- Make if easy to get to the cart — nothing chaps my ass more than having to hunt and peck to get to the checkout cart. And once I get into the cart, having more questions to answer and stuff to type in. Make it easy to check out… keep the steps to a bare minimum. Again, get em in, get em out.
- Access to the system — an employee leaves… what if they download your customer list, credit card information, etc.? Limit access to the system to only key staff. And when you have the platform built talk to the developers and software company about fail safes on the system.
- Audit your eCommerce system — have finance audit your system for accurate reporting and integration with backend financial systems.
- Pay hackers to hack. Sounds crazy, but find a security company who can hack away. If they can get in, you’ve got a problem. I’d also keep them on retainer to hack at intervals. By the way, let your IT Security, Audit and Executive Management know you’re doing this.
- Have longer term service contracts — don’t get caught without having support from your dev vendor. Bulk up the hours you need them after the immediate release. You’ll have issues to take care of so be sure you have those hours built in. Put less hours on the backend of the contract as you’ll probably be in the small fix mode at that time.
- Chat - I have mixed feelings on chat. I love it because you can help direct and answer customer questions. However, it can be very obtrusive if it pops up while a customer is browsing… you’ve seen it “How Can I Help You” pops up in the corner. I get the creeps when it happens to me and I’m pretty sure others do as well. Think twice on how you implement the Chat functionality.
- Mock Disaster Drills — just like having fire drills to prepare for the worst… do the same with your eCommerce system, processes and team. You can determine the extent to which you want to mock a drill… get creative to stress test your system, backup servers and staff.
- Lifetime value — ensure you are capturing all the data you’ll need to complete LTV later in the life of the eCommerce platform and business. You won’t be able to do it when you launch but 18 months later it will be something you’ll want to do.
- Order verification emails — it’s mandatory! Tell your customer you’ve received the order, verify the cost, provide an order number AND Cross Sell! Provide a coupon code, ask for more sales, show companion products they might consider.
- Coupon codes — people love a deal. Try different offers… 10% off, $10 off, Free Shipping, Buy 1 get the 2nd 50% off. Provide the codes in emails, on your web site, 3rd party sites, etc. However, you must be cognizant that your site doesn’t become the discount bin at the 99 cent store. Use coupons in a smart way.
- Hold the dev companies responsible — it sounds obvious, but I know company’s which do the “one and done” IT support model. My preference, keep them on retainer for 1 year. With the first 6 months of that having the most hours as you’ll need them to fix the launch issues.
- Agile vs. Waterfall — Waterfall methodology will not allow you to fix issues along the development cycle. In the end you’ll spend much more time in dev and when you launch, you’ll get a ton of surprises when stuff doesn’t work together. Agile, will reduce the surprises at launch and keep dev moving at a solid pace.
- Hire a full time search professional — I screwed this one up. I should have had a search person on board full time to focus on the meta data tagging, how the search works on the site and optimizing external search. Trust me on this… hire one early.
- Learn to say no — you will have multiple requests for additional items to be added to your project during the dev and planning cycle. Stay focused, say no, prioritize them later. Get the initiatives launched successfully, then start on the other request.
- Auto fill in — the greatest speed enhancer created by developers! I recommend you turn it on. Again, get them in and get them out. The faster they can complete the information the faster to checkout.
- Team — of everything I’ve posted, this is the MOST CRITICAL piece of the entire development and ongoing management of an eCommerce platform. Nothing else matters, nothing will get done, it won’t get done correctly, on time, etc. without the best possible team. I look for passion first. If someone is passionate they’ll have the internal desire to learn, go further, drive harder and exceed any and all expectations. Second, trust. You must trust the team with the ability to make decisions. Not all of those decisions will be correct… but you must have faith they’ll do what’s right given the information they have. Third, I look for digital/eCommerce experience. Someone who has lived through the crap it takes to pull off and manage an eCommerce platform and manage the business. As for the incredible team I was honored to lead in the latest eCommerce business I was involved in… Colleen, Gina, Donna, Jon and Jim are my heroes.
- Mobile — this should already be included in the specs and dev… but ensure it’s working on day one.
- Keep it clean —I hate sites that you must sift through to figure out what to do. Keeping your site clean helps the customer find the product easier and get to checkout faster.
- Worst case scenario plans — be proactive and put together your response action plans in the event your data is stolen, credit card data stolen etc. A few key points to consider: How do you inform management, how do you inform customers, what do you say to customers, how do you communicate with the press, hotline phone and email to answer questions, 3rd party monitoring services for free, IT development plan, etc. etc.
- Celebrate success — you and the team might need to be medicated by the time you get the system up and running. This is very hard and frustrating work. The stress is intense. Stop and celebrate along the way.
These are just a few of the things I’ve learned. I know I’ve left some out, but I hope part 3 adds some additional tips which you find useful. Remember parts 1 and 2 were published earlier, so check out my earlier posts.
Best of luck,
Scott
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