http://cx-i.com/ Copyright Mike Baxter 2005 Mon, 11 Apr 2005 12:15:00 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss The value of keyword search for e-commerce sites has taken a bit of a battering over the past few months! The latest research suggests it is used as a last resort when browsing fails, it makes customers less likely to find what they are looking for, and even if the perfect search engine could be developed, customers still wouldn't want to use it . But just as the nails are poised over its coffin lid, search may just be about to stage a spectacular recovery ... http://cx-i.com/online_retail/RedemptionOfSearch.aspx http://cx-i.com/online_retail/RedemptionOfSearch.aspx online retail Wed, 22 June 2005 11:55:00 GMT E-commerce is still going through rapid and quite fundamental changes, which makes the work of e-commerce managers an interesting challenge! How do you make sure you've spotted all the emerging technologies, the novel design features and the innovative mechandising ideas? How do you filter all these new ideas and decide which ones to investigate further for possible incorporation into your own site? This article focuses on three issues that e-commerce managers need to consider over the forthcoming year - AJAX, Faceted navigation and Split-testing. They all have the potential to deliver substantial competitive advantage, they are all strategic investments - none can be deployed as a tactical bolt-on at a moment's notice and, unusually for innovations in e-commerce, they are all based on well-established principles and tried-and-tested technologies ... http://cx-i.com/online_retail/On_the_Horizon_for_Ecommerce.aspx http://cx-i.com/online_retail/On_the_Horizon_for_Ecommerce.aspx online retail Mon, 17 May 2005 22:55:00 GMT A basic requirement of any e-commerce site is to enable customers to find whatever product they're looking for, quickly and effortlessly. However, we found at least one confusion zone within the navigation pathways of every one of the 15 leading online retail sites we analysed. These will certainly be damaging sales but may also be damaging the sites' entire online brand image ... http://cx-i.com/online_retail/confuseZones.aspx http://cx-i.com/online_retail/confuseZones.aspx online retail Fri, 22 Apr 2005 20:21:00 GMT Customers trust the Internet to very different extents. According to a survey by TNS-TRUSTe, around half of all customers actively seek out and read privacy policies, a quarter take proactive measures to protect their personal information and just under a quarter take no measures to either find out about or protect their privacy. The extent to which customers need to be reassured on trust issues, therefore, varies considerably but to satisfy most of the people most of the time requires best-practice to be deployed rigorously. www.zoominfo.com gets all of the basic trust requirements wrong and, as such, provides an interesting case study in what we should be looking out for to safeguard transactional trust ... http://cx-i.com/online_retail/noTrust.aspx http://cx-i.com/online_retail/noTrust.aspx online retail Tue, 12 Apr 2005 17:39:00 GMT Online Retail 2004, 0ur benchmarking analysis of the online customer experience showed that there's lots to be done to improve the online retail environment. So we're starting on the research for Online Retail 2005! ... http://cx-i.com/online_retail/or_intro.aspx http://cx-i.com/online_retail/or_intro.aspx online retail Sat, 02 Apr 2005 10:42:00 GMT