This article was adapted from Frank Fiore's book, TechTV's Starting an Online Business. Frank is a regular contributor to InformIT.
Customers expect your online business to offer the right combination of selection, price, service, convenience, and security. You don't? That's okay - you probably have plenty of competitors who are just a click away. Your customers can shop there instead. To paraphrase former U.S. President Bill Clinton, "It's the customer, stupid."
Shoppers don't care about your site, your business, or your life. What they care about is themselves. When they come to your site, they want to see if there's anything there that interests them. They want to know, "What's in it for me?" They come to your web store with a certain set of expectations. Your job as a web merchant is to meet those expectations.
Your customers expect to find what they came for: a fair price, a good selection of products, great service, and a secure and safe place to shop. In other words, they're looking for the Big Five of online shopping. And if they're from "out of town"—that is, another country—they're also looking for a site that speaks their language!
Everything on your site should be about the customer and designed from the customer's point of view. Your customer not only needs a reason to buy, but a way to buy easily and safely.
Customers want to know right away if their visit to your site is going to save them time and money, and if their shopping experience will be pleasant. Can they find what they want easily? Can they place an order in a variety of ways? Can they find your customer service pages, shipping and handling fees, and return policies without spending a large amount of time digging through your site?
These are the customer's expectations, and you have to meet them if you want your online business to be a success. Want to give live customer support to shoppers on your site? Don't want to spend the money for programming? Then use MSN, Yahoo! Messenger, or AOL Instant Messenger services. Shoppers can download the free desktop application and communicate with you in real-time if they have a question. If your site is designed with the Big Five of online shopping in mind, you'll provide your customers a pleasant shopping experience and a reason to buy from your online store again.
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