I’ve written quite a bit about conversion rates on this blog, but the fact is that most people that visit an e-commerce web site have no intention of buying.  They are window shopping.  Optimizing your web site to increase your conversion rate is very important, but you can’t forget about optimizing for the 70-80% of people or more that are “window shoppers.”

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Perhaps one of the biggest challenges online retailers face is creating a personal experience. If a customer walks into a store, they are greeted, given service, and assisted in making a purchase. With a web site, that personal connection just isn’t there. I wanted to share a recent case study with you to show you how we helped a client create that personal connection with their customers.

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Since many small businesses (especially in today’s economy) don’t want to spend a fortune on testing and research, I was pleased to see Marketing Sherpa’s brilliant new article called “Case Study: Increase Conversions with Simple Site Redesign: 7 Steps” (you can read this article and see creative examples for free until April 15th).  The article provides some great advice to companies looking to test redesigns on the cheap.

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Today, Comscore forecasted flat growth for e-commerce holiday spending. Many online retailers are experiencing slowing growth due to customers deal-hunting and buying fewer, less expensive gifts. As customers become more frugal and spend with discretion, it’s important for online retailers to engage customers. The E-Commerce Times recently published an article about enhancing customer experience that mentioned that “traditional e-commerce sites are almost absurdly passive,” (which is also true about most company web sites in the service industry).

Part of good marketing and earning new customers is knowing them and anticipating their needs. Engaging customers — and touching on emotion — can help generate sales. The article discusses a few examples of website features and microsites that are good examples of “out of the box” sales generation tools.

During a client presentation back in September, I used the example of JC Penney’s “Get that look” microsite as a good example of how online retailers can use online video and interactivity to engage customers and sell products. The video was for the “back to school” timeframe and has been taken down, but the “choose-your-own-adventure-style” interactive rich media featured well-merchandised products available at JCPenney’s web site.

The Ecommerce Times article lists other examples of retailers that engage customers if you’d like to see examples.

Get some other ideas to respond to the economic downturn:

• Download and watch the “No Retreat! Investing in eCommerce Despite the Times” webinar from Lauren Freedman and the Acquity Group
• Read the PlumbersSurplus interview with e-commerce analyst Linda Bustos
• Boost your site’s average order size. Learn some tips to do this at Blue Acorn’s blog
• Carefully weigh the costs and benefits of offering free shipping
• 80% of customers say they would likely increase coupon use if coupons were tailored to their interests and delivered online.

There are a number of free, easy or cheap ways that online retailers can boost their traffic and sales this holiday season. With the economic downturn in full swing, retailers are being forced to be more innovative to keep pace with last year’s sales numbers. Here are some ideas.
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E-consultancy has posted an interesting blog post today — an interview with Beautique’s Jason Russell (read the blog post here).  It’s a short but interesting Q&A session with an etail startup, and covers issues like the relationship between the online store and brick-and-mortar operation (salons in this case), ways they acquire new customers, implementing customer reviews and ratings, international shipping, recruiting talent and the agency versus in-house debate.  Worth the read.