In this edition of Web Enlightenment we'll be talking about the oldest new trick Internet Entrepreneurs should be using - secret shopping.

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All the best,

The Oldest New Trick, Mystery Shopping

I hope everyone had a terrific Turkey Day last week. As many of you know Thanksgiving is my very favorite holiday - as part of what seems to be a new tradition here on the farm, we roasted a whole pig for dinner. This confused me all day as every time I wanted to say "Gobble, Gobble" I actually needed to say "Oink, Oink" instead.

Should you be keeping track of my favorite food on earth I can report to you that subsequent to the meal I did indeed consume 5 pieces of pie. My elastic waist band was tested and I was smiling.

All of the Turkey Day festivities got me thinking about the upcoming holiday shopping season and what websites I would be visiting to get all of that done. You didn't think that a geek like me would ever get up at 5 AM and go to an actual physical store, did you ? Not happening, I'm sleeping in and firing up my browser from my snuggly bed.

I love talking to Internet Entrepreneurs about shopping online, and one of the things that always amazes me is how many of them do so very little of it. This is especially true if they are old enough to have been shopping with regularity before the web was really ready to help them.

This is a very simple piece of advice for anyone interested in online success - shop online every single time you get a chance. If you ran a restaurant for a living I'd also suggest that you eat out frequently.

But today we aren't going to be talking about overall online shopping, we're going to be talking about the oldest new trick around, mystery shopping your own site.

I recommend that folks do this on a regular basis and the more you can "unplug your brain" (not think) the better the result will be.

Start with the 4 most basic things and make sure they are in amazing condition.

1. Your Phone Number

You need your Toll Free Phone Number visibly displayed on every page of your site, never make them dig for it. Consider making it especially prominent near your add to cart button and during your checkout process. A really weird thing about human psychology: having the number very clearly displayed improves conversion rate but does not actually cause more people to call, folks just feel better knowing they can call you.

2. Customer Service / FAQ

Make sure your customer service info and FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) is very clear and obvious. The most common questions are about shipping, Returns/Refunds, How to Order, and product specific information. Check out Amazon's Main Help page for a great list of basics.

3. Inventory

The age old question of whether or not you actually have the item will always be in the customers mind. If you have items that are always available (lucky you) make sure to clearly label them as "in-stock". Some shopping cart systems disable add to cart buttons when an item is not in stock and prompt the customer to request that they be "emailed when the item is back in stock". There are lots of other options here but the key is great clarity.

4. Clear Stepped Checkout

As much as it may seem obvious the number of sites without clear checkout processes continues to amaze me. Folks want to buy the item and sites make it difficult to do so. Make it very obvious, very simple, and if you have confusion about what is working then split test your sequence. Google's Website Optimizer does this and it is free.

Ok, so you've got the basics down. Now you can move on to make things even better with these 7 items to improve further. These need to be done after you have the four essentials totally perfect but they are well worth the effort.

1. Customer Service Hours & Expectations

Being clear about when you are open, how long it takes for you to respond to email, and what folks can expect generally when dealing with customer service is very important. Just like having a clear phone number this makes people feel better about doing business with you.

2. A Guarantee

Many sites these days are offering a 100% guarantee and the impact it can have on your sales is tremendous. Entrepreneurs tend to really hesitate to do this for fear of abuses but I have never seen a program like this be a bad idea from a financial perspective - the worst thing that can happen is that your customers educate you about a product you really should not be offering. That is very inexpensive education vs the cost of being unaware your customers are unhappy with something you sell.

3. Insanely Obvious Perpetual Cart

More and more folks shop at sites and then go off and think about it for awhile. When they return to your site they expect everything to still be there or they perceive that you made them work hard and "start over". These days it is no longer reasonable to view cart abandonment as always being a lost sale as so many of them are in fact just deferred.

4. Clarity on Shipping Costs (if Any) & Cut-Off Dates

Everyone hates to pay for shipping, that is what makes free shipping far and away the most effective online incentive. Regardless of whether or not you go for "Free", be sure to be really clear about exactly what you charge for shipping - it is more important that is seem reasonable than it actually be reasonable.

I never thought being a procrastinator made me a moron but apparently it does. I often shop late and pay for expedited shipping but for some reason most of the folks that do this need "incredibly clear giant so obvious in your face it is obnoxious" cut-off dates - make sure they know when they can order and still get it in time. Remember - this is actually true all of the time - it is just more important during December.

5. Let them be a Guest

Do you hate setting up accounts and remembering all the passwords you have for so many sites? We all do and it is important to make sure your site does not force people to "join" before they can buy. Sure, go ahead and explain all the benefits of signing in but always - seriously, always and without fail - let them checkout as a guest if they want to do so. I've seen this one thing cause 10% swings in conversions many times.

6. Super Easy Awesome Returns

I'm not sure why but Entrepreneurs really tend to think that making it cumbersome to make returns will reduce the rate of returns - it doesn't. All it does is make the return process more difficult as folks are annoyed at the start. Making returns really obvious and clear in fact usually increases conversion as prospective shoppers see this as a sign of your ethics and what it will be like to buy from you.

If your Entrepreneur Spidey Sense is tingling and it feels like you've gone a bit too far in explaining how to make a return and making it easy - that's just about right.

7. Make your non product info connect to your search box

Most shopping cart sites are "database driven", which means all of the product is in a very easy to search format. From "Pink T-Shirt" to "Sony DVD Player" if you search for product info most sites do a great job helping you find what you need.

But what if you search for critical info that isn't a product? Think: Shipping, Returns, Order Status, Tracking Orders, Tax, Warranties - what happens when someone inputs these terms into your site search engine? Do you have any idea? go ahead - go try it right now, I'll wait......
Now you either need to send a stern note to your web developer or buy them a beer immediately.

It doesn't take long to Secret shop your site , it will cost you nothing but a bit of time, and it invariably produces amazing results. Give it a whirl, secret shop your own site today.

The most important job of an Internet Entrepreneur is to set clear goals for the team - and shopping your own site (and your competitors) is one of the most productive ways you can do just that.

In the meantime, I'll be getting ready for all of the pie I'll be eating during the upcoming Holiday Season.