The 7 Pillars of
Ecommerce
A beginners guide to
promoting & selling over
the internet

I’m here to convert you
"I know half the money I spend
on advertising is wasted, but I
can never find out which half.”
John Wanamaker 1838 - 1922

Numbers to know
• Online spend 2009:
– Will rise 13.3% to £20.9 billion
• By 2013:
– Set to reach £31.2 billion
• That’s 10% of total retail spending…only!

Shopping habits have changed
• Pre internet

Shopping habits have changed
• With internet

Pillar 1
The Conversion Rate

What is: Conversion rate
“The percentage of people that visit
your website and actually buy
something”

Calculate: Conversion rate
No. Transactions / Unique Visitors
X 100
= % CONVERSION RATE
• Targeted, qualified traffic
• Higher conversion

Measure: Conversion rate
Google Analytics is FREE
And don’t worry, it’s really easy!!

Pillar 2
Usability

Pillar 2: Usability
• Usability
– Simple & instinctive to use
– People are Cognitive Misers
– Design Pages for scanning not for reading
– Talk in the same language as your users
– Prioritise the key information (users look for) above
the fold
– Trust and credibility need to be reinforced

Pillar 2: Usability
12

Usability: the homepage
• The homepage
– Most valued property on a website
– Make it obvious what you do/if you sell
– Use it to spell-out the big picture
– Prominent internal search
– Seasonal campaign activity
– Resolution: 1024 x 768
– Deep link into core areas
– Over the fold!

An example of a good homepage:
Matthew Williamson
www.matthewwilliamson.com

a good homepage
15

Good, clear search
a good homepage
High impact, current image
Deep link into site
Clear navigation
16

Usability: product detail page
• Product detail page
– Focus on one button – buy now
– The more images the better
– Detail on demand
– Zoom is essential
– Cross-sell/Up-sell
– Show delivery and availability info
– Share capabilities

An example of a good product detail page:
Net-a-Porter
www.net-a-porter.com

a good homepage
19

THE PRODUCT IS THE HERO!
a good homepage
Clear and
prominent buy
button.
Share
capabilities
Zoom options
Alternative views
20

Pillar 3
The Checkout

Pillar 3: the checkout
YOUR CUSTOMER IS WAITING AT THE TILL WITH
THEIR CREDIT CARD READY…
…WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

Pillar 3: the checkout
• Sites lose over 50% of their customers at the checkout…
Why?
+ Just window shopping
+ I don’t want to register / Why do I have to register? I just want to buy
this item and get on with my life
+ Too many clicks...Every click is a friction node where you will lose
visitors
+ I don’t feel safe using my credit card

An example of a good checkout:
Links of London
www.linksoflondon.com

07957519012

Encapsulated checkout – i.e. no global navigation
Peace of mind
07957519012
New customers not
requested to enter
email at this stage
Product details including
delivery charges and payment
options clearly laid out

Clear indication of section
complete + ability to go
back and edit
Product details etc on every
page in the checkout
Prominent and clear call to
action

Clear delivery and billing
details
Product details etc on every
page in the checkout

Pillar 4
Engage your audience

Pillar 4: Engage…
• People don’t buy first time
• Will they remember to come back?
• What makes your site so special?
• Make it fun but have a point

An example of good, commercially focused engagement:
Links of London’s ‘interactive charm maker’
www.linksoflondon.com

Click straight to checkout
Grab and drag charms emulating the
real experience!

An example of good, commercially focused engagement:
Matches Fashion ‘Shop the Catwalk’ feature
www.matchesfashion.com

Video of catwalk plays with option of
clicking to product detail

An example of good, commercially focused engagement:
Coast ‘Style Notes’ feature
www.coast-stores.com
(feature now offline)

Pillar 5
Search

Pillar 5: Search
• Over 60% use search engines
• Natural Search (aka organic)
– Achieved through SEO
• PPC (Pay Per Click)
– Google, Yahoo, Bing

NATURAL SEARCH RESULTS

PAID FOR SEARCH RESULTS

Searchers behavior

SEO can work fast
• To get ‘top ranking’ in Natural results..
– Site build using SEO friendly CMS
– Good content
– External links…(buying links doesn’t work)

Search facts
• 60%+ search phrases now 3+ words
• 90%+ 2+ words
• Being top of organic and paid (PPC) improves:
– CTR
– Brand Awareness
– Recall
– Purchase Intent
– Conversion

Dixons.co.uk

Pillar 6
Email

Email: Retention
A customer is for life…
not just for Christmas…

Email marketing
• Registered customers are like gold dust
• Highest spenders
• Highest converters
• Lowest CPA (cost per acquisition)
• SO LOOK AFTER THEM!

Email stats
• Returning customers:
– Spend up to 30% more
– Cost you up to 70% less
• Email open rates: 20% - 30%
• Click through: 25%
• Cold lists: 5%

Low hanging fruit
• Most retailers not doing the basics
• 50% happy to give you email address
• URL behind the till
• At check in
• On the readout
• On the display aisles

Email: Quick-fire tactics
• Decrease shopping cart abandon
rates
– Email customer with offer after 3 – 6 days
– Up to 30% come back
• Own the customer: auto email
– Thank you email
– Check out new product
– Incentive

Pillar 7
Social

Social media has now become ubiquitous

184 million
bloggers
73% of active online users have
read a blog
45% have started their
own blog
57% have joined a
social network
55% have uploaded
photos
83% have watched
video clips
39% subscribe to an
RSS feed68
Source: Universal McCann Comparative Study on Social Media Trends April 2008

Social media marketing
• Generation ‘why?’
• People listen to their peers
• Onsite reviews increase conversions

Harness the power
• Wikis: Wikipedia
• Social networking: MySpace &
Facebook
• Presence apps: Twitter
• Video Sharing: You Tube
• Virtual Reality: Second Life
• Engagement: Blogging

71

Harness the power
• Wikis: Wikipedia
• Social networking: MySpace &
Facebook
• Presence apps: Twitter
• Video Sharing: You Tube
• Virtual Reality: Second Life
• Engagement: Blogging

An example of a good Facebook App:
Anya Hindmarch ‘Be a Bag’
www.anyahindmarch.com

Case study: Anya Hindmarch

Case study: Anya Hindmarch
• Upload image to ‘Be a Bag’ application
• Naturally viral
• Commercial value

76

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78

79

80

An example of an integrated blog:
Jigsaw ‘Inside Jigsaw’
www.jigsaw-online.com

82

83

Links to main ecommerce
site always visible
Encourage visitors to leave
an email address
Products in blog pages link
direct to ecommerce site
84

Pillar 8 **BONUS
?

Number of searches on Google from
iPhones surpassed those from all other
phones at Christmas.
German iPhone users consume 30
times more data.
95% of iPhone customers regularly surf the Internet.
Google sees 50 times the number of searches using the
iPhone than any other mobile device.

In summary
• Measure and track everything
• Usability is key to success
• Perfect the checkout or lose $$$
• Engage with your customers
• Search is king, get your site ranking
• Email can be very powerful
• Use Social to connect with customers
• Keep an eye on emerging tech

Thanks for listening
contact@pod1.com Blog.pod1.com
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