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Product Information

Offer a range of products that meets users' expectations

Offer the same variety of products on your Web site as you carry in brick-and-mortar stores or paper catalogs. Customers value Web shopping partly because of the vast variety and selection of products. They are disappointed if companies do not offer their complete catalog of products online (Jarvenpaa & Todd, 1996, 1997).

Provide pictures of all physical merchandise

Provide pictures to attract users' attention, help them identify products, help them understand a product's features, and help them feel more knowledgeable and comfortable when making purchase decisions. For sites that sell thousands of products, providing pictures of all of them requires a significant investment. But pictures are vital to e-commerce because the Web is largely a visual medium in which customers cannot feel, touch, or hold products. Pictures must provide the marketing appeal that packaging and product displays provide in brick-and-mortar stores.

Because large pictures cause slower downloading, consider presenting "thumbnail" photos initially and linking to larger views of the same items. In both thumbnail and larger pictures, make the product features as distinguishable as possible. Provide pictures from different angles, and enable users to click for a larger view if these additional views assist users in understanding the product and its features.

Provide information about availability

Provide information on your product description pages about the availability of each product, and immediately update the information when the inventory changes. If possible, indicate exactly when you can ship the product. For instance, you may want to say something like "Ships within 24 hours of receiving your order" or "Orders received by 1:00 pm Eastern time ship the same day" (but be sure you keep your promises). Link to information about shipping options so that the user can estimate a delivery date.

Fast, reliable service is an important selling point. The more specific and accurate your shipping times, and the more rapidly you fulfill orders, the more likely you are to please your customers.

Tip: Avoid using the term "shipping time" because it's unclear. Business typically use it to refer to processing time, but customers sometimes think it means they will receive the product in that time.

Display prices prominently

Include prices on your product description pages and, in most cases, in your product lists. Price is one of the most important product attributes affecting the purchase decision, so do not require users to "dig" for prices.

Note: Use the three-letter international currency symbol (e.g. USD for US dollars) and a descriptive phrase (e.g. "All amounts are in US dollars.") to explicitly indicate the currency base.

Provide detailed product information

Provide detailed specifications and/or descriptions of the physical characteristics, features, and functions of products. This detailed information is essential to Web shoppers because they do not have the assistance of sales clerks, and cannot touch products as they might in brick-and-mortar stores.

Note: If you are selling to an international audience, use both the metric system and the imperial system to specify product dimensions.

Disclose the most important product information first

Whenever products and product categories are introduced, begin each product description with information that distinguishes that product from others and enables customers to recognize quickly which products do and don't meet their needs. The product descriptions, whether they appear on the store front, on product category navigation pages, or on product description pages, should answer the following questions:

• What is the product for?

• Who is the product for?

• What are the product's distinguishing characteristics?

• What are the reasons for buying the product?

If users can discern this information immediately, they can quickly navigate to products that closely match their needs or interests.

Display unintrusive promotions on key pages

Display promotions, such as price reductions, rebate offers, interest-free financing, and special new offerings, on your store front and product category navigation pages. The promotions should briefly describe each offer and link to more information and/or the specific product being promoted.

Promotions are effective when they inform users of special opportunities without interrupting an enjoyable shopping experience. Information on a "good deal" or a new product may be the extra incentive that some users need to complete a purchase. To avoid distracting and annoying users with promotions,

• Reserve primary screen real estate to main product categories and the search engine

• Locate promotions in a consistent place on each page

• Display promotions that are relevant to the product category that the user is currently viewing (i.e., vary promotions according to the category the user is viewing)

• Avoid displaying promotions where they would distract the user from a task that requires a high level of concentration, such as a comparison page with detailed product information

• Do not display an overwhelming number of promotions on the store front or product category navigation pages; rather, display one or two and enable users to click for more promotions

Also specify when and where promotions are valid, and immediately remove them when they have expired.

Tip: You may also want to provide "appetizers," such as free downloads and contests to win free products. Appetizers induce people to visit your site and whet their desire to buy products. Be sure to link to shopping pages from the appetizers. For instance, a page where users register to enter a contest should link to the product that the winner will receive, to that category of products, and to the store front.

Facilitate cross-selling and up-selling without annoying or distracting users

Use cross-selling and up-selling techniques to provide customers easy access to products they may want or need. Cross-selling consists of displaying or linking to products related to the one(s) the user is currently viewing. Up-selling consists of displaying or linking to a more expensive alternative to the one the customer has chosen.