A research study on the current practices of the hottest online stores concludes that Web shops should get back to basics and apply more of the traditional retailing knowledge of land-based stores to their sites.
In the absence of live shopkeepers, Web-based stores must make every effort to help customers make purchase decisions and buy products.
Some 24% of stores offer no pre-sale assistance and 32% fail to provide purchase instructions. While two-thirds of online stores offer some product specifications, only 12% provide third-party reviews and only one offered a features/benefits comparison, according to the study.
Such requirements such as the latest browser version, plug-ins, screen size and resolution, fast modem speed and RAM may actually discourage laptop users, those using older equipment and first time users from gaining entrance to the online store.
Finding information and products is as important as the products themselves, the study pointed out. Thus, site navigation aids play a pivotal role in guiding the shopper through the store.
“Contrary to media hype, Web commerce is not a revolution but an evolution in retailing. Online stores fail to translate the lessons learned from centuries of land-based retailing and merchandising into successful online shopping experiences for consumers,” contended the study’s author Shelley Taylor, managing director at Shelley Taylor & Associates, Palo Alto, CA. “Even though technology has changed, the way we humans process purchasing decisions has remained the same.”
Sites that ranked highest in terms of content and store features were CDNow, Barnes & Noble, Brainplay, Lands’ End and Blockbuster.
Click-Here Commerce, an international study of the success factors of online stores, analyzed 50 consumer e-commerce sites representing a cross-industry sample including technology, entertainment, books & music, apparel, sports goods, travel and leisure.
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