The Search Marketing Advisor Newsletter Article:
March 2006, Volume 5, Issue 3

Shopping Cart Analysis: Picture Yourself at the Mall on Sunday

by Jason Damas, Algorithmic Search Analyst, iProspect

You work hard during the week. And you probably work more than 40 hours a week. So you cherish your weekends because they’re your only leisure time. Unfortunately, they also offer the only opportunity for you to maintain your household and buy things that you need.

For some, the mall may not be the ideal location to spend a Sunday, but you may have little choice. Maybe you need a new vacuum cleaner, a computer, or a new suit. But you don’t want to waste your whole day inside, dodging crowds of busy shoppers. You want to get to the store, have your questions answered, buy the product, and move on to more enjoyable pursuits as quickly as possible.

So how would you react if, after identifying the product you want and approaching the cash register with the verve of a marathon runner as he approaches the finish line, there was no employee to perform the transaction? Or what if the employee manning the cash register had a rotten attitude? Or what if the cash register was not working? What if it had nothing to do with the employee at all – maybe the store was having a special event that day, and the local radio station was broadcasting in-store, generating huge crowds that got in your way? How would you respond?

You may buy the item anyway, but find you’re so displeased by your experience that you vow never to return. Or you may surmise that there’s a similar store at the other end of the mall that sells the same item for the same price, and you bolt toward the path of least resistance.

It’s the Same Thing Online

While some Internet marketers think that their prospects are lounging leisurely on their couches at home – laptop and coffee in hand – the reality is not much different than the mall scenario above. What about the busy parent who’s trying to make dinner for her family and needs to quickly place an order? Or maybe a rushed businessperson wants to order an item while on wifi in an airport lounge. These people may already be your customers because they’ve already made the decision to purchase your product. So, how could you possibly still lose them?

The answer is a bad checkout process or shopping cart. Every website with an online purchase objective has some sort of checkout process. Most in-store salespeople have the benefit of face-to-face interaction, and the best of them will tailor their sales strategy for each customer. Websites, however, lack this advantage.

Even the smallest snag in a shopping cart can derail the conversion process, and almost all shopping carts seem to have them. Here are five things you can do to help ensure a more effective shopping cart.

Don’t force the buyer to enter both billing and shipping information if it is the same.
Provide the buyer the option to review the product specifications once she’s reached checkout. Allow her to satisfy her “Am I sure about this?” instinct.
Keep the checkout process to four pages or less, and include a status indicator so the buyer knows where he is in the process at all times.
When inquiring for address information, don’t ask the buyer for his country before asking for his state. It’s a small yet annoying inconsistency.
And, perhaps most importantly, include persuasive copy at checkout. How do you feel at a store when the cashier rings you out without saying a word? Online there’s an even more pressing need to propel the buyer to convert, as it’s so easy for them to abandon the process.

To isolate the specific reasons why potential buyers abandon your shopping cart, check your Web analytics reports to see exactly where they are leaving, hold focus groups to hear first-hand what users have to say about your checkout process, or visit the shopping carts of other merchants to see if the things that frustrate you on their sites are also present on yours. Then make your adjustments accordingly. It’ll be like providing your buyers parking spaces right near the mall door, a clear path between the door and the items they seek, and an express checkout lane just for them. Now, if shopping at the mall on Sunday could just be that easy.

Click here to subscribe to the Search Marketing Advisor newsletter now.

Learn more about our iProspect's search engine marketing services.

del.icio.us

Inquire About iProspect's Services

Access FREE White Papers and Webcasts

Subscribe to our FREE SEM Newsletter

View Upcoming Events and Webcasts

The Search Marketing Advisor Newsletter Article: March 2006, Volume 5, Issue 3

Shopping Cart Analysis: Picture Yourself at the Mall on Sunday

The Search Marketing Advisor Newsletter Article:
March 2006, Volume 5, Issue 3