Stop Shopping Cart Abandonment Now - Making the products easy, risk free, and secure to buy
(Page 3 of 4 )
All too often, products are not easy to buy. At first glance, the process would be a simple one, but there are many types of customers, often with widely different needs and requirements. Helping the user to make the right choices often involves listening to their personal preferences.
Provide more than one payment option. Not every customer has credit cards, and many people are very reluctant to provide their credit card information over the Internet. Provide a toll free telephone number or a fax number where the information can be sent without being entered online. The choices of using voice or fax for payment information should be made readily available and easy to find on every checkout page.
New visitors and first time buyers require special care and ease of purchase. Don’t create difficult registration and log-in requirements. Those procedures will only serve to drive customers away. Offline brick and mortar businesses don’t usually require lengthy registrations or log-ins for their customers, and neither should an online business. Difficult systems create an impression that the customer is not to be trusted. Indeed, the customer is more likely to mistrust the Internet business itself.
If your checkout accepts discount and coupon codes, make sure that a clearly marked box is available, or a specially noted line on the order form is easy to use. User errors should be easily corrected without loss of data, and the box must be well highlighted to avoid being overlooked by users.
Don’t forget to cross sell and offer more available options and choices to purchasers. Such offers are not usually viewed as intrusive, but are often seen as adding convenience. Think of the shoe store offering shoe polish or extra shoelaces to purchasers. Offering additional options works well, as many purchasers neglect to add them all into their order form. A handy reminder, built right into the shopping cart order form, will help to assure a satisfied customer.
Next: Building trust in new and repeat customers >>
More Website Marketing Articles
More By Wayne Hurlbert
