Category

Conversion

Fewer than 5% of visitors to an ecommerce site typically convert to customers. In this Conversion category, we offer insights to increase that percentage. Our expert contributors address ratings and reviews, social proof, site search, product page enhancements, product descriptions, checkout options, live chat, and much more — anything to help close online sales.

Analytics & Data | Checkout Tactics | Customer Retention | Customer Service | Photography & Video | Product Pages

Conversion
4 Video-Sourcing Methods: Pros and Cons of Each

May 17, 2010 • Justin Foster

Ecommerce merchants that are serious about creating winning video strategies need to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each production and sourcing method. The benefits of each could depend on the retailer’s goals for its video program. For many retailers, the goal is an increase...
Checkout Tactics
Conversion: Technology, Customers, and ‘Embraceability’

May 13, 2010 • Pamela Hazelton

Conversion rates of an online store rely on many things, and that includes the technology used for graphics, video and interactive content. Cascading Stylesheets (CSS), JavaScript, and Flash have made the web a better, more interactive place. Next up is HTML5, which is the next major r...
Conversion
When to Start an Affiliate Marketing Program

May 12, 2010 • PEC Staff

If you want to increase sales and broaden your reach without spending a lot of money, starting an affiliate marketing program may have occurred to you. Affiliate marketing can give you instant access to third party marketers who will help promote your products through advertising, emai...
Conversion
The Shopping Experience: Poorly Described Item Disappoints

May 6, 2010 • Jeff Muendel

Editor's Note: "The Shopping Experience" is an occasional feature whereby we purchase an actual product from an ecommerce merchant, and then critique the process. For this installment, contributor describes his attempt to purchase a book. I was searching for a book recommended to me b...
Conversion
Six Causes for Disappearing Ecommerce Sales

May 5, 2010 • Michael Stearns

A sudden stoppage in online sales can be scary. Hopefully you haven't experienced this scenario. But if you have, you know that empty feeling when your orders cease to arrive in your inbox. What to do? As in any time of crisis, take a deep breath, stay calm, and then get down to busines...
Conversion
Ten Great Ecommerce Ideas for May 2010

May 3, 2010 • Kate Monteith

Practical eCommerce asks industry insiders each month to share a great, innovative idea that could help an ecommerce company. Here’s what ten of them had to say for the May 2010 installment of "Great Ecommerce Ideas." Study Your Competitors’ SEO “Study and learn why your direct compet...
Conversion
Ask an Expert: Optimizing Google Product Search

April 22, 2010 • PEC Staff

"Ask an Expert" is an occasional feature where we ask ecommerce experts questions from online merchants. For this installment, we address a question about Google Product Search from Kara English, co-founder of Candlesandsuch.com, a Colorado-based retailer of life-event gifts and accesso...
Conversion
Spam, Spam Bots, and Double Opt-in E-mail Lists

April 21, 2010 • Dr. Ralph F. Wilson

It's hard to grow an e-mail list these days. People, wary of getting tons of unwanted e-mail, just don't subscribe as freely as they did in days of yore. And then there are evil spam-bots.
Photography & Video
Image Formats: What’s a JPG, GIF, PNG, SVG?

April 15, 2010 • Drew Coffin

Online merchants frequently use images to convey information. This article will help merchants understand the importance of image types and when to use them.
Conversion
Three Ways to Optimize Video Performance

April 12, 2010 • Justin Foster

With all the buzz surrounding ecommerce video, you might think web merchants were maximizing their video revenue opportunities. But they are not. Make no mistake, while more merchants than ever are experimenting with online video merchandising, retailers large and small would like to...
Photography & Video
The PEC Review: TinEye Reverse Image Search Locates Competitors, Protects Copyright

April 12, 2010 • Armando Roggio

Product photography is an essential part of ecommerce merchandising. Customers like to see what they're buying, after all. Many manufacturers and distributors supply stock product imagery for merchants to use, and other retailers will invest in professional and unique product photograp...
Conversion
Online Shoppers Wait Two Days to Buy

April 7, 2010 • Armando Roggio

The average online shopper delays making a purchase by almost two days after initially visiting a retail site, according to data from a leading Internet security company. After monitoring the shopping behavior of 163 million consumers completing 2.52 million transactions, McAfee SECURE...
Conversion
The Shopping Experience: MusiciansFriend.com

April 5, 2010 • Jeff Muendel

"The Shopping Experience" is our monthly description of purchasing a product from a leading ecommerce retailer and then critiquing the process. For this installment, we chose Musician’s Friend, one of the largest retailers of musical instruments and accessories. We chose Musician’s Fr...
Conversion
Ten Great Ecommerce Ideas for April 2010

March 30, 2010 • Kate Monteith

Practical eCommerce asks industry insiders each month to share a great, innovative idea that could help an ecommerce company. Here’s what ten of them had to say for the April 2010 installment of "Great Ecommerce Ideas." Drive Short-term Sales "To drive short-term sales volumes, try ...
Analytics & Data
The Metrics for Video Success

March 9, 2010 • Armando Roggio

Many online stores have begun to include product videos aimed at boosting sales conversions, reducing shopping cart abandonment, and lowering product return rates. But not all product-related videos are the same, and merchants will need some metrics for measuring which videos are, in fa...
Product Pages
The PEC Review: RateVoice Offers Product Reviews with Social Twist

March 3, 2010 • Armando Roggio

Adding product reviews to your ecommerce site will boost sales, drive additional traffic, and help you optimize your product catalog. In 2007, when PETCO added customer product reviews to its site, this purveyor of pet products enjoyed a 49 percent increase in sales conversions for its...
Conversion
Ten Google Services to Help Your Ecommerce Business

March 2, 2010 • Michael Stearns

If you are an ecommerce merchant, your business likely cannot survive without search engine exposure through Google. But Google has over one hundred other services and products that have blossomed from its core web search tool. Just keeping up with the names of these products is challen...
Conversion
Ten Great Ecommerce Ideas for March 2010

March 1, 2010 • Kate Monteith

Practical eCommerce asks industry insiders each month to share a great, innovative idea that could help an ecommerce company. Here’s what ten of them had to say for the March 2010 installment of "Great Ecommerce Ideas." "Add to Cart" vs. "Buy" "Use phrases like 'Add to Cart' on your...
Photography & Video
Putting Video On Your Ecommerce Site, A Webinar Preview

February 18, 2010 • Armando Roggio

Product-oriented videos help shoppers understand what they are buying, reduce shopping cart abandonment, and boost conversion rates by as much as 30 percent. Perhaps because of these reasons, ecommerce video is increasingly popular. Forrester Research, for example, estimated that 65 pe...
Photography & Video
The PeC Review: Shotfarm Streamlines Use of Manufacturers’ Photography

February 8, 2010 • Armando Roggio

Compelling product photography is a must for online merchants. Without a good visual representation of the products a store is selling, customers probably won't buy. Generally speaking, online stores have two basic ways to get product images: (1) take the photos, or (2) use the stock i...
Conversion
Google Analytics: Use Profile Filters, Advanced Segmentation to Understand Your Visitors

February 4, 2010 • Michael Stearns

The first stage of using Google Analytics effectively is to regularly check your core numbers, such as visits, the bounce rate, referrers, and sources. For small business owners, consistent monitoring can provide a reasonably clear idea of what is happening on your site. But when maximi...
Conversion
Ten Great Ecommerce Ideas for February 2010

February 1, 2010 • Ankush Agarwal

Practical eCommerce asks industry insiders each month to share a great, innovative idea that could help an ecommerce company. Here’s what ten of them had to say for the February 2010 installment of "Great Ecommerce Ideas." Help Men Find Valentine’s Gifts "With Valentine’s Day on the m...
Conversion
9 Crowdsourcing Ideas to Grow Your Online Business

January 13, 2010 • Darpan Munjal

If you are running an online business or planning on starting a new one, chances are that you do not have unlimited capital. Yet, in order to succeed in this competitive environment, you realize that you can’t compromise on the quality of your offering. More than likely, you continually...
Conversion
Split Testing Can Increase Conversion Rates

January 7, 2010 • Kate Monteith

Split testing is a conversion-tracking method that separates your message into two or more variations to see which gets the best response. Different visitors see different versions of the message and the results are tracked to determine the best return. We wanted to learn more about c...
Conversion
Ten Great Ecommerce Ideas for January 2010

December 31, 2009 • Kate Monteith

Practical eCommerce asks industry insiders each month to share a great, innovative idea that could help an ecommerce company. Here’s what ten of them had to say for the January 2010 installment of "Great Ecommerce Ideas." Identify the Source of Inquiries "Measure your marketing effect...
Conversion
The PeC Review: Using Gmail For Your Business

December 28, 2009 • Armando Roggio

For many online retailers, customer service is managed via email or chat. When a customer has questions or concerns, that customer often replies to a transactional email or submits a contact form, launching an engagement experience that is completely managed online, without face-to-face...
Conversion
URL Shorteners: Saving Space and Tracking Clicks

December 17, 2009 • Kevin Patrick Allen

For today’s ecommerce merchant who wants to convey an important point via instant messaging or mobile texting, brevity is helpful. But when the merchant is using Twitter, brevity is a must since a Twitter post is limited to 140 characters. It’s easy to run out of space to enter the most...
Conversion
Quick Query: Dr. BJ Fogg on Fogg Behavior Model

December 15, 2009 • Kevin Patrick Allen

Ecommerce merchants want consumers to take action. That’s what marketing is all about: reaching potential customers and convincing them to take action, more specifically, to make a purchase. Dr. BJ ...
Conversion
Ecommerce Know-How: Product Videos Easy to Produce, Inexpensive

December 10, 2009 • Kevin Patrick Allen

Ecommerce videos drive sales. Lars Hundley, president of Clean Air Gardening, is confident of that. “We typically get up to a 20 percent increase in conversion rate on products that have a video, and also a lower return rate at the same time. It's hard to put an exact dollar amount...
Conversion
Ecommerce Know-How: Think Negative to Realize Positive Holiday Sales Growth

December 2, 2009 • Kevin Patrick Allen

Two recent studies on holiday ecommerce spending provide important insights for small, online merchants wanting to achieve positive growth over the same period in 2008. The studies from comScore, an online tracking firm, and Forrester Research, indicate the economic climate is improvin...

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