Booksellers Blog

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Not too long ago, I placed an order for a book from an independent bookstore’s website. It was easy to find what I was looking for, and the transaction went very smoothly. I got an immediate order confirmation, and I was confident that the order was proceeding according to my expectations. I was very pleased and excited at how easy the entire process was, and I was getting ready to email the store to tell them how wonderful they were, when the package arrived.

I was crushed.

My lovely book, that I had waited a week to receive, was put into one of those exploding jiffy-bags. You know, those brown envelopes that have some kind of fuzzy fiber between the layers of paper to act as padding? The kind of envelope that separates those layers when you tear it open, so that the blue-gray fuzzy stuffing pours out all over the floor and sticks to your clothing? And then the bits of fluff wedge themselves between the pages of the book, the nice, new books that I had waited a week to get.

A great shopping experience was spoiled because of a packaging decision. I wondered if any decision-maker at the store had ever ordered from their own site.

Perhaps I am being picky, but I think that many of your customers will be, too.

Have you ordered from your own website? How does the experience compare to that of your competitors?

Your homework assignment:

Pretend you are a customer, or better yet, ask a friend, relative or neighbor who is not very familiar with your site to make a few purchases (from your store, from Amazon, and possibly another competitor or two) and watch as they do it.  Have the purchases shipped to a name and address that is not going to be identified by your staff,  so they don’t give you preferential treatment. And then think about these questions:

• Does your site search return the right results? Can you find the book(s) you are looking for?
• Can you easily find other books buy the same author, or books in the same series?
• How many clicks does it take to make a purchase?
• Is the checkout process intuitive and easy?
• Do you get an email confirmation of your order?
• Does it come from an email address that is recognizable as coming from your store?
• How long does it take to receive your order?
• How is your order packaged?

Also take note of things on your competitors’ sites that you or your friend find appealing, and that you find drives multiple or impulse purchases. Look at it closely, with a critical eye. See where your site can improve, and also take note of what it is that you do very well — and then see if you can do that even better.

Have you done this? If you have, and you’d like to share what you learned through this exercise, please feel free to comment. What other things should a store owner be looking for in their web ordering process? I’d love to hear your ideas.