The Best Web Marketing Checklist for Shopping Basket Pages

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The Best Web Marketing Checklist for Shopping Basket Pages

Article Written By: Stoney deGeyter

What this is about: This checklist covers items pertaining to the actual shopping basket page where products are accumulated before the shopper checks out and finalizes their purchase.

Why this is important: Visitors place items in their online shopping basket for many reasons, one of which is with the intent to buy. But they don't always complete the purchase, often abandoning the cart with products left in it. Being able to close holes in the checkout process can increase conversion rates, getting more sales and higher return on investment.

What to look for:


* Make new products added obvious: When a new product is added to the cart, make sure it's obvious. Don't bury the new product at the end of the list, instead, place it at the front.

* Obvious checkout link: Once the visitor hits this page they need to be driven toward the purchase. Don't hide the checkout link on the page.

* Product descriptions: Provide a recap of the products they have in the basket, including short descriptions of each.

* Product image: Include an image of each product they have added to the basket.

* Show availability: If availability is in question, make sure the visitor knows this when they are reviewing their order.

* Updatable quantities: Shoppers should be able to increase or decrease quantity of each individual product.

* Ability to remove items: Be sure that products are easy to remove from the basket should the shopper change their mind about any single item.

* Link to products: Link each product back to it's product page to allow shoppers to revisit the details of the product easily.

* Product price: Price for each product should be clearly displayed, along with totals if multiple quantities are added.

* Payment options: Provide a list of your payment options for the shopper.

* Promos/vouchers explained: If you offer any promos or discount vouchers, be sure to explain this, allowing the proper information to be entered.

* Link to security: Link to pages outlining information security policies.

* Link to guarantees: Provide a link to any warranty or guarantee information as it pertains to each product.

* Show delivery costs: Provide delivery cost estimations with various delivery options.

* Show delivery date: Allow visitors to see expected delivery date for each item or entire shipment.

* Allow gift options: Where applicable, allow option for products to be presented as gifts to someone other than the purchaser.

* "Continue shopping" link or options: Provide a link to allow the visitor to continue shopping if they are not ready to checkout.

* Show contact information: Provide contact information on basket page allowing shoppers to ask questions about any products they still may be hesitant about.

* No advertising/upselling: Don't use the basket page for additional advertising or upselling. Securing the sale of the already-added products is most important.

* Don't keep personal info w/o authorization: Before storing personal information such as credit card data, be sure shopper approves of that information being stored.

* Shipping questions answered: Do your best to provide, or to link to, answers regarding shipping and delivery questions.

* International shipping: Let shoppers know if you do or do not ship internationally.

* International address forms: If you do ship internationally, make sure your address forms can accommodate the unique addressing requirements of other countries.

Mini-Baskets

What this is about: This list covers a few items regarding mini-baskets. These are the portions of the page that show real-time updates to the information added to the shoppers cart.

Why this is important: Since mini-baskets are ever-present through the shopping experience, the information here can be vital to the visitor, helping them keep track of items, total costs and links back to products already added.

What to look for:


* Make new products added obvious: When a new product is added to cart, the mini-basket should be updated showing the last item added.

* Link to full basket page: Mini-basket should provide a link to the full basket page providing a quick access to make the purchase.

* Allow removal of products: Allow visitors to remove products from the shopping basket without having to go to the full basket page.

* Show order total: Keep a total of all items added to the cart.


About the Author:
Stoney deGeyter is president of Pole Position Marketing (www.PolePositionMarketing.com), a search engine optimization / marketing firm providing SEO and website marketing services since 1998. Stoney is also a part-time instructor at Truckee Meadows Community College, as well as a moderator in the Small Business Ideas Forum. He is the author of his E-Marketing Performance eBook and contributes daily to the E-Marketing Performance (www.eMarketingPerformance.com) marketing blog.