Ecommerce User Experience Vol. 07: Selling Strategies

Review the fundamental ecommerce selling strategies and learn how users feel about new tactics and emerging trends that drive online sales. In today’s ever-changing retail landscape, factors such as free shipping, frequent promotions, flexible return policies and easy reordering matter for first impressions and earning repeat business.

This 190-page report contains 85 recommendations based on our usability research. Discussions and 207 screenshot illustrations supplement the findings.

Topics

• Supporting the Ecommerce Sales Process
  • Strategic selling enhances the user experience
  • Pricing must be clear
  • Shipping costs disappoint users
• Supporting All User Types
• Enticing Shoppers to Buy More
• All One Experience: Online and In-Store
• How Ecommerce UX is Evolving
• Pricing, Promotions, Shipping, and Payment
  • Sales and discounts
  • Additional charges
  • Rebates, promotions and special offers         
• Selection, Availability, and Delivery Time
  • Awareness and findability
  • Inventory and availability information
  • Shipping options and in-store pickup       
• Providing Answers, Support, and Assurance
  • Customer service options  
  • The power of customer reviews      
• Product Display and Positioning
  • Presenting promotions
  • Promotional strategies    
• Driving Incremental and Additional Sales
  • Encouraging additional sales
  • Upsell and cross sell strategies  
  • Beyond related items
• Supporting Gift Buying
  • Gift certificates and registry
  • Personal messages
  • New gifting tactics       
• Enabling an Omnichannel Retail Experience     
  • Consistency across digital channels
  • Expectations between stores and online
  • Price differences
  • Return policy expectations    
• Online Catalogs and Circulars
• Loyalty and Repeat Customers
  • Giving customers reasons to shop at the site again
  • Using social channels and influencer fanbases

Research Method

The information in these reports is based on three separate rounds of e-commerce studies, including:

• One-on-one usability testing
• Diary-based longitudinal study
• Eyetracking

Representative users tested 255 e-commerce websites. The studies took place in the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and China (Hong Kong).