Are your eShop visitors paying attention!?

[quikshop]

We've just published a new article on eShop customers and Internet shopping (http://www.internetretailer.biz/partner/your_eshop_customers_and_internet_shopping.aspx?qs aid=595) and I'd be very interested in your thoughts and feedback.

The premise of the article is that most visitors to your eShop do not see what you see when you look at your own eShops' pages.

Everyone I've asked can relate to this type of Internet shopping behaviour, can you??

[Christiane]

I totall agree.

For instance I've had to make changes to the checkout page numerous times because customers don't see it how I see it. I have talked to a few customers about it and it's clear people get different understanding on the look of a page.

Some of the things you mention like as few as few clicks to buy a product as possible is very important to help conversion, yet so many eShops ignore it. One of my suppliers has just released an eShop and it's a pig to place an order, I nearly gave up and called to place the order but by then it was 6pm and the office was shut.:rolleyes:

[J-Wholesale]

No offence mate, but your entire article contradicts itself. You start off by suggesting (through your blissfully unaware M25 driver story), that internet shoppers simply coast along to their destination without noticing anything around them. Then you do an about turn and say that this means internet shoppers are super-aware of all the subtle stumbling blocks in their way, and that each of these can halt the 'relaxed auto-pilot mental state' that inhabits most internet users.

You can't have it both ways. Either internet shoppers are 'aware' or they are not. Either they are focused on their destination, and cease moving forward when that focus is lost, or they do not. If small changes to your checkout process and your product pages make a difference, then your earlier assertion that internet shoppers are operating in some kind of hazy, mind numbing state, is simply incorrect.

My own opinion: Internet shoppers, or at least the most 'professional' of them, are very aware of what goes on around them. That's the main reason they abandon checkout processes that take too long. If they were the sleeping, passive robots you suggest, then they would have little problem with laborious checkout processes, simply following them to their conclusion regardless of the time involved.

The premise of the article is that most visitors to your eShop do not see what you see when you look at your own eShops' pages.

I'd also suggest that the primary focus of your article is wrong. It would better read: "You do not see what most visitors to your eShop see when you look at your own eShops pages." It is, I feel, a subtle difference, but a very important one. They are not supposed to see what you see, but you, as a professional online retailer, are supposed to be able to see what they see.

[quikshop]

Then you do an about turn and say that this means internet shoppers are super-aware of all the subtle stumbling blocks in their way, and that each of these can halt the 'relaxed auto-pilot mental state' that inhabits most internet users.

I think you are missing the point somewhat, or perhaps do not understand what auto-pilot, or cruise control or whatever other suitable terminology you might want to use for this recognised mental state is.

The first point is that Internet shoppers do browse the web without paying full attention. If you do not accept that this premise is true then the rest of the article will be meaningless to you.

I've likened this 'not paying full attention' state to a recognised mental state for drivers, but you could make a comparison to anyone watching TV for a period of time, or other familiar activity in a non-threatening environment.

The second part of the article discusses what implications this has for web design, with the underlying point that if we assume that Internet shoppers see what we see as shop owners, then we are undoubtedly losing out on sales.

Obtrusive actions that require an Internet shopper to snap out of their auto-pilot and focus on the website run the risk of driving them away or abandoning their shopping baskets.

This is one of the reasons why Paypal have taken a lead and introduced an auto-complete checkout feature when using 3rd party shops.

They understand that the less actions and less proactive thinking an Internet shopper has to do, the more likely they are to make a purchase.