Features that make online stores popular with buyers

A good website should be flexible for both desktop and mobile device use. PHOTO | AFP 

By LYNET IGADWAH

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Summary

• Google Kenya country manager Charles Murito says shoppers not only consider how appealing the merchandise on display is but also how fast the site opens.
• Online shopping happens on the go, during a lull in a meeting and even on the lift.
• Make sure that the design and functionality of your website serve even the mobile users.
• If you can afford it, create a mobile version of your website.

So you have decided to become an entrepreneur and chosen the web as your marketplace. No matter what you’re selling — from quail eggs to Indian weaves — you will likely find the market crowded. How do you make sure that customers click on your item and come back again and again?

One of the first things you can do is make sure that customers can actually find you. Invest some time in search engine optimisation if you’re running your own e-shop. But if you are selling products on a third-party site Amazon or Jumia, for instance, being found is a lot about making sure that you describe your products accurately. Once customers find your site, they have short attention spans and web users find little more annoying than a page that takes ages to load.

Google Kenya country manager Charles Murito says shoppers not only consider how appealing the merchandise on display is but also how fast the site opens.

“Most consumers expect your site to load in less than three seconds, with 40 per cent saying they will abandon it if it takes longer than three seconds to load,” he says.

Even the giants are realising the need for speed. US-based multinational retailer Walmart only recently upgraded its website on finding out it was losing customers due to its slow loading. The site that used to take nine seconds to load currently opens within 2.9 seconds after its managers brought down the Javascript. What followed were improvements in sales and revenue.

Mr Murito says the best way to optimise the speed of the site is to rid it of steps or phases the user has to go through to get on the products page. There are tests an online entrepreneur can run on their site to establish its loading speed and make decisions on aspects that need to be changed.

Kenya ranks among the top five most mobile-centric countries in the world, with 75 per cent of the time spent online being on a mobile phone. It is estimated that individuals look at their phones up to 150 times a day.

Online shopping happens on the go, during a lull in a meeting and even on the lift. Make sure that the design and functionality of your website serve even the mobile users. If you can afford it, create a mobile version of your website. If not, avoid features of a desktop site that are not mobile-friendly and opt for something simpler.

Now that you have got web users onto your site, how do you turn them into customers? A key factor is trust. The customers have to trust that you are whom you say you are. You can assuage these concerns by taking simple steps. Tell your company’s story and your own story on the About Us page. Reveal the faces behind your product.

Make sure that your addresses are easy to find and reachable at all times. Respond quickly to all emails and queries.

As for your products, how you present them matters. Take accurate pictures that are nevertheless beautiful. Avoid grainy images and dodgy lighting. But never misrepresent your product.

“You need to be clear and precise about what you’re selling. One of the problems we have is that people see things online and when you deliver it’s a completely different product,” says Kennedy Kachwanya, chairman of Bloggers Association of Kenya.

A mistake that online vendors sometimes make is keeping on their website items that have gone out of stock and cannot be delivered quickly. In a market like Kenya, vendors also grapple with the lack of infrastructure. Mr Kachwanya recommends building relationships with local businesses that can act as delivery centres for small online vendors. “You can make a deal with a local supermarket or some other type of business where you’re saying that people in that area can come there to pick up their products,” he says.

You may sell a product the first time by misrepresenting it but once buyers discover that your Indian weaves are fake, you will harm return business and potential word of mouth referrals.