build and conquer or how to build and optimise ecommerce sites ci3103 electronic commerce lecture by...
TRANSCRIPT
Build and Conqueror
How to Build and Optimise ECommerce Sites
CI3103 Electronic Commerce Lectureby Dr Jarek Francikcontributed by Prof. Jonathan BriggsKingston University London 2011, 2012
Introduction: Thumb Rules
80/20 Rule
80% of the effects are producedby 20% of the causes
20%
80%
80/20 Rule
80% of the effects are producedby 20% of the causes
• 80% of income from 20% of population• 80% of time spent in 20% of your house• 80% of crashes caused by 20% of bugs• 80% of development on 20% of code
80/20 Rule
80% of the effects are producedby 20% of the causes
• 80% of visitors only see 20% of the website• 80% of income is made by 20% of customers
• 80/20 rule doesn’t apply to conversion rates: they are usually much lower!
80/20 Rule
80% of the effects are producedby 20% of the causes
80% of time spent on stuff that generates 20% of income?
how this would affect your business?
Theory of constrains
Theory of constrains
avoid creating barriers
your 20%
Marketing
Building Ecommerce Site
Design
Technology
How to Build a Site
Typical Timescale
• Vendor Selection (1 month)• Project Planning (1 month)• Design (3 months)• Implementation (3 months)• Testing (1 month)• Content (1 month)
10 months
Vendor Selection
• Freelancer £20 - £40 per hourjust one developer working on the project
• Mid-range £40 - £65 per hoursmall businesses: more resources, more expertise
• Upper range £65 - £125 per hourchallenging solutions, online marketing skills,dedicated project manager
• Top price £125+ per hour
Project Planning
• Build the Model:– use reliable data – forecast for:• conversion rates• retention rates• average order value
– prepare for:• best case• realistic case• pessimistic case
HOW?• use reliable KPI (Key Performance Indicators)
for your market sector
• ask your colleagues in IT and business
• use analytics software
(to be presented in the 2nd part of this lecture
Project Planning
• Prepare and explore alternatives• Examine costs• Identify features that matter (80/20):– navigation & search– product content and imaging– marketing tools– integration– reporting, analytics, optimisation
Project Planning
• Competitor Analysis• Requirements Gathering (Personae!)
• Proposal including cost and schedule estimate
Design
User Analysis Persona Creation
Prototypingand
Wireframing
Evolveand
Launch
DesignPersona Creation
– Karen is 21 and is engaged to be married
– She wants to show her boyfriend, Gary, the types of wedding rings she really loves
– She has not bought much from the web although she uses Facebook a lot
– She is a bit afraid of using her credit card online
– Karen wants Gary to spend a thousand pounds on a ring – he can afford it
– She wants to let him make the final choice so that it is a surprise
without personae• What functionality should
we offer?• I don’t like how this is
written• How can we sell more of
these products?• We have to serve the needs
of all our users• We need to convey more of
our brand messages
with personae• What user goals should we
serve?• Karen won’t understand this
product description• How can we help Karen to
buy more of what she wants?• We have to serve Karen’s
goals first• We need to build our brand
by satisfying Karen’s needs
DesignPersona Creation
DesignStructure
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Selected ProductType: Chardonnay, white
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Implementation
Implementation
• Bespoke systems– PHP – a very bad idea– Java, ASP.NET, Ruby on Rails – slightly better...– PHP frameworks (Zend, CakePHP, Yii, Drupal, Joomla)
• Installed frameworks– Magento Ecommerce– osCommerce (>7,000 community add-ons)
• Hosted solutions– Shopify– Volusion
Testing
• Alpha• Browser compatibility• Beta
Content (copywriting)
• Get through alpha and beta tests first...• Completed system is like an empty box...• Content writing is important• Start writing when the site is commissioned• Use a “content hero”
Content (copywriting)
• Product descriptions• News• Resources• Reviews• FAQ’s• About Us• Policies• E-mails
• Product shots (from different angles)
• Hero images• Other pictures• Logos & Icons
Your site is now up & running
but – this is just a starting point of a long journey...AFTER THE BREAK – OPTIMISING ECOMMERCE
Optimising ECommerce
this part is based on a lecture by Prof. Jonathan Briggs
Some Key Ideas
• Traditional Computing:
analysis – design – implementation – testing – deployment – maintenance
• Essential for Electronic Commerce:– continuous analysis– optimisation
• The goal is to increase profit!
Some Key Ideas
• Consider your website in the context of your business
• Businesses evolve and so do the websites• Effectiveness of on-line marketing can be tracked
(very much unlike the traditional business)• Focus on what really generates the income• Improvements are subject to careful planning
ROI – Return on Investment• Evolution rather than revolution (small changes)
Key Indicators
• Numbers of visitors• Sources of traffic• Landing pages• Bounce rates• Returning visitors• Visitor demographics
• Time on site• Goal completion• Changes over time• Advertising ROI• Conversion rates
A Bit of Economy• A small store:
– Daily visitors = 1,500– Conversion rate = 2%– Average order value = £23
• Q: What is the monthly revenue?• 1,500 * 30 = 45,000 visitors monthly• 45,000 x 2% = 900 orders• 900 x £23 = £20,700 monthly (this is revenue, not profit)
• Q: If conversion rate increases to 2.2%, what’s the revenue:• 45,000 x 2.2% = 990 orders• 990 x £23 = £22,770 (£2,070 more!)
• Q: if average order is now £28, what happens:• 990 x £28 = £27,720
These two changes made £7,020 extra revenue!
Improving Your Site
• Marketing• Search engine
optimisation• Customer journeys
improvement• Better landing pages• Recognise repeat
visitors• Remove barriers
• Improve information• Improve calls to action• Improve decision
support• Improve customer
service• Change the proposition:
free shipping, 2 for 1,click & collect
A/B Testing
• Test out your changes by offering different experiences to your visitors• Different calls to action, design, information, offers• Don’t assume that there are general rules• Test the big changes first• Use a testing tool such as Google Website Optimizer
Add to basket Add to order Buy
60% 20% 20%
A/B Testing for marketing
• Test creative including calls to action• Test “maintaining scent”• Test proposition
adword ad
email newsletter
try a free sample of X
the best X on the planet!40%
60%
Statistics
• Sites convert 1% - 8% of their visitors to customers
• Small changes can have dramatic effects on revenue: going from 1% - 2% doubles revenue
• Acquiring new customers can be more expensive than retaining customers
• Many sites are optimised rather than being redesigned
What should you learn?
• How to read analytics and look at the key numbers
• Some basic business thinking• How to design small experiments• How to think like your client• That this applies to ALL web design and not
just eCommerce
Issues involved
• Tracking visitors versus tracking patterns• Privacy and data protection• Seeing the wood for the trees• Working with clients and designers• Lessons from one site won’t necessarily
transfer to another