“Virgin Atlantic’s Web site greets customers with error messages, a seven-step buying process and distracting graphics that blink and shimmy across the screen. Wal-Mart, the world’s most powerful retailer, takes its online shoppers on a confusing tour through unmarked aisles and a slow check-out process. These companies are far from alone in their online woes. In the last two years, consumers and investors have rebuked companies sharply for lumbering online with poorly conceived e-commerce sites. But a new report says the designers and builders of Web sites — the Internet services and consulting firms that have sprouted around the country — share much of the blame.”

“This white paper explores the principles of design for process-oriented information architectures by illustrating the best practices in the design of e-commerce ordering systems commonly referred to as ’shopping carts.’”

“As featured in the New York Times (June 12, 2000), this report shows how e-commerce sites can increase revenues by improving their customer experience. Includes strategies, tactics, and thirty-one e-commerce case studies on merchandising, e-mail, navigation, search, checkout, fulfillment and more. Free download.” Ack! .pdf!

“Branding, Trust and User Experience in 1-to-1 E-commerce” … ‘Virtual Reality Stores for 1-to-1 E-commerce,’ ‘Designing for trustworthiness,’ ‘Towards a Model of Trust for E-Commerce System Design,’ ‘Trusting the Online Banking Interface,’ Social Factors in E-commerce Personalization’ and more…

“How would you feel if three-fourths of the people visiting your website failed to find the product they were looking for? What if more than 80 percent of them tried to conduct a transaction and failed, not only losing you money, but also potentially endangering their own jobs?”

Now you can get the ugliest logo on the Web plastered on t-shirts, bags, mugs, umbrellas, exercise balls, hats and more.

“Answers are provided to questions that new Internet sellers will have regarding costs, risks and process steps needed for receiving and authorizing credit card payments online.”

“What makes ecommerce hum? Dozens of technologies and companies, most of which you’ve never heard of. These are the so-called ‘enabler’ companies, the firms competing fast and hard to build the infrastructure for ecommerce in both the retail and business-to-business universes. From the front end to the back, they make the hardware, software, services, tools, and transactions platform that make the wheels of ecommerce turn. Enabler companies with unsexy names and services drive the process.”

“Too many people are coming to your commerce site and not buying a thing. How do we know? Because that’s the case with every e-commerce site that USWeb/CKS has evaluated for shoppability, the ease and comfort with which users can complete a purchase transaction on a Web site. Check your logs, check your bank account; like most other sites, you are probably failing to convert browsers to buyers.”

“How the user interface influences traffic and sales: Given the resources needed to launch a retail store on the Internet or change an existing online storefront design, it is important to allocate product development resources to interface features that actually improve store traffic and sales. We identified features that impact store traffic and sales using regression models of 1996 store traffic and dollar sales as dependent variables and interface design features such as number of links into the store, hours of promotional ads, number of products, and store navigation features as the independent variables. Product list navigation features that reduce the time to purchase products online account for 61% of the variance in monthly sales.”

” is an Internet directory service specializing in bar codes and universal resource identification. Given the bar code of a product, deBarcode will locate the maker’s web site(s).

“Taxation is used by governments to provide services for the defense, safety, health and well being of the taxed. At least that’s the theory. Taxation has the cachet of legality since every government does it. (If you are not a government, it is called extortion and severe penalties apply.) …The rise of e-commerce is sending an electronic shockwave (of the non-Macromedia variety) across the world…”

“The St. Louis Galleria is throwing bricks at clicks — but shop owners ignore an order to remove online shopping ads from the premises.”

“The Galleria shopping mall is trying to blunt competition from the Internet by barring merchants from advertising or promoting online sales sites at their stores. The Gap, Banana Republic and other big retailers at the mall in Richmond Heights have so far ignored the order, which one industry expert called the first of its kind.” Note: This link will only be good for one week from the posting date; after that it is sent to the Post’s pay archives.

“eZiba is the premier source for world crafts. We offer, exclusively via the Internet, beautiful objects of every kind — home furnishings, apparel, jewelry and gifts — made by artisans from every corner of the globe.”