We just launched our first podcast in a series of monthly educational podcasts focused on helping e-commerce merchants get the best results from their Web stores. The podcasts will be brief, typically 10 minutes or less - so it's easy to take the time to listen. We'll interview subject matter experts on a variety of topics related to security, online marketing, industry trends, Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance best practices and more. So if there is a topic you are interested in learning about, please share your thoughts by commenting on this post.

Anyway - I just listened to our first podcast, which is an interview with Stefan Tornquist, research director, MarketingSherpa, on ways to decrease shopping cart abandonment. MarketingSherpa is a research company focused on tracking what works (and doesn't work) in all things marketing. They published an E-Commerce Benchmark Guide based on interviews, studies and a compilation of a number of other relevant sources outside of MarketingSherpa, to provide practical information to companies with e-commerce sites. So the data Stefan sites in this podcast is extremely credible.

In prepping for this podcast we made sure that Stefan knew that most of our customers are small- to medium-sized etailers, so that his recommendations would be relevant and cost-effective to implement. I.e., it's not a ControlScan sales pitch.

A few of the reasons for shopping cart abandonment really jumped out to me when I listened to the podcast:

• Fear is the #1 reason for shopping cart abandonment - but this really relates to trust. Consumers want to make sure that they aren't making a bad buy. Am I paying too much for this product? Is this merchant reputable? This is especially a factor for lesser known brands.
• Technical issues when placing an online order is also cited as one of the main reasons for shopping cart abandonment. If shoppers encounter problems, they get impatient fast and drop off. Be sure to test your checkout process.
• The final key reason for abandonment is shoppers experiencing surprises - such as discovering an additional fee that wasn't communicated at the beginning of the buying process. Setting the right expectations early in the buying process is key.

I encourage you to listen to the short podcast to get Stefan's take on how you can take simple steps to overcome common shopping cart abandonment issues. To access the podcast, please click on this link https://www.controlscan.com/podcasts/convert_shoppers_buyers.php.

By the way - Stefan was just interviewed by the Wall Street Journal. It's worth checking out because the article goes into the challenges posed by the current state of the economy and marketing strategies small businesses should be evaluating to ensure they thrive, or at least survive, any potential downturn. Click here to read the article.

Our next podcast in July will be focused on search engine optimization tips. So stay tuned.

'Til next time,
Joan
The eSecurity Diva