Committing to the customer experience - why now may be the right moment!

"The emergence of AJAX, faceted navigation and split-testing into the e-commerce arena makes this an intriguing and possibly unique moment in the development of e-commerce," claims Dr Baxter. Online sales are soaring, the importance of online research in influencing offline purchases is now accepted and dominant online brands are becoming established. Yet most e-commerce managers admit that they still have a long way to go to create a satisfactory and persuasive online customer experience. What makes this moment intriguing is the convergence of customer-focused opportunities that arise out of these emerging technologies. Sufficient convergence, perhaps, for e-commerce managers to feel this may be the right moment for a major strategic committment to optimising the customer experience. What might make this a unique moment for such a strategic rethink is the fact that all of these emerging technologies are actually well-established and based on proven techniques and procedures - it is just that they are new to e-commerce.

There is no doubt that implementing these emerging technologies in e-commerce will not in itself be sufficient to transform the customer-focus of sites. They are catalysts rather than enablers. But they are powerful catalysts and make a persuasive case for at least a strategic review of where e-commerce sites are headed in relation to improving the online experience of their customers. What is not in doubt is that competitive advantages from early adoption won't be around for all that long!

The article described in this press release is available free at http://www.cx-i.com/online_retail/On_the_Horizon_for_Ecommerce.aspx