As a church, service company, charity, or retailer, are you getting the most out of your eCommerce website? With Christmas behind us, I reflected on my own spending trends. About 90% of my holiday purchases were made online. TIME Business & Money says that I wasn’t alone – online store spending increased over 17% from the previous year’s numbers! Online shopping has become an undeniable appeal to consumers, who can save time and often money by using virtual stores. Truth be told, Andy Chandler of the YCP team says that he hardly ever sees a “standard e-commerce site.” Most clients are unique, requiring custom solutions. “Many of our websites are services driven or are donation based. For example, some of our clients are only selling digital products, so shipping and inventory don't play a role - but secure delivery does. Backstage is designed to handle any type of sto...
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Secret #1: Keep it simple Navigation. Make it easy for your customers to find the products they are searching for. Using simplified navigation (for instance breadcrumbs like the Apple Store example) gives your customers instant orientation to which page they are viewing and a visual path back. Search. Since approximately 50% of users are search driven - they instantly locate and use the closest search tool - having a search that narrows search results as you type is a great feature. Your results page should effectively and graphically list the results, proving to be simple to understand. Checkout. An easy checkout system or shopping cart can make the buying process smooth and more inviting. For example, it's easiest for me to checkout online with simply my e-mail address as a guest checkout, rather than having to create a new user account at each site I shop at. If yo...
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