ecommerce best practices

© 2006, Cognizant Technology Solutions. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.

eCommerceBest Practices

2© 2006, Cognizant Technology Solutions. Confidential

Table of Content: Best Practices User Account Management Online Catalogue Management Shopping Cart Management Order Management Customer Support Service Online Marketing Web Analytics Best Practice Example

Best Practices This document describes the Best

Practices Cognizant eCommerce Practice collected, experienced and deduced based on their expertise.

The document is organized as per the Online Retail Business Map document.



User Account Management Keeping The Process Simple And Surprise-Free

» Letting users know what to expect. » Minimizing information collection upfront. » Explaining why the information is needed

Anticipating — And Avoid — Common Obstacles; Keep users on track by:» Communicating value and benefits upfront.» Integrating clear error messages» Making it painless to forget a password. » Placing help where it might be needed.


Online Catalog Management –Upgrades / Cross Sells

Making cross selling & up selling as unobtrusive as possible

Relevant products Recommendations» Understand the user history» Understand browsing pattern – previously

visited pages and items Use analytics to find which products are

most likely to be purchased with others» Effective bundling is key


Shopping Cart Management Allowing the user to select multiple items and

add them to the cart in a single click Allowing the user to easily add/delete items

from cart even at the final stages of the order processing phase

Displaying the shipping costs prominently Supporting multiple shipping options If it is an integration with a 3rd party the

terms and conditions regarding the liabilities should be clearly mentioned

Suggesting additional purchases that might interest the customer in a non-intrusive way


Shopping Cart Management Including order and shipping history for

future reference (even for orders abandoned midway) to allow users to go back to them

Emailing customers who have abandoned their shopping cart» Waiting for at least 48 hours» Sweetening the deal but avoiding being

predictable as it may lead to several customers abandoning orders to get discounts


Order Management Eliminating steps in the checkout process where it makes

sense. Letting shoppers know where they are in the process with a

progress indicator on each checkout page. Letting shoppers see what they have selected already with

thumbnail images inside the shopping cart. Allowing shoppers to edit their selections easily. Revising

color and size options of items in their cart should be painless. When competing on price, offering price guarantees Analysis of reasons of customers abandoning the shopping

cart» Offering them an incentive to complete an exit survey.

Visibility to the total cost (i.e. inclusive of the tax, packaging and handling charges) at any time of the buying process instead of being able to see the complete cost only at the end of the transaction

Make the user aware that the transaction is happening over a secure order processing system


Making the process as painless as the purchase process

Using the opportunity to understand why the customer decided to exercise the option (generally disgruntled customers provide more valuable feedback)

Using analytics to find patterns for users who ask for refunds

Order Management – Returns Management


Customer Support Service Calculating TCO well in advance Tracking Incidents Buying instead of Building

» Exploiting industry best practices» Maximizing scarce internal resources» Benefiting from leveraged development» Integrating more easily

Reassessing Incident And Problem Classification Categories

Measuring FCR & Abandon Rates From The Customer’s Perspective

Moving Knowledge Bases From Static To Real Time


Customer Support Service Contact center interaction management

delivers consistent cross-channel support» Integrates self-service into contact center

solution» Provides consistent services to customers» Supports traditional and IP contact centers» Links to customer support applications» Often integrates administration and

management features of self-service applications

» Dynamic data driven call resolution» Skill based routing of the cases created


Minimize Desktop applications to agents» 360 degree view of the customers to avoid sifting

between various applications (reduce AHT & errors)» Integrate knowledge base & search function with

incident tracking system» Pull related ERP information as per requirement

Workflow Management:» Define clear escalation paths» Create & Manage workflows for pre defined service

issues» Continuously identify patterns of issues, which can

be automated or managed by workflows» Assignment of cases to have mixed scheduling of

multi skilled & single skilled agents» Universal queuing of requests to manage efficiently

Customer Support Service


Placement is often more important than content Keeping the FAQ / Helpful links within easy reach and in

large fonts A through run-through of the system by inexperienced

end users could provide leads on what and where to place

A well designed system using a rich UI can be built (somewhat similar to the Symantec Solution Center; however, the user experience must be uniform)

Providing the option to talk to a human agent and not making the user go through endless links

Track usage of FAQs to improve site design

Customer Support Service – FAQ / Knowledge Base


Gathering Requirements Customers Need Assessment

» Starting with the customer» Detailed surveys and questionnaires» Testing with select focus groups» Listening to customers beyond their original complaint » Large-scale surveys with multiple choice answers tend to

lead participants to a known solution» Open-ended questions or a wish list from frustrated users

can lead to true innovation. CRM Strategy Integration

» Involving representatives from every organization that touches a customer

» Enterprise-wide perspective on customer priorities» Design should augment existing CRM applications to

promote a more personalized experience for the customer.

Customer Support Service – Self Help System


Functionality, Usability and Goals Understanding completely the core self-service requirements

your customers have Focusing on the vital self-service functions; the 20 percent of

the universe of functions used by 80 percent of the self-servers.

Delivering a well-designed self-service experience around the key tasks

Making the site easy and intuitive to navigate Continuously measure and evaluate self-service usability and

customer satisfaction. Differentiating between high- and low-value customers, and

offer differentiated service Incorporating “breadcrumb navigation” (text-based navigation

that shows where in the site hierarchy the currently viewed web page is located)

Incorporating discussion forums into the site RSS feeds



Functionality, Usability and Goals Continuously tracking questions and user feedback,

across all channels, Supporting "fail and bail"; should self-service be

inadequate Providing and maintaining customer-friendly, accurate,

up-to-the-second current information that reflects user self-service needs

Providing process transparency Self service options Publishing the IVR options in the customer touch points

to allow easier navigation Currency: Dating the information and news to show how

current they are



Online Marketing Making sure consumers who do not have coupon codes

do not feel they missed out Providing a small question mark link next to it

explaining coupon codes, how they are issued, etc Linking coupon codes to newsletters;

» Consumers would be inclined to join the newsletter» Once they have a coupon code, they may actually want to

use it to buy a product Consoling them that they aren’t in possession of a

coupon code this time around and encouraging them to complete the purchase anyways» Doing it with flair and a sense of humor


Web Analytics Analytics & Reports:

» Providing differentiated service based on the customer value (option of premium customer)

» Standard efficiency reports » Creating custom built reports to follow the key metrics that would

affect the organization» Critically analyzing reports to track the effort spent on the valuable

customer» Tracking complaints reports vis-a-vis the Customer value» Multidimensional Service Operational Analysis

» Three dimensional analysis of customer service providing insight on operation effectiveness. In turn can aid in finalizing the metrics

» Predictive Analysis of Customer Value» Analysis of customer value & upgrade potentials through

predictive analytics features in Contact center solutions» Value based customer engagement Modeling technique

» Proactive scheduling & executing customer care activities» Automatic design & generation of activity plans


Best Practice Example :Dell


Best Practices: Rich user interface

Include maximum info using minimal space: reduces scrollingNo lag time to download informationNormal interfaces for non compatible systems Auto detection of user location


Things to avoid: Inconsistent user experience

Inconsistent wording and tenses


Best Practice Example :Apple


Best Practices: Aesthetic look & feel

Clear, unambiguous & bold messagingWell designed links in top panel occupying minimal spaceUncluttered page design


Best Practices: Consistent user experience

Use of peppy, informal messages and pixDirect comparison with competitor: MS WindowsUsing every page to reinforce brand image


Best Practices: Help user figure out actual price

Calculate tax based on zip code


Best Practices: Page layout

Billing and shipping info fields in two panels thus reducing scrolling and giving impression to user that amount of time and effort required is less (contrast with McAfee)


Things to avoid: Hiding your products in a corner Difficult to find “buy now” links; only

available on certain pages Clutter on page after clicking on “buy

now” (contrast with Amazon) Placement of checkout on right panel

post clicking on “add to cart” button (which is in the middle of page) leading to user searching around for confirmation (contrast with Amazon)


Best Practice Example :Amazon


Best Practices: Use of left panel

Relevant categories listed on left for easy navigation


Best Practices: Blending useful info with promotions

Use of left panel for featured brands as well as categories


Best Practices: Relative positioning of info vis a vis promotions

Provide relevant info first followed by promotion: helps users trying to navigate to particular areas who may not be interested in that particular promotion


Things to avoid: Positioning of products

Norton Products: Coming in second row with names not visible; so may not be clicked first


Best Practices: Product Info

Uncluttered page once user makes a selection; left panel vanishes thus providing lesser distractions and more chance of user adding product to cart


Best Practices: use of screen space based on context

X / UpsellShopping cart confirmation: even though screen is cluttered; the confirmation comes at same place where user had clicked last thus alleviating chances of any confusion

1 click checkout


Best Practice: Taking minimal info on first regn. screen

Minimal info on starting page; no clutter on screen


Best Practice: Options with default values filled in accelerating process

Pre-checked radio button


Best Practice: Suggestions for error resolution

Error message highlighted

Remedy suggested in same page


Best Practices: Helping users troubleshoot

Giving possible cause for error to help user resolve issue


Best Practice: Saving cart history including abandoned orders

Saved items functionality which lets user reconsider buying product by keeping items removed from cart in saved items section in Shopping Cart


Best Practices: Personalized Recommendations

Personalized recommendations based on shopping history


Best Practices: Collecting additional information

Additional way of getting info: asking customer if he / she already owns / is not interested in the recommended product


Best Practice Examples:Symantec


Best Practice: Help customer navigate on first page

FAQ Tech SupportThings to avoid: Title bar using up too much space; contrast with Apple; minimal space used while preserving brand image


Best Practices: Include relevant info


Best Practice Example :McAfee


Best Practices: Support options prominently displayed


Best Practices: Rich UI

Promotional offer popping up via rich UI (does not need to reload) Also, this happens on adding to cart instead of being displayed at the very beginning

giving user a pleasant surprise and reinforcing desire to complete purchase


Things to Avoid: Less emphasis on products

Products given least emphasis Distractions


Things to Avoid: Importance to freebies

Free Product given primary importance distracting user from paid ones


Things to avoid: Placement of cart

Shopping Cart at bottom of page; greater chance for user changing his mind


Things to avoid: Page layout

Registration information too cluttered and too much scrolling required


Best Practice Example :Trend Micro


Things to Avoid: Wastage of space

Best Practice: Prechecked option prompting customers to buy highest value option

Wasted space at side and top with page content being really long leading to lots of scrolling


Things to Avoid: Too much information in one page

FAQs buried at bottom of page

Too few characters allowed in address field


Things to avoid: Small text size in useful links;

Little spacing between lines making searching for an item slightly difficult


Thank you

ecommerce best practices

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