eCommerce integration considerations with a customer-centric twist
Some might say that an eCommerce website is only as good as the added functionality it delivers to online shoppers. While consumers can be enticed by a modern, clean layout with pithy tag lines and professional photography, it’s the functionality that they’ll truly fall in love with.
So whether value-added features come into play before an overall site is designed or if they’re included incrementally, the key is to consider the options and the benefits that they bring to the table. To narrow the breadth of choices out there, here are some of the best integration options that will help to deliver a superior user experience:
INTERNAL SITE SEARCH – The purpose of integrating an advanced internal site search tool is to assist customers to make purchases with the minimal amount of clicks possible. Some research has revealed that each additional click reduces conversation rates by 7 percent on average. Solr is just one of many advanced site search products available on the market today.
PERSONALIZATION – Personalizing the customer experience can happen by delivering individualized product and content recommendations in real time. When done right, shoppers appreciate a site's suggestions and will, in turn, save time locating complementary items for purchase. Furthermore, eCommerce website owners can benefit as well with an increase in average order values and revenue per visit. The integration of products like the Certona personalization engine can achieve this objective for both parties.
PAYMENT PLUG-INS – Credit card and gift-card plug-ins offer shoppers an alternative payment method. In addition to basic authorization and redemption features, this type of plug-in allows for the creation of virtual cards that can be purchased on the webstore and e-mailed to the cardholder for redemption at the checkout process.
PRODUCT CONFIGURATOR – By developing a flash-based built-to-order online product configurator, customers can create a product based on their own specifications. The product configurator can then be integrated into the manufacturer’s back-office system so that these unique, one-of-a-kind products can be manufactured and shipped using a just-in-time delivery model.
PUNCH-OUTS – Integrated webstores with procurement systems allow buyers to access third-party online catalogs by punching-out from the procurement system to the supplier website for the requisition of products. They can then return the cart contents back to the procurement system for processing and fulfillment. This benefits firms that need to purchase products external to their own procurement systems.
SHIPPING PLUG-INS – Customers know that the price of an item online isn’t the final price they’ll pay. And until state sales taxes are mandated, shipping is the major unknown part of the equation. By integrating FedEx and UPS shipping plug-ins, rate calculations can be displayed for shoppers based on source and destination address, package size and weight, quantity and shipping method used.
SOCIAL COMMERCE – By including a customer review solution, retailers can give their customers a voice about their products, which in turn provides fresh website content. Search engines provide a higher level of relevance to these sites due to reoccurring fresh content, plus enhanced conversion rates via referral business. A good example of this type of product is BazaarVoice Ratings and Reviews.
To get help integrating any of these features into your eCommerce website, feel free to schedule a call with the team at NetSphere Strategies. We’d be happy to help.
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