Know-How Exchange : Customer Behavior

Make sure it works!!

Another huge factor that causes people to run away at checkout is shipping costs and/or requirements to join a newsletter or something.

Might want to check on these issues. Look at the page where people are leaving. Is it the shipping page? Does it even work? Etc..

I hope this helps.

Szetela,

my bruthers Jett and Randall, make very good comments on what part of the problem is. According to a mentor friend of mine who needs no additional publicity here part of the problems are listed below.

FAILURE TO BONUS OVERLOAD:
Too many companies fail to
offer more than enough additional bonus benefits that make it almost foolproof to close the deal at the point of purchase. These additional bonus items work on you subconsciously and even on a conscious level. The "Bonus Overload" concept is so obviously in your favor that it provokes the purchaser by causing them to feel regret if they fail to make the purchase. If they are bold enough to walk away from this kind of offer they leave with their subconscious mind loudly shouting or (whispering) You were stupid for walking away from that...they offered you more value than the product cost.

I have plenty of other fail proof reasons & if you would like to know more or would like for me to look at your offer I'll be glad to assist you (just click) on my name...(no don't waste your time I'm sure I don't know enough to help you...I'm just an over zealous guy who reads a lot of books and I've been locked to my computer). Is there anything else I can do for you?

Your Servant, Deremiah, *CPE (Customer Passion Evangelist)

Does the site have a "save this cart" feature? Maybe visitors are abandoning because they aren't 100% ready to buy, but they might return later.

Have you done any serious price comparisons on the web? It's so easy for a consumer to open a few browser windows to find better deals, and if your client's products aren't competitive then no one will finish the transaction.

- Shelley

Szetala

Please take a seat.

There seems to be an enormous number of screens to get through to finalise a purchase. Also you start trying to collect information from a prospect without first earning trust. I can buy books from Amazon with one click, with your site I lost count.

Why do you need an e-mail address to assess someone's current situation/diet etc? Give them the info without asking anything in return and let them know if they seem like they could benefit from the products...

Earn the trust first, give something away (info) and maybe they'll start to think you are a good company to deal with.

For me, there's far too much on your home page and the format seems wrong. It fills half my screen width but goes two-and-a-half screens deep. Break up the info and restructure it.

BTW from the home page I struggle t understand what you do, what the core offer is: Are you a membership club, a gym, or a health-food store specialising in diets?

PLUS... (oh boy, I'm getting on a roll here) WHY ARE YOU USING THE DIET WORD???

Haven't you heard - DIETS DON"T WORK and Dr Phil is telling 50 million people that piece of news every day. Because "everyone knows", you need to find a new way to talk about getting slim or achieving a healthier body shape, lower body fat content, muscle mass, whatever.

Maybe it's about lifestyle rather than diet - but you're the expert.

I hope you take the above constructively. I'm off to the gym now, have a great day!

ChrisB

I have not reviewed your site. It looks like others have, and they've offered some constructive criticism.

My question is "How do you know that your abandon rate is high?" Do you know what the norms are for shopping cart sites? It seems to me that the rate overall is probably pretty high -- unless you are Amazon.com -- so maybe that just comes with the territory. A lot of people "window shop" by putting stuff in the cart with no intention of buying.

I don't have any statistics on this, of course. I'm only suggesting that perhaps you're reacting to a phenomenon that isn't that unusual. It can never hurt to improve the completion rate, of course, and you have suggestions for doing that. Just don't over-react.

BTW, if you haven't read Seth Godin's book, "The Big Red Fez," you might want to do that. It's an easy read, and it offers a very good perspective on website design, shopping cart use, etc.