Lesson 6	Customer expectations and the Web interface
Objective	Meet your customers’ expectations with archetypes.

Customer Expectations and the Web Interface

You now have a site name and have begun to consider how it can appeal to your audience. A site must be familiar, alluring, and helpful. The issue now arises of what elements you can include to make your site conform to user expectations.
Most customers expect an e-commerce Web site interface (that is, the home page) to present certain standard elements or archetypes.^[1]
The archetypes shown in the table below help make the customer's experience more interesting and help generate repeat visits.

Any number of value-added services and business features may be integrated into your site.
Some examples of these are shown in the Slide Show below.

Customer expectations and the Web interface

1) Email services such as Gmail remain popular among people of varied interests. — 1) Email services such as Gmail and Outlook.com remain popular among people of varied interests.

2) For business portals and sites targeting the business user, such services are almost obligatory.

3) Provide intuitive ways for users to search for and obtain information concerning travel. This can include hotel stays, advisories, and so forth.

4) An ideal service for those on the run who cannot bring themselves to carry Microsoft project with them where they go.

5) For high-volume e-commerce shops, few things are more attractive than being able to show customers exactly what they have in store.

6) Stores and organizations have been using databases for decades before the Web became popular. One of the most important services you can provide as an e-commerce professional is the ability to connect with legacy systems.

7) This is often the domain of legacy systems connectivity. The Web allows existing calling centers to become much more efficient because it allows those manning the centers to obtain information instantly through the company internet — 7) This is often the domain of legacy systems connectivity. The Web allows existing calling centers to become much more efficient because it allows those manning the centers to obtain information instantly through the company intranet, as well as the internet.

8) With bandwidth increasing every day, it is becoming more possible for providers to include advanced services that enable two-way visual communication.

9) CRM - Customer relationship management applications, such as benchmark measuring tools that allow you to conduct real-time sales cycle tracking. — 9) CRM - Customer relationship management applications, such as benchmark measuring tools that allow you to conduct real-time sales cycle tracking, call center monitoring, and order processing. CRM applications remain on the cutting edge. They continue to become more popular and easy to implement.

Take special note of CRM applications. CRM software allows you to discover the cost-effectiveness of the site, track users, and ensure accountability.

WebTrends was one of the first software companies to move in this direction. However, whereas WebTrends software conducts thorough log analysis, companies such as
Hubspot and
Salesforce.com

have provided ways to enhance tracking of customer and client interaction.
Customer relationship management software: CRM software allows you to discover the cost-effectiveness of a site, track users, and ensure accountability.

Business models

Each of the archetypes discussed above partakes in two basic communication strategies:

Business-to-business: These transactions generally involve low-cost, high-volume transactions
Business-to-consumer: Transactions of this nature vary widely in both volume and cost

Before you implement an e-commerce site, you should determine the exact nature of the business to determine which type of e-commerce solution it requires.
In the next lesson, you will develop a storyboard to outline your plans.

[1] Archetypes: Services and options that most e-commerce customers expect. These include shopping carts, free email, stock quotes, and simultaneous help desk support.