|
View the web version
Hi there, hope you're having a great Friday!
This is Colm and Simon from CommerceGurus, with a handpicked weekly roundup of eCommerce articles.
Big Shoptimizer and CommerceKit Update!
Shoptimizer and CommerceKit have both got huge updates this week with lots of new features, accessibility improvements and various fixes included.
Let's go over the major changes.
Shoptimizer now includes an oft-requested feature - a separate mobile menu option. Previously, the same menu would appear on desktop, and on smaller devices. But now, you can configure a mobile-only menu if you wish.
We've done a lot of work on keyboard accessibility in this release. You can now navigate the theme entirely with the keyboard. Dropdown menus open when you tab into them, and the product card is revealed when navigating through the catalog. The sidebar cart can also be closed with the 'Esc' key and it correctly traps the focus while it is active on screen.
The CommerceKit Waitlist module now includes a Products section so you can see the most popular items in your catalog customers have expressed an interest in.
CommerceKit Countdowns can now be automatically hidden when the time expires, and you can optionally display a custom message in its place.
We re-built CommerceKit's Search module from scratch. Product search suggestions are now loaded from cache tables so these are incredibly quick to display. Stores with large catalogs should see a major performance improvement.
You can now Import/Export CommerceKit's Attribute Galleries and Attribute Swatches via CSV files.
Our Order Bump module now includes a cart total condition. This allows you to display different upsells for high and low value carts for example.
Finally, for native block editor fans, an initial theme.json has been included with Shoptimizer for the first time. This provides more responsive typography controls as well as margin and padding settings within the native WordPress block editor. More on this topic is coming soon.
This is only a small selection of the latest update. Be sure to peruse the changelog in more detail to see everything that has been included.
Remember that before updating a live store, it's strongly recommended to update a separate staging site first. This gives you time to test any major update carefully before deploying it.
Discover the Latest Shoptimizer and CommerceKit Release
Gamification is the practice of “gamifying” certain tasks or behaviors by designing user experiences that are more interactive and fun.
With the help of gamification, tasks that might otherwise be boring or mundane are elevated to improve customer engagement.
This fascinating article looks at some approaches to gamification within the world of eCommerce.
It shares some great examples of brands that have used eCommerce gamification to improve the shopping experience.
Their use of this approach has driven revenue to their business and can inspire you on how to implement gamification in your own brand.
Discover more about Gamification in eCommerce
If a customer reaches the end of your catalog, they might infer: Hmm, I reached the end without choosing a product. Guess I don't like any of them.
But were they disinterested? Or merely indecisive?
Help customers rationalize this behavior. At the end of your catalog, insert a statement to shift their rationale from dislike to indecision:
- Can't decide? Take our quiz to find the right product.
- Can't decide? Let our experts help.
- Can't decide? Build your own bundle.
This is an interesting article which can make you think differently about how your own catalog is presented.
Read more about Reaching the End of a Catalog Tactic
From difficult discount codes and complicated checkout pages, to confusing delivery options and a lack of responsive customer support, many customers can leave a shopping experience feeling dissatisfied.
In this article from Vervaunt, they hone in on five key areas that cause the most friction in a user’s journey to purchase, taking real life examples and providing actionable suggestions and quick wins on how brands can improve the experience and prevent their customers raising the same concerns.
One area highlighted a customer’s frustration when an item is out of stock. A waitlist (such as that found in our CommerceKit plugin) can be a huge benefit in this regard.
Discover 5 of the Most Common Customer UX Complaints
This is a neat little website showcase gallery which shows only eight sites from a pool of currently 3037 beautifully designed sites.
They are shuffled on every visit so you get a new experience every time to check it out.
Take a look at the Collected.li Showcase
Store owners, we want to hear from you!
We'd love to hear how your business started. Get your store featured in a future issue and reach thousands of subscribers!
Submit your story
|
That's it for this edition. Simply reply to this email if you have any questions or suggestions, we read every message.
You can also take a look at our entire back catalog of newsletters.
Have a great week and best of luck with your projects!
Colm and Simon from CommerceGurus
|