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Human Computer Interaction

Week 11E-Commerce Site Design

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Lecture aimsAfter this lecture you should: Understand the importance of customer

experience. Know the essential components in an e-

commerce storefront. Understand good practice in storefront

design. Have seen some store examples and

identified good and bad practice.

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Before you start designing…

You have: a business plan likely to succeed defined the purpose of your site made a project plan thought about content / features /

functionality

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What is a customer? Your most important resource Have specific requirements / wants Not dependent on you Not an interruption Not somebody we are doing a favour for Different from each other Not you!

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Customer or User? A customer is a user, but more…

They have the element of CHOICE Usability is important…

Sees, touches, feels, interacts with…. Remove frustration

But customers are also interested in: Business goals, merchandising, messaging,

features, flow of core processes You need to influence, motivate and

encourage

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Customer centric practice

“If you're trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language in which they think.”-David Ogilvy

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Customers care most about

Security Navigation Selection price

Customer experienceCustomer experienceHow do I find “____”?How do I find “____”?What features does “____” have?What features does “____” have?How do I order?How do I order?How do I pay?How do I pay?How/when do I get “____”?How/when do I get “____”?How do I return things?How do I return things?How do I claim on the warrantee?How do I claim on the warrantee?Can I speak to somebody?Can I speak to somebody?Is this site safe?Is this site safe?What will you do with my details?What will you do with my details?

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Bad customer experience 62%* of Internet shoppers have given up

at least once while looking for products. 42%* on one or more instances have fled

the Web for more traditional channels to make their purchases.

$3 billion* in lost sales annually.

Is this acceptable? Imagine if this occurred elsewhere; 62% of people leave Is this acceptable? Imagine if this occurred elsewhere; 62% of people leave a supermarket because they cannot find the item on the shelf easily…a supermarket because they cannot find the item on the shelf easily…

* Zona Research’s Online Shopping Report, 1999* Zona Research’s Online Shopping Report, 1999

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Bad customer experience…

Error 404 - page not found

Is this acceptable? Imagine if this happened to 42% of shopping trolleys at Is this acceptable? Imagine if this happened to 42% of shopping trolleys at a supermarket…a supermarket…

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Bad customer experience…

“source: Close Encounters with E-Commerce”, Industry Standard

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Impact of bad customer experience

Lower conversion rate. Customers may abandon your site

completely; customers have choice; plenty of competitors out there.

When customers have a bad experience on a website, they tell an average of 10 people.*

* Forrester Research, inc* Forrester Research, inc

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Impact of good customer experience

Increased conversion rate $$$ Viral Marketing; customers

recommend your site to others e.g. epinions.com

Increased customer loyalty Strong equity in your brand

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Impact of increased conversion rate

2,000,000 visits/month, average sale = $252,000,000 visits/month, average sale = $25

Conversion %Conversion % Revenue/monthRevenue/month

0.010.01 $500,000$500,0000.0150.015 $750,000$750,0000.020.02 $1,000,000$1,000,0000.050.05 $2,500,000$2,500,000

customer experience – conversion rate – bottom line $customer experience – conversion rate – bottom line $

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Improving customer experience

Make customer experience central Shift strategy to:

Achieving simplicity Solving customer problems Improving conversion rate

Ensure customers find it easy to find and buy what they want from your site

Monitor the Customer Experience Gap Make funds available to improve CEG

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Customer Experience Gap

CustomerCustomer WebsiteWebsite

SimplicitySimplicity

ServiceService

Accomplish a goalAccomplish a goal

ComplexityComplexity

TechnologyTechnology

Compelling featuresCompelling features

Customer Experience Gap: The difference between what customers want and what they get

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Rules for good customer experience

Keep it simple: Do not clutter with features, use clear and

concise wording. Provide a good “feel” Do not waste customers time Provide an appropriate search

mechanism Good navigation, should be intuitive

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E-commerce storefront components

Basic functions: A catalogue display Shopping cart Transaction processing

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Shopping Cart Online forms were first used for online

shopping. Shopping carts are dynamic, interactive

and efficient. Often implemented by the website

programmer, but sometimes an “off-the-shelf” product.

SalesCart is one company that makes this type of shopping cart software.

Shopping carts are an ideal place for product placement

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Searchcatalogue

Add productsto cart

Enter detailsProceed through

checkout

Browse products

purchase

Customer interaction with store

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Catalogue A static catalog is a simple list written in

HTML that appears on a Web page or series of Web pages.

A dynamic catalog stores the information about items in a database.

This technology is implemented on the server side.

Besides a catalog, many sites provide a search engine that allows customers to enter descriptions to quickly find an item.

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Catalogue

BrowseBrowse

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Shopping CartProduct placementProduct placement

Item titleItem title

Product placementProduct placement

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Implementing a shopping cart

Can be implemented using server side technology or client side technology

The Web is a stateless system unable to remember anything from one transmission or session to another.

It must distinguish one shopper from another.

One way to uniquely identify users and to store information about their choices is to create and store cookies.

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Transaction processing Transaction processing occurs when the

shopper proceeds to the virtual checkout counter.

Transaction processing is the trickiest part of the electronic sale.

Security issues, failed transactions etc… Payment processing involves the website

communicating externally (e.g. to a payment service provider)

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Home page

Consider the message that the site is conveying Does it match your branding? Does it move customers towards a

purchase? Do not hide your shop front Needs to convey what a person can do

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Customer registration Do not intimidate your customers! Bad policy to enforce registration Do not take information of

customers that you do not need. Provide a valid incentive for them

to register e.g. save time on return visit Promotion / discounts

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Merchandising

Display and promote your products Use space wisely: Homepage is

expensive real estate. Encourage impulse buying Product placement Featured products

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Navigation If customers get lost or bored they will leave

your siteConsiderations: Where am I? Where can I go? What can I do here? How do I get to where I want to go? Have I been here before? How can I get back to where I was? Where is the checkout?

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Labelling Use consistent and explicit page

labels for all pages in the site. (House Style)

Do not make customers work to match product names with images

Use appropriate labelling e.g. Use context to help explain size

Allow customers to compare similar products

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Search Understand the shoppers perspective Taylor searches to a person or

situation People shop differently Provide several (suitable) ways to find a

product(e.g. text search, category, search by genre, search by age, search by availability etc…)

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Shopping cart Allow customers to navigate to it, from

wherever they are Make it easy to add, remove, update

items Show total charge, and all other

charges: delivery, tax etc… Do not let customers add items that are

out of stock Allow customers to review their items Make the checkout button prominent Use contents to focus product placement

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Checkout and fulfilment Checkout must be quick and easy –

frustrated customers will abandon carts Provide information about:

Order number Delivery Returns policy Tracking (if available) Customer service

Fulfilment is the last but crucial part

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Adding value

Useful extra features store locator instructions and advice / how-to

guides wish lists / bookmarks single click buy selection wizard’s customer reviews

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Conclusions A customer is more complicated than a

user Failing to address the complete

customer experience has a dramatic impact on the bottom line ($$$)

Successful e-commerce sites make customer experience a high priority and constantly monitor customer experience.

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References

Improving customer experience case studies:http://www.creativegood.com/

Links to articles discussing user experience:http://www.goodexperience.com/

Electronic Commerce, Gary P. Schneider ch.9