Internet Business Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses

This is the second post in our series, 5 Reasons Why Your Website Doesn’t Sell. You can also read post #1 about payment types.

2. It’s hard to place an order

Have you ever left a checkout line because it took too long? Or have you abandoned an online shopping cart out of confusion?

So have your customers! If your shopping cart system is difficult or hard to use, you’re losing sales.

Gather some data

Most popular e-commerce systems have some valuable data that you need to examine. You should be able to see shopping carts that your customers abandoned.

If you don’t know how to view this information, contact your support team. They’ll help you find out.

With this data, you can tell if your ordering process is turning customers away. Some customers might abandon carts due to other reasons, but a portion of them can be attributed to your order process.

Clear instructions

People hate guessing when they’re trying to buy something. They put their thinking into the purchase decision. If you make them think too hard during checkout, they’ll just leave.

Make sure each step of your checkout process has clear instructions. Walk the customer through it in plain English, even if it seems really easy to you.

Friendly errors

Cryptic error messages just confuse buyers. Unless they’re really motivated to purchase right now, they’ll probably give up.

Since there are lots of errors that could happen during checkout, make sure the messages are friendly and informative. Give the customer directions on how to fix the error. And if possible, provide an alternate order method, such as a toll-free phone number.

Few steps

People like simplicity. You can’t draw out the order process over too many pages. But you also shouldn’t put every field on one page.

Strike a nice balance of 2-3 order pages. But also provide a visible key that shows the customer what step he’s on and what is left. People like seeing the big picture.

Always confirm

Data can get lost or mangled before it gets entered in your system’s database. That makes the process uncertain for the user.

To put your buyers at ease, confirm their information before the order is completed. Show them the address they entered, their total, the payment method chosen, etc. Make sure they’ve entered everything correctly.

How can you improve your order process?