Editorial Articles

Derek Linney, Solutions Director at Crimsonwing, explains why marketers may need to rethink some basic assumptions about what constitutes a great online shopping experience

As ecommerce has evolved and experience has been gained of selling online, a number of assumptions about best practices have emerged. While these are now well understood, many online retailers are still struggling to implement all of them into their ecommerce websites. At least we had the comfort of knowing where we were aiming.

Now, however, a new, different set of challenges is emerging as we deal with areas such as social networking, different online shopper profiles and new online shopping behaviours. These new requirements are not simple additions to what we already do but in many ways completely overturn our key assumptions about how a good ecommerce website should function. I would like to address three significant practices that need to be re-assessed in the light of the changes happening online.

The first is the implicit assumption that the majority of online shoppers want a fast, efficient transaction that enables them to quickly find the product they want – whether by navigation or by search - and then be able to checkout with the minimum effort. To help achieve this, sites offer facilities such as faceted search and feature based product comparisons to get the shopper to the right product. They then offer stored customer information, such as delivery addresses and possibly credit card details, to speed the checkout; the ultimate checkout being Amazon’s 1-Click. Extended product information, where it is provided, is aimed at helping the shopper make that quick purchase decision.

But what about the time-rich rather than the time-starved shopper? We see plenty of these in the High Street; enjoying the process of shopping. They want the shopping experience itself, not just the final purchase, to be an enjoyable leisure activity. Is this customer segment present online? Research by McKinsey suggests that among dedicated online shoppers this group of shoppers not only exists but is as large, or even larger, than the time-pressed shopper segment. The question we have to ask about our websites is whether they provide that rich, enjoyable shopping experience that this type of shopper is seeking?

The second guideline we have applied to ecommerce websites is that while we would like the user to sign-in as soon as possible on entering the site, in order to personalise the offer, we shouldn’t force the user to identify themselves until checkout. We want the new or casual user to be able to browse our site and see our products and prices with minimum barriers. Recently we have seen the rise of private retail sites which prevent access to the site unless the user logs-in. New users have to register before gaining access.

While this seems to fly against conventional ecommerce wisdom, these sites are generating shopper interest and a loyal following. And it’s not just for clearance sites but for regular merchandise and even product pre-release buying. These sites can also create an excitement to the shopping experience with limited time offer sales. Some sites, such as BestSecret.com, maintain exclusivity by only accepting new members through recommendation and limiting numbers that can register in any specific locality. The shopping site becomes a club for its members.

The third area where we see conventional wisdom being challenged is in ownership of the site’s real estate. Most retailers want to own the whole browser experience for users of their site. They have total control over the user experience and the context of the shopping environment. We are, however, seeing retailers open ecommerce sites within Facebook. This is not just a presence on the social networking site but a full blown embedded store. ASOS have just launched such a UK based store following the lead of a number of USA retailers. There are currently some technical challenges in presenting a rich user experience through this mechanism but one has to assume that such stores could soon rival dedicated sites. The shopper can browse and buy without leaving the framework of their favourite social networking site.

As with all things Internet related one cannot always predict which new trends will become mainstream and which will fall by the wayside, but we can be sure that the eCommerce landscape faces some dramatic changes in the near future.

Derek Linney, Solutions Director at Crimsonwing
www.crimsonwing.com