In the world of online retail, no place defines the difference between suc­cess and failure more than checkout. Recent industry reports put shopping cart abandonment rates at anywhere from 20 to 50%. In too many cases, cart checkout processes take too long, require too many clicks and involve too many requests for non-essential information. Shoppers get distracted, impatient and distressed. They lose interest, leave the site, or simply take a detour to shop and research at another online store. The result is a huge lost revenue opportunity.

Online customers abandon their shop­ping carts for lots of different reasons. Not all of them are in the merchant’s control, but many are. With competi­tion for new and existing customers as intense as ever, online retailers need to optimize their checkout processes to ensure they are doing everything they can to capitalize on existing opportuni­ties by converting shoppers into cus­tomers and keeping customers coming back to their sites.

Demandware’s Retail Practice team’s goal is to provide actionable recommendations based on best practice analysis and industry assessment.  This paper highlights some of the most common checkout mistakes today, what online retailers can do to address them and provides examples of best practices in action. It also looks at some of the other factors that influence shopping cart conversion and how they might impact your own performance. 

In a recent Shop.org survey, The State of Retailing Online 2009: Merchandis­ing Report, conducted by Forrester Research, 79% of retailers said they plan to focus heavily on improving customers’ checkout experience in 2010.   The best practices and recommendations in this paper are a good start. They can be implemented one at a time, or many at once, but they all can help you increase shopper conver­sion rates and increase profitability.  We encourage you to download this paper and evaluate your site against these 20 best practices and get started today!

You can find the whitepaper on shop.org’s resource library or download it at demandware.com.

Ellen Davis wrote a quick summary of the panel discussion here.  If you are interested in international ecommerce expansion, the panel has compiled 19 white papers and information sources, over 41MB of data, that should be helpful to you (see below for link).

Top 10 Takeaways

1. Almost all global ecommerce markets are growing significantly faster than the U.S.
2. The opportunity is expanding from Europe to Asia quickly as those markets mature and grow.
3. International ecommerce is within reach of every retailer, even if you don’t have a global brand.
4. There are a wide variety of front-end and back-end operating models available to you.
5. Ask a lot questions and get help.
6. Start early and assume it will take longer than you think.
7. Leverage in-region resources and infrastructure if you have them.
8. Think through the organizational and operational implications of a “live” site before you launch.
9. Find qualified legal advice to help you understand and comply with local requirements.
10. It may be complex, but it can be rewarding for those who persevere.

Enjoy the Mountain of Resource:

Shop.org created a special page for all of this information.  It can be found by clicking here.

1. Shop.org SI Forum International Expansion Session Slides
2. Shop.org SI Forum International Expansion Session Handout (Large File)
3. Demandware White Paper – Increase Your Global Reach
4. CyberSource 2009 ePayment Project Guide
5. CyberSource Insiders Guide to ePayment Management
6. CyberSource Fraud Report
7. CyberSource Global Payments White Paper
8. FiftyOne Anthropologie Case Study
9. FiftyOne Datasheet
10. GPI White Paper – Argentina
11. GPI White Paper – Brazil
12. GPI White Paper – China
13. GPI White Paper – France
14. GPI White Paper – Germany
15. GPI White Paper – India
16. GPI White Paper – Japan
17. GPI White Paper – UAB
18. GPI White Paper – UK
19. GPI White Paper – US Hispanic Market

Good luck everyone and let any of the panelists know if we can be of assistance!

Troy Brown

So if you have questions, ask away!!!

Thanks,
Troy

How International Expansion Can Help Retailers in a Downturned Economy

• Troy Brown, Retail Practice Leader, Demandware (moderator)
• Michael Amar, Founder, AGORAD
• Jake Bailey, Director of International Business, Overstock.com
• Jim Okamura, Senior Partner, J.C Williams Group
• Michael Ross, Director, eCommera Limited

Are you already selling internationally? Are you considering a strategic break into the international market even in this downturned economy? Troy Brown will moderate a session with experts in globalization and international expansion that will help you understand global expansion topics including: the must-know basics, operational complexities, demand generation, and planning market entry strategies specifically in Europe and Asia. So, whether you have just launched internationally or are simply considering this strategic initiative, these experts will give you different perspectives on just how a successful expansion plan can help US retailers succeed and thrive.