Take Your Shopping Cart To The Next Level By Mark Walters At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

A failing ecommerce business may not be the result of bad business decisions or improper management techniques. No ecommerce business needs to be discarded if it is not doing well. Many ecommerce businesses did poorly under one system but flourished under another. In some cases, it may be just a case of too much supply or too many of the same things.

A long term look at the web shows that successful sites are continually evolving to meet new trends and meet customer demands better. A simple change like altering the shopping cart can make all the difference on the balance sheet.

Most shopping carts do not work. It takes more than an image and a short blurb about the product to sell a product. This is the most critical step in the purchase process. Everything rides on the success of the product category pages. There are some success stories, but few new small business owners take the time to learn.

Front Pages

In the past people would surf through several pages before finding the items they want. Now they want to see dozens of items at a time. This worked in the past when most people had slow dial up connections. Today’s DSL speeds make it easier to include better graphics and even video of products.

Single Item Pages

Take a hint from Ebay. Once the person has selected their item, lead them to a single item page where they can find everything they need to buy. Do not hold out any information. Include everything including possible taxes, shipping, weight, and other concerns.

Include a write up on the item. At least 300 words, and include a bookmark navigation which will lead the potential buyer down the page to the information they want - immediately.

Include video, scroll bars, photo galleries, and other visuals at the top of the page. Do not expect people to make a purchase based on a single image. In the past a 2” square picture may have sold a television set or computer, but not anymore.

Do not assume that the potential customer knows about the product. And, do not expect them to come back and write a review. If necessary, pay for reviews, find reviews on the net and ask for permission to post them on your site. Or, include links to the company’s product pages. Do this by opening a new page, so people do not leave the shopping cart. This maybe a good place to insert a pop-up.

Guarantee

Guarantee the potential customer that they will receive the item in the picture. This is important in today’s unsecure web world.

Buy Now

Each page should have a checkout box and a buy now box. Do not force customers to go through a long series of sign up pages before they can pay. In fact, most customers abandon their shopping carts if they must navigate through three pages. This is not the time to build a mailing list or do market surveys. Instead, let them sign out, make their purchase, and if you need market research information, ask them after the buy.

The last way to make a shopping cart more ‘consumer friendly’ is to include a tool like paypal.com. Millions of consumers already have this tool, have already signed up, and are secure in the feature’s familiarity. A paypal button on each page may make the difference in the company’s success rates.

Each of these things are guidelines that can improve the purchasing power of a shopping cart. Each is designed to satisfy the consumer’s needs when shopping, and make your shopping cart stand out above the rest.

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