Designing an e-commerce store takes much more planning and execution than launching a standard web site. Understanding this at the outset, just as with any large project, helps to ensure at the time of launch everyone in the organization is in sync (to the extent that this is ever possible).

Usability, functionality, and design should all be woven together at the planning stages. The goal is to give your customers an overall positive experience. While we (the web design firm) could create a very intuitive web design, we can’t help the product get shipped on time or know that the internal MRP system needs to have certain data fields complete without good planning and knowledge sharing.

According to a survey conducted by Internet Retailer 60.3% of web retailers have redesigned their e-commerce site with in the past year. This statistic showcases that Internet retailers are realizing how important the design of a site is to how successful an e-commerce store will be. Our advice is to embrace the web standards but trust in the competence of the user. In other words, if people can navigate virtual worlds they can get through a few wrong turns in the product shopping process.

There are different ways to approach the design of an e-commerce store. Some companies believe that rich media content deserves more emphasis, while others think that simplicity is the answer. A store can be successful using either approach, however there are some important things to focus on.

In the survey by Internet Retailer 68.9% of the companies redesigning their e-commerce store said that better product and page organization was the main focus of the redesign. Customers are not likely to spend much time searching on a site so organization is key. It is the company’s responsibility to make it easy for the customer to find their way around the store. ECmmerce101’s blog gives 4 good tips for organizing your website. They are:

1. Make sure the information on each page is balanced. Not too much, not too little.
2. Be sure the information you include on each page is relevant and in the correct order.
a. Tell the customers who you are
b. Tell them what kind of business you run
c. Tell them what you offer
d. Display the total cost
e. Explain the necessary steps to complete the purchase
3. Have good categorization and trust your categorization. Trust your customers to understand your categorization.
4. Don’t punish your customers for navigation mistakes. Make the store easy to move through, making sure the customers do not feel lost in the store.

Another good idea is to make the store easier to navigate is to include a search feature. This allows customers to search through the products offered based on size, color, functionality, product number, etc. This is also a great marketing tool as we mentioned in an earlier post.


Outlier Solutions
At Outlier Solutions we know it’s important to implement good design in all of our projects, but understand that extra planning is needed when designing an e-commerce store. We believe that designing to meet web standards is important. According to the Web Standards Group, designing to web standards helps to deliver the greatest benefits to the greatest number of web users. Standards also help to ensure long-term visibility of any document you may publish on the web.

Yet again, the case for diversity in marketing is made thanks to GlobalSpec's Industrial Marketing Trends Survey. Respondents to the survey stated overwhelmingly that online marketing is already becoming a higher priority in 2007 than it was in 2006. The reason? Companies are working to grow their customer base by reaching and appealing to a more tech-savvy market. The question is this: What marketing mix will allow customer-seekers to reach their full potential?

First, lets understand who conducted and who responded to the February, 2007 survey. GlobalSpec is a search engine geared towards professionals in the technical and engineering fields. In summary, GlobalSpec is a gateway through which companies may access a wealth of online catalogs, services, and other technical content. Users surveyed represented companies of all sizes, with 41% describing themselves as holding marketing management positions. In order to better serve their users, GlobalSpec needed to find out what their plans are for 2007. And with this survey they got their answer: Web marketing, with it's ever-expanding definition, is the future.

61% of those surveyed by GlobalSpec plan to spend more on online marketing in 2007 than they did in 2006, and 37% of all survey respondents plan to spend over one third of their marketing budgets online. A lot of time, effort, and money is being invested in reaching out to customers through the internet. But companies must remain active in seeking new, more effective ways to gain and retain customers. Nowadays a beautiful company web site and search engine optimization are not enough.

Along with a well-designed online presence and good search engine placement, companies need to give customers access to what they have to offer. The internet is all about information, so companies must give it efficiently. E-newsletters and email marketing allow providers to communicate directly with high-affinity customers and encourage them to investigate. Searchable on-line directories, product catalogs, and even advertisements placed on search engines give current and potential customers easy, quick access. Banner ads and banner ad networks allow for a broader reach to a more diversified group of seekers. After all, 91% of those responding to GlobalSpec's Survey use the internet to find what they need to run their own businesses.

At the same time, it is important to not get too carried away in expanding one's marketing mix. Though well-publicized and trendy, some forms of online communication are not yet worth heavy investment. For instance, forms of social media such as podcasts and blogs are not showing high returns in the industrial sector yet. The eyes of potential customers have not turned in such directions. Still, social media is worth monitoring and dabbling in for possible use in the future.

What we learn from GlobalSpec's Industrial Marketing Trends Survey is that customers expect to find what they need online. Through a balanced, broad-reaching online marketing strategy companies can make a connection with those customers and provide them with easy access, relevant information, and thus great service. Outlier Solutions can help you define, implement, and measure a complete online marketing strategy.