Featured Articles

Retailers once relied on building a straightforward web site with links and images and then waited for customers to arrive and shop. But in a new era of social networking and Web 2.0, online shoppers will increasingly expect faster, more effective browsing and the ability to quickly interact with the site and each other. In this article David Fry sums up how user-oriented technology is changing the face of web retailing and what merchants need to know to keep pace with the new customer-facing web technology.

Integrating rich media into a site design or redesign doesn't have to be difficult or expensive and the results can be powerful. Vendaria Media CEO Scott Roth explains how, when used effectively, rich media can help web retailers drive increased conversion rates and cross-channel sales and reduce cart abandonment and returns.

By delivering a better product experience through greater visibility or interactivity, rich media carries more persuasive power than static images—its "poor" counterpart. After setting up a lab-based usability test and analyzing the feedback of 200 respondents, Usability Sciences president Jeff Schueler writes about the surprising results and offers up 11 best practice ideas web retailers can use to implement more effective rich media.

Web 2.0, for all its sparkling newness, is built on a foundation retailers are familiar with: know thy customer, serve thy customer and reap the rewards. Steve Mulder, director of emerging interactions, Molecular Inc., explains the basics of Web 2.0 and how rich interfaces, behavior-driven shopping applications and social networking can be stepping stones to attract better site traffic and a higher sales conversion.

The key to success with natural search is to consistently monitor and evaluate shoppers' search behavior, which in turn leads to higher optimization. This article by Shari Thurow, founder and search engine optimization director, Omni Marketing Interactive, addresses seven important optimization strategies for designing better pages and generating qualified search engine traffic and more sales.

Browser and operating system configuration testing isn't a new usability challenge—users have always come online with disparate browsing DNA. But today the growing combinations of browsers, OS and screen resolutions against which to test are overwhelming. Patrick Lightbody, QA solutions product manager and chief open source evangelist, Gomez Inc., explains the basics of proper testing and why a good user experience team understands what types of testing to perform and against which configurations in order to mirror their target users' experience.