The Five Most Commonly Encountered, Off-putting E-

While getting less public handwringing than during holiday
season, the "abandoned shopping cart problem" continues to wreak
havoc on online sales. Recently I judged a raftload of sites for
the Webby Awards (my second time) and for the Inc. magazine Web
Awards, as well as for my own clients. Here are the five
irritants and obstacles that most frequently disrupt the
visitor's shopping experience at e-commerce sites.

1. Lack of quick orientation for first-time visitors. What does
the site sell? I've had to poke around for several minutes
sometimes to understand the focus of a site. Jargon is one
culprit. Another is lack of context, like an airline site that
sells tickets not giving a single clue on the home page in what
countries or even what continent it flies.

2. Explanations that don't explain. What does the product do and
not do? Another basic, but it happens often that a site doesn't
explain whether their "Turbocharge VT27-Plus" is a one-time
download, a subscription, a Web-based service or something else.
An alternative payment system's site failed to offer a clear,
systematic description of how it works.

3. Missing prices and shipping charges. How much? You shouldn't
have to put something into a shopping cart or enter your credit
card information to learn how much an item costs, including
shipping. Unfortunately, you still find this mistake at sites
that have had plenty of time to get their act together.

4. Unreadable text. Say what? Creativity gone haywire seems to
be the hallmark of some Web designers. Orange letters on a blue
background, olive green on black, light gray on white and blue
on blue were combinations that sent me packing, as did lettering
too small for over-40 eyes.

5. Inconsistencies. Huh? One site says, "To sign up, click on
the Sign Up link at the top of every page." But the site does
not have any "Sign Up" link, only "Sign In." Such carelessness
wastes the time of earnest shoppers and gets them frustrated and
fed up, never to return.

Blunders are equally rampant at well-funded corporate sites and
those from home-based businesses. The good news is that many of
the errors are extremely easy and inexpensive to fix.