[thelist] 10 best ecommerce insights

Steven Streight steven.streight at gmail.com
Sat Jan 27 12:52:20 CST 2007


Since Joel Canfield asked for it, here it is:

I'm selling web sites to local businesses, and they either need a marketing
site that informs or an ecommerce site that sells.

10 Best Ecommerce Insights

(1) Don't sell web sites. Sell web-based marketing/sales/PR solutions.

(2) First, do research and consultation with clients to fully understand
client business, what the company is trying to do, and what the users want
to know, do, and buy, and then custom build a site around that.

(3) Ecommerce sites need to contain what all other blogs, wikis, and other
web sites need: About, Contact (form and email address, fax, phone, land
location, cell, etc.), Profile.

(4) User observation tests are mandatory.

(5) Don't give the client what will please the client, give them what their
customers actually want from a web site, and make that astonishing customer
gratification and service well pleasing to the client.

(6) Consider enabling the ecommerce site visitor to customize the product
you're selling, as in Flash-enable "Design Your Own" functionalities. See
www.uberprints.com for an example of tee shirt customizing Flash
application.

(7) If you require registration for a site, provide and explain the benefits
of, and reasons for, registration. Don't just have Register and Login links.

(8) Warn web design prospects of the dangers of letting amateur, student, or
well meaning friends build your web site. Explain to clients why a
professional, non-generic, stable, securely hosted, customized web site is
essential to achieve their business goals.

(9) Study books by Seth Godin, Kellog Marketing Faculty at Northwestern
University, Jakob Nielsen, Jared Spool, Tom Peters for insight, strategy,
and inspiration.

(10) A blase, laid back, non-hype, casual, relaxed, friendly, no pressure
approach is best, plus helping customers to compare one product versus
another in your lineup, helping them decide which product to buy is where
most ecommerce sites fail.

(10)

-- 
Steven Streight aka Vaspers the Grate
Web Usability. Blog Revolution. Ecommerce.


http://www.vaspersthegrate.blogspot.com
http://www.blogcorevalues.blogspot.com
http://my.opera.com/vaspers88/blog
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=vaspers
http://www.jejunejumpers.blogspot.com
http://droppingoutoftheblogosphere.pbwiki.com
http://steven.streight.googlepages.com/ceobloggingguide
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