commerce, ecommerce, eCommerce or e-comm, refers to the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. • However, the term may refer to more than just buying and selling products online. It also includes the entire online process of developing, marketing, selling, delivering, servicing and paying for products and services. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_commerce
online population has used the Internet to purchase something • 50% of the online population has shopped online more than once • Ecommerce sales are growing by more than 15% every year and will almost be $1.4 trillion by the year 2015 Source: http://nextwidgetsblog.com/2011/08/e- commerce-statistics-a-decade-of-growth/
online purchasers are in the EU • India is the highest growth region • The highest percentage of shoppers (68%) are between age groups 55-65 and 31-44 • In 2011 mobile users (e.g smart phone owners) spent 1.4 billion US dollars via shopping online Source: http://nextwidgetsblog.com/2011/08/e-commerce- statistics-a-decade-of-growth/
UK the top spends of are on the following products: Entertainment Home-ware Clothes Travel 6 out of the top ten sites have shops everywhere. 4 of these sites generate their revenue purely online – big money!
of use: • known-item purchases; • category research, where users identify and buy products that best match their needs; • bargain-hunting; and • browsing for inspiration “If the customer cannot find the product they cannot purchase the product” Source: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/ecommerce.html
even if you don’t know what it is! Linking to reviews, User Generated content - what other customers say and ideas for the buyer to pull them into more purchases by advising if they like this item they might like…. Member Log In which remembers details of address and debit/credit card to make those steps even easier – no frustration and opportunity to stop the transaction and therefore spending money! I ended up buying a CD it was so easy!
– the design really hasn’t changed much, it does work because of functionality and clarity and stats prove this. I think it could do with an overall and get rid of the dated ecommerce look (see ASOS.com) In the same area the Calls to Action buttons could be much bigger and clearer – small and often tucked at the far right – new Users could miss these.
of one of the world’s largest eCommerce sites with lots of money at their disposal Small websites using plug ins can be built to generate revenue for your business/client – they can look good and not cost a fortune!
January 2012 showcase Small New York based company with a mobile friendly eCommerce site The site is built using Wordpress with a customisable eCommerce plug in called shopplugin.net
Clear navigation • Free text search • Clear call to action button • 4 clicks and the purchase is complete • Opportunity to sign-up to newsletter • Meets 4 principles of eCommerce function • Pleasant!
principles and functionality Graphics, text, navigation are not informative, user friendly and do not meet accessibity guidelines There are no clear labels Navigation takes user on a loop back to the home page I tried to find out information to make any kind of purchase but lots of dead ends A button advises “be patient” – a good ecommerce site should not advice this – sales are lost fast online