Web sites need to be compelling, convincing and compulsive in order to attract and retain customers, direct marketing and Internet consultant Robin Lebo said last week during a session at the Direct Media Mailers Co-op Conference in White Plains, NY.
As a testament to the fact that many sites are not yet up to par, she said that 31% of e-shopper’s attempts to make a purchase failed because they could not find what they wanted at a site. And, that if 25% of those misfires had succeeded e-tailers would have realized an additional $3 billion in sales.
Another 56% of shoppers gave up after the search engine failed to locate products and services that yielded a loss of $6 billion to the industry, she said.
In addition, Lebo said that advertising dollars are better spent on customer relationship management. She said that the $5 return on investment for each dollar spent on ads during the 1999 holiday season pales when compared to a $60 return for every dollar spent on customer relationship management.
She offered the following tips to ensure an effective Web site:
* Make it sticky. Use a site directory, good navigation tools, a promotion for a free catalog and a place for customers to sign up for e-mail offers.
* Make it easy and usable.
* Make it private. According to a survey, 96% of Net users believe it’s very important for Web sites to post privacy policies.
* Make it fast. If a page takes more than eight seconds to download the visitor will be gone.
* Make it personal.
* Make it strong. Support systems need to work as well as Web-based front-end systems.
* Make it professional. Answer all e-mail inquirers. Fifty percent of shopping sites and 40% of travel sites do not answer e-mail, and those numbers are on the rise, Lebo said.
* Make it interactive.
The conference ended Friday.
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