[Source:
Smallbiztechnology.com
]
This guest article is by James Glassman, Senior Fellow, of the American Enterprise Institute
All businesses thrive by finding loyal customers. In a shopping environment with so many choices, retailers must distinguish themselves. But how? One of the best approaches is to probe the behaviors of online shoppers, to discover their preferences, and then to tailor the experience both to find new customers and develop stronger relationships with current ones.
The real trick is to acquire and hold customers while constraining operating costs. A recent study that I helped Harris Interactive develop on behalf of PayPal, combined with work by other researchers, points to four answers: 1) aggressively promote the items you are selling, 2) package items together, 3) create a secure environment for consumer purchases, and 4) offer payment options to help decrease shopping cart abandonment.
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