At the dawn of the new age of the Internet, the use of Electronic stores on websites became undeniably important. Many businesses – wholesalers, retailers, manufacturers and the like, made their wesbites more interactive through use of a store. And more importantly, these stores drove sales to new heights!
However even many years after E-stores became prevalent, many still aren’t at a high standard.Today there are many ineffective E-stores. And the more ineffective the E-Store is, the less likely it is that the customer will bother trying! An effective E-Store is quite similar to an effective retail store. So here are some tips drawing on what we already know about effective retail stores.
User Interface is Key
If a customer enters a maze like store with loud music and no assistance they will become disillusioned very quickly. They will become confused and forget what they were looking for. They will leave the store angrily and may tell their friends about their poor shopping experience.
An E-Store can unfortunately offer the same experience. If an E-store is difficult to navigate then the user will beome frustrated. They may wonder whether the struggles of your E-Store are worth it’s cost. However a well organised estore makes all the difference. Take for example locksmiths in Auckland Chubb’s E-Store:
Their Estore is incredibly easy to navigate. Instead of being stuck on one track, users can dive into many different categories, easily navigated to using the tab. Categories further separate products and services. Overall the user is on-track and can easily navigate the site.
Minimise Walking Distance
Lets say you wanted to buy a TV from Noel Leeming. Imagine walking into the massive store to find TV’s in one corner, kitchenware in another corner, cameras in another corner and miscellaneous electronics in another corner. All the while the rest of the store was empty! It would involve long walks and would be confusing to say the least.
Although it makes sense to not do that in retail stores, some online retailers make that mistake. They separate stock far and wide meaning consumers need to “walk” for longer just to reach it. By keeping goods relatively in reach, you can cut nuances and improve your store.
Get Easy to Use Shopping Carts
Just as you wouldn’t want broken carts in a physical store, you should also avoid them in online stores. You want the consumer to be able to find their cart easily. You also want to give them the option of removing and adding items to it as they please – with stock restrictions of course!
This shopping cart by Chubb illustrates this perfectly. While it isn’t shiny, it does do the job remarkably. From the cart, users can add and drop items, select their location, calculate freight and GST. It gets the job done and at the end of the day that’s all it really needs to do.
