Andy King, author of Website Optimization: Speed, Search Engine & Conversion Rate Secrets posted Usability Study: Men Need Speed yesterday — citing a study by Southern Illinois University on how men and women use the web. The researchers found that both men’s and women’s top priority is ease of use, with web speed men’s second choice, and easy navigation women’s.
Does this mean that in general, men are “hunters” and women are “browsers” online? If so, this is not unlike the offline world. In ‘Men Buy, Women Shop’: The Sexes Have Different Priorities When Walking Down the Aisles (from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania), men ranked “difficulty in finding parking close to the store’s entrance” as their number one shopping problem (29%). Women’s top beef was “lack of help when needed,” and one woman stated her favorite store’s sales associates “are always great. They always show me different styles. They will show me something new that’s come in.” A man of similar age responded “I haven’t had much interaction with most sales people. I don’t really need them — as long as they’re at the checkout.”
The differences don’t stop there:
[Read the full story]
BoldChat recently released research on The Effectiveness of Live Chat Technology which surveyed 264 US shoppers who consider themselves regular online shoppers.
One of the findings I found most interesting was the most common reason site visitors would initiate live chat is if they experience an error during the checkout process (76%). Other reasons include asking general questions about products/services/policies, sales specials or inquiring about orders already placed.
Participants were asked to rank communication methods in order of preference for various situations. For problems in checkout, participants ranked chat first, then phone, then email. (Of course, Twitter is also an option!)
[Read the full story]
The etailing group’s 8th Annual Merchant Survey asked 190 senior executives about their e-commerce merchandising and marketing practices. Regarding email, execs were asked about what kind of content their emails use. The number one answer was “sales and specials” at 86%, with “their own branding” (83%), “seasonal messaging” (79%), and “new product introductions” (77%) following close behind.
“Useful information” did not make the list.
Last week I shared a shared a tip my manager gave me when I worked at a shoe store – when the store is “dead” – make a mess. Make it look like stuff’s going on in your store.
Another pearl of wisdom from my Al Bundy days is to “give customers free information.” I had a bunch of general and product specific facts in my shoe-salesgirl arsenal that I would casually drop in conversation with a customer. This would build rapport, trust and keep the customer engaged. Because I wasn’t a pushy salesperson – customers would spend longer time with me and were more open to my suggestion for cross-sells and alternatives. Even if a sale didn’t happen on the spot, I was sowing seeds in hopes the customer would be more likely to come back to our store, and more likely to approach me for help than other sales people.
[Read the full story]
Blogger, author and multichannel retail expert Kevin Hillstrom recently asked some deep questions about Bricks, Clicks and Multichannel Experiences.
I’m looking for feedback. Based on what I’ve read on Twitter, the 2% of America that uses the micro-blogging service that will become the greatest marketing tool of all time until everybody switches to yet another platform in 2010 have strong opinions on these topics. What do you think?
Since I just couldn’t get my responses to fit within the 140 character Twitter limits (even less when you consider @minethatdata is required), I thought I’d answer them here on the blog and turn the questions over to you, the Get Elastic readership, to add your input.
Issue #1: Is it acceptable for a big-box retailer to offer merchandise online that is not available in stores?
Absolutely. The online channel can be a great place to clear out overstock/old stock/returned-to-stock items, manufacturer refurbs and so on. There are also items that it’s more cost effective to fulfill from one warehouse than to deliver to each big-box store, or which the retailer can drop-ship for special orders.
[Read the full story]
If you’re heading down to Orlando May 3-7 for the Independent Oracle User Group (IOUG)’s COLLABORATE 09 event, we’d love to connect with you!
COLLABORATE 09 is the premier event for Oracle database and technology professionals looking for best practices and real-world solutions. IOUG Forum session topics include database administration & warehousing, applications development, and business intelligence, and cover products including RAC, Fusion Middleware, Essbase, Stellent, BEA and many others.
[Read the full story]
Subscribe to All Posts
Return to top of page