Net Sieve

10. Provide a good, clean shopping cart

With all of the purchasing software available for you to use on your Web site, there is no excuse for using software that requires a customer to fill out a form before allowing them to create a shopping cart or to put items into it.

Forcing a commitment from your visitor before they’ve had a chance to browse will likely kill sales. Don’t make the mistake of creating a user-friendly site only to alienate visitors at this crucial point. Buyers will have to give you their personal and financial information at the point of sale anyway. Don’t put obstacles between your customer, the shopping cart and your products.

11. Confirmation, please

Good customer service, and good online marketing practice, requires that you send customers a confirmation page the moment an order has been processed.

If a customer has to give you a call to make sure you got their order, they might as well have called in the first place. Use Internet technology and advances wisely – it can give you level of outstanding customer service that has never before been possible. And isn’t that why you’re on the Internet in the first place?

This is great – I just unearthed an article I wrote back in ’99. It was a 12-step guide to Web start-uppers and I can’t believe how appropriate so much of it still is. I mean, this was the day we thought broadband was some kind of wide belt. Whatever. In our countdown to the top here’s tip No. 12:

Spam-free follow-up

The best way to ensure future sales is to follow up on previous sales. Creating a lasting relationship with online customers is a snap – and it doesn’t take spam.

Send a warm, sincere thank-you note after the sale, preferably within 48 hours. Contact customers within a month or so, just to make sure they are completely satisfied with your product. Let them know you’re waiting to answer any questions they might have. Another month or so later, suggest that you have additional products that might interest them, basing your pressure-free pitch on products that tie into those the customer previously purchased.

Continue this friendly form of contact for as long as the customer feels comfortable with it. If you get even a single request to stop sending email – STOP! Your customers will respect you, remember you and refer you to friends if you follow this suggestion.