The Best Damn Web Marketing Checklist for Shopping Checkout Processes

by Stoney deGeyter

This is a continuation of a series of website marketing checklists. Check out all Web Marketing Checklists in this series.

What this is about: This list covers items regarding the actual checkout process of the shopping experience, after products are added and the visitor moves to complete the purchase of the items in the cart.

Why this is important: If visitors only add products to the cart but abandon the cart or get confused in the checkout process conversions will be low as will profit. The more proper cues you can provide that give the shopper confidence and assurances about their purchase, the less likely they will be to dump the cart or lose interest before closing he deal.

What to look for:

• No hidden fees: Don’t use the checkout process to add additional hidden fees. All fees should be spelled out in the basket page.
• No pre-registration: Don’t require shoppers to register before purchasing. Let them fill out the form and then add a password at the end of the process.
• Keep checkout process short: The fewer steps the shopper has to take to purchase the less likely they will be to abandon the shopping process.
• Show benefits of registration: At end of process, show benefits to being a registered customer:

  • Faster checkout in future: They won’t have to fill out all the information each time they order.
  • Access to order history: Shoppers have access to complete order history at any time.
  • Check order status: Status of order is available anytime shoppers login.
  • Saved for later information: They can buy some products now and save others for purchase another time.
  • Access to special promotions: Shoppers will be provided special offers and discounts that they can benefit from.
  • Personalization: They will have a more personalized shopping experience based on their order history.
  • Joining a community: If fitting, point out the community that user will join once registering.

• Show checkout progress meter: When checking out requires multiple steps, make sure the number of steps is mapped out throughout the process, identifying each current step along the way.
• Effective after-order follow-up: The order is not the end, be sure to provide sufficient after-order follow-up to keep involved with the purchaser.
• Receipt / Confirmation: Provide a order confirmation receipt allowing the shopper to review the order, pricing and products purchased.

  • Printable: Receipt should be web-based and printable for easy record keeping.
  • Emailed: Email a copy of the receipt to the shopper.
  • Thank you message: Provide a strong message of thanks for the shopper. Providing additional information about customer satisfaction is a good idea.
  • Order number: Receipt should have the order number for easy follow up reference.
  • Order date: Provide the date the order was placed with the confirmation.
  • Items purchased: List all items purchased including descriptions and links.
  • Expected delivery date: If order cannot ship right away, provide a date in which shipment can be expected to go out.
  • Payment method: Note method of payment, including credit card type and last numbers of credit card if applicable.
  • Cancellation policy: Provide information or links to order cancellation policies.
  • How to cancel: Provide additional information on the steps necessary to cancel the order if necessary (different from policies).
  • Return policy: Provide information or links to order return policies. This should also include a return address.
  • Address return costs: Be sure to address all concerns regarding the costs of returns as applicable.
  • After-sale guarantees: Provide information on your customer satisfaction guarantees as well as any warranties provided.

Did I miss anything? Add to this list with your comments below.

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Tennessee Legislator’s Son Linked To Palin Hack

September 19 – Blogs, message boards show link.

Tennessee State Rep. Mike Kernell told the Tennessean that his
son, David Kernell, is involved in the speculation about the
identity of the hacker who gained access to vice presidential
nominee Sarah Palin’s Yahoo! Email account.

Rep. Kernell’s announcement comes after rumors about David
Kernell’s speculated involvement in the Palin email hack
case. These rumors center around the fact that David’s
online activities, including postings in blogs and forums link
him to the rubico10 at yahoo dot com address used by the hacker. These
links were uncovered through Internet searches.

The email hack is currently under investigation by both the FBI
and Secret Service, but neither agency has made any public
suspect or arrest announcements.

Sarah Palin’s Email Account Reportedly Targeted By Hackers

Group responsible for Church of Scientology hack earlier this year claiming responsibility

September 18, 2008—Sources report that a group of hackers calling themselves “Anonymous” announced recently that they have hacked into Gov. and Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s Yahoo! email account. 

Files posted for download included five screenshots, an address book, and two digital family photos.  One of these screenshots shows Palin and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnel, while another displays text of a message to Gov. Palin from Amy McCorkell, whom Palin appointed to Governor’s Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse in October of 2007.

Security expert Adam O’Donnell told ComputerWorld.com that for public figures like Palin to use private email accounts was “incredibly dangerous.”

“There’s a reason why you have an official account. It’s so you can apply proper security management to the account.” O’Donnell added.

Palin has been criticized recently for her use of private email accounts to conduct state business.

Potentially Violent Videos Banned From YouTube

September 16, 2008

At what Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn). is calling his request, YouTube Inc. has updated its acceptable content guidelines to effectively ban videos with the potential to incite violence.

The video uploading and social media site had previously turned down a request from chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental affairs to remove videos produced and sponsored by terrorists which showed assassinations, deaths of US soldiers, and other violent acts.

The new guidelines, which state that “predatory behavior, stalking, threats, harassment, intimidation, invading privacy, revealing other people’s personal information, and inciting others to commit violent acts or to violate the terms of use are taken very seriously.”

Sen. Lieberman is also asking Google, Inc, the parent company of YouTube, to remove all videos that have been created by terrorist organizations, whether they violate the guidelines or not.

While some are in favor of the new guidelines, others believe that they infringe on the right to free speech, and that Internet-based sites should be free of governmental intervention.  Some people, like CEO of IT research firm Techdirt Inc, Mike Masnick, question the lasting effectiveness of banning terrorist produced videos from being posted to YouTube.

“Those videos will quickly pop back up on other sites that won’t take them down,” Masnick told ComputerWorld.com in an interview this week. “Second, most of those videos are preaching to the choir. It’s highly unlikely that very many people are being recruited by terrorists’ causes by a grainy video on YouTube.”

Failure to adhere to the new video submission guidelines could result in a permanent banning from YouTube.

Large Hadron Collider Website Hacked – Group known as GST claiming responsibility

Two days before the first Large Hadron Collider experiment, one of the websites dedicated to the controversial project was defaced by hackers who identified themselves as the GST, or Greek Security Team.

The U.K. newspaper, The Telegraph, reported today that  the hackers temporarily replaced a message on one of the European Organization for Nuclear Research’s or CERN sites with a message reading “We are 2600—don’t mess with us.”

James Gilles, a spokesperson for CERN told the Telegraph that the project’s network was not permanently damaged.

“It was defacement, and that’s all it was,” said Gilles. “It was benign, but it reminds us that we need to be vigilant.”

The site has since been brought back up but is now available only to CERN users.

Mobile Social Networking Poised For Prominence

Mobile social networking services sites, services on the rise.

Its official: social networking sites aren’t just for computers anymore.  Many major companies have made announcements in the past week that they are now or will soon be offering mobile social networking services.

One such company, Visto, unveiled a new service called Visto Mobile 6 which allows you to constantly check popular social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, and others from your mobile phone to find out if any of your social networking friends have updated or changed their pages.

AT&T and Verizon have also announced new services. AT&T’s My Communites is a $2.99 per month service and Verizon’s SocialLife for $1.49 are both based on the Intercasting Corp Anthem social networking platform.  Yahoo has also developed a version of its oneConnect service that will allow people to monitor social networks using their Iphone or regular mobile phone.

So what’s next for social networking? If these new apps and services become as popular as most people predict they will, social networking may become the most valuable technology-based business communication method since email.  If so, look for every CEO of every major corporation to have a MySpace in the very near future. 

Internet Rumors Lead To Death Threats For MIT Physicist

Nobel laureate professor plans to continue experiments as planned

September 10, 2008— Amidst the excitement, growing controversy and increasing Internet rumors of imminent doom surrounding the Large Hadron Collider, Frank Wilczek, MIT professor and Nobel laureate has found himself the recipient of several death threats for his involvement in the experiments.

Today, the Large Hadron Collider performed the world’s biggest physics experiment, one that scientists hope will help to explain how our universe was created, and one that some believe could create a black hole with the potential to destroy the Earth and the entire galaxy.  

Some people are taking the rumors of the halt of existence in stride, hosting “end of the world parties” and wearing t-shirts with sayings like “Hey, baby, mind if I collapse my atoms into yours?” Others, however, aren’t laughing. A lawsuit filed in March of 2008 by Spanish science writer Luis Sancho and former nuclear safety officer Walter Wagner, called for further tests and research before any experiments were performed, sparking the first wave of doomsday rumors. 

The European Organization for Nuclear Research CERN, released a statement last week that the rumors, lawsuits, and fears are “unfounded,” and according to CERN Director Robert Aymar, any danger is “pure fiction.” 

“The doomsayers just don’t understand,” Bolek Wyslouch, a professor of physics at MIT said in an interview earlier today. “We live in a world where media, television, and movies make claims, and I’m sure people are confused between reality and fiction and may go to extremes. You don’t usually hear so much in the media about the possibility of destroying the earth. It’s ridiculous.” 

Jen Hirsch, spokeswoman for MIT told the press that both MIT campus and Cambridge, Mass police are aware of the threats and added that although Wilczek was part of the LHC advisory committee for six years, he is no longer associated with the project. 

Google-Yahoo Search Advertising Deal Met With Protest From Major Advertisers

September 9, 2008 – search marketing news pick for the day:

A proposed search advertising deal between search engine giants Google and Yahoo has prompted some major national advertisers, including Wal-Mart, Pepsi, Ford, and Sara Lee to send a letter of protest to the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to ComputerWorld.com, the Association of National Advertisers—the group responsible for representing the corporations involved, the letter, sent to Assistant General Thomas Barnett is a result of a “comprehensive independent analysis of the deal, which under Yahoo Inc. would run advertising from Google Inc. alongside its search results.”

“A Google-Yahoo partnership will control 90% of search advertising inventory,” said ANA President and CEO Bob Liodice in a recent post on the ANA website.

 When asked for comment, Google’s senior manager of global communication and public affairs, Adam Kovacevich  released the following statement: “Numerous advertisers have recognized that this agreement will help them better match their ads to user’s interests, and that ad prices will continue to be set by competitive auction.”

The Justice Department is currently reviewing the proposed four-year deal, which would generate an estimated $250 to $50 million in operating cash flow during the first year and up to $800 million during subsequent years.