PRWD

This post is part of a series on the real-time web and its use for retailers. In this first, post, we’ll examine some of the possible use cases.

The phrase ‘real-time web‘ has been getting a lot of interest in the web industry recently. In computing, the term ‘real time’ refers to a system that has to operate within time constraints, where it’s important that the system react quickly and keep up-to-date with data arriving. Traditionally this has only been applied to mission-critical systems such as medical devices or financial trading systems, where a few missed milliseconds can make a huge difference.

The ‘real-time web’ uses the term more broadly, to refer to sites and applications which update very frequently, and which rely on that time dimension for a competitive advantage. Many new and popular web services, such as Twitter, are built around the notion of fast-moving data and this is changing our experience of the web from one where we browse mostly static pages and receive only occasional notifications – perhaps a weekly email – telling us about new content, new offers or new products. In the real-time world, content can be constantly shifting and customers and users will increasingly expect to see up-to-the-minute information.

So, how might this be relevant to retailers?

1. Real-time offers

An innovative new time-sensitive sales tactic is to offer discount codes and coupons via real-time messaging services such as Twitter or Facebook status updates. These codes can be limited in number, so that only those customers who order promptly can benefit from them. This creates a unique incentive to place an order, with the prospect of losing the discount if the prospective customer waits too long to place the order.

This technique can has been used by Dell and Zappos, amongst others. Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, has gained a phenomenal 567,000 followers on Twitter at the time of this post, and can use this network to broadcast coupon codes and other promotions to his entire audience, prompting surges of shoppers towards the Zappos site.

2. Real-time purchase information

One of the key insights for retailers is that customers are more likely to buy an item if they know that other people are buying it too. This is one of the reasons why a high number of reviews on products can help to drive sales, and why charts of best sellers have been a major part of retail promotions for decades. The web creates the opportunity to speed this up, giving customers information about what others are buying right now.

This is a good way of encouraging customers to make a buying decision, because they will feel more safe making their purchase knowing that others are doing so too. It’s possible – though not especially likely – that they might purchase the same item that they observe someone else buying, but the main benefit is in proving that the retailer is genuine and has an active customer base. The reassurance given to the customer is all-important.

The pictured example is from The Book Depository, which shows a series of notifications on their front page, illustrating recent purchases. In a nice twist, they use a Google Map to show where the buyer is from (enhancing their reputation as a global brand), pulling in a thumbnail image and title of the book bought. They also mention the free delivery given.

3. Count-downs

Many retailers make use of a count-down facility, letting customers know that if they order before a certain time they will qualify for next-day delivery or reduced shipping rates. Again, this adds an artificial sense of time pressure for buyers, who know that buying now will be a better deal than buying later, even if the saving is just on the shipping or on getting the product a day earlier.

Another more innovative, but also more controversial, approach that has been successful for a certain type of retailer is to introduce competition amongst the site visitors, with a time-limited auction. Sites such as Swoopo have pioneered a simple but effective tactic of charging users a small fee to bid on what appear to be highly under-priced items. In fact, the retailer makes almost all of their profit on the accumulated bidding fees and can easily afford to sell products at a ‘loss’. Whilst the ethics of this form of retailing might be dubious, it’s a perfect example of the use of time constraints – bidding is most frenzied when the auction is about to close – and the use of live feedback, as visitors can see the fresh bids appearing in real time.

4. Live shopping assistance

Another feature that is becoming more commonplace now is live shopping assistance, enabling visitors to talk directly to customer service representatives via a chat window. Although web chat systems have been in existence for some time, the technology has often been poorly implemented, making the experience a frustrating one for customers. But web chat is now back on the agenda, with systems like Facebook Chat making it ‘normal’ to hold a conversation via a browser window rather than a standalone instant messaging application such as MSN Messenger or Skype.

Live Chat systems are unlikely to be suitable for small-scale retailers, but for those retailers that already employ large customer service teams, a live chat option can provide the customer with extra reassurance, help and advice. The human touch can be more effective than any number of FAQ pages or inline help messages.

The common thread

What most of these uses of real-time technology have in common is that they all serve to make the individual customer aware of other people and their actions. Customers seeking to take advantage of limited discount codes know that they have to do it before others get there first. Customers observing the purchases made by others can feel reassured by the fact that others are shopping at the same place that they are. Ultimately, this use of the technology is all about giving individuals access to extra information that they wouldn’t get from an old-fashioned, static e-commerce site. In many cases, real-time update technology provides a means of keeping a site fresh even without requiring much intervention.

In the next post in this series, we will examine the technologies behind the real-time web, and the future developments that will change things even further.

Following my recent article on Econsultancy, benchmarking Amazon and The Book Depository on usability and best practice, I’ve used our benchmarking application to carry out further research in the book market. Waterstone’s, WH Smith’s and Border’s are the 3 high-street book sellers that I’ve included in the report.

I have benchmarked all 5 book retailers in some of the key areas of the shopping journey where good usability can be the difference between a sale and an abandonment:

• average rating across key shopping pages
• product page
• cross-selling and up-selling
• shopping basket
• checkout process
• web forms

Average Usability Rating Across All Key Shopping Pages

Observations

Waterstones and Borders are the 2 lowest performing book retailers, with the biggest impact on their ratings due to poor usability during their checkout process, and in particular their web forms. More information on each of these areas is below.

Product page usability benchmark

Observations

The standout retailer in this report is Waterstone’s, who achieve just 50% in this benchmark evaluation. WH Smiths (78%) are pushing the 2 big pureplay retailers very hard, with Amazon achieving 77% and The Book Depository achieving 83%.

Cross-selling and up-selling usability benchmark

Observations

Amazon, one of the 1st pioneers of tailored product suggestions and intelligent recommendations, lead the way with an almost perfect 94%, with The Book Depository (83%) and Waterstones (79%) having very respectable ratings in this benchmark.
At the other end of the scale Borders are damaging their ability to try and encourage visitors to spend more than they were originally intending by not investing as much effort in following best practice usability principles to deliver cross-sell and up-sell products.

Shopping basket usability benchmark

Observations

In contract to their performance in the cross-selling and up-selling study, Amazon come off worst in the study of product pages, closely followed by Borders. The Book Depository (78%) rate the highest and continue their solid performance from earlier parts of the buying journey.

At the end of this article I have provided some further insights into our benchmarking application, in terms of how it caters for different size businesses and varying levels of brand credibility. Both these impact on how patient a shopper will be when using an e-commerce site, and its thanks to Amazon credibility and brand awareness that they don’t need to worry as much as other less know retailers when it comes to providing good usability in their shopping journey.

Checkout process usability benchmark

Observations

For this study on the retailers checkout process, the evaluation was carried out as a 1st time shopper rather than a returning customer simply logging in before completing their checkout process.
The standout retailers who aren’t following many usability recommendations are Amazon, Borders and Waterstones, and it is a certaintity that these brands will be losing potential sales due to checkout process abandonments which could be avoided with better usability.
WH Smiths (64%) and The Book Depository (70%) certainly provided a better user experience, although they both have plenty room for improvement.

Checkout web forms usability benchmark

Observations

One of my previous articles talked about the importance of providing usable web forms especially during a checkout process. Surprisingly 3 of the 5 retailers have a usability rating of 50% or less, with their web forms breaking many usability recommendations. Its hard to judge just how frustrated some 1st time visitors will become when using these web forms during the checkout process, but it is clear to say that these 3 retailers are more likely to suffer from increased checkout abandonments than if their web forms where easier to complete and with less usability barriers.

Benchmark application intelligence

On a benchmark article I published on the Econsultancy website, a usability consultant rightly questioned the validity of using a benchmarking application on diverse retailers, where different usability recommendations can have varying levels of impact dependant on a number of different factors, and below are extracts from this (taken from the Econsultancy article I published):

Comment from David Hammill

You make some interesting points here. I have to admit that I’m not a fan of assessing usability by scoring and benchmarking against characteristics of what of considered to make a usable system.

You see, one characterstics will have an entirely different impact than another. So the numbers are merely an indication of the extent to which one site follows best practice. This doesn’t equate to one site being more usable than the other.

Response from Paul Rouke

Thanks for your comments David. You’ve made a really valid point with regards how different characteristics can and will have an entirely different impact than others.

In addition to guidelines/recommendations having varying degrees of importance and impact, the same guidelines/best practice recommendations will have a different degree of impact based on the type/size/age of retailer.

A good example of this would be Ebay – they can rely on their brand credibility and worldwide recognition to provide 1st time visitors with confidence as to the levels of security that their site provides, whereas a new to market auction website that no-one has heard of would have to work a lot harder at assuring wary users that their site is totally secure and trustworthy.

With all the above in mind I can confirm that our benchmarking application that I used during this article caters for both:

• weighting of different recommendations as to thier impact on usability/customer confidence
• weighting of different recommendations based on the type/size/age of business – ie. high street brand, pureplay retailer, start-up

In terms of the 2 sites featured in this benchmark review, from what I understand The Book Depository do have a very strong conversion rate compared to the book industry standard, so this would suggest that their performance in the usability benchmark study does reflect the fact that they do have a very usable e-commerce site that does deliver commercially.

How Well Do You Compare To Your Competitors?

If this is a question you would like answering then please give us a call. Benchmarking and usability evaluations are just 2 our services which help businesses better understand why their current website isn’t delivering the sales levels that is expected. They also help our clients develop the business case for further investment in improvement the user experience of their website, particularly for retailers competing in the ever more ruthless online arena.