Amazon builds loyalty with one-click ordering
(See our disclaimer on the date of evaluation.)
How to get there:
- Go to www.amazon.com.
- To turn on 1-Click ordering, log in to your account and go to your Account Maintenance page. If you already have 1-Click ordering turned on, skip to Step 7.
- Click on "Change your 1-Click Settings" link.
- If you haven't registered, and want to find out about it, click "1-Click Settings" link at the bottom of the page.
- Click "Click here" link for more information.
- If you haven't registered, register. Click "Your Account" link at the top of the page, then follow the instructions until you get to the Account Maintenance page.
- Click on "1-Click Settings" to turn on the feature.
- Browse the online catalog until you find a product to buy, then click the "1-Click Ordering" button.
Summary: An example of how an easy one-click buying process can build customer loyalty.
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Details:
Although it often gets lost among discussions of JavaScript, frames and online databases, the whole point of an online store is to help the customer buy something in an easy and understandable way. Amazon.com puts that goal front and center with its "1-Click Ordering."
Amazon.com pioneered the "1-Click" concept, which makes a purchase possible in a single click. Once customers register and turn on 1-Click ordering, they can complete an entire purchase -- from selecting the product through completing billing and shipping information -- in one click. Any other orders placed within a 30-minute window are automatically added onto the same shipment. It's one of the simplest ordering processes in e-commerce.
It's so easy to buy, though, that it's almost too easy. Customers might order multiple items by mistake if they aren't sure if the first order worked or not. A bit more visible customer feedback would improve this excellent feature.
Even with this small problem, though, Amazon.com's "1-Click Ordering" is a best practice for selling to the impulse buyer.
Disclaimer: It's possible that the features discussed in our evaluation may have changed since the time we reviewed the site. We still find it useful to display and discuss these features, though, since our aim is to learn from the good or bad design of the feature, regardless of when it was live on the site.
Our Methodology:
ZDNet and Creative Good have teamed up to bring you the best and the worst examples of e-commerce on the Web. In ranking a site, we use a specific methodology. The methodology alone should serve as a great set of guidelines for any e-commerce architect.
Why Best Practices?
When it comes to providing the best online experience for your customers, there's no place to go to learn from what others have done. ZDNet's E-Business Best Practices area changes all that. Brought to you by ZDNet and Creative Good, Best Practices is the first and only library of the best and worst that the Web has to offer in e-commerce design. If you're one of that new breed of IT professionals they call e-commerce architects, Best Practices will give you explicit examples of what works, what doesn't and why. You won't find anything like this anywhere else on the Web.