Artisans in the Mediterranean and Mexico have crafted and painted intricate ceramics by hand for centuries, passing down skills of the trade from generation to generation. Today, mass produced ceramic replicas made in factories and sold in major retail chains threaten the livelihood of the very artisans who have spent generations perfecting this exquisite art form. With an appreciation for genuine, handcrafted ceramics and a commitment to superior customer service, one Norfolk Massachusetts based company is doing its part to preserve this ancient art form and defend the livelihood of indigenous artists in the Mediterranean and Mexico that have relied on the trade throughout history.

Since 2002, Prevailing Winds has hand selected authentic ceramics crafted by artisans primarily in Italy, Spain, Turkey and Morocco, and made them available for purchase through its online store. The company’s devotion to customer satisfaction is backed by its generous 90-day “Relish It or Return It” policy, promising customers a full refund for items returned in new condition within that timeframe.

After facing a multitude of limitations with a previous provider, Prevailing Winds owner Leslie Kirschner moved the company to a hosted Volusion storefront in February of 2007. “My previous provider was not a hosted solution, so I had to deal with performance and hosting issues on my own. I owned the software, but did not receive any updates without purchasing the newest version, so the capabilities were lagging behind other software options,” Kirschner says, adding, “the software did not provide any of the SEO capabilities that Volusion offers, so it was harder to achieve high search engine rankings, which is the primary way that customers find our site.”

Prevailing Winds has more than doubled its profits since the move to Volusion, thanks largely to improved search engine visibility afforded by Volusion’s SEO friendly architecture. Kirschner, of course, is more than pleased with these results, noting “the SEO capabilities have significantly helped customers to find us online. The continuing software updates and regular addition of new capabilities makes sure that we stay current with (or ahead of!) other web vendors.”

While most e-commerce businesses ship multiple identical products based on a single product photo, Prevailing Winds faced a unique need - showcasing the actual one-of-a-kind items offered through its storefront. Volusion’s dynamic shopping cart software gives Prevailing Winds the flexibility to display multiple unique designs for each product, enabling customers to view the actual hand-painted items for sale and giving the company an edge over the competition. “Our customers really, really appreciate the ability to choose their exact design on many items where each piece is unique. Most other web vendors do not offer this,” says Kirschner, noting “they also like the ease of navigation to find the subset of items that they are interested in and the ability to see detailed photos.” Volusion’s vZoom feature, which instantly displays an enlarged view when the mouse rolls over a section of a product, accentuates the intricate detail of the company’s hand-painted ceramics and gives shoppers an up close and personal shopping experience.

Kirschner’s emphasis on customer satisfaction and search engine friendliness shows that she knows a thing or two about success in the online arena. Her advice to other online store owners embraces the transcendent sentiment of the golden rule, “put on your customer hat. Think about the experience you want when you deal with online businesses,” and “treat people the way you want to be treated - with respect, honesty, responsiveness, and customized, personalized service.”

-Pam Westbrook, Ecommerce Marketing/Copywriting

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Imagine how chaotic road travel would be if there were no signs to tell you road names, directions and what maneuvers are permitted in what areas. Aside from the mass confusion and inevitable accidents, most commuters would never reach their destinations and the entire highway infrastructure would be reduced to worthlessness. Similarly, an unclear navigational hierarchy on a website confuses users and leads them to abandon the site having not found the information sought.

Today, most web users do not go directly to a website’s home page and navigate through the site in a systematic manner. In fact, one study shows that in 2008, only 25% of web users begin at a site’s home page and move on to other pages, as compared to 40% starting on the home page in 2004. Web users today expect to find exactly what they want as quickly as possible, and that usually means using a search engine to find a shortcut to a specific page containing the desired information.

The lesson online business owners should take from this evolution in search behavior is that each page of a website should serve as a standalone resource in addition to playing its part in the site as a whole. To pull its own weight, each page of your site should contain appropriate content pertinent to the purpose of the page and provide a clear depiction of how the page fits into the website as a whole.

Communicating to users how a page fits into the site overall can be fairly simple, but is often overlooked as site owners mistakenly assume that brand new visitors are able to navigate the site as easily as the person who designed it can. This is like assuming that drivers can navigate unfamiliar roads with no signs telling them what road they are on, what direction they are headed or the names of anything around them. It is certain to result in mass confusion and few people successfully reaching their destinations.

Clearly, navigation is important to the usability of a website. Online marketing efforts are futile if the site itself is confusing to visitors, so how can you ensure that your site navigation is up to par? Here are a few pointers:

Keep navigation consistent. A uniform look and feel throughout all pages of a site gives it a coherent, professional appearance, and makes for easier navigation. For usability purposes, the main navigation should appear in the same area on each page throughout the site.

When you are driving along an unfamiliar interstate, you can find where you are going because you know to glance to your right and overhead for signs telling you what interstate you are on, what direction you are headed and what roads and cities lay ahead. You know where to look for those signs because they are consistently placed on interstates all over the country. Users have similar expectations for website navigation.

Bear in mind that on most sites, the main navigation controls appear across the top and/or down the left side of each page, so most visitors will look to those areas first. Consistent navigation throughout your site makes users more comfortable, an important factor in closing more sales.

Use breadcrumb trails. A breadcrumb trail is a tool that shows users exactly where the current page lies within a website, and gives them the option of visiting certain other pages with one click. You have likely seen this type of navigation even if you were unfamiliar with its name. If you were looking at a product page for diamond necklaces, the breadcrumb trail would show what levels of navigation you would go through to get to that page, for example:

Home > Jewelry > Necklaces > Diamond Necklaces

The example above tells the user where he or she is - on the ‘Diamond Necklaces’ page - and gives the option of returning to the Necklaces category page, the Jewelry category page or the Home page with one click. Breadcrumb trails can appear with various formatting, and are occasionally vertically oriented.

Provide a shortcut home from anywhere. Getting to a site’s home page should be exceptionally easy from anywhere within the site. Including a link to the home page in the same location across all pages of the site is good practice. Most sites have a home page link in the upper left corner that corresponds with the company name or logo. While a link to the home page can technically appear anywhere, placing it in the upper left corner is consistent with most users’ expectations and will make for ease of navigation. Having consistently placed links to your Contact page visible at all times is also good for retention.

Let users search for what they want. Providing your visitors the ability to search expands their options for finding what they are seeking on your site quickly, thus reducing the chance that they will give up and look elsewhere. A user may not know how to locate certain information using the menus, or may not want to waste time clicking around the site. Search boxes have become increasingly common to the point that many users expect search functionality on all sites they visit.

Covering these navigational basics on an ecommerce site will pave the way for a quality user experience and increased conversions.

-Pam Westbrook, Ecommerce Marketing/Copywriting

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How much time do you spend on the internet each day? How long do you spend online searching for a particular product or service? And how many pages do you visit while doing so?

The truth of the matter is that when prospective customers go online to buy something they are looking to get what they want for the best value as soon as they can get it. Prospective customers will spend just a few seconds on a site before making the decision to click the “back” button or explore the site further. Unlike a brick and mortar store where upon entry there is some lingering before leaving (even if a prospective customer knows right away that he/she are not interested in the product) a prospective customer on the internet can click into and leave five sites in the amount of time it would take to open and close the door at a regular brick and mortar location. In the few seconds that a prospective customer spends on a site before deciding to leave or shop he/she will make snap judgments about the credibility of products, of the site, and most importantly the company itself.

Areas To Focus On
Cindy Cragg, visual merchandising and design specialist with The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, wrote an article for Casual Living titled “4 Essentials of Retailing.” In this article she identified four main focuses that a brick and mortar stores need to succeed- “the ‘Wow’ factor” in the first 10-20 feet of the store, “educate and motivate” customers about products, “give clear directions” to make shopping easier and more enjoyable, and “explore the senses.” The first three are just as important in an online store as they are for a brick and mortar store. The Volusion Marketing and Design teams shared some input on these main points.

“The ‘Wow’ Factor”
The ecommerce equivalent of the first 10-20 feet of a brick and mortar store is the site’s homepage- it is what your customers are first greeted with when they access your site. The most important thing about a home page is that it be visually appealing.

Color- The template should include colors that make the customer feel welcome and not overwhelmed or intimidated. They should also be appropriate to your industry to add to your perceived credibility. Much like a brick and mortar store would not want to be bare and just pile products up for customers to search through; an online store needs to get a customer in the spirit of the store’s atmosphere and give the eye something to look at.
Volusion Custom Templates
Volusion Professional Design Services

Quality Product Photographs- When possible it is always best to use photographs of your actual products so that customers know what they are getting, instead of stock photographs that can be a bit misleading. The photographs should be large and have a high resolution to grab the attention of the customer. Customers are used to going into brick and mortar stores and seeing exactly what they are getting- why should that experience be any different online?

Relevant Information- If you are having a sale or running a promotion that is relevant to the customer’s purchase, it should be clearly stated on the homepage to hold their interest. In a brick and mortar store customers gravitate toward the “clearance rack” in much the same way that online customers will stay on a site longer if they think they are getting a deal. Do not get carried away though- flashing sale signs and huge text can actually drive customers away.

Products- You should always have a small sampling of products listed on your homepage. This is your space to have a featured products section to showcase your best sellers. Think of this as your “front window display.” If you add too many products though the site can feel cluttered and scare away customers who do not want to sift through many product images and descriptions.

Main Category Thumbnails- Having small images to represent the categories of items you are selling can be both visually appealing and also beneficial if the category name itself is not well known or vague.

“Educate and Motivate”
Your featured products section will be a customer’s first sense of who you are, what you are selling, and what makes you different, but remember that you have other pages that can extend this mission in ways that many online store owners tend to overlook.

“About Us” Section- Every site should have some sort of basic information about who you are as a company but this about us section is a great place to tell customers what makes you different. Tell the world about your history, employees, unique products, packaging, business practices, charity efforts- anything that will make you stick out in a customer’s mind.

Include Yourself- If you went to a brick and mortar store you would certainly interact with real people, so why not make your site feel more like connecting with a real person? Some popular ways to do this are by including a picture of yourself (or your baby, pet, etc. if relevant to the site content), include employee biographies, add live chat so customers can talk to real people in real time.

Customer Reviews and Testimonials- Customers talk. Why not make it easier for customers to find out what others think about your products, your site, and your business? Quality reviews can make a customer feel more confident about making a purchase if they can get a sense of what the product is like from someone who has no agenda in discussing the product. Let good reviews be the salespeople you would hire for your brick and mortar store.

Contact Information- When a customer goes into a brick and mortar store they have a very firm idea of where to go if there is a problem with their purchase, but online it can be more difficult. Every website should have clear contact information. The more information you can provide the better. Include the physical/mailing address, a phone number, an email address, and clear instructions for customers that may have a problem or question about their order. Many customers will skip right over a site if there is no contact information of if the company policies on returns and refunds are not posted in an easy to find location.

“Give Clear Directions”
If your site has an easy navigation it will most likely result in higher conversions much the same way that a retail store benefits by having an easy to understand layout. Make customers feel comfortable navigating your site and they are more likely to stay on your site longer and buy more products.

Various Search Options- An important way to help customers feel like they are getting what they want quickly is to help them search in ways that would accommodate many situations. For example, imagine the following situation: a woman is looking for a dress. One customer may only care that the dress is blue so that it will match shoes she already has. One customer may be looking for a dress as evening wear. One customer may be need a dress for a one-time occasion and wants to limit the amount of money they are spending. By making your products search have options like color, function, price, brand, length, material, etc. you are giving the customer the most direct way to get to what they want.

Have “Related Products”- Customers that do not have a particular product in mind, but rather a category or functionality will benefit by this greatly. This is the online version of the brick and mortar sales representative helping lead the customer to the section with the particular dresses that they are looking for.

Points to Take Away
Potential customers online are lazy. They will not search through page after unappealing disorganized page to find a product or service that they are looking for. In an instant they can navigate away to a new site that may appeal to them more. Therefore, your site needs to draw the customer in right away by catching their eye and making them feel comfortable. Once you have them explain why you are different and get them excited about buying; and lastly, help them buy easily.

-Kate Pierce, Ecommerce Specialist

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“We don’t just sell product, we sell and foster what the Peake brand is,” explains Chris Richards, founder of PeakeUSA, a grassroots clothing and apparel designer focused on encouraging a “vital balance of a relaxed mindset with an active attitude.” Offering a versatile selection of surf, snow and golf apparel, Richards has relied on the Volusion platform since the launch of his storefront, www.PeakeUSA.com, in November of 2005. Richards and the Peake team have since worked incessantly to build a well-rounded community around the brand while providing a customer friendly shopping experience through their online storefront.

Peake has relied on Volusion’s e-commerce platform as a cornerstone of its business from the start. “Volusion allows us to market, sell, and deliver our clothing to our customers, keeping our focus on our brand and our clothing, not the technology and backend to sell and ship it. The platform is easy enough to grasp for a team with minimal technical background but has enough horsepower and features to allow you to customize and do whatever you need given your specific market,” Richards says. Richards maintains an emphasis on providing a complete yet straightforward shopping experience for Peake customers, pointing out that customer confusion leads to lost sales. He notes that Volusion provides “easy to use, secure e-commerce with tools that allow our customers to see our products clearly, buy them easily and receive clear receipts and acknowledgement of shipment,” adding “Volusion has done a fantastic job building a very easy to use, customer friendly e-commerce platform.”

Peake leverages the power of the internet to communicate directly with customers and continually strengthen its brand. The Peake team stays involved with an active following of brand enthusiasts through contemporary social networks like MySpace, where it currently connects with nearly 1,400 friends and counting. Peake also heads up a proprietary social networking community called Peake Pals, where Peake fans can gather, network and make friends by creating profiles, uploading photos and chatting in forums. Through active and diversified social media involvement, the company effectively fosters a sense of camaraderie and personal connection with the Peake brand rarely achieved in the online marketplace.

Social media involvement, direct wholesale options and strategic e-mail marketing programs backed by Volusion’s robust e-commerce software have given Peake the edge it needs to compete with athletic apparel giants in the online arena. So what advice does forward-thinking business owner Chris Richards have for other online store owners? “If you have a great idea or good products, Volusion has all the tools you need to sell online effectively. They have done the heavy lifting on the technology, leaving you to work on your company, products, services or brand,” adding, “harness this power, market effectively, never give up and work your butt off.”

-Pam Westbrook, Ecommerce Marketing/Copywriting

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