How many clicks does it take to get to the middle of your order form?

Are you making your customers click though unnecessary pages to get to your order form? I visited a website the other day, found the product I liked and wanted information on ordering. Since there was not a price listed I clicked the buy button. (1 click) A page came up asking if I would like the electronic or regular version? (2 clicks), so I clicked electronic thinking here it is.

Nope, I had to choose from 5 countries. (3 clicks) wow, theyre a big company Im impressed. Next page, did I want the Windows or Mac version? Hey, that is a legitimate question but you could have saved me some time by asking which version I preferred on the first page.

Great, so Im ready to buy, but I still have no idea how much it costs. I click Windows (4 clicks) Did I want to order the program from them or an outside retailer? (5 clicks) Made my choice, now can I buy? Nope, not yet, I get to choose which product I want from an alphabetized list, or categorized list (6 clicks) so I scroll down through all their products.

Uh, what was the name of that product again? I couldnt find it and had to go back because I made the mistake of choosing category first. (7 clicks) Back to the alphabetized or categorized list (8 clicks) Now, I know sometimes when you list other products you can make an "up sell" but couldnt you show me what I want first, then offer another product later after I have found what I want?

Please satisfy me Im so busy, I only have a few minutes in between my life.

Okay, so I click again thinking this has to be it! Is it not it, there is that electronic or regular version screen again. I thought I made that choice 6 clicks back, apparently not.

Gee, this is really getting annoying. Look! There it is after 9 clicks and several minutes of wasted time, I found it! You would think I was looking for buried treasure. I had absolutely no idea what the price of the product was until the last page.

That was just finding the product I wanted to order, now I have to order it. I wonder how many clicks that will be?

Make the process easy for your customers to purchase from you

All the questions the Company asked were good questions, very necessary to insure I received the correct product order but they could have saved me, their most precious commodity the customer a lot of trouble.

State as much information you can upfront, so the customer doesnt have to wade through several pages of whatever. They may not!

Go through the ordering process yourself. Have friends and neighbors order from you. If you can possibly find a friend who has never ordered online have them give it a go too. (A good shopping cart system should have a test feature.) Try to limit the ordering process to a few pages from the time the customer clicks the buy button to the completion of the order.

After you made the sale send your customer a note asking him or her what you could do to make the sale process better. Or, ask if the ordering process was easy to follow then send him or her a gift or discount on another purchase if possible.

In a Virtual world where the next competitor is only a click away, be sure you arent making your visitors leave your site with a smile on their face!

About the Author

Article by Dolores Pepper creator of "The Revolution Start Page Revolver" The Revolution makes belonging to more than one start page program a breeze. Simply add as many URLs as you desire then click to set your new home page. Your URLs will rotate allowing you earn credits/page views for each program you belong to.

dolores@startpagerevolver.com
http://www.startpagerevolver.com