2019 will be the year where things move further away from standardized consumer behaviors such as window and aisle shopping, and further into the realm of online shopping carts and smart device browsing. Any business who believes that good word of mouth and signage can compete against this trend will begin to feel the effects of this attitude.

Over 35 years ago, a statistically high percentage of business owners were quick to change their operations from manual to computer-based. This was the big data capture era. It was a huge business undertaking where all the files, accounts, and stock taking were moved from desks and bookcases in the backrooms and offices all over the world, and the information they contained was put onto a floppy disc.

Customer Attributes by Uran

With the same kind of business practice upheaval being faced today, here are the top ways a company can move into using the new information technologies to their advantage.

Websites

Having a beautiful website in 2019 is the same as having business premises on the High Street was a few years ago. Any savvy business owner knows that the success of a company relies heavily on the information provided by a website and where it ranks in the SERPs, and just as fashions change for clothes and cars, it is the same for web design.

The colour palette and layout that made a website look cutting edge ten years ago may not necessarily still have the power to make potential clients’ eyes widen in appreciation. Website design is a fluid thing: continuously exploring new concepts and flow. If the website that represents your business is symbolizing boring and lazy from a customer’s viewpoint, it stands to reason that this idea is going to bleed into their concept of the product or service as well.

Shopping Carts

Many businesses leave the design of the online shopping cart in the hands of a bargain basement website developer, or even a relative or employee. This leads to all kinds of buying disasters and can even lead to the online shopper leaving the page entirely without finalizing the purchase.

For example:

• Too many areas with an “Items Marked With a * Are Required to Be Filled in”: this is one of the most irritating demands an online shopping cart information form can make. If the shopper wants to leave out bits of information that are not pertinent to the process,allow them to do so.
• Don’t ask for highly complicated passwords to be used. If the shopper wants to use their cat’s name as a password, let them. Make sure your shopping cart info form is not overly demanding.
• Prove that you are not a robot tests are stupid. Until these technologies improve enough so that humans with all kinds of eyesight strengths can use them with ease, don’t put them into your shopping cart form.

Hopefully, this gives you a few insights into the best small business practices for this year.