"Are You Making It Easy for
Your Customers to Buy?"
While reading this morning's newspaper,
I came across an article about online shopping. In the article,
this statement was made by Samatha Taylor of Online Retail
Partners -- "If ... a shopper comes to your site and
it doesn't do what it is supposed to do in the first five
minutes, they're not going to come back."
The next sentence in the article
practically knocked me off my chair: "But web-only retailers
say they are not worried."
Well, maybe they're not worried
... but as a small online business person trying to make sales
on the Internet, you should be!
How many times have you entered
a website intent on making a purchase and after clicking here
and clicking there to find the information you needed, you
finally gave up? It doesn't matter whether it's a huge conglomerate
like Amazon.com, Target.com, JCPenney.com or a small operation
that sells a dozen or so products, the process of buying should
be so easy that even a child could do it.
While buying online is becoming
more and more acceptable, there are still thousands of people
who are scared to death to click the "buy now" button. It's
up to you to ease their fears by explaining the steps that
will take place, assuring them their credit card information
is secure, and following up with a confirmation.
Try to imagine what it's like
walking into a store for the first time. You don't know where
anything is. You don't know all the items they carry. You
don't know if they accept credit cards or checks. You don't
know the return policy if you don't like something you buy.
Where you can ask a salesperson about these issues in a brick
and mortar store, this is not an option in a virtual store.
That's why it's so vitally important that everything is spelled out in detail.
Request a couple of friends to
visit your site with the idea of making a purchase. Ask them
to let you know if they encountered any 'snags' along the
way or if anything was unclear.
Remember -- if potential customers
aren't able to find what they want in a matter of minutes,
they're not going to stick around. Or come back.
Nan Yielding has nearly 10 years experience as an online business owner. She is the owner of Writing-Etc.com and offers internet marketing services and assistance to help website owners attract more customers and increase sales.
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