Shopping|Makes Shopping Fun
Recommended: Power4Home
Feb
17
Filed Under (Fashion) by shopping
Online Shopping asked:
In the past, internet shopping was just a thing of science fiction. Shopping would usually mean strolling around for hours in shopping malls that seemed to never have exactly what you are looking for. If you wanted to shop at home, you would need to go through the thick mailed catalogs to locate the items you need.
Presently, everything that you need to do from communicating to banking can be conveniently and effortlessly done on your own computer at home. Shopping online has also become the best and easiest way to buy the rare and the not so rare merchandise.
However, for most people who are not yet very knowledgeable about the concept of online shopping and ecommerce, the use of credit cards for internet transactions could be a bit scary.
From the early days of the internet, a lot of companies offering online shopping have made great developments to make sure that they are able to maintain the excellent availability of their merchandise, proper shipping along with secure and convenient payment transactions.
Of course, online shoppers still need to be very vigilant and cautious particularly in giving out their personal details. With the right knowledge though, online shopping would prove to be more beneficial for modern consumers compared to conventional shopping.
As an online consumer, you would need to look for websites that offer comprehensive knowledge on setting up PayPal and Google checkout accounts, which would allow the storage of credit card information with a company that can then be used for future transactions with the other companies. There are also a lot of websites that teach consumers on making purchases on eBay and Amazon, as well as comparing prices and items on websites like PriceGrabber, BizRate and MSN Shopping.
DEANDRE
In the past, internet shopping was just a thing of science fiction. Shopping would usually mean strolling around for hours in shopping malls that seemed to never have exactly what you are looking for. If you wanted to shop at home, you would need to go through the thick mailed catalogs to locate the items you need.
Presently, everything that you need to do from communicating to banking can be conveniently and effortlessly done on your own computer at home. Shopping online has also become the best and easiest way to buy the rare and the not so rare merchandise.
However, for most people who are not yet very knowledgeable about the concept of online shopping and ecommerce, the use of credit cards for internet transactions could be a bit scary.
From the early days of the internet, a lot of companies offering online shopping have made great developments to make sure that they are able to maintain the excellent availability of their merchandise, proper shipping along with secure and convenient payment transactions.
Of course, online shoppers still need to be very vigilant and cautious particularly in giving out their personal details. With the right knowledge though, online shopping would prove to be more beneficial for modern consumers compared to conventional shopping.
As an online consumer, you would need to look for websites that offer comprehensive knowledge on setting up PayPal and Google checkout accounts, which would allow the storage of credit card information with a company that can then be used for future transactions with the other companies. There are also a lot of websites that teach consumers on making purchases on eBay and Amazon, as well as comparing prices and items on websites like PriceGrabber, BizRate and MSN Shopping.
DEANDRE
Feb
13
Filed Under (Toddler & Preschooler) by shopping
rainwriterm asked:
My 16 month old has recently started to climb out of shopping carts. He won’t sit in the seat of shopping carts anymore and insists on sitting inside of the cart where all of the good stuff is, even if there’s nothing there. Even sitting inside the actual cart, he won’t stay sitting and wants to stand up. How do you suggest I deal with this and how do I get him to actually sit where he’s supposed to in the cart?
ERNESTO
My 16 month old has recently started to climb out of shopping carts. He won’t sit in the seat of shopping carts anymore and insists on sitting inside of the cart where all of the good stuff is, even if there’s nothing there. Even sitting inside the actual cart, he won’t stay sitting and wants to stand up. How do you suggest I deal with this and how do I get him to actually sit where he’s supposed to in the cart?
ERNESTO
Feb
12
Filed Under (Sports And Fitness) by shopping
David H. Urmann asked:
Body Shops offer health and beauty products one needs in order to stay healthy and gorgeous. Also, Bath & Body Works and The Body Shop Int’l are two popular body shops in the US.
The past ten years gave rise to the growth and popularity of the bath and body shops industry in the United States. Body shops have grown in demand as more and more men and women put importance in their body’s well being and beauty, particularly the skin.
Body shops are popular because they present a generous array of beauty and body enhancing products from lotions, body moisturizers, to bath oils, soaps, to make-ups and concealers. Lotions flavored with various natural ingredients such as mint are one of body shops’ major offers. Mint lotions are ideal for your feet and hands which are the most prone to dryness than other body parts. As for cosmetics, you can choose from organic and Vitamin E or C based lipsticks and make-ups.
Body shops also provide tons of perfumed sweet indulgences that consist of shower gels, shampoos, perfumes and aromatic candles that can turn the simple daily rituals into a treat. You can also find a whole line of spa and aromatherapy products as well as other beauty tools and accessories (pumice, loofas and sponges). Apparels, jewelries and gift items are found in several body shops thus making them one-stop store indeed. You will no longer have to visit the saloon more often as you can pamper yourself with these creations while relaxing in your tub or lying on the couch.
Some body shops like Goodebodies sell beauty products made by other cosmetic companies such as those of Burt’s Bees and Revlon. While still others manufacture their own cosmetics like in the case of the well-known The Body Shop International.
The cosmetics of The Body Shop International have become popular because all of the ingredients are of organic extracts and are not tested on any animals. So organic that their shampoo is made of banana extract and their foot lotion is made of peppermint, they may even sound delectable. It’s a preferred shop for people who are into creams and lotions and it has a line of more than 1,200 products that’s animal cruelty-free. For its strict guidelines against animal testing, The Body Shop International plc is the first global aesthetic brand to receive an award from the Humane Cosmetics Standard. The company also has its own fair trade program that makes them to be the only cosmetics firm with enormous steadfastness to doing business fairly. The late Anita Roddick was the founder of The Body Shop and today it has more than 2,100 shops in 55 nations. Outshined by Bath & Body Works, The Body Shop quit manufacturing and shifted to retailing in 2006.
Bath & Body Works, major competitor of The Body Shop, is a subsidiary of Limited Brands, Inc. and was established in Ohio in 1990. The company integrated health and beauty by combining conventional spa and aromatherapy products with botanical ingredients in its personal care creations. Bath & Body Works today has over 1,600 shops all over United States.
Body Shops are synonymous with beauty. And, getting the products you need to stay gorgeous are in one convenient place. So the next time you shop, look for a body shop.
ASA
Body Shops offer health and beauty products one needs in order to stay healthy and gorgeous. Also, Bath & Body Works and The Body Shop Int’l are two popular body shops in the US.
The past ten years gave rise to the growth and popularity of the bath and body shops industry in the United States. Body shops have grown in demand as more and more men and women put importance in their body’s well being and beauty, particularly the skin.
Body shops are popular because they present a generous array of beauty and body enhancing products from lotions, body moisturizers, to bath oils, soaps, to make-ups and concealers. Lotions flavored with various natural ingredients such as mint are one of body shops’ major offers. Mint lotions are ideal for your feet and hands which are the most prone to dryness than other body parts. As for cosmetics, you can choose from organic and Vitamin E or C based lipsticks and make-ups.
Body shops also provide tons of perfumed sweet indulgences that consist of shower gels, shampoos, perfumes and aromatic candles that can turn the simple daily rituals into a treat. You can also find a whole line of spa and aromatherapy products as well as other beauty tools and accessories (pumice, loofas and sponges). Apparels, jewelries and gift items are found in several body shops thus making them one-stop store indeed. You will no longer have to visit the saloon more often as you can pamper yourself with these creations while relaxing in your tub or lying on the couch.
Some body shops like Goodebodies sell beauty products made by other cosmetic companies such as those of Burt’s Bees and Revlon. While still others manufacture their own cosmetics like in the case of the well-known The Body Shop International.
The cosmetics of The Body Shop International have become popular because all of the ingredients are of organic extracts and are not tested on any animals. So organic that their shampoo is made of banana extract and their foot lotion is made of peppermint, they may even sound delectable. It’s a preferred shop for people who are into creams and lotions and it has a line of more than 1,200 products that’s animal cruelty-free. For its strict guidelines against animal testing, The Body Shop International plc is the first global aesthetic brand to receive an award from the Humane Cosmetics Standard. The company also has its own fair trade program that makes them to be the only cosmetics firm with enormous steadfastness to doing business fairly. The late Anita Roddick was the founder of The Body Shop and today it has more than 2,100 shops in 55 nations. Outshined by Bath & Body Works, The Body Shop quit manufacturing and shifted to retailing in 2006.
Bath & Body Works, major competitor of The Body Shop, is a subsidiary of Limited Brands, Inc. and was established in Ohio in 1990. The company integrated health and beauty by combining conventional spa and aromatherapy products with botanical ingredients in its personal care creations. Bath & Body Works today has over 1,600 shops all over United States.
Body Shops are synonymous with beauty. And, getting the products you need to stay gorgeous are in one convenient place. So the next time you shop, look for a body shop.
ASA
Feb
10
Filed Under (Travel) by shopping
Mandy Karlik asked:
Veteran cruisers to the Mexican Riveria will tell you that there is more to recommend Cozumel than just electric blue waters, killer Margaritas, and great snorkeling. It may just be one of the all-time best shopping destinations in the Caribbean. So how can you steer clear of the pirates of the Caribbean (most of whom no longer wear eye patches but instead operate shops catering to tourists) and get a good deal?
Some of the best shopping in Cozumel is within easy walking distance of the port. The cruise ship docks and shoppers can pretty much walk to great shopping in a few minutes. But there are lots of shops and even sidewalk displays. How do you know what’s what?
There are really two main categories of merchandise in Cozumel. The first might be considered in the souvenir category and spans trinkets to very nice quality merchandise with a distinctive Mexican feel. The second category would be luxury products.
If your shopping list includes colorful but inexpensive jewelry, a bottle of tequila, a leather wallet, and some Mexican pottery, there are quite a few shops that will meet your needs. One of the best and easiest to navigate is Cinco Soles (Five Suns) near the port. Here you can find everything from toys to dishes to T-shirts to leather goods along with the ubiquitous tequila and bottles of vanilla (Mexican vanilla is generally of very high quality and reasonably priced). The store personnel speak English and accept credit cards.
A fun shop in Cozumel that is not really Mexican is Del Sol which sells plain-looking T-shirts, tote bags, Frisbees, even nail polish, that change color when exposed to sunlight. Del Sol stores are located at many locations (not just Cozumel) but they’re still fun and the bright sunlight of Mexico shows off the Del Sol treasures to great effect. There’s one near the cruise port.
You may also see small sidewalk displays and other offers for everything from marionettes to dangling earrings. Wending your way through the shopping district of Cozumel can be tough, since merchants will speak to you and attempt to lure you into their shops. You can simply walk on by; merchants will not actually grab you and push you into their stores. If you make eye contact, you will be at a massive disadvantage; the more you respond to them, the more likely they will be to kick up their persuasion a notch to get you into the shop. On the other hand, if you’re out shopping, it can be fun to talk to local merchants and allow them to show off their best wares for you.
There are lots of big and small displays of such goods and if you do not spend very much, it is unlikely you can go too far wrong.
The other end of the Cozumel shopping spectrum involves luxury stores. Believe it or not, there are several outlets of Diamonds International and other high-end jewelry stores in Cozumel. You’ll see them all over as you walk along the waterfront (likely in view of your cruise ship, that’s how close they are).
Specialties at these stores include high-end watches, gold, silver, diamonds, emeralds, tanzanite, Mexican fire opal, and two rare gemstones ammolite and alexandrite. (If you do not know these stones, it can be worth a visit to one of these stores to see them.)
Don’t expect these stores to offer diamond rings for a pittance. But there are reasons why savvy jewelry buyers make the trek to Cozumel to do some special shopping.
First, there is no sales tax in Cozumel. If you stay within your allowance for the amount of merchandise you can bring home without paying duty (which is $800 for a U.S. citizen), you pay only for the merchandise. In the U.S., sales tax is around 8% and it is even higher in Canada and Europe.
Second, many of these top stores have an international presence. You can get customer service once you’re back home.
Third, many cruise lines have developed relationships with some of these stores. This sometimes engenders suspicion, but the relationships are actually beneficial to cruise passengers eager to buy high-end merchandise.
If your cruise ship has a shopping expert or if there is a talk on shopping, by all means participate if you think you’ll be buying products (particularly jewelry) in Cozumel. It is true that the shopping guru onboard will steer you toward certain shops and it is likely that those shops have paid a promotional consideration to the cruise line for that publicity.
But here is why that’s good for passengers. Most cruise lines will not endorse just any store that can pay a fee. Cruises return to the same port over and over again in a season and it would not be good business to recommend shops that were difficult to deal with, charged exorbitant prices, or otherwise were bad news for the customers.
Second, some cruise lines (such as Carnival) will allow you to register your purchases at selected stores while onboard. If you take advantage of this service, the cruise line guarantees the merchandise. That means if your new watch stops once you get home or you find out your gold and tanzanite ring is not authentic, the cruise line backs the merchandise.
Finding out if your cruise line does this and what shops it recommends is a great activity for you to do on your day(s) at sea before hitting Cozumel. Registering purchases with the cruise line should be done on the next sea day because you must register what you buy while still onboard the ship.
Luxury items abound in Cozumel: jewelry, perfume, watches, and even rugs. Rugs from exotic places like Turkey, India, Pakistan and Persia can be purcased in Cozumel (great selection, no sales tax, outstanding service) and shipped to your address back home. The Rug Emporium offers an extensive display, lots of English-speaking help, and free shipping Stateside.
Last but not least, lots of people buy liquor in Cozumel. Tequila and Kahlua are the most popular but by no means the only alcoholic purchases you can make. Liquor can be purchased in Cozumel at the shops or can be bought onboard ship for around the same price (but possibly not with the same selection).
The same is true for perfume. The onboard shops likely offer some fragrance and cosmetic products, but the big perfume shop on Cozumel’s main street by the harbor has a much more extensive collection. If what you like is onboard, you can probably get about the same good deal as you can by buying it in the land shop. However, if you want to see a broader range of products or you want to buy a product that the onboard boutique does not stock, you need to try the land store.
Cigar aficionados will find that Cuban cigars are not only legal in Cozumel (and onboard once the ship is in international waters) but plentiful. If this is a big deal for you, enjoy them in Mexico and on the boat, but don’t bring them back into the U.S.
So what about those famous pirates of the Caribbean? Like any buzzing shopping mecca, Cozumel has its share of merchants who sell shoddy merchandise, counterfeit products, or things they claim to be silver and gold (which are not). If you are not expert enough to know the difference, steer clear of shady looking vendors or shops far off the beaten track. The old adage “if it looks too good to be true, it probably is” holds true for ridiculously priced diamonds or gemstones.
Most cruise lines will warn you to avoid spending big money with dubious vendors. If you want to buy a T-shirt, a kid’s necklace, or some typical souvenir items, go ahead and shop the small stores or street vendors. If you are thinking of spending hundreds or thousands on jewelry, go to a reputable and recommended store. They’re there in Cozumel!
ALAN
Veteran cruisers to the Mexican Riveria will tell you that there is more to recommend Cozumel than just electric blue waters, killer Margaritas, and great snorkeling. It may just be one of the all-time best shopping destinations in the Caribbean. So how can you steer clear of the pirates of the Caribbean (most of whom no longer wear eye patches but instead operate shops catering to tourists) and get a good deal?
Some of the best shopping in Cozumel is within easy walking distance of the port. The cruise ship docks and shoppers can pretty much walk to great shopping in a few minutes. But there are lots of shops and even sidewalk displays. How do you know what’s what?
There are really two main categories of merchandise in Cozumel. The first might be considered in the souvenir category and spans trinkets to very nice quality merchandise with a distinctive Mexican feel. The second category would be luxury products.
If your shopping list includes colorful but inexpensive jewelry, a bottle of tequila, a leather wallet, and some Mexican pottery, there are quite a few shops that will meet your needs. One of the best and easiest to navigate is Cinco Soles (Five Suns) near the port. Here you can find everything from toys to dishes to T-shirts to leather goods along with the ubiquitous tequila and bottles of vanilla (Mexican vanilla is generally of very high quality and reasonably priced). The store personnel speak English and accept credit cards.
A fun shop in Cozumel that is not really Mexican is Del Sol which sells plain-looking T-shirts, tote bags, Frisbees, even nail polish, that change color when exposed to sunlight. Del Sol stores are located at many locations (not just Cozumel) but they’re still fun and the bright sunlight of Mexico shows off the Del Sol treasures to great effect. There’s one near the cruise port.
You may also see small sidewalk displays and other offers for everything from marionettes to dangling earrings. Wending your way through the shopping district of Cozumel can be tough, since merchants will speak to you and attempt to lure you into their shops. You can simply walk on by; merchants will not actually grab you and push you into their stores. If you make eye contact, you will be at a massive disadvantage; the more you respond to them, the more likely they will be to kick up their persuasion a notch to get you into the shop. On the other hand, if you’re out shopping, it can be fun to talk to local merchants and allow them to show off their best wares for you.
There are lots of big and small displays of such goods and if you do not spend very much, it is unlikely you can go too far wrong.
The other end of the Cozumel shopping spectrum involves luxury stores. Believe it or not, there are several outlets of Diamonds International and other high-end jewelry stores in Cozumel. You’ll see them all over as you walk along the waterfront (likely in view of your cruise ship, that’s how close they are).
Specialties at these stores include high-end watches, gold, silver, diamonds, emeralds, tanzanite, Mexican fire opal, and two rare gemstones ammolite and alexandrite. (If you do not know these stones, it can be worth a visit to one of these stores to see them.)
Don’t expect these stores to offer diamond rings for a pittance. But there are reasons why savvy jewelry buyers make the trek to Cozumel to do some special shopping.
First, there is no sales tax in Cozumel. If you stay within your allowance for the amount of merchandise you can bring home without paying duty (which is $800 for a U.S. citizen), you pay only for the merchandise. In the U.S., sales tax is around 8% and it is even higher in Canada and Europe.
Second, many of these top stores have an international presence. You can get customer service once you’re back home.
Third, many cruise lines have developed relationships with some of these stores. This sometimes engenders suspicion, but the relationships are actually beneficial to cruise passengers eager to buy high-end merchandise.
If your cruise ship has a shopping expert or if there is a talk on shopping, by all means participate if you think you’ll be buying products (particularly jewelry) in Cozumel. It is true that the shopping guru onboard will steer you toward certain shops and it is likely that those shops have paid a promotional consideration to the cruise line for that publicity.
But here is why that’s good for passengers. Most cruise lines will not endorse just any store that can pay a fee. Cruises return to the same port over and over again in a season and it would not be good business to recommend shops that were difficult to deal with, charged exorbitant prices, or otherwise were bad news for the customers.
Second, some cruise lines (such as Carnival) will allow you to register your purchases at selected stores while onboard. If you take advantage of this service, the cruise line guarantees the merchandise. That means if your new watch stops once you get home or you find out your gold and tanzanite ring is not authentic, the cruise line backs the merchandise.
Finding out if your cruise line does this and what shops it recommends is a great activity for you to do on your day(s) at sea before hitting Cozumel. Registering purchases with the cruise line should be done on the next sea day because you must register what you buy while still onboard the ship.
Luxury items abound in Cozumel: jewelry, perfume, watches, and even rugs. Rugs from exotic places like Turkey, India, Pakistan and Persia can be purcased in Cozumel (great selection, no sales tax, outstanding service) and shipped to your address back home. The Rug Emporium offers an extensive display, lots of English-speaking help, and free shipping Stateside.
Last but not least, lots of people buy liquor in Cozumel. Tequila and Kahlua are the most popular but by no means the only alcoholic purchases you can make. Liquor can be purchased in Cozumel at the shops or can be bought onboard ship for around the same price (but possibly not with the same selection).
The same is true for perfume. The onboard shops likely offer some fragrance and cosmetic products, but the big perfume shop on Cozumel’s main street by the harbor has a much more extensive collection. If what you like is onboard, you can probably get about the same good deal as you can by buying it in the land shop. However, if you want to see a broader range of products or you want to buy a product that the onboard boutique does not stock, you need to try the land store.
Cigar aficionados will find that Cuban cigars are not only legal in Cozumel (and onboard once the ship is in international waters) but plentiful. If this is a big deal for you, enjoy them in Mexico and on the boat, but don’t bring them back into the U.S.
So what about those famous pirates of the Caribbean? Like any buzzing shopping mecca, Cozumel has its share of merchants who sell shoddy merchandise, counterfeit products, or things they claim to be silver and gold (which are not). If you are not expert enough to know the difference, steer clear of shady looking vendors or shops far off the beaten track. The old adage “if it looks too good to be true, it probably is” holds true for ridiculously priced diamonds or gemstones.
Most cruise lines will warn you to avoid spending big money with dubious vendors. If you want to buy a T-shirt, a kid’s necklace, or some typical souvenir items, go ahead and shop the small stores or street vendors. If you are thinking of spending hundreds or thousands on jewelry, go to a reputable and recommended store. They’re there in Cozumel!
ALAN
Feb
05
Filed Under (Ecommerce) by shopping
Tracey Simpson asked:
The process leading up to a transaction online is possibly the most critical to a shopping cart’s success. If the buying process causes frustration, confusion or insecurity, the user is likely to abandon the shopping cart, never to return again.
The usability of a shopping cart refers to the efficiency with which a user can achieve their goals on a website. Many of the larger online shopping carts, like Play.com and Amazon.com, are continuously striving to make their buying process as fluent and as effortless as possible. Knowing you can buy a book or film in just 3 or 4 clicks encourages you to return to the same, reliable website.
Having read numerous articles and white papers dedicated to best practice shopping cart design and usability; below I have highlighted five potential design problems in shopping carts that I’m sure many users have encountered.
1. Shopping carts that ask a user to register before knowing if the product is available or not.
It could be quite irritating for a user if they have spent 10 minutes entering their credit card details, home address, telephone number etc etc. only to find out during the checkout process that the product they want to buy is out of stock.
Many shopping carts enable you to present users with live stock availability before the user places their product in the shopping cart.
2. Suggesting the user buys similar products before adding the main product to the shopping cart.
It’s often helpful when a website recommends additional products you may want or need after adding your main product to your shopping cart.
However, I think you’ll agree that it could be slightly confusing if these additional products were offered to you before even adding the main product to your shopping cart? You press “Add to Cart” and suddenly you’re offered batteries, or insoles or travel cases. Many users would be left feeling confused, wondering if their product had been added or not, or if they’d pressed the wrong button.
Best practice guidelines would indicate offering your user the extra products after the user has finished shopping and they’re entering the checkout process.
3. Shopping carts that ask a user to register before they have even added a product to their shopping cart.
Asking for a user’s personal information before they have even added a product to their shopping cart is not a good move.
Customer registration can offer some big advantages to you as a merchant including recovery for abandoned shopping carts, customer loyalty and email contact. However, many users may be browsing a number of websites, adding products to numerous shopping carts for the main purpose of comparing prices and features. If a user has to register personal details before using the shopping carts, a large percentage are likely to abandon the website.
4. Requiring a user to delete and add the same product to shopping carts just so they can change its colour, size or variation.
Editing a shopping cart should be as simple as possible and shouldn’t require the user to delete anything from the shopping cart.
If a product comes in different colours and different sizes don’t make them delete it from their shopping cart if they want it in a different variation. Users should be able to select from within their shopping carts the different options.
5. Websites that do not clearly show the user the contents of the shopping carts.
Have you ever been on a website and added the same product to your shopping cart 3 or 4 times because you’re not sure if it worked the first time?
Many users that can’t see the contents of their shopping cart in the same browser as the one they are shopping on can often feel confused about whether or not their item has been added successfully.
As a merchant it is understandable that you don’t want to take your user away from the page they are shopping on every time they add something to their shopping cart. Best practice guidelines therefore indicate displaying the contents of a users shopping cart in the same browser, in the right hand corner for example.
To summarise, the design of the entire shopping experience is of utmost importance. These 5 potential design problems highlighted are five of many common problems found on shopping carts.
Which one is most likely to make you abandon your shopping cart?
Tell us about additional usability problems you have encountered!
Which, out of those above, do you think is the most irritating and the most likely to cause shopping abandonment?
ARTHUR
The process leading up to a transaction online is possibly the most critical to a shopping cart’s success. If the buying process causes frustration, confusion or insecurity, the user is likely to abandon the shopping cart, never to return again.
The usability of a shopping cart refers to the efficiency with which a user can achieve their goals on a website. Many of the larger online shopping carts, like Play.com and Amazon.com, are continuously striving to make their buying process as fluent and as effortless as possible. Knowing you can buy a book or film in just 3 or 4 clicks encourages you to return to the same, reliable website.
Having read numerous articles and white papers dedicated to best practice shopping cart design and usability; below I have highlighted five potential design problems in shopping carts that I’m sure many users have encountered.
1. Shopping carts that ask a user to register before knowing if the product is available or not.
It could be quite irritating for a user if they have spent 10 minutes entering their credit card details, home address, telephone number etc etc. only to find out during the checkout process that the product they want to buy is out of stock.
Many shopping carts enable you to present users with live stock availability before the user places their product in the shopping cart.
2. Suggesting the user buys similar products before adding the main product to the shopping cart.
It’s often helpful when a website recommends additional products you may want or need after adding your main product to your shopping cart.
However, I think you’ll agree that it could be slightly confusing if these additional products were offered to you before even adding the main product to your shopping cart? You press “Add to Cart” and suddenly you’re offered batteries, or insoles or travel cases. Many users would be left feeling confused, wondering if their product had been added or not, or if they’d pressed the wrong button.
Best practice guidelines would indicate offering your user the extra products after the user has finished shopping and they’re entering the checkout process.
3. Shopping carts that ask a user to register before they have even added a product to their shopping cart.
Asking for a user’s personal information before they have even added a product to their shopping cart is not a good move.
Customer registration can offer some big advantages to you as a merchant including recovery for abandoned shopping carts, customer loyalty and email contact. However, many users may be browsing a number of websites, adding products to numerous shopping carts for the main purpose of comparing prices and features. If a user has to register personal details before using the shopping carts, a large percentage are likely to abandon the website.
4. Requiring a user to delete and add the same product to shopping carts just so they can change its colour, size or variation.
Editing a shopping cart should be as simple as possible and shouldn’t require the user to delete anything from the shopping cart.
If a product comes in different colours and different sizes don’t make them delete it from their shopping cart if they want it in a different variation. Users should be able to select from within their shopping carts the different options.
5. Websites that do not clearly show the user the contents of the shopping carts.
Have you ever been on a website and added the same product to your shopping cart 3 or 4 times because you’re not sure if it worked the first time?
Many users that can’t see the contents of their shopping cart in the same browser as the one they are shopping on can often feel confused about whether or not their item has been added successfully.
As a merchant it is understandable that you don’t want to take your user away from the page they are shopping on every time they add something to their shopping cart. Best practice guidelines therefore indicate displaying the contents of a users shopping cart in the same browser, in the right hand corner for example.
To summarise, the design of the entire shopping experience is of utmost importance. These 5 potential design problems highlighted are five of many common problems found on shopping carts.
Which one is most likely to make you abandon your shopping cart?
Tell us about additional usability problems you have encountered!
Which, out of those above, do you think is the most irritating and the most likely to cause shopping abandonment?
ARTHUR
Feb
01
Filed Under (Cooking & Recipes) by shopping
MJR asked:
I’ve checked out a few popular meal planning sites, but none of them are quite what I’m looking for. I’m looking for an automated meal planner (so that it populates itself based on my preferences) which allows me to swap out meals that I’m not too keen on, provides a shopping list, and considers dietary information (such as calories per day). Ideally, the shopping list would be optimized for the week (so I’m not buying groceries that are completely separate from each day’s meal recommendations). I’m willing to pay for such a site.
ARTURO
I’ve checked out a few popular meal planning sites, but none of them are quite what I’m looking for. I’m looking for an automated meal planner (so that it populates itself based on my preferences) which allows me to swap out meals that I’m not too keen on, provides a shopping list, and considers dietary information (such as calories per day). Ideally, the shopping list would be optimized for the week (so I’m not buying groceries that are completely separate from each day’s meal recommendations). I’m willing to pay for such a site.
ARTURO
