Is there a difference in the way men and women use search?   Is there a way to better meet the needs of women in your search strategy and campaigns?

These are some of the questions I discussed with Gord Hotchkiss, President and CEO of Enquiro Research.

More and more studies are showing there are differences in how men and women use websites.   Is there a difference in how they use search as well?   Let’s find out.

Take a listen.

Click here to listen to Holly’s…

...continue to read "Women and Search-an Interview with Gord Hotchkiss of Enquiro"

I was catching up on my reading from last week and noticed this gem from eMarketer. In it they shared some data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project study in February 2008 on the positive and negative attitudes of online buyers by age.

One thing jumped right out: Across the board, the percentage of those surveyed who had negative things to say about shopping online was higher among older shoppers, with one exception. Can you guess?

“Online shopping is still too…

...continue to read "E-commerce Still Too Complicated For Most"

The new “Ouch Point” survey from the Opinion Research Corporation suggests that U.S. e-commerce websites are still — believe it or not — frustrating shoppers.

As first reported by Direct Magazine, the survey found that…

19% dislike learning an item was back-ordered or out of stock after said item was placed in a shopping cart 14% are frustrated by Web sites that malfunction as payment is being processed 8% are confounded by unclear return policies 6% don’t like unclear shipping information 6% dislike…

...continue to read "Study: Brand Erosion Caused By E-Commerce Friction"

Quick question for anyone with a lead-generation or e-commerce site…

Which is easier: Getting people to trust your website and complete its web form or checkout process, or getting them to literally donate their hearts and eyeballs?

Take your time.

Apparently, the answer depends on where they live. While 99.98% of Austrians agree to donate their organs upon death, only 12% of Germans do the same. Virtually all French citizens will donate a kidney to save a life, but the Brits? Only 17%…

...continue to read "Conversion Rates, Eat Your Heart Out"

This may not come as a shock, but new research suggests that, yes, our friends are more influential than so-called “influencers” like bloggers.

According to MediaPost,

…a new study from Canadian research firm Pollara, self-described social media users put far more trust in friends and family online than in popular bloggers, or strangers with 10,000 MySpace “friends.”

Of more than 1,100 adults polled in December, nearly 80% said they were very or somewhat more likely to consider buying products recommended by real-world friends and…

...continue to read "Are Friends More Influential Than “Influencers”?"

We all use stereotypes. They’re a shortcut to understanding people who are not like us.

Occasionally — perhaps more often than we’d like to admit — there’s at least some grain of truth in stereotypes. There are a few attributes that may be accurate about each of the groups others lump us in. So why are they so harmful?

In an article for MSNBC (”Science Gets the Last Laugh on Ethnic Jokes”), Kathleen Wren discusses a recent study showing that real personalities…

...continue to read "Why “Harmless” Stereotypes Kill Marketing Campaigns"

Recently, Hitwise published their 2007 list of the top 50 e-commerce websites in the UK.

While many of the usual suspects are represented, it’s worth noting how consumer demand compares with the huge differences in the quality of customer experiences offered by these sites.

Of course, it’s one thing to know who the top retailers are, but it’s quite another to have qualitative data that shows how certain e-commerce sites actually engage customers. That’s why we spent months reviewing hundreds of American retailers…

...continue to read "The UK’s Top 50 Ecommerce Sites"

Wouldn’t it be great if we could get insights as to which products people preferred. We could get research into which products we should merchandise more prominently. Google just released a new trending tool for those of us curious what people are buying and selling online. From the official Google Checkout Blog:

Many of you are aware of Google Trends, the handy tool that enables you to track and compare what Google users are searching for. Now imagine a similar tool…

...continue to read "Google Reveals What People Are Buying Online"

I stumbled across this interesting bit of interface research. The quiz guides you through a series of different interfaces and you choose whichever you prefer. At the end, it runs you through each individual result. Check it out and see how you do compared to the 10,000+ people who’ve already run through it.

How do you think Uncle Jakob would vote?

...continue to read "Which Interface Do You Prefer?"

How Much Money Do Retailers Leave on the Table?

Our 2007 study clearly shows that online retailers are not capitalizing on the customer experience and are overly focused on innovation while ignoring the basics.

U.S. online retail sales will more than double over the next six years, reaching $316 billion by 2010, according to a new report from Forrester Research — they expect e-commerce will grow to account for 12 percent of total retail sales in 2010, up from nearly 7…

...continue to read "Future Now’s 2007 Retail Customer Experience Study"