E-commerce website optimization. Reviewed

By @SimonCocking. E-Commerce Website Optimization by Dan Croxen-John and Johann van Tonder is out now, published by Kogan Page, priced £19.99. For more information see www.awa-digital.com or order your copy from Kogan Page or Amazon here.

For those running e-commerce websites there are three ways to increase sales: increasing the quantity of visitors; increasing the percentage of visitors who buy from the site; and increasing the amount that visitors spend when they buy. E-commerce Website Optimization goes beyond simply increasing traffic, helping readers to improve conversion rates, increase ROI from online marketing campaigns, and generate higher levels of repeat business. It brings together usability, analytics and persuasion to offer a straightforward and detailed 5-step methodology of how to use the tools and techniques of Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) to increase the e-commerce value of websites.

This book is all about the data. Avinash Kaushik’s mantra “no segments, no insights, no job” is never far from their thoughts. Later on (p109) they also stress the importance of not using RATS (random acts of testing) as they are felt to be less than worthless. Far better to systematically test what you are doing, bit by bit, potentially one element at a time, so you can actually conclude which aspect is significant or just background noise. Warren Buffet’s quote (p134) reinforces why you are doing this “some you win, some you learn”, and then the need to optimise your optimisations (175).

This might seem excessively data focused, but if you’re not doing it, then your competitors probably are, and, much as we all love to work (?) it does make sense that if a few tweaks can bring in much, much more revenue, for the same amount of work as before (just better applied) then why not optimise your website, increase your revenue and then have the time and money to spend it on what you’d really like to do.

We’d recommend this book, and if you’re not completely convinced here is an insight from the interesting article one of the co-authors Johann van Tonder recently contributed to Irish Tech News …

1. Online sales are migrating to mobile

If recent figures are anything to go by, the sand is shifting. Mobile looks set to eclipse desktop performance once again, this time where it really matters – revenue. In December 2016, sales via smartphones were up 47% on the previous year, according to the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.[1] Brands like Shop Direct, Asos and Schuh reached the tipping point last year, reporting that mobile now accounts for 50% of their online sales.[2]

What’s driving this? Perhaps demographics play a role; perhaps consumers are simply becoming more comfortable with m-shopping as time goes by. No doubt it’s also made easier by the fact that the mobile experience itself is improving overall. Of course, mobile websites and infrastructure are constantly getting better. In fact, IMRG researchers highlighted the introduction of larger screen phones, notably the iPhone 7 and Samsung Galaxy 7, as a contributing factor to the upswing in m-commerce.

Mobile first – why your mobile site is critical for e-commerce success

If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at Simon@IrishTechNews.ie or on Twitter: @SimonCocking