ABAbooks.org raises online sales bar by 9% for 2006

\The American Bar Association reports a 9% increase in online legal products sales compared to 2005. ABAbooks.org sales have reached almost $10 million on nearly 100,000 orders since a September 2004 rollout, association executives say.

IRCE 2008 Conference Multi-Media CD-ROM

In 2007, the ABA, No. 493 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites, hopes to improve on the more than 450,000 page views its web site receives each month. Upgrades scheduled this year are expected to improve the ABA’s e-commerce marketing presence, attract more customers and increase revenue. Improvements include better access to more content, greater customization, better navigation, and a more strongly branded look and feel.

E-commerce projects for 2007 include:

• A “store-within-a-store” feature that provides customized content. For example, this will enable the ABA to create a mini store for solo and small firms by drawing on relevant content from all ABA entities including books, continuing legal education program materials, white papers and articles from periodicals.
• A newly redesigned home page with more strongly branded graphics and a better use of selling space. Over the next 12 to 18 months, upgrades will include a “wish list” feature, a news box, more prominent gift certificates, expanded search box options, improved customer service and help information, and suggested reading lists.
• Rich media. Product page additions including tables of contents, sample chapters and excerpts, video and audio clips, and searchable PDFs. This content is designed to help with buying decisions and enhance search-engine optimization.
• The ability to download podcasts, which is expected to help the ABA stay in step with the coming generations of lawyers who rely on this medium.

The ABA also plans to deploy software to track web site visitors. The data yield is expected to show how and why browsers convert to buyers and which portions of the site or promotions are most effective.