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  The Pineapplesoft Link newsletter covered a wide range of technical topics, see the archived issues.
The newsletter was first emailed in 1998. In 2001 Benoît discontinued it in favour of professional writing for magazines.
La page «September 1999» a été archivée en 2003 en respectant le document original de septembre 1999.
 
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Welcome to the 21st issue of Pineapplesoft Link! This issue discusses some frightening statistics for electronic commerce.

Shop Failures

Last week I read some fascinating and frightening results from a study by Creative Good. According to Creative Good, user tests showed that 39% of shoppers failed to buy because the sites were too difficult to use. That's more than one third of all shoppers!

Furthermore Creative Good found that $1 spend on advertising yields $5 in incremental revenues or less. The same dollar spent on improving the user experience can yield up to $60 in increased revenue.

You can order the study from http://www.goodreports.com.

An Eye-Opener

I was really impressed when I read the former figure. I suspected there was a problem (see, for example, the June 1999 issue -- available from http://www.psol.be/old/1/19990601_book.html) but I never thought it was affecting more than one third of all shoppers! No wonder some companies are losing money on electronic commerce.

I hope that the result from this test will be widely circulated and that it will serve as an eye-opener for the industry. What's the point in developing and promoting an online business if more than one third of your customers cannot buy because the site is too complex to use?

It's not Just Technology

Too often electronic commerce is sold as a technical solution. Buy this package or order that amount of development and you'll have a terrific web site. Too often organizations think that by adding a shopping cart to their regular site, they have made it to electronic commerce.

Often prospective customers ask us how many days we need to build an electronic commerce solution for them. Honestly there is no simple answer to that question. It's anything between one day and 6 months. And it depends very much on the needs of their customers.

Yet too many companies are selling electronic commerce the way you rent a shop. Renting the shop is only the first step and it is a very technical step. You agree to pay this much per month for the premises. Typically the price depends on the surroundings, the traffic in the area, etc.

However nobody would think of starting a shop by first renting a basement. The very first step is to decide who your customers are, where they are buying and what are their expectations.

There are streets for deluxe shops and other streets for discount shops. Opening a discount shop in a deluxe surrounding or vice-versa is a sure way to failure.

It Shouldn't Be an Afterthought

A very common mistake is to make a site, then add a "suggestion" form and wait for input from customers. The idea is that the site can be fixed after it has been build. The reasoning behind the "suggestion" box is that the web is a very dynamic medium and that it is easier to rebuild a web site than to rebuild a real shop.

Also, in the early days of the web, many organizations would put together a web site and fix it in answer to visitor comments. What worked then does not work anymore. Very few customers will take the time to tell you they didn't like your shop or couldn't use it. They are too busy shopping elsewhere.

Furthermore companies discover too late that they are trapped in their investments. They can't change their solution as easily as they originally hoped.

In short, designing your electronic shop for usability shouldn't be an afterthought. Although you have room to adjust your strategy, you need to start on the right track. This requires conducting a preliminary analysis and pouring lots of efforts in designing the right shop from the start.

It is not possible to summarize this process in just a few sentences. One would need a book but to get your started, here are three issues you need to address: know your audience, follow conventions and avoid error messages.

Know Your Audience

Technicians have different expectations than doctors who have different expectations than accountants who have different expectations than sales people. Know your audience, find what their needs, tastes and experiences are and provide it to them.

Amazon.com "One click" is a great example of knowing one's audience. Amazon.com found most shoppers were buying one item per session so they decided to dramatically fasten the process.

Follow Conventions

You don't have the time to train shoppers to use your web site. It needs to work immediately. Visitors rely on some common conventions in order to find their way in the maze of web site. They expect your site to follow the same conventions. Most shoppers won't bother if you depart from them.

For example blue underlined is reserved for hyperlinks. You should not use it for anything but hyperlinks. Conversely hyperlinks should be in blue. If red looks better with your graphics, then you need to change your web site until blue looks good. You must follow the convention, not expect shoppers to get used to other conventions.

Don't be afraid of being "boring". Shoppers will find you "easy to use" and they will come back to a great shopping experience.

No Error Messages

Make it a rule never to display an error message. Be very strict about this. By putting some extra work, it is possible to eliminate almost all error messages.

The trick is to turn error messages, which are negative for the shopper, in a positive experience. For example, a search should never return with no results. If your shop doesn't have a product, propose something else. In the simplest case, propose your two or three best-selling products.

Self-promotion department

The last two parts of the Jini article have been published at http://www.javacats.com/US/articles/ben/jini5.html and http://www.javacats.com/US/articles/ben/jini6.html.

About Pineapplesoft Link

Pineapplesoft Link is a free email magazine. Each month, it discusses technologies, trends and facts of interest to web developers.

The information and design of this issue of Pineapplesoft Link are owned by Benoit Marchal and Pineapplesoft. Permission to copy or forward it is hereby granted provided it is prefaced with the words: "As appeared in Pineapplesoft Link - http://www.pineapplesoft.com."

Editor: Benoit Marchal
Publisher: Pineapplesoft www.psol.be

Acknowledgments: thanks to Sean McLoughlin MBA for helping me with this issue.

Back issues are available at http://www.psol.be/old/1/newsletter/.

Although the editor and the publisher have used reasonable endeavors to ensure accuracy of the contents, they assume no responsibility for any error or omission that may appear in the document.

Mise à jour : septembre 1999.
© 1999, Benoît Marchal. All rights reserved.
Design, programmation XSL & photo : PineappleSoft OnLine.