1. IA for Shopping & Shopping Carts
Adrian Whatley
INF 385e
Fall 2005

2. Overview
• E-Commerce
• Consumer Purchase Factors
• Closing the deal with the shopping cart
– Simplify
– Support
– Secure
– Confirm
• Conclusion

3. E-Commerce Is Big Business
• 50% of US net users
and 20% of non-US
net users regularly buy
online (2002)
• “Click and Mortar”
firms see an increase
in visits to traditional
sales outlets

4. Uncontrollable Factors
Uncontrollable Factors
• Consumer characteristics
– Social
– Economical
– Cultural
– Psychological
• Beyond the the control and influence of
marketers

5. Controllable Factors
1. Product/Service Characteristics
2. Medium Characteristics
3. Merchant/Intermediary Characteristics
In other words:
IA is essential for
an enjoyable
e-commerce
experience!

6. The Factors at Work
No Thanksgiving 
Web Ad
IA

7. What Is a “Shopping Cart?”
• A metaphor employed by e-commerce
sites to help customers better understand the
online purchasing experience.
– Shopping baskets www.williamssonoma.com
– Shopping bags www.llbean.com
– And many more

8. Design is Important…
• Billions in sales are lost every year because
customers become frustrated and leave an
e-commerce site
• Trust and usability are the two attributes
most often cited by customers as the
reasons for choosing a site

9. A Quest!
+ = 
Scandinavian movie about a girl whose homely sister has her banished to the
frozen woods. She is saved by Jack Frost who helps to find her a dreamy
husband..

10. Overall Design is Important…
Weird!
Pixel-y!
Clean, easy
checkout

11. …but the shopping cart can
make or break a site.
• 65% of buyers leave
their shopping carts in
mid-purchase
(eMarketer 2003)
• IA can help reduce
cart abandonment
rates

12. Keys to Good Cart Design
• “Programmers need to hear people call their baby ugly.”
Terrell Jones, president of Travelocity
• Simplify the process.
• Explain the steps.
• Secure the transaction.
• Confirm the order.

13. Simplify: Make the Cart & Its Contents
Easy to Find
Basket
The shopping cart should:
• Have multiple entry points
• Be transparent
• Give product information
• Availability
• Quantity
• Price
• Allow products to be stored
for later purchase

14. Simplify: Break-Up the Ordering Process
Page Numbers
Where am I?
Where am I going?
lllllllll
lllllllll
lllllllll
http://www.cupandblade.com/store lll

15. Simplify: Provide Clear Instructions
Required fields
Builds trust
Saves space
Next step
Go back

16. Explain: Provide Rich Functionality
Navigational
Options
Detailed Description
Cross-selling

17. Explain: Provide Support During
Checkout
• Unanswered questions can
translate into lost sales
• Phone support is best for new
customers or those uneasy
with web purchases
• Support via a chat window
like eBay’s “Live Help” or
UT Libraries’ “Ask a
Librarian” is gaining favor
•
ddddddddddddd should be provided at
FAQs
ddddddd the very least

18. Explain: Show All Costs
Show taxes, shipping and any another purchase costs. No surprises!
This cake better be $%&^ good.

19. Secure: Put Their Minds at Ease
Williams Sonoma
• In order to establish trust, the customer must be comfortable with
you and your site’s security
• Think about possible customer concerns at every step
• Your security standards should be easily accessible and clearly
written

20. Confirm: Make Sure the Order is Correct
Right address?
Right product?
Right price?

21. Confirm: Send a Confirmation E-Mail
Include:
• Confirmation date
• Order number
• Tracking (if possible)
Be brief!

22. Conclusion
• Organize a focus group to test the shopping cart
before the site is launched.
• Make sure your cart simplifies, explains,
secures and confirms the online ordering
process.
• Remember, a successful Web site is built around
customer-centered design.

23. References
• Taking the shopping centre online: new models in e-commerce.
Timothy Dixon, Andrew Marston
Property Management;Volume 23;Issue 2; 2005
• Electronic commerce: A comparative study of organizational experiences.
Majed Al-Mashari
Benchmarking: An International Journal;Volume 9;Issue 2; 2002
• Product search in e-shopping: a review and research propositions.
Jennifer Rowley
Journal of Consumer Marketing;Volume 17;Issue 1; 2000
• Influencing the online consumer's behavior: the Web experience
Efthymios Constantinides
Internet Research;Volume 14;Issue 2; 2004
• Comfort your online customer: quality, trust and loyalty on the internet.
Dina Ribbink, Allard C.R. van Riel, Veronica Liljander, Sandra Streukens
Managing Service Quality;Volume 14;Issue 6; 2004
• An integrated framework for recommendation systems in e-commerce.
Timothy K. Shih, Chuan-Feng Chiu, Hui-huang Hsu, Fuhua Lin
Industrial Management & Data Systems;Volume 102;Issue 8; 2002
• One-stop-shop information mall – MTR’s experience.
Y.K. Chan, Martin Brown, K. Neailey, W.H. Ip
Managing Service Quality;Volume 10;Issue 2; 2000

24. References
• Good information architecture increases online sales.
Ivan Walsh
http://www.sitepoint.com/print/increases-online-sales
• Ten ways to improve the usability of your ecommerce site.
Webcredible consultancy.
http://www.webscredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-usability/ecommerce-usability.shtml
• Information architecture of the shopping cart: best practices for the information archtitectures of e-
commerce ordering systems.
Sarah Bidigare, Argus Center for Information Architecture, May 2000.
http://argus-acia.com/white_papers/shopping_cart_ia.html
• The Design of Sites: Patterns, Principles, and Processes for Crafting a Customer-Centered Web
Experience.
Douglas K. Van Duyne, James A. Landay, Jason I. Hong.
Addison-Wesley, 2003.