Surveys and User Experience Research Result in Successful E-commerce

2.0 heads partners surveyed users of a skin care site associated with a prominent doctor. Site Analytics indicated that advertising campaigns were working and the site was receiving lots of traffic. There was also a pattern of visitors abandoning shopping carts full of product. What was the problem? We implemented six Branding and Engagement recommendations:

Establish a woman-to-woman relationship with customers. Let them know Dr. Denese recognizes the joy of a cool breeze on a summer day. Further make it obvious that skin care cannot be a second career or a “life’s work.”

Provide a scientific basis for product efficacy. Let them know that Dr. Denese’s medical training and her popular book are the basis for a proven anti-aging approach that will work for everyone.

Make it understandable. The Six Step program was designed to clarify key concepts and remove the hype and hyperbole that surrounds many skin care products.

Provide details about behaviors that support skin health. What to eat and when to eat are key recommendations in the program – details are provided on the website. This section of the website brought together concepts that are frequently discussed in isolation such as the role of Glycemic Index on creating a diet and the role of sun exposure and stress in caring for your skin.

Create Community. Our recommendations included ideas to suport outreach and dialogue among (what we called) Women Like Me. The blog and Facebook page became spaces that provided women with a comfortable way to ask questions and share their stories.

Make Conversion Easy!This last recommendation required that the entire site be re-imagined in terms of new branding. Drop-down menus for Areas of Concern show only products for that category (such as Dry Skin or Sun Protection). The drag-and-drop approach to the Shopping Cart provided clarity about the intended purchase price and the purchase total. (By the way the abandoned carts were the result of poor display of pricing information in the site. Initiating a purchase was the way frustrated customer were price-checking.)