FTC guidelines for giveaways to bloggers
Posted on 07. Oct, 2009 by admin in Ecommerce News, Know How
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wants bloggers to reveal any benefit they get from reviewing products.
Independent of our opinion of government meddling, we think it is good practice to always reveal any links a blogger has that might create a conflict of interest in their reviews.
Trust is the most valuable currency of the online world. While in the real world we have many cues that can allow us to build a trust with people we meet online these cues are mostly absent.
When the blogger reveals conflict of interest before providing a review, it actually creates more trust in this and future reviews from the blogger.
If the practice is widespread we will have more trust in blogs in general. Thus making all bloggers benefit.
In the absence of trust users will need to do much more research to establish validity of reviews, thus reducing the value of the blogosphere as a product selection tool.
Get rid of the Digg button
Posted on 02. Oct, 2009 by shibl in Know How, Social Media
says Get Elastic in their analysis of the
Top 10 Web 2.0 Activities for Ecommerce:
if I could add a #0 to this list (absolutely no impact) it’s Digg This buttons. I see them often on top retailer sites and that puzzles me. It takes an extremely hot story to get popular on Digg. It’s a bit like asking customers to nominate you for President.
Cart abandoment metrics
Posted on 02. Oct, 2009 by shibl in Know How
Etailers are always upset at the number of users who fill in the cart and then abandon the site.
While this is clearly something that needs to be monitored and improved, it is a natural part of the shopping process.
Users use the cart as a bookmarking for items they are considering purchasing and then they might decide not to purchase.
According to Cometrics benchmark report the average abadonment rate is 65%, this differes depending on the industry from over 80% for department stores to 40% for gifts.
Our recommendation is that you shoudl strive for an abadonment that is 70% of your industry average. If the rate is higher than then you should take corrective action.
Start by asking the following questions:
1) How many clicks do I need to checkout
2) Is the checkout button prominent and inviting
3) Is easy? Does it look easy?
4) Do I offer a good selection of payment options?
5) Are the shipping and handling costs higher than my competitors?
6) Do it work? On all browser, screen sizes and operating systems?
7) Get a report of the actual carts that are dropped. Are there any patterns? Gegraphy, product categories, etc
Do not forget to always look at reports of products selected in abandoned carts as it will give you an indication of good targets for promotions and discounts.
7 faces of the online shopkeeper
Posted on 28. Sep, 2009 by admin in Know How
So what is the value you are providing your shoppers?
Why should they buy from your store rather than from other online stores?
Each store has its personality (hopefully) but there are a few aspects that we think separate the top performers.
The top performers do one, two or many of the following roles very well.
- The teacher
- The curator
- The water cooler
- The experience provider
- The personalizer
- The choice provider
- The finder
Webstore exponential ROI
Posted on 28. Sep, 2009 by admin in Know How
In a previous article we discussed how operating an online store is 100 times harder than an offline one.
On the flip side, I would like to discuss the high return on investment for webstores.
The mechanics of web purchasing are simple: customers will buy from the best sites.
Of course best is in the eye of the beholder. So the best site for robot making kits has different characteristics than the best site for flower delivery.
However improvements that you make to your store will increase your chances of being in the best spot for a very large number of users. Once you cross a certain threshold you will get a whole tribe of users flocking to your site.
Unlike a traditional store where distance deters shoppers and limit the value of your improvements, if you move from spot 2 to spot 1 in the eyes of a certain client base your sales could grow by large multiples.
When investing in your online business always remember that the returns are not linear and that a small additional (wise) investment could make a huge difference.
Online selling is 100 times harder than offline
Posted on 28. Sep, 2009 by admin in Know How
Actually the title of this article is an understatement.
What is the basic function of a store? It is basically a local showroom and distribution center where merchandise is stored close to the purchaser to allow him to have a wide range of products without having to travel long distances.
This is why smart merchants will consider location one of the most important characteristics of a store. As a store owner you have to have good service, nice decor, etc, but you are competing with the stores that are in the 50km radius of your store. As long that you are better or close to them in price, service and product selection, you will get a portion of the business.
Once we combine the internet and UPS the whole game changes. With similar effort a resident of New York can buy goods from any store in the whole US.
As an online store operator you are competing with every single online store in your category, in other words instead of stores within 50km radius you are competing for stores in the whole country.
This translates to over 12000 times more space in the case of the US or Canada.
The basic idea is that an online store is competing on a different plane that a traditional store and has to think of the value it provides its shoppers.
In the online world the objective is not to be better than the average competitor but to have at least one area where you are better than ALL your competitors.
You have to think very hard about what sets you apart from your competitors and how you can be truely N1 because all your competitors are just one google search away.