[ic] Adding to Cart

[gurs at sbcglobal.net]

On 6 Aug 2003 at 0:47, Mike Heins wrote:

> Quoting Marty Tennison (marty at sediva.com):
> > On Mon, 2003-08-04 at 19:57, gurs at sbcglobal.net wrote:
> > > Hi All,
> > > 
> > > Just a general non-programming questions.
> > > 
> > > Just recently I upgraded a commerce site. This site used to take you to the cart page 
> > > every time you added an item to it but now it keeps you on the same page and just 
> > > displays your cart (what buy-list does but we don't use buy-list) on the top of the page. 
> > > 
> > > Has anyone else tried using the second method on their site. Does make it easier for 
> > > the user or just confusing since no major ecommerce site does it this way.
> > > 
> > > When we implemented this we thought it would make it easier for the user but now I am 
> > > having second thoughts. Any comments?
> > 
> > www.barnesandnoble.com does this.  I've always thought it was pretty
> > slick and implemented it on a few sites.   It saves the customers from
> > having to click on "continue shopping" if they want to go shopping some
> > more.   
> > 
> > So for the customer who is going to add 1 item and checkout, it may be
> > one additional click after they click the buy button (ie go to cart). 
> > But for the customer who is going to add multiple items is saves them
> > having to click the continue shopping button a bunch of times.   I opted
> > to cater to the customer purchasing more items.  :)
> > 
> > We've been doing it this way for about a year and so far no complaints. 
> > But from examining the logs, it's clear that some customers just don't
> > get it.
> > 
> > One suggestion - if you keep them on the same page, make the "this item
> > added to your cart" portion of the page very very loud to catch the
> > customers attention.   Otherwise, if it is a subtle change, they tend to
> > miss it, especially if the page refresh is slow and they have a blank
> > page for a few seconds.
> > 
> 
> I have also done a thing where it gets added to the "tiny_cart" on
> the left edge via Javascript. It also changes the button to say "In your 
> cart -- buy more" instead of "buy now". This seems to get through
> to people....
> 
> The key is to make the order target an "ord/nobasket" page which
> returns a 204 No Content header. 
> 
> I have attached the three files that make it go -- they will be
> in the next iteration of the "mike" demo, 0.05.
> 
> -- 
> Mike Heins
> Perusion -- Expert Interchange Consulting    http://www.perusion.com/
> phone +1.513.523.7621      <mike at perusion.com>
> 
> Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed. -- Francis Bacon
> 

Thanks for the suggestions Marty and Mike!

A lot of my customers don't get it either, it probably has to do with the fact that most 
places on the internet don't already implement this (lack of technology or no wanting to 
risk losing business). Using JavaScript to change buy now to buy more is a good idea I 
will do that.

I will also have to implement the ord/nobasket page and see if that gets people going on 
the right track. I have also decided to put a message on our customer entrance page 
that explains this feature, something along the lines of a "Helpful Tip". Another thing 
that I have to do is make the "tiny_cart" bolder.

As for the customer who only buys 1 item (or more) I already have an easy-to-access 
"checkout" link next to my "view cart" link on all pages. The best thing about "tiny_cart" 
concept is it keeps people from using the back button and coming across expired 
search pages or other forms, they stay on page with items which interest them and 
helps conserve bandwidth/time for the user with a "standard modem internet 
connection" (56k).

Since now I know I am not the only one doing this I will stick to it. Hopefully others will 
see the benefits and follow this neat Interchange capability, maybe ICDEVGROUP 
should patent it before Amazon or OpenMarket/Divine do.

Side note, the mike demo is a great way to showcases some of ICs hidden potential 
can't wait until 0.05. Keep up the good work!

Best Regards,
G.S.