3.2.1 Ecommerce Entry Path

.3.2.1 Ecommerce Entry Path

.3.2.1.1 Discussion of two paths

The company's order entry process is discussed below under the Order Manager Path. You may jump there directly if you wish. Both the ecommerce entry and the Order Manager entry methods are discussed in this section to the point where the order entry is finished and Order Approval is needed before proceeding.

It is valuable for you to be familiar with the ecommerce order entry process so that when a customer writes or calls in with a problem from that process you can be understanding and helpful.

Remember that an order can be canceled anytime up to the final confirmation point! Encourage your staff, especially your customer service people, to walk through an on-line order. They should try to see what happens when clicking on links or following paths that they wouldn't ordinarily follow, just to see what happens! Then, when a customer describes their situation, you can relate to what they are seeing on their screen.

.3.2.1.2 First Screen after Login

.3.2.1.3 Customer-centered sections

.3.2.1.3.1 Language
If your site is available in more than one language, this user-friendly feature should be very much appreciated.

.3.2.1.3.2 Mini-Poll Poll
You can do surveys with your customers here.

.3.2.1.3.3 Did you know?
Marketing facts, comparisons, plugs, promos, whatever, can be introduced here in a low-key setting.

.3.2.1.3.4 Browse Forums
Links to forums, boards, or other websites are gathered here.

.3.2.1.3.5 Special Offers
Discounts and special promotions are presented here to reward the customer for purchases she has made and to encourage additional purchases. He can click on the link [View All Promotions] to see even more offers than what are presented here.

.3.2.1.4 Ordering Process

.3.2.1.4.1 chooseCatalog

.3.2.1.4.2 Choose Catalog
Your customer might be ordering from your Spring catalog, your Outdoor Specials catalog, or whatever electronic Catalog he may have come across online or through email. Establish or confirm the Catalog here so that details (including prices!) reflect the Catalog he has seen.

You might need additional login programming to arrive at the correct catalog if the customer is referred here through internet solicitation and linkage; asking the customer to specify the catalog he saw in the ad is not always productive.

The catalog specified here will govern what products, special offers, discounts, and other details of the marketing process are presented in this screen and for the order itself. All of your marketing efforts must be coordinated with the presentation now seen by the customer. Your default catalog needs to be broad enough to cover all the instances where a customer's choices or the login protocol bring him to the default.

.3.2.1.4.3 Find Product
Opportunities to select and order product abound on this screen. The customer can follow whichever path attracts his interest or matches his needs. Those sections of the screen are each discussed below, not necessarily in order of appearance.

.3.2.1.4.3.1 Featured Products
The center of the screen is a list of all or most of the products under the heading of Featured Products. These can include a photo, description, price, promotional information, discounts, links to the catalog page, link from Virtual products to their variations, place to specify quantity being ordered and the most important link: [Add To Cart]. If more than one page of products is needed, scrolling links are given.

This section of the page is replaced by other functions when in use, such as search engines, category lists, etc. The customer can always return to this portion of the screen by clicking on the Main link on the upper Menu bar.

.3.2.1.4.3.1.1 Additional information
Clicking on the product name either here or anywhere in the screen will bring up the product detail screen as shown below.

.3.2.1.4.3.1.2 Click product name for details

.3.2.1.4.3.2 Last Products

.3.2.1.4.3.3 Quick Reorder

.3.2.1.4.3.3.1 Why offer re-orders?
Previously ordered items are displayed here. Studies have indicated that repeat customers are like gold. By presenting them with reminders of their previous purchases, you are both flattering them and providing an opportunity for another purchase of the same items.

This section also saves the customer from having to lookup the items she previously ordered. All are presented here.

Doesn't this make the Shopping List concept unneccessary? Not really, because the Shopping Lists can carry 'Wish Lists' as well as previously ordered items. Also, Shopping Lists can be plugged into the order 'en masse' rather than item by item. There could be dozens of different Lists, each tailor-designed for a specfic purpose.

For regular, heavy-hitter customers, you might want to limit the list of previously-ordered items to only the most recent 10 or so.

.3.2.1.4.3.3.2 quickReorder

.3.2.1.4.3.4 Browse Categories
Categories are collections of related items. If the customer is looking for Books, for example, this would quickly get him to that portion of the inventory with presentations of Book titles or sub-catgories from which to choose.

Another way to consider this section: whereas the initial screen might show all the products (with scrolling), the Category selection will eliminate all products displayed except those in the Category he has chosen.

.3.2.1.4.3.5 Search in Category

.3.2.1.4.3.5.1 How it works
When the [Search In Category] link is selected, a simple but powerful search tool opens in the center screen. By making a few choices and entering a keyword or two, the customer can look for products that exist in the Featured Products category. That tool is shown below.

After a successful find, the customer is presented with the second screen shown below, titled productFound. Here she has a couple of choices. If the returns are too extensive, she could refine the search. If she sees what she wants, a quick click on [Add To Cart] will select the product in whatever quantity she enters.

.3.2.1.4.3.5.2 searchInCategory

.3.2.1.4.3.5.3 productFound

.3.2.1.4.3.6 Last Categories
As the Customer browses around the screen, looking into various products, categories, or other content, this section is constantly updated with links back to previously-viewed screens. Therefore, he will be able to quickly return to something that has stayed in his memory.

.3.2.1.4.3.7 Browse Content
Brings up a powerful tool for searching Content which could be documents, case studies, test results, testimonials, additional graphics, specifications, or whatever Content you choose to have accessible to the customer.

.3.2.1.4.3.8 Search Catalog

.3.2.1.4.3.8.1 How it works
Customers will use this to search the catalog by keywords, such as the name of the product or one of its features. You can help their search by keeping the Thesaurus updated.

.3.2.1.4.3.8.2 searchCatalog

.3.2.1.5 Walk through an order

Let's assume that our phantom customer, Sherry Shopper, has logged in, selected the Demo Catalog, and is ready to order. We will now follow her through the ordering process.

.3.2.1.5.1 Sherry selects her products
Clicking on items displayed or searching through and then selecting from the catalog, Sherry's items are added to her shopping cart. Only the Cart Summary reflects these choices at this time.

.3.2.1.5.1.1 Selecting from previous orders

.3.2.1.5.1.1.1 First, a click on the Order History link

.3.2.1.5.1.1.2 Then select a previous order

.3.2.1.5.1.1.3 She selects the item(s) wanted
By checking on the item she wants to re-order, then clicking on [Add Checked to Cart], the item (in the same quantity as before) is added to her shopping cart. The screen will not clear out the earlier order, however, until she selects another process for finding her items. This gives her time to consider possibly re-ordering another item from the same list.

.3.2.1.5.1.2 Power shoppers use Quick Add

.3.2.1.5.1.2.1 Quick Add screen

.3.2.1.5.1.2.2 Choices from Quick Add
Now Sherry can select from the drop-down screen to find a different Quick Add screen, she can add all of the items on this screen, or she can do what she wants - she elects to click on the link to the Giant Widget, bringing up the next screen.

.3.2.1.5.1.2.3 Choices among the variants

.3.2.1.5.1.3 Final Choices
For her last two items, Sherry chose a His/Her Gizmo (GZ-9290) from the list of Quick Reorder items in the left-hand panel. Note how each time an item is selected, the display of that item is removed from the panel. Finally, on impulse, she added a Round Gizmo from the items listed under 'You might be interested in these as well:' You can see all these purchases now reflected in the Cart Summary.

.3.2.1.5.2 Cart Summary reflects selections

.3.2.1.5.3 View Cart

.3.2.1.5.4 Shopping Cart discussion
First, note how even at this point of viewing the cart, there is an option to quick add another product! From here, the customer can recalculate her cart or continue shopping (which returns her to the previous screen), or proceed with Checkout.

Second, there are various promotional messages around this screen to encourage further shopping.

Finally, many primary links are available. Notice that the shopper can go into her Profile, she can view established Shopping Lists that she might have created before, she can look at her own Shopping History, etc.

.3.2.1.6 Proceed to Checkout

.3.2.1.6.1 Confirm the shipping address

.3.2.1.6.2 Shipping address and details

.3.2.1.6.3 Payment particulars

.3.2.1.6.4 Review the Order to Checkout

.3.2.1.6.5 Submit the order

.3.2.1.7 Some comments on the process

The process is or should be as intuitive as possible so the customer is not frustrated or confused. Note the many links provided for shopping, searching for products, finding promotions, and so forth. You might want to add a link to a Customer Service bot where on-line help could answer their immediate questions. The final screen even shows a large [Continue Shopping] link, but the [logout] link is rather inconspicuous.

Also not discussed yet are the links to [Requests] and [Quotes]. Mechanisms are in place to let the customer go from the ecommerce screen to check on a Request or to view a Quote using links on the top menu bar.

.3.2.1.8 Final discussion of the Ecommerce Path

What we show here is the generic look and feel of an on-line ordering system. The applications are there for you to make this reflect your image while maintaining the underlying tools. You do not need to use all of the marketing or redundant convenience processes shown, but it is good to practice running through this system as a shopper to understand how the customer will interface with your store. Let your customer be treated as you would like to be when you shop online.