In your store, you may train your employees to upsell or suggestive sell, missing no chance for a sale, but does this happen through your website?



Since I used to train staff to make the most of every sale, I guess that I pay attention to the mechanics of employee interactions with me when going to a store. A way to keep my hand in the game I imagine. I noticed that at one shop, the five foot rule has come back (greet all customers within a five foot radius). At another, the simple can I help you find something was being reinforced. The last place to catch me is at the checkout. Clerks might ask “did you find everything alright?” to “is there anything else that you need?”. Try answering no to that first question, and you may find someone attempting to direct you to the product that you may have missed. There is more to the checkout than this last sale though. I stopped going to a store for sometime, because the clerks at the checkout where so unfriendly that I had a negative impression of the store. (Yesterday at a sandwich shop the two clerks behind the counter were so busy talking to the owner that I was being ignored; I blame the owner for that situation). The checkout becomes vital if you want a customer to come back.
    I had two online checkout experiences this past week which made me consider how we handle this process. In the first, I was making a larger purchase, where I experienced a problem with my card not being accepted. I could have been quite mad at the website, but I knew what was happening from a past incident. My bank halts online transactions which are over $100. For the transaction to be approved, I have to contact the fraud department. The message from the website did not reflect that fact. The message was nice enough : “the processing of this card has failed” , which is better than having a statement saying your card was declined, but I think it would have been better if the message somehow stated the situation clearly. I know that when this happens in a store, there will be a message on the machine stating that the customer has to call a certain number to have the transaction process. At this point of the checkout, you have to be careful of what message you deliver, but the more information you can provide, the better for the customer.
    The other checkout experience involved search. I needed new test equipment for my business. I have a standard supplier, and I was prepared to go to that store; however, I wanted to see what other models were available, so I conducted a search. There in the search results was a section containing the name of the store and model number of the piece of equipment that I was seeking. The first price was $60 lower than the cost at my supplier, so I clicked the link, where I was brought to a page describing the equipment, along with a noticeable checkout button.The unit had everything that I wanted, so I hit that checkout button, which brought me to a page, where I could confirm uantity, shipping, and personal information to complete the sale (like name and how I was paying). That page and another for card information led me to the thank you for your purchase page. Confirmation emails were sent with an invoice and tracking number. Great, right? At one point there was a button which asked “continue shopping?”, but I had obtained my goal, so why would I click?  What would have been better? Well, a section with “other people who bought this item also purchased” would have been a start. My only problem with those also purchased items is that they are below the fold. Why not have them in a sidebar? How about mentioning other on sale items in related categories in the sidebar? Suggestive selling does not work unless you offer the customer something that he might want. How about showing off a more expensive model? You could say “for $30 more, you could buy this tester that has these twenty additional features”. That line may have made me curious before going onto the final steps.
    The point is know your checkout process, and  implement you sales techniques from the physical store into you website. The real estate above the fold is precious. Protect it. Use it wisely. “Above the fold” means what the client will see when logging onto your site on their screen. If they have to scroll down to see your sales pitch, you may have lost the opportunity. Go through your own checkout process to see how well you are selling.