And the Winner is…

Posted on November 29, 2007
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Thank you to everyone that attended yesterday’s webcast on the Yahoo! Year-End Review. We would like to announce that the winner of the FREE Marketing Audit is Jason Striker of www.drweil.com. Contrats Jason! And thank you to everyone for your continued interested in FastPivot.com’s services.

The Conversion Diversion – How Important IS that Percentage?

Posted on November 20, 2007
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‘Tis the season when online merchants fixate on their conversion rates like a moth on a warm winter lightbulb. Even now, with Thanksgiving almost upon us and Santa villages popping up in malls everywhere, customers call asking how to improve overall conversion numbers—but are stunned when we suggest tweaking anything else.

We here at FastPivot are anxiously awaiting the summer of ’09 when the beta drops for “The Converterator”, a revolutionary new platform-independent plug-in aimed at controlling conversion with a slider. Unfortunately, it’s only Christmas of ’07—and neither The Converterator nor the company that will create it exist yet. That means we still have to entice customers, dominate the competitive landscape, and sell that warehouse full of product—the hard way.

There’s no question that a store’s overall conversion rate should not go unmonitored. However, many times we find store owners consumed by their site’s overall conversion to the point of considering it an independent metric that is unaffected by the rest of their site. If only that were true.

The truth is…conversion does not live apart from the traffic-driving, layout-changing, product-shuffling, feature-adding, and campaign-launching activities on or around your store. Conversion is a product of all of that an e-retail business is – from the industry it is a part of, to the product line it contains, the brand presence it’s earned, and the interfacing with the customer. Converting the quality visitors that you’ve worked so hard to acquire is serious and specific task, no question. However, to say that the conversion percentage is not completely dependent on all the other work you’ve done in the last year on your store - is simply false.

When fielding your conversion percentage to get a grip on how “healthy” your site really is, you must take into account every step of the shopping process and effectively measure the success of each stage to best understand the final conversion metric. And we mean every step:

Search > Enter > Shop > Cart > Purchase

Define what the ideal experience for that shopper would be-then take a close look at how each action above really works on your site. Also, if you have a product line that appeals to more than one audience—yes, you need to outline the ideal shopping experience for each.

(Nobody said successful online retailing was easy…or it at least, we didn’t.)

STILL want to improve conversion? Use the download link below and get our Improving Conversion checklist to help you scout out what your site offers consumers and the purchase path it creates. Be prepared to answer tough questions like:

Are you paying for incredibly general keyphrases in your PPC or other paid campaigns? If so, can you insert ten more specific keyphrases that can completely replace that general phrase?
Do you use “Calls to Action” to immediately get visitors to the right product?
Are the customer’s most important questions answered first?
How many “clicks” are your visitors away from a purchase?
Do your visitors have an incentive to buy?
Are you offering the visitors help in deciding what they need?
Is the checkout process seamlessly integrated in your site design?
Can you reduce the number of steps at checkout?

With so many variables that play into that vague conversion percentage, there’s no quick fix for “bumping” this metric quickly. Until that magic plug-in turns the e-retail world upside down, every store owner must

look at every step of the shopping process
dig into the metrics of each step a little deeper
shop that store of yours every once in a while!

All store owners dream of the boost in revenue that comes from simply upping that conversion percentage by a few ticks. However, simply is not always as easy as it sounds. If what we describe above sounds like work, it’s not. It’s a LOT of work, but essential if you want to really begin to uncover the true drivers of your overall conversion numbers.

FREE WEBCAST from FastPivot.com - Yahoo Year-End Review

Posted on November 19, 2007
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FREE WEBCAST!
Yahoo Year-End Review

Wednesday Nov 28, 2007
1PM ET / 10 AM PT (30 minutes)
(Registration Required; limited seating)
WIN A FREE WEBSITE ASSESSMENT!

Join us for free 30-minute review of the Yahoo! Store 2006-2007 platform changes that affect your site, store and business. All registrants will receive a PDF of the presentation immediately after the webcast. All attendees will be entered into a drawing to win a free website assessment from FastPivot (a $1500 value!).

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Naughty or Nice: Setting a good online retail example has its rewards

Posted on November 7, 2007
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“The holidays are coming! The holidays are coming!” You know it, we hear you, and November’s getting shorter by the day.

But even as we join the retail universe in the annual lemming-like plunge into the holiday season, a recent comment from a FastPivot retailer made us stop short at the edge of the cliff. When asked during our annual account survey “What do you know now that you wish you’d know last year?”, our customer, Fernando, replied without hesitation. “I know now that I need to use my online store to show shoppers how to shop online successfully…on my site and others.”

Fernando notices that consumers usually go straight to their favorite sites, even if those sites are more expensive than other sites with the same product. People are not well-versed about search engine or price comparison techniques—so they go with what they know. He’s convinced that a Guide to Finding Great Prices…for Dummies would be a best-seller of the holiday season.

According to Fernando, every online store needs to help shoppers learn how to research and evaluate these three internet retailing topics:

Best Price: Help customers understand how to find good prices and “show that you’re not afraid to be compared,” he states.
Good Business Practices: Show customers how you do business, and welcome questions. “Remind them they have a right to this service from every store,” he offers.
Reputable Internet Seller: Be transparent, protect your customers as best you can, and “be vocal on your site that you care about their experience on your site,” he notes.

When it comes to best business practices, never forget that customer service leads the list. When customers call your 800 number to see what your service representatives know, make sure they leave with a list of questions to ask competitors—so that your helpfulness and unique product or service shines through. And when considering how to demonstrate that you are reputable internet seller, think about what builds credibility. For example, know how HackerSafe protects consumers and explain to customers why it matters that every site they use should have it.

Fernando uses his 800 number to do double duty with shoppers. Not only does he give shoppers a real-time customer service experience, but he also differentiates himself in an industry where most competitors don’t have 800 numbers. Moreover, his firm actually has real physical therapists paid at their regular rates to answer questions about the product and the company.

We think Fermando is onto something…and online retailers need to remember that after presentation and price, customer service and credibility are key factors in shopper’s decision to buy from your store. So here are FastPivot’s Top 3 Customer Service Fine Tune Priorities for the 2007 holiday season.

Compare and contrast. Break out of your old routine and price check at least three sites to compare prices on your desired item. (There’s a REASON the government requires at least 3 bids for every project.)
It’s free…so CALL! For the more technical purchases, call the 800 number to see what the customer service representatives know or don’t. Talk to several people in person (and check them again info found on different search engines like Yahoo!, Google, MSN, and .
What does credible mean? Learn what the credibility indicators you see on different sites are telling you—and how that really affects your shopping experience. Are you just looking at JPG badges or are you getting more value for your money?

Thinking like a shopper and showing customers how to find and evaluate the best retailers for their needs will not only help them in the short-term, but they’ll remember where they got good advice…and come back again and again for more. It starts an ongoing conversation that leads to a long-term relationship—and sales.