Editorial Articles

In the current economic and chilly climate there is no doubt every business is fighting hard to attract and retain customers, and whilst online sales continue to grow, investment in a streamlined digital strategy remains key for e-commerce businesses.

Having been involved in digital production for over 13 years covering all aspects of user journey planning, design and interactive planning, I’m a huge advocate of ensuring that the customers journey is enjoyable and that along the way, our clients gather all the marketing information they need. As a seasoned shopper and someone that dips in and out of online retail therapy, particularly on my iphone, I’m quite comfortable with shopping on the net. My purchases range from cat food to garden furniture and paddling pools through to champagne. But, I just loathe having to login and remember passwords; when all I want to do is quickly get to the latest must have item that I’ve just seen advertised – before everyone else does; and it goes out of stock. I appreciate that the gathering of my personal information is an important part of the transaction, particularly if I want my goodies to be delivered, but sometimes it can be just another gritted teeth form filling moment, that quite frankly has me reaching for the off button.

Even though e-commerce is no longer in its infancy, it will still be for many an inexcusably frustrating experience. A recent online venture to buy a new born baby gift from a well-known lifestyle internet based business was just so. Instead of it taking the quick five minutes that I thought it would (stupid me!), to purchase and pay for 2 items, it turned out to be at least a half an hour job and a telephone call. The very annoying process of having to set up an account before I could start to shop is enough to make me get the car out and physically drive to the nearest retail park. I couldn’t face doing this and so entered as a guest. I found my items (that did not have product codes assigned to them), and popped them into my basket. Nearly there I thought. Just a bit more form filling to do; you know the stuff, billing and delivery address. Tick the boxes and bingo, job done. Alas, it was not to be, and the computer said no. My order couldn’t complete, and in the end I had to resort to phoning the company up, and once we’d identified what my gifts were without codes, I ordered them over the phone. This should have been a quick simple transaction but instead it was let down by a system that over complicated the gathering of my details, and then fell down completely. Had it not been for the fact that I wanted to purchase a specific gift, I would have given up the ghost and gone elsewhere.

So whilst e-commerce is here to stay, businesses, and in particular on-line only retailers must not be complacent in thinking that once a shopper is online filling their baskets; that they will then have the stamina to stay with the process, cross the finish line and make it through the checkout. Retailers must adapt and streamline their digital purchase procedures to “keep the fish on the hook”.

Helen Darlington
Creative Director, INK Digital Agency