someone posted on camlist complaining about a clueless business and set me off on this one. there is nothing worse than an online business that just doesn't "get it". it's not hard to figure out that online culture is all about information, control, and instant gratification.
any e-commerce company should know by now that when a customer places an order, they want the following:
(1) accurate up-to-date information - tell me how many you have in stock, how long it will take before you get around to shipping it, and if it's backordered, say so. there's nothing worse than placing an order, only to be told that it's on backorder *after* you've placed it.
(2) timely responses - send an email when you receive the order, immediately, that second, not 8 hours later. send an email when you finish processing the order, immediately, that second. send an email when you ship the order, you know the drill. and if an order doesn't go through, give an error message that makes sense and tells me what to do, if i need to re-submit that order, i need to know.
(3)instant reaction - orders should be processed and shipped the minute they are received, not the next morning or 2 days later. if i order something at midnight tuesday and ask for next day air, it's because i want it on wednesday, thursday at the latest, not a week later.
(4)save the shopping cart contents and implement one click ordering - if i put something in my shopping cart, it's because i've taken the time to evaluate and choose that product. i've dug through your site and found it, i *want* to buy it. but, i'm at work and my ride home is here, so i don't have time to go through your really long order process. if you were amazon, i'd buy it with one click, but since you're not, i decide to fill out the order form when i get home. 3 hours later i remember and go to order it, but lo and behold, my shopping cart is empty. do you really think i *want* to dig through your site again?
e-commerce success is all about understanding the user and making the user's life easy, even if it's at the expense of the company.
copyright 1997-2000, by brig.