Web 2.0 tools improve shoppers’ experience, sales, experts say

E-retailers should take a “web 2.0 look” at their web site and look for opportunities to use new rich media tools. “Ajax is a great place to start,” says Gene Alvarez, vice president, retail e-commerce at Gartner Inc., a research and consulting company.

Ajax, short for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is a technology that enables web pages to be more interactive and display images quickly without moving from page to page. E-retailers are beginning to use Ajax to improve the customer experience—along with sales—but the industry has far to go in using such web 2.0 tools, Alvarez says.

“Web 1.0” sales drivers of yesteryear, such as getting a web site up as soon as possible, have become burdensome today, Alvarez says. He cites slow shopping experiences, antiquated checkouts and poor product visuals as items high on retail customers’ lists of things they don’t like about web shopping.

Web 2.0, however, contributes to the highest customer experience and can affect overall sales productivity, beyond online sales for multi-channel retailers, Alvarez says.

Web 2.0 technology enables customers to get more product information and interact with e-retailers, says David Fry, president, Fry Inc., an e-commerce development and services provider. Key features include customer ratings, user-generated content and even customer photos showing how they use a product, Fry says.

Ajax design tools enable such features. “We think Ajax is the most important technology to be using now,” Fry says.

Fry cites as examples Timberland, whose web site lets customers build their ideal boot via rich media applications, and David’s Bridal’s ‘dress your wedding’ feature, which enables couples to “dress” their wedding party using avatars.

“Expectations are rising of what customers can do online,” Fry adds.