How to Prevent Shopping Cart Abandonment!!

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Enclosed checkout process significantly decreases the risks of shopping cart abandonment simply because buyer is not unfocused by advertisements, headlines or any other visual or audio distractions. The successful checkout process is very clear and straightforward. The buyer is able to see the mandatory steps that need to be done in order to complete the purchase which commonly are; About you, Billing Address, Shipping Address, Payment and Confirm & Pay. By providing buyer with these steps, the customer is aware of what information will be required and how long the checkout process is approximately going to take.

I found a good article on Mashable.com called 7 Mistakes to Avoid on Your Ecommerce Site written by Todd Wasserman that focuses exactly on enclosed and fast check out process. Wasserman states that; “If you’re asking consumers to take more than five steps to buy something off your site, then you’re asking too much. Compuware recommends the following:

 

In order to decrease shopping cart abandonment, an effective e-commerce site will have an Authentic Secure company logo displayed somewhere on the screen. This Authentic Secure company logo is frequently located at the corners of a webpage and at the checkout process to keep browsers/customers reminded that their private information is secure and protected. The choice of placing the Authentic Secure logo at the checkout process webpage is to create customer confidence and trust between the buyer and the e-commerce site. A good e-commerce site is trying to influence the buyer that all information entered is secure and protected; therefore, buyer can feel safe and comfortable. The buyer is able to focus only on completing the purchase only.

Another feature that effective e-commerce sites have is being able to see the total amount of money for products/services that customer selected in shopping cart at all times. A good tactic is placing the shopping cart icon at the top right corner of every page with the total amount displayed in clear font so when shopper is still browsing, he/she is able to see the total amount without being forced to actually click on shopping cart. This feature significantly decreases cart shock, leading to shopping cart abandonment.

Furthermore, additional suggestion that Daniel Alves points out in How to Design an Ecommerce Site to Maximize Sales article on Mashable.com is regarding the ‘Add to Cart’ button. ‘Add to Cart’ is; “It’s your most important button, so don’t hide it. Use bold colors that contrast well with your design and attract attention. Try choosing a color that is not used anywhere else in the design to really set it apart. By making the button plainly visible, shoppers won’t have to wonder how to add items to their shopping carts. Any time spent searching for the “Add to Cart” button is time in which the shopper will reconsider her motivation to purchase.” (Alves, 2012).

 

Structure is Important

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For any e-commence site, creating customer confidence is much harder then in actual solid store, and that is why great and correct website design and layout is so essential. Website design creates the first impression that visitor sees.

E-commerce sites advertise products or services; however, those products are in fact intangible because all that customer sees is a photograph or a video. When a shopper walks into a solid store, this customer has a specific experience; the atmosphere, the sound, the smell, the behaviour and attitude of salespersons, the actual tangible product and so on, however, customer online does not have that same experience and that is why e-commerce sites must be able to persuade its customers well into making a purchase.

The first thing that a visitor commonly sees once entering an e-commerce site is the home page. The home page should clearly state what is the site advertising and selling. People generally do not like to scroll down, thus, information should be displayed at the upper side of the site.

In order to enhance product findability, well-organized categories and subcategories are crucial. It is also very helpful to group products in categories according to its price, color or material. For instance, I am looking for a purse in red color, and I am willing to spend up to 2000CZK; e-commerce site that will have the feature where I can select price range and color will be extremely helpful for me and will save me a lot of time. If this feature would not be available on a particular site, I am more likely going to leave as soon as I become tired and annoyed of trying to find a red purse for the maximum price I am willing to spend being 2000CZK.

I found a good article on Mashable.com called How to Design an Ecommerce Site to Maximize Sales written by Daniel Alves, which exactly focuses on my topic. Alves states that “The biggest reason why a shopper won’t buy something on a given website is not due to its price, your customer service, or a lack of buyer’s intent. Surprisingly, the biggest reason ecommerce websites fail is because shoppers can’t find what they are looking for.” (Alves, 2012) and that is why search box, categories, subcategories and crumbs must be used in order to enhance product findability.

Another feature that every e-commerce site should have is predicted typing in the search box. This is very helpful for the customer as it saves time, and customers are able to find other useful products. Non native English speaker might not know the exact correct spelling of a word, therefore, predicted typing is able to capture the word that is most likely intended by the user. In the articled mentioned earlier, Alves indicates how important search box is and also states; “Search bar should provide suggestions as you type. This allows your shoppers to type a few characters and be presented with potential choices, without having to type out the product’s entire name. This auto-complete feature can also be leveraged to cross-market products related to the product users are looking for.” (Alves, 2012).

The option of having multiple photographs per product and the zoom in possibility is definitely influencing customer decision-making and customer confidence.  Lets say I am shopping on Asos.com, a site I am very familiar with, and I really like this pair of leather gloves but those gloves are made by a brand that I have never heard of. I do not know if this brand sells high quality products or very crappy products that will break immediately. The option of me being able to zoom in on the photograph of the gloves and being able to see details of the material used and the way it is sewed will certainly influence my decision. The zoom in feature is also suitable and practical for older people that cannot see well.

I will talk about shopping cart abandonment and cart shock in the next blog post that I will publish tomorrow.

Email Marketing ‘How To’

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Good e-mail marketing should primarily fulfill its function and that is to bring value, information and then sell. Wrong email marketing will annoy customers, but email marketing that is done well provides useful information and hopefully will encourage enough leading in future purchase.

First of all it is necessary to realize that e-mail is not a television, and therefore should not be used as another communication channel for advertising. Unlike television, email is more personal; users receive and send messages to family, friends, workplace and so on.

Good e-mail marketing must have a clear purpose, visibly defined goal and very brief and simple to understand. It takes on average approximately 3 seconds for a reader to close an email, therefore, it is extremely crucial to attract ones attention in this very short time being 3 seconds. Action words are very important and play a significant role as ‘attention grabbers’. Words such as ‘exclusive’, ‘limited’, ‘special’ and ‘private’ commonly work well.

Lets say Zara store in Prague will send me an email with a heading saying “Exclusive and Limited Collection for this Fall”; the word ‘limited’ clearly indicates that the amount of clothing pieces being sold in this collection is lower than usual, therefore, it is more rare. ‘Limited’ also frequently means over a very short period of time, thus, I will feel pressured to visit Zara. Pressure in this context is suitable and appropriate as customers are positioned in a certain ‘game’ of who will see and buy this exclusive and limited item first. Words such as ‘private’ are more generally used in email marketing to reward loyal customers for the devoted behaviour by special occasions and events.

I found a good article on Mashable.com written by Loren McDonald called 5 Brands That Get Email Marketing Right that is identifying five brands that do very well at email marketing. Amazon is at the top of the list being number one. Amazon is so successful at email marketing because emails send to customers are based on recommendations of another products based on recent purchase; “For the customer this email would likely be a list of recommended products that are based on a recent purchase” (McDonald, 2012). This is great and influential tactic similar to Apple’s tactic on iTunes AppStore where a customer of a particular application can see other applications that customers of the same applications bought.

Email marketing can only work when the customer wants it; when it is forced to the reader, it will not work. When I sign up for an email subscribe in a particular store, I am looking forward to receiving emails from this store, rather than receiving emails from an unknown company that I have never subscribed to. Therefore, companies should not buy email addresses, but obtain them by creating membership options that have optional or required field for email address in order to sign up.

I found another helpful article on Mashable.com called 6 Smart & Effective Email Marketing Tactics written by Brian Anthony Hernandez. The six smart and effective tactics are;

  • “Tap Into Current Events & Pop Culture”
  • “Use Twitter & Facebook to Promote Opt-In URLs”
  • “Segment Your Database”
  • “Provide Incentives to Email Subscribers via Social Media”
  • “Expand Email Lists With SMS Promotions”
  • “Optimize Emails for Smartphones”

Pro Bono

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Pro bono publico, often shortened to pro bono is a Latin phrase and in English means for public good. This phrase stands for a professional work that is being done voluntarily and most commonly with out any payment. Some people believe that pro bono service and volunteerism are the same, however, they are not. Volunteering is an activity performed by a person that does not particular have or need any special skills, only the willingness to help for the benefit of others without any financial reward. Pro bono service is an activity performed by a person with a specific profession and skills that is willing to help and provide service for the benefit of others that cannot afford to hire someone delivering the same service.

Some companies use this pro bono work (frequently referring to legal services) as a good tactic to increase the company’s reputation and good image since the two most common goals of companies are; reputation and human capital.

Online, I found a good organization called Taproot Foundation, which is focusing on pro bono services. This company is helping organizations and specific people to find the right service that is appropriate for them and matches their profession; “Every Service Grant is delivered pro bono by a team of 5-6 business professionals who volunteer their time and expertise to help a nonprofit in their community.” (Taproot Foundation, 2012).

The image above is explaining two goals of majority of organizations and how will pro bono help to achieve these objectives.

I found another great article regarding pro bono on Fastcompany website called 5 Myths About Pro Bono Design. The article is talking about designers and pro bono, however, it includes a dominant quote; “Pro bono shouldn’t be viewed as troublesome work that one performs for free but rather an opportunity to channel one’s skills into a rewarding project that stands to benefit a whole host of people, even you, the designer.” (Cary, 2011). Organizations that are involved in pro bono are more likely to increase their reputation, relationships with other organizations and stakeholders (customers, investors and so on), development and skills of employees.

 

Instagram, T.H.E. Latest Trend!

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Instagram is a free photo-sharing application for Apple iOS and Android platforms, which allows users to share photos and connect with another Instagram users from all around the world. Today, Instagram turned out to be one of the most popular social networks with 100 million members as of September 11th 2012. According to the International Business Times website, the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that “[Instagram] just crossed 100 million users” (Zuckerberg, 2012).

Playing with colors is fun! Users are able to edit their photos by applying different types of filters right before every single photo is uploaded. Majority of Instagramers enjoy browsing through another user’s profile because of one simple aspect = curiosity. From my prospective, Instagram became enormously popular because it is a free social network that allows users to browse through any ‘public’ profile. Instagram is the latest trend!

Internet Marketing and Instagram are well connected due to two main reasons; it is rapidly growing with over 100 million users and marketing by uploading photos is commonly very effective as it allows potential customers to see the company’s product or service. According to Business 2 Community webpage, Instagram gives companies and professionals “the opportunity to visualize their product and to promote it to a fast-growing base of users” (Josue, 2012). Internet Marketing does not only focus on known companies. This application helps many unknown companies and individuals to get recognized because anyone can search anyone (if not private). For instance, lets say that I start making jewelry. By uploading photos of my home made jewelry and hash tagging them (#jewelry), my followers will instantly see my products and anyone who will be searching ‘jewelry’ is likely to see it as well. If my jewelry production becomes demanded, I can start selling my products online and so on. In this case, this social network can also be seen as an advertising network.

Instagram is a great choice for entrepreneurs that are looking for a cheap/expense free way to share their products or services. One has to keep in mind that when promoting over this photo sharing application, not everyone is able to access it due to the absence of Internet or smartphones. In many developing countries, people do not have Internet connection due to their financial status, therefore, advertising a product/service with the target on these citizens would be more appropriate by marketing through the newspapers, billboards and public locations.

There are many published articles on the Internet that are providing instructions and techniques on how to use Instagram for business purposes. I found an interesting and very helpful article called 4 Ways to Make Instagram Work for Your Small Business on Flowtown website, which very well explains the necessary steps.

When I am on my own Instagram account, I often go to the popular page and look for fashion photographs and fashion related users or companies. I am currently following one very popular company called Lola Shoetique (official website HERE, official webstagram ‘instagram’ HERE). This company sells female shoes ranging from flip-flops to heels and boots. I really like the way that Lola Shoetique presents the published photos. The colors in the photos are nicely combined and new photos are constantly updated at least three times a day. I do not really like that it does not include the price of the particular item, thus customer is ‘forced’ to go to their official website and search the price over there. This can turn to be a distraction as many websites, especially fashion based websites offer so many products that it is very difficult to find the particular item.

Web Hosting, E-Business Operations

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To cut the complicated explanations, web hosting can be seen as a form of ‘renting’ a space/area for ones website on an external server, meaning that if done so, website will be on the Internet without the need to have own server. This blog post includes the discussion of five web-hosting companies and comparing and contrasting the pricing, features and reviews.

The companies are:

  • active24.cz
  • cesky-hosting.cz
  • mediatemple.net
  • nearlyfreespeech.net
  • dreamhost.com

Pricing and Features

1.     active24.cz

This company is a Czech company offering four different types of webhosting ranging from 19kc to 249kc per month. The four offers are below (kc, with DPH included);

1)    Basic               22.80 /month

2)    Komplet          58.80 /month

3)    Home              154.80 /month

4)    Business          298.80 /month

1)    Basic:

  •                                 500MB space
  •                                 1 domain
  •                                 Unlimited data transfer
  •                                 Unlimited number of email mailboxes
  •                                 Hosting Linux or Windows
  •                                 FTP approaches

2)    Komplet:

  •                                   1GB space
  •                                   1 domain
  •                                   Unlimited number of email mailboxes
  •                                   Hosting Linux or Windows
  •                                   FTP approaches
  •                                   Database MySQL/MSSQL
  •                                   CGI scripts (PERL, Python and Ruby)
  •                                   PHP / ASPX scripts, Professional level

3)    Home:

  •                                   5GB space
  •                                   Up to 5 domains
  •                                   PHP / ASPX scripts, Professional level
  •                                   Unlimited number of email mailboxes
  •                                   Hosting Linux or Windows
  •                                   25 FTP approaches (5 for each web hosting)
  •                                   5 databases MySQL / MSSQL,
1 for each hosting

4)    Business:

  •                                   10GB space
  •                                   Up to 10 domains
  •                                   PHP / ASPX scripts, Premium level
  •                                   Unlimited number of email mailboxes
  •                                   Hosting Linux or Windows
  •                                   50 FTP approaches (5 for each webhosting)
  •                                   10 databases MySQL / MSSQL,
1 for each hosting

2.     cesky-hosting.cz

This company is also a Czech company, however, offers only single one package for 1000kc, which includes the most necessary features (kc with DPH)

1) Universal     1000 /year

1)    Universal:

  •                                   5GB space (2GB web, 2GB emails, 1GB database)
  •                                   Unlimited data transfer (traffic)
  •                                   Managing DNS records for domain
  •                                   Domain works without the need of www.
  •                                   Unlimited subdomains
  •                                   10x databases
  •                                   Database SQLite and CDB
  •                                   Unlimited number of email mailboxes
  •                                   Antivirus security against emails
  •                                   Antispam security for emails
  •                                   Automatic reply for incoming emails
  •                                   The records of access log
  •                                   Backup every 24 hours
  •                                   And much more…

3.     mediatemple.net

This company has seven types of webhosting packages ranging from $30 monthly to $1000 monthly all depending on customer’s needs. There is also extra package which includes the full server called Nitro 32GB.

1)    (ve) 512MB           $30/month       $300/year

2)     (ve) 1GB               $50/month       $500/year

3)     (ve) 2GB               $100/month     $1000/year

4)     (ve) 4GB               $250/month     $2500/year

5)     (ve) 8GB               $500/month     $5000/year

6)     (ve) 16GB             $1000/month   $10000/year

7)    (ve) Nitro 32GB  $2000/month   $20000/year

8)    (dv) Nitro 32GB $2500/month   $25000/year

 

1)    (ve) 512MB:

  • 20GB premium storage
  • 512MB dedicated RAM
  • 350GB network transfer

2)    (ve) 1GB:

  • 40GB premium storage
  • 1GB dedicated RAM
  • 650GB network transfer

3)    (ve) 2GB:

  • 80GB premium storage
  • 2GB dedicated RAM
  • 1.5TB network transfer

4)    (ve) 4GB:

  • 160GB premium storage
  • 4GB dedicated RAM
  • 3TB network transfer

5)    (ve) 8GB:

  • 250GB premium storage
  • 8GB dedicated RAM
  • 3TB network transfer

6)    (ve) 16GB:

  • 500GB premium storage
  • 16GB dedicated RAM
  • 3TB Network transfer

7)     Nitro 32GB:

  • 1000GB premium storage
  • 32GB dedicated RAM
  • 3TB network transfer

4.     nearlyfreespeech.net

This company is based on a completely different system. Customers pay only the amount that they use; ‘only pay for what you use’, which is stated on their home page webpage.

Service                         Cost                 Notes

Web Sites:                     $0.00/day         static sites

                                         $0.01/day         dynamic sites

DNS:                               $0.01/9-days    registered and “Hosted Here”

                                         $0.01/3-days    registered or “Hosted Here”

                                         $0.01/day         not registered or hosted here

Email forwarding:      $0.03/day

MySQL:                         $0.02/day         first process

                                         $0.03/day         each additional process

                                         $0.01/day     add InnoDB to process(optional)

RespectMyPrivacy:     $0.01/day

 5.     dreamhost.com  

This company offers only one package on shared hosting, which is perfect for small companies and bloggers.

                                          Shared Server              $8.97/month

The shared server package is offering:

Disk Storage               Unlimited TB + 50GB backups

Monthly Bandwidth    Unlimited TB

Domains Hosted         Unlimited

Full Shell/SSH etc.      Unlimited

Email Accounts           Unlimited

MySQL 5 Databases   Unlimited

Operating System        Debian Linux

Reviews

active24.cz: I did not find many reviews on this company, however, few customers were not satisfied due to the very poor customer service and slow server.

cesky-hosting.cz: I could not find any unofficial reviews on this company, only reviews which are on their official website. All of these reviews are stating how satisfied the customers are, however, this could be very bias as the company might not put a bad review on their own website, only a good one.

mediatemple.net: I found only good reviews about this company. Majority of the reviews state that this company is fantastic, websites load very fast, there are constant innovations and new technologies. Yet, some people say that the email service is very poor as emails are often not received.

nearlyfreespeech.net: This company has many compliments. Many reviews included comments regarding the ‘pay for what you use’ system as being very helpful. Some reviews also state that this company has very friendly customer service.

dreamhost.com: This company has so many bad reviews and unhappy customers. Majority of the reviews state that this website is completely unreliable and does not have any customer service. Another problem is that the server shuts down very often for approximately 20 hours with no explanations or awareness given.

Conclusion

From what I have read and observed, I would only recommend two companies being mediatemple.net and nearlyfreespeech.net. The mediatemple.net company appears very professional with many optional packages suitable for many kinds of websites and customers. The nearlyfreespeech.net is a great solution for bloggers or small companies. Those two companies had the most satisfied customers and to me seemed the most reliable and suitable.

Squarespace is a company that allows customers to create unique websites by selling software-publishing platform. This software includes great tools to create nicely designed websites. It is obvious that this company trusts it self as it offers 14 days free trial with 24/7 support service. The Squarespace company provides hosting, domains, security, back ups, unlimited webpages, storage space and data trafficking for only $16 a month which is the same amount like some of the web hosting companies mentioned above also require. This service is very suitable for companies that do not have a webpage yet as they have a great choice of creating a decent webpage with all very useful features for decent price.

Google Apps

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Google Apps is like Gmail, but for businesses as it is multiuser environment, meaning that many people can use the same account and access all the data created by that account. Google Apps provides users with certain Google products, which are web based under one domain.

For any business there are 3 options that have its advantages and disadvantages. The company can use web hosting servers, run its own mail server or use some other company’s mail server (Google);

  • to use web hosting servers: (negatives: company does not really get a high-quality browser interface, does not have large capacity and will be mostly relying on desktop or phone users).
  • to run company’s own mail server: (company sets up their own in-house server, for large companies it is very popular, the negatives: in order to operate it company needs a good IT person, running your own server is a big deal thus company needs a dedicated IT, and that is a very expensive solution).
  •  to use some other company’s mail server: (mainly often by Google, it is a lot more reliable, it is much cheaper and easier to set up, this provides a lot more space/capacity, and no need for IT people. Positives: good browser interface, space etc.)

Google Apps is beneficial choice for businesses as it provides great tools for businesses such as Google Docs, Google Sites,Google Calendar, Google Talk and much more. There are several important benefits of using Google Apps. Once the company has a domain name, it is able to subtitle the website; such as http://www.praguecollege.cz —-> http://www.students.praguecollege.cz. Another benefit is the individual email address such as username@companysdomain.com. Using this mail server is much more realible, easier and cheaper rather than running company’s own mail server or using web hosting servers as it offers a bigger advantage over the other hosting servers. Google Apps has a more user friendly interface, it is easier to maintain, no IT staff or privous knowlwdge required to run your own server.  Google Apps also provides a web based word processing software.

There are three types of Google Apps; standard, business and educational. Each of these has different features and capabilities such as the storage capacity in email, maximum users per domain and so on.  Due to these facts, Google Apps is the easiest way to create company’s own domain at a very low cost. Google Apps is free up to 10 users. Other than that, Google Apps charges 5$ per user per month.

Overall, Google Apps is a great solution for businesses.

References

Image 1

GoogleApps (2012) Available at http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/ (Accessed: 6 October 2012).

Image 2

GoogleApps (2012) Available at http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/ (Accessed: 6 October 2012).