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E-Commerce

1. Look at your online checkout process. If it's too complicated and long-winded, customers will drop away before the transaction is completed. Keep it to two or three steps and follow the so-called checkout funnel, which is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom.

2. Place shipping costs early in the checkout process. Flag up shipping options and costs before customers add product to the cart. This lets buyers know final costs as early as possible and when they will get their goods.

3. Make the online sales process clear and ensure that the next step in the chain is obvious to users by including a "continue with checkout?" button. Confused customers will abandon the sale and your site.

4. Tell users how long the checkout process will take and what information they need to complete it, such bank card details.

5. Build confidence and trust in your business. Highlight your guarantee, returns policy, delivery, customer service, security and privacy policies at the relevant times.

6. Show thumbnail pictures of your products in the shopping cart. This reassures users that they have selected the right product and that it's placed in the basket.

7. Consider adding an RSS news feed. RSS stands for "really simple syndication". It's a way to add a 'live' update of your website within the browser's toolbar. This means that users can be kept up-to-date, and regular news items will encourage people to visit the website. And unlike email mail-outs, spam filters don't block RSS updates.

8. Provide a good search facility. Users often use different terms for products and services. Make the search box prominent.

9. Provide sufficient sales information to users. What do they need to know in order to make the decision to buy? Include answers to users' objections.

10. Place testimonials at the decision-making process: this builds confidence and trust and affirms users' decisions to buy.




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