Services to Support the Online Sale
Web Commerce Today, Issue 20, March 15, 1999
This article contains older information. Go here for newer information on conversion and testing.
It's one thing to build an online store. It's quite another to build one that sells and sells and sells. An important factor in the sales effectiveness of a cyberstore are the ways that the store provides information and incentive to bring the shopper to the point of purchase.As a customer strolls through the aisles of a brick-and-mortar store, trained sales people are observing her, and are ready to answer questions, demonstrate the product, explain features, and do whatever it takes to bring the shopper and her purchase to the check-out stand. You only rarely find hovering salespeople in online stores -- and some would say that is refreshing. So you need to support the sale in other ways. If you can systematically provide positive reasons a customer ought to purchase, as well as defusing troublesome questions your customer has about the sale, your chances of make a sale go way up.
Here are some of the approaches being used and some pointers to where you can learn more.
Close-up photos
Answers the question: What does it look like? What does it feel like? See our article "Examining the Goods: Flashpix Imaging Technology" (http://www.wilsonweb.com/wct2/990115flashpix.cfm). The low-tech approach, of course, uses a smaller thumbnail hot-linked to a full screen picture.
Dressing an online figure
Answers the question: What will it look like on me? Read our article about Lands' End Virtual Model, "How Will It Look on Me?" in this issue. Art.com (http://www.art.com) allows you to frame your print with just the right color -- online.
Sound and video clips
Answers the question: What does it sound like? Streaming technologies are used widely for CD sales, and sometimes for video sales. The main technologies used are Real Audio and Real Video from RealNetworks (http://www.real.com/).
Streaming Fragrance
Unfortunately, "smellies" are not available on the Web, though if it were, perfume and cigar stores would be the first to sign up.
Product information
This should answer every possible question about a product. The more expensive the product, the more extensive the information. This is where online stores should excel over physical stores and catalogs, since information on webpages costs little to make available. Too many online stores give only minimal data, stopping many sales dead in their tracks.
Gift registry, wish list, shopping list, gift occasion reminders
Want to take advantage of special gift events? Encourage customers to set up a public gift wish list. Alternatively, customers could prepare a private shopping list to remind them of what they need to purchase on their next visit. Once you register at Nordstrom.com (http://www.nordstrom.com), for example, you can enter birthdays and anniversaries you want to remember, and they will remind you by e-mail in time to send a gift. You can also record sizes and shipping addresses of friends to make future purchasing easy. These are typically set up using relational databases on the server.
Live answers for questions
Questions may be directed to personnel via either phone or chat. Read the article in this issue "Instant Person-to-Person Sales Support". You may be surprised at the relatively low costs of this sort of service.
E-Mail addresses for various departments
Who can the customer contact to get an answer? So many sites provide no e-mail addresses at all. Provide e-mail address contacts for each major area.
Knowledge base answers
Questions can also be answered by an expert system knowledge base, designed to determine your question and give you some possible answers. One example is Klone Server from Big Science Company (http://www.bigscience.com). The online demo has a photo of Andrette, a clever droid who answers questions from a database of responses.
Frequently Asked Questions
An inexpensive, low-tech way to answer many commonly asked questions. See my article "The FAQ Answer to 80% of E-Mail Overload" (http://www.wilsonweb.com/articles/faq.htm). If you don't have one of these in your online store, give it a long look. This is easy-to-do and may well incrementally increase sales, especially if you were to develop a FAQ for each of your main product lines.
Shipping and Ordering Information.
Answers the questions: How soon can I get it? Also provides information on return and refund policies, taxes, and tariffs.
Store Directory and Warrantee Fulfillment Centers
Answers the question: Where can I see this product up close and personal? and What happens if it doesn't work. These can be a series of linked Web pages listing address and phone numbers according to region, or sophisticated databases that find the closest location using ZIP codes.
Of course, the online sales industry is still in the infant stage. Please let us know of other services you've seen to support the sale. Other important elements of the sale, such as building trust and simplifying the check out system are covered in other issues.