Ecommerce best practice tips

Ecommerce best practice is one of our favourite topics and we’ve written plenty of posts on this since the blog was born in 2006.

Here are some of the best articles from the last year or so, covering many aspects of ecommerce.

Check out Tim Leighton Boyce’s comprehensive two-part guide to ecommerce consumer surveys, a post which never received the attention it deserved.  

General best practice tips

Effective ecommerce: five tips to improve the after-sales service

Christmas e-commerce: 35 tips to increase conversions

10 things Lovehoney learned from setting up an e-commerce site

11 great ways to use social proof in ecommerce

Best practices for e-commerce consumer surveys: part one

Best practices for e-commerce consumer surveys: part two

10 brilliant examples of responsive design in ecommerce

10 more examples of responsive design in ecommerce

Five ways to work with content on ecommerce sites

How to avoid duplicate content issues in ecommerce

The pros and cons of a Facebook login on ecommerce sites

Six interesting examples of gamification in ecommerce

International ecommerce

The dos and don’ts of setting up an ecommerce business in China

The 11 Cs of e-commerce internationalisation

Checkouts and product pages

10 tips for improving ecommerce checkouts

10 tips for improving e-commerce product pages

Eight different ways of using product videos in ecommerce

11 useful examples of copywriting for product recommendations

E-commerce calls to action: 10 best practice tips

E-commerce consumer reviews: why you need them and how to use them

Navigation and site search

10 ways to improve your e-commerce navigation

Site search for e-commerce: 13 best practice tips

E-commerce drop-down menus: examples and best practices

What fashion and beauty retailers can teach you about site search

Carousels on ecommerce sites: are they worth bothering with?

Paul Rouke

Paul Rouke is Head of usability and conversion at PRWD, and has written some excellent posts on ecommerce best practice since 2008.

It’s worth checking out all of the posts he’s written for us, but here’s a selection… 

A responsive ecommerce masterclass from Nixon: part one

Shopping basket best practice from ASOS

Nine women x nine hours = nine usability insights

Booking.com: improving conversion with best practice persuasive design

Lings Cars and the art of persuading visitors to buy

Site reviews

We’ve reviewed a bunch of ecommerce launches and relaunches over the years, Some are great, some are stinkers. Here’s some from the past 12 months… 

Personalisation is key theme in Morrisons’ first foray into ecommerce

H&M’s new ‘& Other Stories’ site offers quirky but fun user experience

Bonmarché’s e-commerce relaunch shows an understanding of its target audience

ASOS’s new mobile site is usable but unspectacular

Site review: the new RoyalMail.com delivers on customer experience

Sears site review: the good, the bad and the ugly

Site review: Lego.com

Site review: Four Seasons $18m redesign

Stats

Do bigger images mean improved conversion rates? Three case studies

Is site search less important for niche retailers?

74% of businesses believe user experience is key for improving sales

40% of shoppers used reserve and collect over Christmas: stats

Stats: Do consumers appreciate live chat on websites?

Stats: Multichannel commerce variations across countries, people and products

50+ fascinating stats about mobile commerce in the UK

Shop Direct and Tesco have fastest sites among Europe’s top retailers: report

Australian ecommerce: Nine stats you might have missed

E-commerce stats: The importance of returning customers

E-commerce now more popular than high street shopping: report

Budget and lack of resources are biggest barriers to optimization: report

Infographics

How tablet shoppers are changing e-commerce [infographic]

Opportunities for global e-commerce [infographic]

oad times for top retail sites slump 22% in the past year: infographic

Opinion

Even when so much within digital is measurable, there is always a difference in opinion between what is the ‘right’ way to do things, versus the ‘wrong’. 

It’s this discussion and debate that fuels so much of the innovation within the industry.

The dark side of ecommerce

Why a One Web approach is the way for ecommerce

Personalisation and tablets will dominate changes to ecommerce in 2013

Five reasons why the UK leads the world for ecommerce

Is Primark mad to ignore ecommerce?

What makes a good ecommerce business?

14 reasons behind John Lewis’ 44% increase in online sales

Interviews

Q&A: John Lewis on the ingredients of a successful multichannel retail strategy

Q&A: House of Fraser’s Andy Harding on using the web to drive offline sales

Q&A: Whatusersdo’s Lee Duddell on UX testing

Q&A: Lovehoney’s Matthew Curry on jiggle balls, TV and user experience

Reports

And of course, as well as the posts above, make sure you check out Econsultancy’s reports on the topic to give yourself the edge in your work.

Ecommerce Platforms Buyer’s Guide 2013

E-commerce Best Practice Compendium

The Internationalisation of E-commerce: A Best Practice Guide

How to Run a Successful E-commerce ITT

E-commerce Statistics

Christmas 2012 Online Shopping Survey Report

E-commerce Projects – Digital Marketing Template Files

Checkout Optimization Guide: 70 ways to increase conversion rates

E-commerce Checkout Form Guidelines – Digital Marketing Template Files

Product Pages: A Best Practice Guide

How the Internet Can Save the High Street

Digital Cream FX is an elite edition of our invitation-only event for senior client-side marketers, now in its eighth year. There’ll be 20 roundtables with discussion centred around marketing and ecommerce. This event is one of five that make up our week-long Festival of Marketing.