Summary

True, usability does not guarantee success for an e-commerce site. If prices are too high, people won't buy even if it is easy to navigate the site. But usability is one of the most important determinants for the success of an e-commerce site, especially considering how cheap it is to include basic usability methods in a project.

This report presents general findings regarding the relation between usability and e-commerce, including the following issues:

• Why users abandon e-commerce sites. Users often feel powerless or overwhelmed while they are visiting a site, and other sites are just a click away.
• The success rate for online shopping tasks. The results of our own usability studies compared with those presented in several other reports.
• Domestic versus international success rates. Sites are so difficult to use for non-native speakers that improvements in international usability count as one of the greatest opportunities for increasing e-commerce sales. An entire report in this series (International Users) is devoted to international usability issues.
• Scorecard for compliance with our design guidelines. Amazon.com follows 72% of the 207 guidelines we have documented. Other big sites' scores are lower, and smaller sites have horrible usability.
• Different types of usability guidelines. How to develop your own domain- specific guidelines.
• Budgets for usability in Web projects. What other companies spend, and how best to apply your usability budget to increase sales and user loyalty.

32 pages. Illustrated with color screenshots from several websites.

See sample section as thumbnail pages

This document is a part of Nielsen Norman Group's series of design guidelines for e-commerce user experience.
 

Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary
2. About the Study - Overview of Method
3. Sites We Tested
4. Usability and E-Commerce
   • Why People Abandon Shopping Carts
   • Usability Increases Sales
5. Results of Our Usability Study of E-Commerce Sites
   • Success Rates
   • Comparison With Other E-Commerce Studies
   • Usability Success Rates and Abandoned Shopping Carts
   • International Success Rates
6. E-Commerce Design Guidelines: Some Examples
   • Search
   • Side-by-Side Comparisons
   • Winnowong
7. Scorecard: How Sites Comply With Usability Guidelines
8. Using Guidelines to Improve Design
   • Multiple Levels of Guidelines
   • B2B Guidelines
   • Developing Internal Design Guidelines
9. Cost of Usability
   • Today's Best Practices
   • Past and Future Expenditures
10. References

Who Should Read This Report?

Running a similar usability study yourself to collect comparative design lessons from a large number of websites around the world would cost thousands more than the cost of these reports, not to mention months of effort by your team of experienced usability professionals.

32 pages PDF format:  download your copy right now (from eSellerate) Single-user license: $45 Site license: $99 (allows you to place on your intranet and make unlimited copies within your company)