9 replies to this topic

[websage]

A recent survey conducted by Jupiter Research on the value of personalized web content reveals interesting results -- only 14 per cent of consumers said personalized offers convinced them to buy more often. This does not fly well with web development budgets as personalized content, on average quadruples the development/maintenance cost. Pretty low ROI :-)

The report's recommendation is that e-commerce initiatives concentrate more on site navigation and search-engine design.
<snippet from Retail Week>
More than half of the consumers that took part in the study said better navigation would entice them to buy online or visit a particular Web site more often.
</snippet from Retail Week>

[MarketPro]

I have mixed feelings about this. In my experience there are many components that move the potential customer from the marketing process to the buying process. Site Navigation is just one of those components. A site must build credibility and trust, keep their attention and motivate them to purchase. Consumers tend to be leery about purchasing things on the Internet so the building of trust is extremely important especially if the company does not have a strong brand.

Navigation might be the key factor in sites like Amazon or Barnes and Noble, but building trust and credibility will be vital for the Country Shop that just launched their online craft store.

[websage]

A site must build credibility and trust, keep their attention and motivate them to purchase.

Navigation might be the key factor in sites like Amazon or Barnes and Noble, but building trust and credibility will be vital for the Country Shop that just launched their online craft store.

I completely agree with you. I believe the report was more on the technical aspects of web development rather than on the integrated approach of marketing web applications.

[MarketPro]

Yes I think you are right

[websage]

This report does bring interesting questions, though. Does one invest heavily on making the most versatile web application or does one invest in usability. Of course it is again the old battle, between designers vs coders vs marketers vs users...

[bwelford]

A recent survey conducted by Jupiter Research on the value of personalized web content reveals interesting results -- only 14 per cent of consumers said personalized offers convinced them to buy more often.

Of course, most savvy e-purchasers realize by now how easy it is personalize a website given cookies, etc. So it's sort of nice to have but it's not a deal-maker.

Much more important is the question of the credibility of the selling organization. So you should personalize the identity of the selling organization and make sure that none of those credibility-destroying factors that Stanford pointed out are visible in your website.

[Jill]

Websage, could you please post a link to report?

Thanks!

Jill

[websage]

Sorry, Jill, it is in print only. In the Oct 24th issue of Retail Week, published in the UK:

http://www.retail-week.com

I read a lot (parhaps too much :-) in print, not only the web, but that is how my professor taught me. If you need help for something like "SE in the News" (can't compete with Robert Clough, though :-) let me know.

[MarketPro]

There is an interesting article at Clickz that does a great job of debunking the over simplification of buyer behavior. It is a reminder that many Internet users are browsing before purchasing. If our focus is simply the technical side we miss the marketing opportunity and loss of conversion.

http://www.clickz.co...cle.php/3093451

Very relevant to this thread

[websage]

Thank you, Laura. This very much reminds me of another article mentioning Information Foraging:

http://www.useit.com...x/20030630.html