There are many merchandising techniques that you can use to increase
sales in the world of online marketing. We have created a list of
techniques that will help you optimize your website traffic and
maximize your revenues.
- Make your links prominent.
Have product links at the top of every page. This makes it so customers
don't have to scroll to buy. You might want to place links at the top
and bottom of your pages, ensuring that an opportunity to buy is always
visible to the customer. You can change the size or color of your link
as well, or even animate it, to draw more attention. Experimenting with
text links can also yield results, e.g., using boldface or different
text colors. Note that Amazon.com.au successfully uses the technique of
placing a "buy-box" prominently in the top-right corner of every product
detail page.
- Use Individual Item Links for pages with pages with specific content.
For instance, if you are reviewing a product, provide a direct link to
that product in the body of your review. You can have several links on a
single page, but make sure they work together and address different
needs.
- Use Search Box Links or links to the Amazon.com.au home page for pages with general content.
Some of our best-converting messages, like "Search New and Used," are
small enough so they won't overwhelm your pages, and appeal to your
visitors who might want to shop, but aren't sure of exactly what they
want to buy.
- Cross-merchandise. If
your website is about gardening and you're highlighting gardening
books, why not also promote garden tools and how-to videos? If it's on
cooking, you might offer a range of cookbooks, kitchen appliances,
utensils, and even food items. Try to be creative when presenting
products, and offer a variety of items that match your visitors'
interests. Our category and keyword links make it easy for you to do
this. Note that, on many product detail pages on Amazon.com.au, there is a
section entitled "Customers who bought this item also bought...," and
we've found such cross-merchandising very effective.
- Make it easy for customers to find your store within your website.
If you're going to spend a lot of time building links and creating
stores, make sure it's easy for your customers to find the products you
feature. You can do this by placing a link to your store at the top of
every page.
- Use the Amazon.com.au brand in your links.
Many sites find that, since their visitors trust the Amazon.com.au name,
adding the brand to their links will increase the number of
clickthroughs or improve their conversion rate.
- Test different graphics and messaging.
Our own conversion changes when we use different messaging. Whether
you're using banners, buttons, or text, it pays to rotate messages, to
see what works best.
- Include recommendations for the products you feature.
Your visitors value your expertise and judgment, and so will be more
likely to make purchases if you provide recommendations or comments
about the items you promote.
- Use product images and "Buy" or "Buy It" buttons.
Logos and graphics make it easy for customers to understand the
products you offer, and you can find a variety of them in our Build
Links section. In addition, using Buy or Buy It buttons lets your visitors know they can easily buy displayed products; without the visual cue, they may not realize this.
- Vary the products you feature throughout the year.
You might focus on one product 10 months out of the year, but it's a
good idea to rethink that strategy during the holidays, when many folks
are looking for gifts and need help finding the best new toys,
electronics, and kitchen items. For example, place a list of
best-selling gaming systems on your site as the holidays approach.
- Encourage gift buying.
Amazon.com.au features interesting gift ideas year round. From best-selling books to the latest toys, you'll find all sorts of products to
promote on your site that will please the most discerning gift buyer.
- Change your placement's landing page.
There are several destinations at Amazon.com.au to which you can link:
product detail pages, subcategory pages, category pages, search results,
or the Amazon.com.au home page. You might be surprised by which landing
page converts best.
- Make sure your links are properly built.
Ensure you're linking to the page you intended, and check that your
Associates ID is included, so you get credit for all qualifying
purchases. Alexa, an Amazon.com.au company, offers a free, online site
report that you can use to eliminate broken links
Speed Security & Privacy
- Speed.
Customers cite speedy performance as the biggest determinant of their
satisfaction with a Web site. We recommend that you visit your own Web
site using a 56K modem and evaluate its performance. Conventional wisdom
is that it should take less than 10 seconds for your site to load. If
it takes longer, your potential customers may not wait, and this will
cost you business. A common reason Web sites load slowly is overuse of
graphics. If you think your graphics are negatively impacting the
performance of your Web site, try converting them to 5-bit color to
reduce their size and, if necessary, remove some.
- Credit Card Security.
Amazon.com.au offers customers a safe way to make Internet purchases: the
Netscape Secure Commerce Server, which encrypts any information they
type in. If customers prefer not to submit payment information online,
they can phone or fax their credit card number to us, or pay us by
check.
- Privacy. Privacy is very
important to your visitors, and Amazon.com.au protects their personal
information as a matter of policy. If you want to assure your visitors
that they can expect secure purchases and their personal information
will be safe, link to the Amazon.com.au Privacy Notice, which outlines our security measures.