Stop

When was the last time you watched an actual customer (not part of your team) use your web site? It’s important to remember who your web site is for. It’s easy to forget or lose sight of the views of real customers. You may have too much knowledge around the difficulties and constraints of a system or industry which means that online experiences are bent to fit these restrictions. Or you may just be busy doing other stuff.

Look

Often the way you think your customers use your web site is different from the way they actually use it. And often what they do and what they say they do are very different things. Watch the mouse.  Very often this indicates which part of the site they are focusing on and what they are looking at. Read more »

Groupon made it’s first deal in late 2008 with a half-price pizza offer.  Today Goupon is offering deals in 43 countries with an estimated revenue of around $2 billion.  Andy Jones, Director of Customer Experience at Salmon takes a look at their site and gives his take on eight things he believes they do well, leading to a design that is not only compelling and visually coherent but also very persuasive.

Read more »

Deep links into QR (Quick Response) codes are becoming ever more popular.  Retailers are beginning to use deep links into their content on another channel using QR codes. A QR code is a specific matrix barcode – or two dimensional code , readable by QR barcode readers and camera phones.  The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background and the information encoded can be text, URL or other data.

DIY retailer B&Q uses it in stores around physical products allowing customers to scan the QR code to watch the “how to video”.  At Christmas, supermarket Waitrose used QR codes in TV and magazine adverts allowing customers to deep-link into recipes.  Halfords, a Salmon client, has been using QR Codes in press advertising since Christmas with links to its mobile home page.  It has also used them in-store to promote specific product ranges.

Meguiars use QR Codes

For more information Econsultancy have a list of 10 ways marketers can use QR Codes in business, whether B2B or B2C.

Pete Sheldon (from Elastic Path) highlights in the E-Commerce Times what’s now and what’s next in eCommerce.

In the piece he profiles Video Solutions, Customer Service, Real-World Guided Selling, Multi-Store Retailing, User-Interface Design, Navigation Tools, Effective Merchandising, Social Shopping and Customer Loyalty.  Pete’s core messsages are “if you’re unsure which cutting-edge e-commerce innovations are right for your operation, plan, test and evaluate results – and then move forward“.  And importantly, “don’t be left behind by a fear of the unknown. Embrace innovation.”

A very good piece indeed.