We all know the saying “you only get one chance to make a first impression,” but have you ever stopped to think about how this applies to your ecommerce site? Brick and mortar store owners know that window shoppers are a dime a dozen and that it is the shopping experience inside of the store that determines whether or not a sale will take place.
For ecommerce store owners, who don’t interact with their customers face-to-face, however, it is easy to focus more on the day-to-day tasks of running a business and less on the messages that shape the impressions that online shoppers form of an ecommerce business.
If your ecommerce site. . .
Is Outdated
Either in terms of layout, design, or any other aspect, your customers will automatically assume that your business practices are too. Yes, that’s right AUTOMATICALLY ASSUME. The New Year is coming, and if you’ve been putting off that redesign, necessary site maintenance, or other task that is holding your ecommerce store back, there’s no time like the present to remedy this problem.
Doesn’t Recreate The Physical Shopping Experience
If your customers don’t feel as though they are able to examine products from all angles, obtain accurate size and weight estimates, and have their questions answered in a timely fashion before, during, and after purchase, they won’t feel very confident about purchasing products from you.
Are your product photos professional? Do they show your products from a variety of angles? Don’t assume that any old photo is good enough. You can read more about this subject here in one of my previous posts.
Are your product descriptions generic and impersonal, or do they, like the product descriptions on Squishable.com, stay true to the brand and voice of your company, while at the same time providing important product information?
Doesn’t Have A Social Media Presence
If your ecommerce site doesn’t have a social media presence, or your social media presence has gone stale, you’re missing out. Particularly with the rise of social commerce, social media for ecommerce is more important than ever, and this isn’t a trend that is likely to die out in 2012.
It can be a challenge to maintain a social media presence, particularly across multiple sites, but the good news is that no one expects you to use Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. to write the great American novel. As with many other things, consistency is key when it comes to effective social media management, and with a little practice, you’ll soon find that updating your social media presence becomes second nature.
Miva