How to succeed in business without really getting out of your study chair (Entry 4)

I'll be honest from the get go: I know nuts about e-commerce. The only things I purchase online on a regular basis are my Norton updates and the occasional extra mission packs for a few games I play. Beyond that, I only observe when my female friends borrow my MacBook to "online window shop". However, after surveying a few blog sites about e-commerce strategies and considering what my friends look for when online window shopping, basic marketing strategies and common sense, I believe that I've isolated a few key tips to note when creating a successful e-commerce business.

1. Friendly user interface

This is a given, I think. You need an interface that is easy to access and navigate to what you want. Search bars help here, as to command bars at the top or the side that help navigate. These bars should have as few categories as possible and use dropdown subcategories when you mouseover the button, like:

this.
Personally, I like clean looking sites that grab your attention at the beginning, and then show you where you want to go, like the Prada website (which I know isn't technically a dedicated e-commerce website, but still the look of the site is clean.

I didn't really like Blogshopcity's look. It clutters too much in the front page. People get annoyed and confused especially first time users who don't really know their way around.

2. Don't make website memberships compulsory for purchases

Most sites will have you register or log in first before you can purchase anything. It may seem like it's for security of identity or whatnot, but frankly a PayPal account or a functional credit card can do that. Besides, the risk in the transaction is mainly on the consumer because s/he's the one ponying up the dough. Memberships are meant to get people to return to the site because they already have a membership. Kind of like inducing brand loyalty. However, most one-time shoppers are put off by this and turn away from sites that demand a membership. "I just want to buy a damn dress, and now I have to key in my address and the name of my first pet?!"

One-off shoppers do make up a significant portion of the online consumer demographic, so it wouldn't be good business ignoring them. What should be done is to make sign-ups optional and have the site recognize when purchases have been made from a particular IP address multiple times. That indicates that someone is actively returning to your site. Then ask those people to sign up.

3. Socially moderated user reviews

Saying a product is good because the seller says it is good is just silly. Of course, they're gonna say their product is good, even if it isn't entirely! That's just business. People now recognize that, and now buyers are more likely to listen to people who aren't obligated to say nice things about a product, like previous buyers. Thus, people (or at least members) should be allowed to comment about products, and site administrators only need filter out obscenities and spam messages.

Of course, having a product reviewed by only one very disgruntled consumer might not be the best business. That's why these comments should be socially reviewable, in a "xx users found this comment helpful" and like and dislike buttons.

4. Know the Web

Running an e-commerce business is different from running any other business in that you are in a different environment. In the same way that a shop owner should know the environment that his shop is in (what demographic shops in the area and such), e-commerce business owners should know the environment that their business is in (the Internet). E-commerce business owners should be able to gather info like hits, stickiness, internal site traffic and such. This will give them knowledge about who goes to their site (which could be anyone), especially since you can't judge them by looking at them. Y'know, because you can't see them.

There are, of course, more factors to consider, but this post is quite lengthy as it is, to be honest. If you're still reading, I am touched. So what other factors can contribute to the success of an e-commerce business?


Let me know in the comments section down below!