Whenever I see a "Coupon Code" field on an order form, it ticks me off. I feel like I somehow missed the boat. I feel neglected... like there is a priveleged elite who get special deals and I'm on the outside of that circle. My knee-jerk response is to immediately open up a new tab in my web browser and search Google for "coupon code" (or whatever the wording on the form is) along with the name of the retailer. Sometimes I get lucky. For example, when I signed up for VOIP service with Packet8, a quick Google search for "reseller code packet8" revealed a code that saved me the $20 activation fee. Unfortunately for Packet8, not only did they lose $20 off me, they mistakenly attributed my purchase to a reseller who didn't rightfully deserve credit for the sale -- because of the Reseller Code that I had used. Other times I strike out. If I can't locate a viable coupon code within about 30 seconds, I'll give up on my search and begrudgingly complete my purchase, sans coupon code.

I'm not suggesting you abandon the practice of offering coupon codes. Far from it! Coupon codes / discount codes are a great thing to have. All I'm suggesting is a minor tweak that will virtually eliminate the piss-off factor. And here it is...

Where you ask for the Coupon Code, place a small question-mark button or something similar that customers can click on that pops open a window with details on your Coupon Code practices. Explain that sometimes you offer limited-time promotions with particular marketing partners. Perhaps provide an example of a past coupon promotion. (I quite like woot.com's TAXSUCKS coupon code that waives the $5 shipping fee for Texans, since Woot items shipped to Texas are subject to sales tax.) Offer them an opportunity to start receiving coupon codes. For example, if you sometimes publish coupon codes in your email newsletter, tell them so and invite them to subscribe to your enewsletter. Even have a enewsletter sign-up form right there for them. Console them that they aren't in possession of a coupon code this time around and encourage them to complete the purchase anyways. Do it with flair and a sense of humor, and you'll end up with a happy customer, whether or not they have a coupon code in hand!

A good ecommerce site sets itself apart from the rest. It's memorable. It has something special about it. For example, woot.com, the hugely popular online retailer, has a very clever gimmick of selling only one product per day, at an incredible price, and selling that product until midnight or until it runs out of stock, whichever comes first. Sometimes their product of the day is a "Bag o' Crap" -- a mystery assortment of items for $1 that for some lucky customers may include high ticket items like a 61" TV.

Our client SteveSpanglerScience.com has a gimmick of podcasting a video every week of a very entertaining science experiment conducted by science toy inventor Steve Spangler and televised that Monday on NBC Channel 9 News in Denver.

Develop a gimmick that you can "own". Be a "purple cow." It could be as simple as an irreverrent style to the copy on your site (like woot.com). Here's an example of the woot.com style that you can't help but love:

We're talking Led Zeppelin quality at a Def Leppard price. Or maybe more like Page & Plant quality, because the receiver lacks EQ, tone controls, and an AM/FM tuner. But hey, one man's necessities are another man's frills, and we're sure there are enough cheapskates in the latter category who will gladly take a system like this for $75 without asking a lot of pesky questions.

Got any other examples of ecommerce sites with a great gimmick? Or do you have a gimmick yourself that's been successful?

I never quite understood the reason for posting a sticker in plain view on your home page saying that your site is "hacker safe" (like this site does). Why would you remind your visitor that there are hackers out there chomping at the bit to get at their credit card numbers? I only see this as a misguided attempt to build trust. 

On the other hand, having a security seal graphic with a checkmark or padlock on it saying that you use 128 bit encryption is probably a good idea. Padlock or award/seal-of-approval imagery will make people feel more warm-and-fuzzy than seeing the word "hacker", IMHO. 

Another thing I like to see that builds trust is a prominently positioned link to your Privacy Policy page with a little bit of verbiage around it summarizing that under no circumstances will you share their personal information with third parties and inviting them to read the full policy. 

Here's a website's privacy statement that stood out for me, for its simplicity as well as its sincerity:

Our privacy policy is simple: When you give us your email address, we're not going to sell it or give it to anyone for any reason. Period. No "partners", no "associates", no "special offers", none of that malarkey. ... That's it. Spam sucks and we're not about to add to it.

A link to your Privacy Policy with accompanying comforting verbiage should be placed on every page of your site where you request information from them, for example on your E-newsletter Sign-Up page, on your Create an Account page, and on your Checkout. 

Another thing that builds trust and gives your visitor a sense of comfort are clues that you are not just a faceless website but a group of real human beings. So, include staff photos on your About Us page, publish your physical as well as mailing address on your Contact Us page, and have a blog where one or more of your employees share their thoughts, ideas and opinions for the benefit of customers and visitors. For example, on our client's e-commerce site, SteveSpanglerScience.com, you will see prominently positioned in the top right a picture of the founder, Steve Spangler, with an invitation to visit his blog. Fully 13% of purchasers at some point through the sales process visit his blog, either initially by finding his blog through the search engines, or by visiting his blog once they have already started shopping.

When someone clicks on the "Add to Cart" button on a product page on your ecommerce site, where should that visitor be directed to? The shopping cart page (the first page of the checkout)? Back to that product page? Somewhere else?

If you send customers back to the product page, you're wasting their time IMHO. It's redundant. Once I've added the product to my cart, I don't need to read about that product again. I'm ready to move on.

So if you don't take them back to the product page, then where? A great many sites send shoppers to the shopping cart. On the face of it, that makes good sense. If they are finished shopping, it saves them a step. Their order is in front of them to review. However it doesn't compel them to do more shopping (unless you include upsell/cross sell opportunities on the cart page, which we at Netconcepts typically do when we build ecommerce sites).

Ideally, I'd suggest having a combo page, where their shopping cart contents is displayed along with recommendations on additional products to buy. Prominently feature upsells/cross-sells specific to the products in the cart. But also include unrelated products, like: "What's hot", "Clearance items", "New in stock", "Employee picks" etc. And if you have some profile data on the shopper, include product recommendations that are based on their profile.

If you look at how Amazon.com does it, they send you to a page where further product upsells/cross-sells and offers like "Save $30 instantly with the Amazon.com Visa Card" take center stage, and a mini-cart is displayed in the right-hand column. That's the sort of combo page I'm talking about, except I prefer giving more emphasis to the cart contents than Amazon.

Any other ecommerce sites doing a particularly clever job of compelling online shoppers to spend more when they "Add to Cart"? Post a comment!