Popular Ecommerce Web Sites
Amazon.com
At first glance, it appears that this site is very focused on selling (as they should be), but if you notice, there is much more there than simply "Click here to buy this book". There are:
- Excerpts from the books for sale
- A list of the 100 "hot" books, updated hourly
- The top video and audio sellers for the day
- Reviews both by other customers and professional reviewers
- Author interviews
- Contests
- Reading groups and much more...
Amazon.com relies heavily on content to promote return visits and sales. They encourage their customers to review the products and provide live testimonials. Some customers will return to this site, simply because of the reviews and other resources.
Bigstar.Com
This e-commerce movie site sets up a lot of content right from the front page. There are suggestions for gifts, as well as "Movie News", two contests, and chats with the stars themselves.
Making a site more interactive is going to encourage people to keep coming back and a video site that promote chats with the stars is a big draw.
CDNow
CDNow provides content to their customers once you get past the first page. You can get News, Reviews, and other information about the CDs offered for sale, as well as the artists involved with the CDs. There is even a section of Web links with links to other sites that are relevant to the band in question.
One interesting feature that CDNow has is the ability to customize the site to your personal interests. You can do things like create a "favorite artists" list so that whenever they have new music, you will find out right away.
The Final Word
while most e-commerce sites do not rely heavily on content, they do use it to promote return visits and customer loyalty. Remember that 95% of the people who come to your Web page won't buy anything the first time. They have to become comfortable with your site, used to how you do your business, and feel secure enough to commit their hard earned dollars. If you have reliable and useful content, they will return, with credit card in hand.
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