The Internet Retailer Web Design ‘08 conference focused largely on best practices in usability, SEO, and improving the customer experience. Armed with data that they were eager to share and review with conference participants, conference presenters included some of the top professionals in the industry including:

Debbie Kristofferson — Walmart.com Vice-President of Creative and User Experience whose keynote address included stories of implementing their new site-to-store feature, where customers can order online and have their order ready for pick-up at any Wal-Mart store. Also, she shared survey results showing the most requested feature was customer reviews, a feature they implemented



Jennifer Bailey, ForeSee Result’s Usability Expert who discussed “Best Practices” and rules for e-commerce usability, and when it is and isn’t ok to break them. She reviewed some of the most popular websites out there today and pointed out their common flaws. These included placement of the add-to-cart button, search boxes, “swatch” functionality, editable shopping cart contents, and wasted real estate.



Kevin Ertell, Borders.com Vice-President of E-Business who talked about their new personalization features. Their revised website has what they call a “magic shelf” that features a virtual bookshelf of popular items. Once a user profile is created this bookshelf will show items that are relevant to a particular customer’s interest.



David Sikora, CEO of Digby.com, a prospering startup company whose M-Commerce (mobile commerce) site, “Digby Mall” started with Godiva Chocolates as its flagship store and now includes Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, FTD.com, and more.

From the e-commerce management side, the key topic was prioritizing customer service. This involves constantly soliciting feedback, not just from customers but also by interviewing your call center team and adapting to customer needs/trends. Also, when it comes to customer service, proper training can build customer loyalty and increase conversions. For example, when testing 35 live chat services, none of them asked if the customer would like to purchase the item they inquired about.



Industry trends are moving towards improving search functionality to be more than just a query. Strategic redesigns, search and navigation dos/don’ts, and how remarkable design increases your competitive advantage were all valuable discussions.



Also shared were techniques for measuring your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from a marketing and feature-based prospective. It was interesting to note that 42% of all customers surveyed will abandon cart if they come across a problem or error. The other 53% will pick up the phone and call the customer service department - but almost half of those calls did not have representatives that offered credible solutions.



Beyond customer service and customary design, other interesting topics included the proper uses of Rich Media. For example, Ice.com demonstrated how they use video on the product page to enhance sales and Golf Locker showed off their myjoy.com custom golf shoe application built entirely with Ajax. There was also lively discussion about the benefits using Web 2.0 technologies and when they are more hurtful than helpful. Accessibility by people with disabilities also was a focus.



Working in the e-commerce industry, it is clear that conferences like these can both teach and inspire. Events like the upcoming Solid Cactus Bootcamp in May are great opportunities to both grow your abilities and insights as well as network with other e-commerce professionals.



See you there!