So what are the keys to exploiting the opportunity of increasing online sales and surviving the economic downturn? I think there are three areas to focus on this year:

1. Do the basics well
2. Use rich media
3. Engage customers

Doing the basics well

I’ve been around ecommerce for over 10 years, and a lot has changed since the early days (technology, legislation, best practice). But the basics are still the same, and the number 1 rule is ‘put business before technology’. The focus is on generating business and this can be determined using 3 measures:

·      Number of visitors (get prospects to your website)
·      Rate of conversion (turn them into customers by convincing them to place an order)
·      Average order value (make sure they order as much as possible)

This makes sense of course – it’s the sales funnel for the site. Reporting on these will tell you just how successful your site is and focusing efforts on improving them will make your site more efficient.

Using rich media

High street retailers have been enhancing store atmospherics for years (think M&S over the last decade) and online retailers are now picking up on delivering a rich customer experience on the website. You have probably seen restaurant sites with 360 degree visual tours, fashion sites with product image zoom and beginning to see more sites that allow the user to customise the pages. These trends are set to continue and a recent survey by Internet Retailing shows that over 90% of online retailers intend to add rich media and social networking functions this year.

Engaging customers

Of course, generating new business is essential for growth, but repeat sales are fundamental for capitalising on that momentum, and efforts for acquiring new customers should be anchored by encouraging them to return to the site and order again. The customer experience doesn’t end at the checkout – the delivery and post-sales service is crucial to the retailer’s value proposition. Building community is also becoming much more recognised and giving customers the opportunity to provide reviews, recommend a product to a friend, and ‘bookmark’ pages to a social networking site are features that are gaining popularity on online stores. Social networks are also becoming important to businesses for interacting with prospects and customers, and getting the word out. I also expect online video to play a bigger part this year in ecommerce marketing plans.

Case study: Standanddeliver.com

I was recently working with a site that does a lot of these things really well. Stand & Deliver are a leading supplier of TV, Hi-fi and speaker stands, based in the UK, and have been growing rapidly since starting up 4 years ago.

Here are some of the things I think have been part of their site’s recipe for success:

• One product per page - improves SEO rankings and delivers visitors straight to the product they have searched for
• Very clear section layout on home page (by type and by manufacturer) – easy navigation takes visitors quickly to the product they are looking for from the home page
• Lots of info on product pages (technical data, various images, alternative products) – visitors are more likely to buy if the information they need is clear and accessible
• Security verifications on checkout pages – increases peace of mind and likelihood of conversion
• Clear FAQ (ordering, security delivery, returns etc) – setting out the service proposition manages customers expectations from the beginning, gives peace of mind and, again, increases conversion
• Ordering info also available on product page – particularly useful if this is the landing page for the visitor
• Scroll-over image-zoom widget on product page – rich media to enhance the shopping experience and bring visitors closer to the product
• Social network bookmarking on home page – engages visitors and invites them to discuss the site within their networks
• User generated product reviews (Reevoo) – once again, engages customers and offers visitors authentic customer feedback for the products being viewed (Tesco Direct have also just signed a deal with Reevoo)
  

Recent feedback from retailers using Actinic software for their online shop shows similar trends in the focus for 2009.

If you run an online store or have responsibility for the ecommerce operations for a high street retailer, what are your big plans for 2009?