Not all sites have an e-commerce section, but many do. Today, in our continuation of the Top 10 ways to Ruin your website series, I want to talk a little bit about your “shopping cart”. Any e-commerce site has multiple sections from how products are laid-out to payment options, but I just want to focus on getting through the “cart” area, in other words the process it takes to get from a product to a sale. Not all e-commerce solutions offer flexibility, some are straight-out-of-the-box so to speak. But when you are making the decision, look out for these top ten.

1. Log-in Hell

I understand the need to have customers “log-in” so that you can have their information and contact details. But, this process should be as simple and intuitive as possible. If the log-in frustrates a customer they may give-up and never come back. If you require membership, give your clients an option to sign-up as part of their check-out process.

2. Not saving contact information

Give clients the option to save their information (leave me logged-in, remember my password, that kind of thing). Nowadays we all have 573 passwords we’re supposed to remember. Don’t let the reason you missed a sale be because a customer forgot how to log-in.

3. Deleting everything when there’s an input error

This may be a personal issue but I really hate it when I spend 10 minutes carefully filling out my contact information, my credit card, etc. and then I mistype one number and the page reloads saying: there was an error with your credit card. Then, all the information I painstakingly added, vanishes. I have to do it all over again. This alone has made me give-up and use a different website before.

4. Not making the cart front and center

I don’t see this often, so when I do, it stumps me. Put a link saying “Buy now!” next to every product. There should as many opportunities to click to purchase as possible. This does not mean tricking the client into purchasing, but it means make it easy to get the money.

5. Not giving prices up front

Prices vary for a number of reasons: tax, shipping, bulk ordering. However, simplify the question of cost as much as you can. Let them know if tax will be added. Give them an idea of what shipping costs average. Do not let the final charge completely surprise them. Also, make sure you include prices next to each item in a highly visible way.

6. Making the process more than 3 steps

If it takes more than 3 clicks to get from the product to making the payment, you need to simplify. Places you can cut:

• consolidate like information (shipping & tax, membership & credit card information)
• cut out unnecessary personal information requests
• only ask for approval to bill their credit card once
• Send an email confirmation instead of a page they can print

7. Long Load time

An e-commerce site may have heavy back-end coding. The reasons vary from lots of products to automated systems. These things can cause a slower load time. This is a hard problem to fix. You may need to find a new program or solution if wait time becomes an issue. Not all shopping carts are created equal. Don’t lose clients because your page won’t load.

8. No options:

The average person excepts your site to cater to them. Make sure to give them options. Marketing used to follow the rule: ask forgiveness, not permission. That philosophy went out with the 90s. Now people want to choose. So be sure to offer choices. You have a newsletter? Let them opt-in or out. Give them the opportunity to save their password, or let the site remember their log-in (or even keep them logged in for a period of time). Do they want an email receipt? Why not ask instead of assuming. These are just a few examples of options you can give your customers.

9. Errors

It happens. One misplaced bracket and it throws off the whole page. Check for coding errors. E-commerce requires multiple facets therefore it require extra time to debug. Don’t be surprised if your web company charges extra to check these things, or be willing to walk through yourself.

10. Charging the wrong amount

The worst glitch that can ever happen is charging someone the wrong amount. If you charge too little, you have to charge a second time. If you charge too much, you have a pissed off customer. Much like site errors, these things sometimes happen. The best I advice I can offer you is deal with it immediately. As soon as the error becomes obvious, fix it.

I hate to add this but I will. Sometimes companies charge the wrong amount on purpose. They add a few cents or charge twice, just to see if the customer double checks. Its wrong. Don’t do it. And if you ever do it and get caught, you’ll be lucky to still have a company, so make sure to be honest.

How about some examples of good shopping experiences. If you spend money online, who do you like to shop with?

Had an experience this past week which made me reconsider how important a single email can be.

I belong to a wine club, you know, the kind that ship you a different wine each month? Its a lot of fun to have it show up on your doorstep. I love opening the box and then trying something new! However, this month my shipment didn’t show up. They usually appear towards the beginning of the month and I hadn’t gotten anything by the 20th. I finally decided to call and see if there was a problem. The customer service politely explained there had been a delay in shipping my product. They did not explain what caused this delay but added I would receive my shipment on the 26th. (I’d also like to add they did not apologize for the delay, they just told me the arrival date.) After hanging up, I wondered if I would receive an automated email of some kind, alerting me that my New Years Champagne (yup, that’s what they called it) would not arrive ’til almost February. But nothing showed up in my inbox.

It really bothered me that this company didn’t bother sending even a one line email. They just let it go. I guess they assumed their customers wouldn’t notice the two week gap. Its not like they didn’t have my information, either. I get an email each month telling me I’ve been billed. More than a week seems like a pretty long time when you are expecting a shipment… especially one that’s time-sensitive. Not that I won’t find another occasion to drink champagne, but it was the principle of the thing.

I wonder how many customers called in, possibly angry, about the delay of their wine. It seems to me that an email (which costs nothing to send) might have saved them a lot of headache and kept a number of clients, like me, perfectly content. I wonder if they even considered sending an email, or am I just so tethered to the internet that my concept of common sense didn’t occur to them?

Either way, this incident impressed upon me the power of a single email, or lack thereof. In fact, this situation has actually made me consider going with a different wine club when my account ends. So those of you who deal in e-commerce, remember that a simple note, sent at no cost, to a dozen or more clients can make a big difference. And personally, as a business owner, if that email kept back even one angry phone call, I think its worth it.

Do you have a story like this? Do you think my evaluation of the situation is too harsh? Have you ever had a make-or-break moment in regards to a single email? Share it with me! I’d also like to point out that this was the inspiration for #72 Wait a Minute Mr. Postman in my 100 Top Internet Blunders made by Businesses that I posted last week.