the same code
can cater to multiple device types), a less-than-superlative experience that
can be delivered on a majority of popular mobile handsets just wouldn’t do.
Test, test, test, and then test some more:
We are living in a connected, socially hyperactive age. One in which customers
go all out to tweet, post, share and shriek bad customer experiences from the
rooftops. So it is always better to thoroughly test any new piece of code or
feature before rolling it out to a million potential customers who will be
exposed to it within minutes. The DevOps
movement can indeed meet its full potential in the fast-paced world of
e-commerce.
Ignore shipping and fulfillment at your own
peril: In the nascent but burgeoning e-com market in India, it is not
uncommon to find so many negative tales of shipments gone wrong. According to Richard Lazazzera, a leading
e-commerce expert who runs an online e-commerce incubator deliciously named A
Better Lemonade Stand, “Many new ecommerce entrepreneurs either don’t give much
thought to shipping their products, or rightfully so, don’t understand the
confusing and complex world of shipping and fulfillment.” (Read this
blog post of his that talks about packaging, resources such as courier
services, tracking & insurance, and apps to help make the whole process easier.
The scenario in India may not be as mature as the advanced markets of USA or
Canada, but some useful inferences can be drawn or lessons learned from e-com
ecosystem players operating there.)
In the next couple of years, e-commerce will have
come into its own as an established segment of industry in India. While the
broadest market may turn out to be a case of the proverbial three-horse race
(or four horses, perhaps), scores of mid-size and niche players in e-tailing
will prove their mettle. Soon, the fight would stop being about funds and
customer acquisitions; instead, the attention would shift to technology-led
differentiation, profitability and customer retention.
And that’s where the players that implement the
best practices and treat customers as the center of their universe will stand
out from the crowd.
(This blog post first appeared on www.DynamicCIO.com.)
