The Five Most Commonly Encountered, Off-putting E-commerce Errors

While getting less public handwringing than during holiday season, the "abandoned shopping cart problem" continues to wreak havoc on online sales. Recently I judged a raftload of sites for the Webby Awards (my second time) and for the Inc. magazine Web Awards, as well as for my own clients. Here are the five irritants and obstacles that most frequently disrupt the visitor's shopping experience at e-commerce sites.

  • Lack of quick orientation for first-time visitors. What does the site sell? I've had to poke around for several minutes sometimes to understand the focus of a site. Jargon is one culprit. Another is lack of context, like an airline site that sells tickets not giving a single clue on the home page in what countries or even what continent it flies.

  • Explanations that don't explain. What does the product do and not do? Another basic, but it happens often that a site doesn't explain whether their "Turbocharge VT27-Plus" is a one-time download, a subscription, a Web-based service or something else. An alternative payment system's site failed to offer a clear, systematic description of how it works.

  • Missing prices and shipping charges. How much? You shouldn't have to put something into a shopping cart or enter your credit card information to learn how much an item costs, including shipping. Unfortunately, you still find this mistake at sites that have had plenty of time to get their act together.

  • Unreadable text. Say what? Creativity gone haywire seems to be the hallmark of some Web designers. Orange letters on a blue background, olive green on black, light gray on white and blue on blue were combinations that sent me packing, as did lettering too small for over-40 eyes.

  • Inconsistencies. Huh? One site says, "To sign up, click on the Sign Up link at the top of every page." But the site does not have any "Sign Up" link, only "Sign In." Such carelessness wastes the time of earnest shoppers and gets them frustrated and fed up, never to return.

    Blunders are equally rampant at well-funded corporate sites and those from home-based businesses. The good news is that many of the errors are extremely easy and inexpensive to fix.

    About The Author

    Marketing guru Marcia Yudkin is the author of Poor Richard's Web Site Marketing Makeover: Improve Your Message and Turn Visitors into Buyers, from Top Floor Publishing (http://www.yudkin.com/mmakeover.htm) and numerous other books on marketing. She recently began offering Web site reviews for just $40 (http://www.yudkin.com/sitereview.htm).

    marcia@yudkin.com

    In The News:

    • pen paper and inkwell


    cat break through


    Dont give up on your business!

    Summer must be when many work at home Mom start... Read More

    Keep Your Customers Happy by Organizing Your Payment Options

    Anyone using a slow, or an awkward payment processor had... Read More

    Shopping Cart Usability

    Usable Shopping Carts Increase SalesE-commerce has been around since 1993... Read More

    The Webmasters Assistant

    There are many tools available to a webmaster to analyse... Read More

    Cost Effective Ecommerce Solutions

    Ecommerce use to be about spending thousands of dollars on... Read More

    Conducting Business through B2B E-marketplaces

    Businesses, which are still sitting on sidelines and not doing... Read More

    ECommerce Scenario in Pakistan

    Pakistan with highest growth rates in 1960s and bad politics... Read More

    Shopping Online: What You Should Know

    For some people, shopping online is as normal as driving... Read More

    Turn Your Rusty Junk Into eBay Gold

    Often times people to stop to realize the income potential... Read More

    Projecting Your Image

    Whether you sell a product or merely sell time to... Read More

    What is SSL (the little padlock)?

    SSL ("Secured Socket Layer") is a protocol used to... Read More

    Outsourcing Your Ecommerce Order Fulfillment

    When your eCommerce business grows to the point where you... Read More

    Drop-Shipping ? A Great Way of Making Money Online

    Using the Internet to sell products and services to ever... Read More

    Grow your Business with Emarketplace - Part III

    Increase Company ProductivityAfter years of hard work, finally your business... Read More

    Coupons & Rebates

    Yes, it's true, coupons are not just for newspapers anymore.... Read More

    Direct Marketing isn?t all Brute Force

    There are so many metrics surrounding direct marketing. So many... Read More

    Business Online ? Blind Hunt

    Do you sell something online? Do you have a business... Read More

    The Lowdown On ECommerce: Making All The Pieces Fit Together

    The Lowdown on EcommerceEcommerce is truly the most confusing aspect... Read More

    Implications Of E-Commerce For Tax Legislation

    As e-commerce develops ambiguities in the current tax code in... Read More

    Ten Reasons Why Online Surveys Are The Future of Marketing

    Customers are tough cookies. They're extremely media aware and increasingly... Read More

    How To Start An Internet Business ? Content, Content, Content

    When it comes to e-commerce, the time-tested cliché is, "Content... Read More

    PayPal Powered

    Three years ago I was doing some work for a... Read More

    Helping Your Visitors: a State of Mind

    What does "helping your visitors" mean exactly?It means writing your... Read More

    How E-commerce Web Site Design Differs From Normal Web Design

    When it comes to e-commerce everything is a little bit... Read More

    Intranet Portals ? Search and Taxonomies

    Knowledge Management for beginnersKnowledge Management (KM) can be defined simply... Read More

    Bringing the World to Your Door

    According to Internet.com, by the year 2008 nearly 30% of... Read More

    Web Store - Why Do You Need One?

    Internet has opened a new era of business opportunities. Each... Read More

    Expand Your Local Business Through the Internet

    To obtain more local customers for your business, consider expanding... Read More

    Maximize Your Froogling for Increased Website Profits

    Are you familiar with Froogle? If you are an online... Read More

    Choosing the Right Online Shopping Cart

    Are you a website owner or a web designer/developer? If... Read More

    Choosing An Internet Merchant Account

    Surf to Google and perform a search on "Internet Merchant... Read More

    How To Stay Cutting Edge In Online Business

    Let's face it, there's just way too much information out... Read More

    How Merchant Accounts Can Save You Money

    We all know that accepting credit cards is the key... Read More