USER-friendliness is the vital missing ingredient from e-commerce and is providing a formidable barrier to converting interest into sales according to Web gurus speaking at Forum X, hosted by Com Tech in Queensland recently.
Usability research company User Interface Engineering completed a small study that showed 65% of e-transactions that began online failed due to frustrating obstacles when customers were searching for products, during the selection process and at the check-out.
Forrester Research group director research John McCarthy believes usability testing online "exposes a lot of really bad, half-assed retail practices". "Focus groups are not enough. User testing is the only thing to help you really understand what [consumers] want to do in practice," he said.
The latest Forrester research into e-commerce practices evaluated 36 sites on the basis of usability, giving subjects specific tasks to perform online ranging from gathering information to completing a purchase process. Not one site involved in the study scored a pass in all three categories of finding a product, making a purchase decision and placing an order.
Amazon.com was the only site to score an even 50% over the three categories, with half the sites evaluated scoring a cumulative score of between zero and minus eight.
McCarthy said the study showed there was still a long way to go before online retailers realised the potential of the Net as an e-commerce and branding tool.
"There is a level of accountability on the Internet that you don't see in other places. Usability improves the experience online and ultimately improves the experience offline."
Former president of automotive Web site iMotors Beth Van Story agreed with the e-branding message but said usability testing wasn't the be-all and end-all solution for e-commerce problems.
"You start seeing where the issues are but it is an artificial environment," she said.
According to Van Story, companies waste too much money chasing customers who ultimately don't buy their products.
A fervent "power to the number crunchers" advocate, Van Story said too few companies tied marketing activities to their sales processes and made them accountable.
She linked iMotors' success with the ability to track exactly how much money was spent on acquiring customers and each sale, using appropriate forms such as links, sponsorships, viral e-mails and banners depending on the product or service on offer.
Meanwhile, Nortel Networks director of marketing Oliver Gnass warned: "It's very easy to lose your brand in the e-world. It's your most powerful asset and your competitor is only one click away."
