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Seven Ways to Do the Web Right

October 27, 2008 The current economic climate is driving consumers to online shopping, Thomas Harpointner, CEO of the AIS Media e-business solutions company, told Gifts & Decorative Accessories. “Just avoiding sales tax in many cases is incentive enough for consumers looking for a way to cut expenses.” 

And in spite of fewer free shipping offers caused by rising fuel costs, consumers would rather save their own gas. “It adds up to less traffic at the stores,” Harpointner says. And even much of that store traffic is influenced by online shopping: “Many are turning to the Web but ultimately buying at the retail store,” he explains. 

As a result, he advises retailers to invest in expanding their online efforts. And of course, they are cheaper: email delivers $48 for every dollar spent, he says, compared to catalogs’ $7.20. Here are Harpointner’s tips for maximizing return on Internet investment: 

• Make a great online impression. You could have a wonderful, beautifully decorated store, but consumers turn to the Web first, so developing an online site that is as fabulous as the storefront is crucial,” says Harpointner. And keep it up to date. 

• Be where they're looking: 80 percent of consumers turn to the Web first to research purchases, according to Harpointner, and 90 percent of them use search engines, so be sure to maintain high search engine visibility. 

• Have a long-term email strategy which drives traffic to both the online and the offline store. Keep customers coming back over and over again through a constant stream of email newsletters, promotions, discounts and coupons. 

• Use ratings and reviews. Many retailers haven’t yet adopted this tool on their own site, but Harpointner points out, “It leaves customers to find their own ratings and reviews, which generally means they leave the website and go elsewhere.” They may not come back. 

• Give customers the option: the best way to make sure you don’t annoy customers is to let them choose with what frequency they want to receive communications from you, such as daily, weekly, or biweekly. And make sure you provide a very simple opt-out. 

• Know your audience. A tech-savvy readership may prefer RSS feeds as a way to get timely information without having to provide personal details like an email address, while the majority of later-adopters probably haven’t even heard of them. 

• Get customers involved. Encourage them to spread the word by forwarding offers to friends and family. “Leaking” an offer to select consumers can make them even more excited to spread the word by making them feel special.

Posted by Virtual Merchant Today on October 27, 2008 | Comments (0)