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• May 19, 2010

eCommerce, Transaction Forms, and why doing them the right way is money in your pocket

The simple rule: If your ecommerce site is easy to use you will have more sales, and more sales is more money in your pocket.

While the following usability guidelines appear simple, sometimes it is hard to see how they can impact your business without having the experience of dealing with a variety of eCommerce, transaction, or shopping services online on a daily basis.

  Headings:

• Show users where they are on your site and transaction process with clear headings and subheadings.

  Contact information:

• Make sure contact information is above the ‘page fold’ and is easy to access at any time during the payment procedure/checkout process. Present this contact information in the same place on each page (global).

  Item/Catalogue Searches:

• For an eCommerce site with a lot of products it is necessary to have a search function for users to find if their desired products are available/stocked.

  Item pricing, discounts, shipping, and taxes:

• It is best to make an effort to display item prices, discounts, specific shipping costs, and any applicable taxes as early as possible in the purchase process.
• Shoppers are looking for a deal online, so providing this information as soon as a customer finds a product on your site could help solidify a sale.
• Keep this information well displayed and outlined in the shopping cart; customers respect transparency.

  Show your site security:

• Showing what security you are using to protect your customers details and information is necessary in the online shopping realm. This builds trust between the customer and your business.

  Shopping cart:

• Make sure shoppers have the ability to edit their shopping cart during the transaction process.
• Present ‘Add to cart’ and ‘Checkout’ buttons in a large, easy to read font and colour for users. These buttons need to stand out.

  Checkout pages:

• Keep these pages clean, clear, and uncluttered with unnecessary things.
• These pages should be visually appealing, but simplistic.

  Registration:

• This is great to have as an option, but never should it be forced upon the user before purchase.
• Have registration as an option after purchase, but never make it necessary for a user to register before they can buy a product. Users are willing to give you money for your merchandise or services, why potentially scare them off if you don’t need to?

  Payment options:

• Provide a variety of payments options. More options means less reasons for a customer to turn away from a sale due to not having their usual or preferred payment method.
• Credit card, bank transfer, Paypal, and BPAY are the usual methods of online payment.

  Confirmation and transactional emails:

• The best way for your eCommerce store to increase return visits and orders is to treat customers well after they place their first order.
• Transactional and confirmation emails are not part of the ‘upfront’ sales process; however, they should be considered as part of your online marketing strategy. If you treat that customer right and provide all the information they could need or want, without them having to ask, you are increasing usability for your customers. This makes it easier for them to buy, and makes them more likely to make subsequent repeat orders.
• It is important for businesses to note that the transactional or conformation emails —while after sale information — are part of the total user experience!

  Big things to avoid:

• Forced registrations; allow ‘guest’ purchasing and offer registration after the order is completed.
• Unclear buttons or options.
• Hidden or hard to find contact information.
• Hidden pricing and costs of shipping/tax etc.

If you follow these simple usability guidelines for your eCommerce and transaction forms you might be surprised by the amount of increased sales you receive! Brightlabs works closely with clients to insure that any eCommerce or transaction form we create follows these guidelines, to help improve the usability of clients' online stores and thereby increasing sales.