ecommerce Usability-The most important factor to stay ahead in competition

eCommerce usability

Hi friends,I am here again to share some interesting facts about eCommerce usability with you.In todays market numerous eCommerce sites are conducting businesses all over the world. Now you have an eCommerce site and you want to reign this domain. According to you what is the main factor that is capable of impressing your customers? (Remember customers come in all age, size and shapes…)
I know the answer will be good products and affordable prices…Yes, definitely that is one of the main features that will draw customers to your site. But one important aspect that most eCommerce site owners overlook is the usability factor.

Going by statistics and data collected over years, here I mention some of the major eCommerce usability criteria that you might have overlooked but in near future, these should become your most strong areas for drawing relevant customers to your site.

1. Use Headlines, Subheadings, and Breadcrumb navigation to show shoppers where they are.
2. Make sure contact information and a phone number are visible clearly and easy for shoppers to see.
3. Make sure you have a “Wishlist” facility that can be easily accessed by your customers in your site, by which customers can save their preferred products and buy it later on or email the details to someone else.
4. Keep the option of “Gift Certificates” in your site to keep your customers happy those who do not want to directly buy gifts for anyone.
5. Make the site search function prominent and in plain view so shoppers can query the catalog anytime.
6. Consider adding a search by category refinement into the site search for easier access to site sections.
7. Allow shoppers to refine product results by color, shape, size etc. and allow them to clear those refinements anytime.
8. Allow shoppers to show a designated number of items per page anytime with a “show per page” sort option.
9. Show related products and cross sell before the checkout process and after items have been added to the cart.
10. Use product page copy that answers shoppers questions about products they may be interested in buying.
11. Allow shoppers to add items to their cart before making them register for an account.
12. Make sure “Guest Checkout” facility is also there.
    

13. Make sure shoppers can easily access their cart contents and that it can easily be modified or adjusted.
14. Against an item multiple images should be available, so that customers can have a clear picture about the product they are going to buy.
15. Discount coupons facility should also be there.

Here I enlisted just a few of the most important eCommerce usability tactics that you should keep in mind while completing the setup of your online business. Wishing you all the best for your internet venture…Hope to return soon with a vast array of other topics relevant in enriching your customers’ experience.