eCommerce Blog

At What Point Do You Let Customers Go? Do the "Checkout" Exercise

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Here’s an “educational” exercise that I sometimes do: I’ll start to buy a product online, but exit before checkout. In other words, I’ll complete everything on the online order form, right up until I have to enter a credit card, and then I’ll bail, just to see what happens.

Why? Well, you can learn many lessons from this exercise, and I encourage you to do it–for competing products as well as for products that are outside your industry or niche.

I usually choose products that have a heavy online advertising presence or that I’ve seen in infomercials. The reason? Well, these eCommerce sites tend to pour a ton of marketing dollars in 1) keeping people from exiting their site and 2) attempting to woo them back once they’ve left. Read More

eCommerce Success Story: Tres Amigos

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Tres Amigos World Imports Tres Amigos World Imports is a multi-channel retailer of Mexican and Rustic Furniture and Accessories.  They came to Blue Acorn in mid 2008 with the desire to improve the sales of their BV Commerce website.   Previous to contacting us, they had been working with a provider that had handled their needs adequately, but just weren’t able to deliver the results that Tres Amigos desired.  Keith Kramer, President at Tres Amigos, was looking for an eCommerce partner that had the expertise, and the desire to work with them on growing the revenue generated from the website.
Having already worked with three other marketing and development groups we knew the importance of experience. We did not have the time or resources to waste on yet another “learning curve”. Blue Acorn was well versed with the BV software and equally important already had the SEO background we required to “hit the ground running!”Keith Kramer – President, Tres Amigos

Blue Acorn and Tres Amigos set course to develop and execute a plan for growth.  And by combining their knowledge and skillsets, they launched the newly improved website in July of 2008.  Almost immediately, the impact was felt.

Kevin, owner of Blue Acorn, insisted that the ground work was done right the first time. We whined about the initial time and participation it took, for everyone, to get the foundation laid correctly but once it was done the new sales quickly shut us up!Keith Kramer – President, Tres Amigos

To date, Blue Acorn has continued in growing the revenue generated from Tres Amgios through design, custom development, SEO, Conversion Optimization, Video, and eMail Marketing to the point that we continue to realize almost 100% gains over the previous year.  Through our continued cooperation, Blue Acorn and Tres Amigos strive to continue that growth trend despite the current macro-economic climate.  So what’s next for Tres Amigos?  An even better design based on a re-architecture, more incorporation of product videos, and enhanced features to BV Commerce to enable a better shopping experience for their users.  When asked about how successful this partnership has been for Tres Amigos, Keith had this to say

Blue Acorn started off as a necessary business service. We knew that we were not going to reach our potential without an e-commerce expert. We needed someone who understood the whole picture not just part of it. Designing a website without SEO comprehension is a waste of time. SEO comprehension without e-commerce marketing savvy will not maximize your potential. Blue Acorn has all the pieces and has helped us put it together. It’s a work in progress that requires change as the market demands. Blue Acorn is now our internet “partner”.Keith Kramer – President, Tres Amigos
We’ve enjoyed working with Tres Amigos, value their business as a client, and look forward to continued growth with them going forward.

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Good Shopping Cart Etiquette

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A snazzy home page might be enough to get customers in the door, and great category and product pages will most likely get them to shed their coats and stay awhile, but it’s that Holy Grail at the back of your online store — the shopping cart — that measures their true intentions. It’s easy to toss items in, but it’s the decision to proceed into the checkout process that turns a browser into a buyer.

The online shopping cart is one of the great divides between “brick-and-mortar” stores and a virtual environment. Let’s face it: you probably wouldn’t leave a half-full cart sitting in the middle of the aisle at Bed, Bath & Beyond. But when shopping on the web, customers often use carts as browsing tools. If something looks interesting, they might scan the copy on the product page, perhaps zoom in on the image, and then click “Add to Cart” to earmark it for future consideration. When they’re finished browsing, they’ll return to the cart to review what they’ve tossed in, take some second looks, and narrow down their selections before (hopefully) completing their purchase.

With nearly 60% of all online shoppers logging out before finalizing a sale, shopping cart abandonment is one of the biggest concerns among e-tailers. The same questions arise again and again: Why are they leaving? What can I do to make them stay (and buy)? Countless usability tests and surveys have been launched by market research analysts in an attempt to provide answers. Below are some of the most oft-repeated suggestions from frustrated customers who have left their carts high and dry. Read More

Top 7 Reservations of eCommerce-Phobes

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As an avid online shopper, I’m always amazed when I meet someone who has never made an eCommerce purchase. They’re a shrinking breed, but they do exist. Take my Aunt Nora, who scoffs at the idea of placing an Internet order from the comfort of her robe and slippers, choosing instead to fight throngs of crowds and stand in hour-long lines at Wal-Mart. And there are others just like her.

What do these people have against online shopping? With so much going for it—wider selections, enticing promotions, free or low shipping costs, and the convenience of doorstep delivery—it’s hard for a laptop lover like me to understand why anyone would choose traditional retail. But the truth is, when I stopped to listen, these brick-and-mortar devotees had some very real reasons for their reluctance to shop online—and by failing to address them, you may be missing out on a significant source of potential revenue. Read More

Creating a Kick-Butt Blog for Your eCommerce Site

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A few years ago, I read an article in which the writer questioned the staying power of blogs. At the time, I questioned this “trend” as well. Not anymore. And I’m not alone.

According to Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere: 2008, “All studies agree, however, that blogs are a global phenomenon that has hit the mainstream.” According to the same report, over one million blog posts are created every day, and over 1.2 million bloggers have registered with Technorati. Read More

eCommerce is NOT Microwavable!

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We live in an instant gratification society, much to the detriment of processes that actually involve this little thing called time. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m a fan of quick-and-easy, as long as it won’t affect results. But some things take time. And at the top of the list is this: eCommerce.

During my copywriting career, I’ve gotten calls from people with “great ideas” for products to sell on the web. Some of these people realize they’re looking at this thing called eCommerce. More often than not, though, they don’t have a clue (note: I’m not trying to be snarky here; I appreciate their enthusiasm, but you need more than enthusiasm to set up a successful online business). Read the rest of eCommerce is NOT Microwavable

10 Ways to Better Marketing, Messaging, & Business for 2009

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I love the start of a new year because it means you – and your business – have a clean slate. This clean slate results in positive thoughts for the future. Wouldn’t it be great if we could carry this enthusiasm throughout the rest of 2009? If you take a hard look at your business – and make any necessary adjustments now – you just might. So here are 10 ways to better marketing, messaging, and business in general for 2009.

Solidify your 2009 marketing plan. Ideally, this would have been something you thought about in Q4 of 2008. But the reality is this important to-do item often gets cast aside because of the holiday hubbub.

The best way to get started on your 09 marketing plan is by looking at last year’s marketing calendar (you do have one, right?) and evaluating which programs worked and why. What program had the biggest ROI? Were you able to effectively measure all your marketing efforts? If not, what can you do this year to make sure everything is measured properly? The marketing plan/calendar doesn’t need to be fancy—use a calendar program, Excel spreadsheet, whatever works. Make sure the key personnel in your organization have a copy, and identify who is in charge of what items. Revisiting your calendar at the end of each quarter is also a must.

If you don’t have a formal plan from last year, don’t worry—you wouldn’t be the first business. But let me repeat: marketing plans are important. After all, you’re already spending money marketing, even if you don’t realize it. Having a website is marketing. Having an email newsletter is marketing. Understanding how well each work and how much money you should invest in each is all part of your overall marketing plan. Here’s an article from Entrepreneur.com that you might find helpful.
Read the rest of 10 Ways to Better Marketing, Messaging, & Business for 2009

Leveraging Holiday Customers throughout 2009

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If you’re like most eCommerce companies, you saw the biggest boost in traffic and revenue during the Christmas season. So how do you leverage those customers and get them to visit you throughout 2009?

1. Anticipate what they want. One of the things that Amazon does best is suggest additional items for you to buy based on the current item you’re buying. It’s a straightforward strategy. Amazon reasons that if you want a book on knitting sweaters, you might like that book on knitting shawls, since that’s what other people bought as well. Don’t have a system in place that can help you cross-reference what people buy? Read the rest of Leveraging Holiday Customers

Preparing for the Post-Holiday Return Crunch

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So, the hustle and bustle of the holidays is behind us. Time to sit back and relax, tally up your revenue, and pat yourself on the back for hitting your sales goals, right?

Consider yourself pinched. While January may mean a break from the crazy promotions race, the breakneck email campaigns, and the rush on personalized items, it also marks the beginning of an influx of holiday returns. The volume of returns tends to be proportionate to the amount of sales, so if you had a strong gifting season, you’re likely to see a larger amount of items finding their way back into your inventory. Plus, it’s no secret that online stores see a larger percentage of returns than traditional retailers.

According to a retail study by Jupiter Research, 20% of online consumers expect to receive better service during the holidays than the rest of the year. With your customers on high alert, now’s the time to pull out all the stops and provide them with a premium shopping experience — and that includes the seamless handling of returns. Read more on Preparing for the Post-Holiday Return Crunch

eCommerce Success Story: Safe Pet Products

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success story safe pet products

SafePetProducts.com is an online retailer of pet products that focus on safety, and humane solutions for animals.  They approached Blue Acorn in September of 2008 in search of a partner that could help them migrate their existing eCommerce website onto the Magento Commerce platform, help them define a new brand, and improve their organic search ranking.

We put together a creative design that focused on the animals and created an intuitive user interface that eliminated friction in the shopping  process.  What resulted was a Magento website that fostered sales in a competitive market.  To date, SafePetProducts.com boasts a conversion rate well above average (4.5%) coupled with extremely low bounce and exit rates.  All signs that the customers are comfortable with the brand, enjoy the products, and find the website easy to use and shop.

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