Increasing Return Visits Essay example

Submitted By Ashlen-McWhorter
Words: 917
Pages: 4

You are the lead programmer for a large e-commerce company. One of the key executives asks you for your recommendations for increasing return visits. Other than the specific examples provided in the book, what recommendations would you make? Submit your suggestions in a paper no longer than 2 pages. As a user of ecommerce sites, there are a few simple things to investigate in order to increase return visits. Some of these are obvious, yet vitally important. In order to facilitate user exploration of an ecommerce site and return visits, I suggest scrutinizing the ecommerce website for anything that might improve if edited. Because Ecommerce is based in the realm of the web, the website a quality website is a crucial piece to the marketing puzzle. A consistent color scheme should be used throughout the site to create a polished, inviting look that neither overwhelms the user nor repel visitors. Consistency of color and design throughout creates an environment and experience that visitors will come to associate with the brand and, perhaps, will come to enjoy the unique sense of familiarity. Design should also be tailored to convey a message about your company and what makes it unique. If your company takes pride in creating a community around their products and paying attention to customers, showcase that in the site with pictures of people that have benefitted from the product. Maybe feature a photo gallery of customers and events associated with a strong sense of community. If your selling point is the cutting edge quality of your merchandise, have a website with a sleek, modern design. Tell your story with the elements in your page. People are truly creatures of habit and do not always respond well to changes. This is the reason that if there are any changes to a site, even as simple as color, users should be notified and, perhaps, asked if they like the new look. This makes a change not so shocking and, therefore, not so offensive. Changes should not be constant or overly common occurrences. People make emotional connections with what they become used to. Changing that has caused companies to lose customers in many cases. Ease of navigation is important for any site, an obvious fact but one that is oddly ignored all too often. Ecommerce sites should be well organized so that users can quickly locate an item they are interested in. If this is very difficult, visitors will leave the site and likely not return. If users cannot find what they are looking for in seconds, they will give up and leave. Search engine technology is a great tool and one that visitors are becoming accustomed to. Items should be divided into categories or departments that help viewers navigate quickly through the site. Although information should be readily available, lengthy lists of specific services and products or too much irrelevant information should be avoided. Another simple fix is trimming any unnecessary fields from online forms that users must fill out to make a purchase or become a member. This cuts the amount of steps necessary for customer conversion. If it is difficult to become a member and that is necessary to make a purchase or unlock benefits from the site, loss of prospective customers is to be expected. Just as forms and the membership process should be simple, so should the shopping cart. A shopping cart is another vital part of an ecommerce site that is becoming an expectation. Make it easy for users to shop as they would in a brick and mortar store without the hassle of leaving the house. Allowing customers to put items