Allow Reviews of Products
I really don’t buy anything until I research and read reviews. I got the Flip 60 minute video camera for my son strictly because of the reviews on Amazon. I bought a new Palm Treo because of reviews on CNET. I don’t buy a toy for my little one without looking at reviews Amazon, Target and KB Toys. If you can find a way to let people review products on your site it will increase your credibility. I do read the negative reviews and evalute them; I don’t always believe them entirely, but there are things to learn from them.
I Prefer to pay With PayPal for Several Reasons…
First, I can differentiate between a personal buy a business buy and PayPal keeps great records I can use at tax time. Second, I don’t have to go find my credit card! It saves me time. Lastly, there are some sites I don’t trust enough to use my credit card on, but I trust Paypal and if they have Paypal I feel more comfortable.
Consider Coupon / Promo Codes
I have made it NO secret that I like to save money. I live on RetailMeNot.com because I can save a lot of money using their coupon/promo codes. I made a recent purchase at Victorias Secret and with their codes I saved $75, I got a free Laptop Tote, a set of free lip glosses (worth $50) and a didn’t have to pay for shipping. Pretty much a no brainer. I do take the time to check out the stores that allow coupons/promo codes. Then I compare those stores to see whose shipping options save me money. This is how I decide who I will buy from.
Put Contact Info Where People Can Find It and PLEASE Don’t Just Have a Form to Fill Out!
Do you want to know the quickest way to lose me as a customer? Have no contact info and/or just have a form to fill out. If I can’t call you I won’t buy from you, period!
Small Pictures Make Me Angry
If I can’t see a product or zoom in for detail I will most likely not buy the item. Nothing irritates me more than clicking on a picture and then waiting for a larger picture to pop up and then I get the same size picture! Ah!
An Optimized Shopping Cart
These five tips are really suggestions from a web user and an Internet shopper, but I do have an SEO tip also. Make sure you have an optimized shopping cart. You want your products to show up in Google Product Search and in the SERPS. I search on Google Product Search a lot. I have been needing a new battery for my laptop and I wanted the HP 12-cell Lithium-Ion Extended-Life Battery. It was $160 at Best Buy and $149.99 at HP. I used Google Product Search and found the battery for $99 at ElectronicsShowPlace.com and they sent it 2-day delivery at no charge. If you have the right shopping cart in place you will have the opportunity to find customers you have never hoped to have before.
Melissa- SEOAware.com
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Melissa, that was a great and really helpful article.
It’s something I’ll consider carefully if I get ecommerce clients.
On a related note, I was going to write a “how to browse sites” advice guide for shoppers to get more out of their browsing. The idea being to point out little idiosyncracies we all do but which actually cut productivity of browsing. Like ignoring cluttered navigation, even though it probably has what I need…
Nice Ecommerce tips Melissa, consider to add more you have good point of view.
@Gab
Nice idea too for “how to browse sites”
Thanks for the comments. I might add some tips later.
Loved, the advice. How do you optimize your shopping cart to get on google products search if you are simply using paypal buttons to sell your items?
Best,
Kimberlie