07/13/2008 Post By: Brent Johnson
You’d think by now someone trying to sell something on the internet would remember while setting up their ecommerce site, how frustrating some shopping carts and forms can be.
I host a group on Facebook called Okanagan Wines, each Friday three other guys and myself taste a one varietal from two different Okanagan wineries. We realized we needed to order wine directly from the wineries because of the selection, or lack thereof, in the liquor stores. I started out by visiting wineries websites to order wine and I ended up with a headache.
I was looking to buy only one bottle but the minimums were either 6 or 12, so that they could put it in a case. Is this convenient for me or the winery? Why can’t you allow me to buy whatever quantity the customer wants?! If it’s not a full case just charge the same shipping amount as a full case. I went through more than 20 different websites trying to buy wine and after a while of searching I found two sites that would let me buy one bottle. (Is it me or this strange? I’m trying to buy one bottle of wine but because of their e-commerce sites I can’t).
The second website that we ordered one bottle from had an error during the check out both times I tried to order it.
The forms were a huge part of why the user experience was so terrible. Most of the forms were lengthy and asking for more information necessary for sale. On several site I needed to sign up for an account in order to purchase the wine only to find out later that the minimum as a case of six. This should be clearly outlined before I have to sign up.
Are Okanagan Wineries serious about e-commerce on their websites? If you have an e-commerce site here are a few tips:
What do you want to see out of your e-commerce site? Have any horror stories from websites you’ve bought from, or tried to buy from?
Tim - 07/17/2008
Let's say you have a bottle for $25.
During checkout you realize teh shipping is the same price.
Would you order the 1? Increase it to 6 or 12 bottles to better your wine-to-shipping ratio? Or would you not buy anything because the shipping was too expensive when all you wanted was a bottle of their nice wine?
I think everyone should have the flexible shipping charts that your cart has! :)
Brent - 07/18/2008
http://www.k1technology.com
Thanks for the comment and complement Tim.
As a consumer I would like to have all three options, expensive shipping for one bottle, more bottles for a better shipping deal, or just abandoning the cart when I realized I didn’t want the wine because of the shipping price. The key is that it needs to be clear to the consumer.
sindiswa msutu - 08/01/2008
http://microsoft
how can e-commerce add value to running your business
Brent - 08/01/2008
http://www.k1technology.com
Thanks for the question Sindiswa
If you strip e-commerce down to its essential attributes and benefits it doesn’t add value. But if you then create a competitive advantage by bundling or packaging features and benefits that result in greater customer acceptance (i.e. letting the consumer decide how many bottles of wine they want instead of making them buy what the winery wants), the value is added. That’s how a e-commerce site can add value, or if done poorly, can add headaches for the consumer. The value is added indirectly to business, in this case a winery, because of the consumer’s positive e-commerce experience with the winery.
