Site performance is a key factor in turning virtual window shoppers into paying and loyal customers. In fact, a Get Elastic post on performanceaccording to some recent research, online shoppers will only tolerate about two seconds’ worth of page load time. Shoppers are unlikely to return to poor performing sites, and consumer expectations have been rising steadily since 1999.

A joint Bing and Google study demonstrated the negative impact slower loading search engine results pages had on user experience…

The way that consumers access the Internet and shop online is changing. Desktop computers, laptops, mobile Internet devices, and mobile phones are converging into a larger category of Internet enabled devices. Millions of new users and new shoppers come online daily.

By way of example, last year eMarketer estimated that by 2013 74.9 percent of all Canadians would be Internet users. Put another way, essentially every Canadian between the age of 5 and 65 will have web access within a few years…

JavaScript enabled, dynamic menus allow you to pack a lot of information in a tight space and make it easier for shoppers to find what their looking for. But for years, SEO professionals have advised against using JavaScript menus, warning that search engines can’t read JavaScript. In times past, that was true. But search engines have come along way since. Unfortunately, old information still exists on forums and in blogs, and many are confused about JavaScript and SEO, and how to do things right…

Shopping cart abandonment is an epidemic in online retailing, with some companies reporting that more than 60% of checkouts end without a conversion.

Preventing even a relatively small percentage of these abandoned carts would significantly improve revenues and profits.

While purchase price and shipping costs are the leading reported causes of shopping cart abandonment, ease of use is close behind…

Want your Twitter feed to show up on your product detail pages? How about adding related videos from YouTube?

Recently, I was shopping on Skateboard.com when I discovered that the site doesn’t only offer related products on its product detail pages, but includes related videos and news articles from GrindTV—which makes perfect sense for this retailer’s customers.

In this post, I am going to demonstrate how to use a PHP class called, SimplePie, to parse RSS feeds and place them neatly on a retail site…

As a consumer zeroes in on the product she wants to buy, she’ll look for more specific product details, reviews, and images. She wants to put distractions aside and make a good buying decision.

When you are designing or developing a user experience for these sorts of buying situations, it may be helpful to use a modal window to focus the shopper’s attention on a product image or particular step in the checkout process…

The primary benefit of using a JavaScript library like jQuery is speed of development.

jQuery plugins take development speed a step further, creating complete widgets or effects that can be integrated into nearly any site design in a matter of minutes.

You can think of it this way. The library essentially creates a number of short cuts that solve common JavaScript challenges. And a plugin uses the library not to address a task, like adding an event listener, but rather to create an entire solution like a content slider…

JavaScript makes an online retail site interactive, and when combined with an attractive site design and good functionality, well executed JavaScript can positively affect how shoppers feel about a merchant.

Online shoppers often use site aesthetics and perceived web development expertise to judge a retailer’s professionalism and trustworthiness.

Put another way, a good-looking, fast-loading, and interactive online store can affect how a potential shopper feels about the store’s credibility…

Massive desktop monitors and diminutive displays on mobile phones mark the extreme edges of modern screen resolution. The disparity in screen size, which can be greater than 1,500 pixels has renewed interest in a decade old layout philosophy.

At the turn of the century, liquid layouts were a hot trend in Internet design, as proponents of the technique sought to make websites more accessible and flexible…

Recently, I blogged about using CSS to curve corners on just about any element in your web design.

CSS is, after all, the preferred way to create presentation and style descriptions for HTML mark up. But because of browser inconsistencies, there is no simple, all inclusive way to create curved or rounded edges. Rather, the technique you choose can vary greatly depending on your target audience, function, or bandwidth goals…

Curves are a natural shape that Web designers often wish to include in website navigation, content blocks, and borders.

Examples of curves in site design can be found on many leading ecommerce sites including the member login block on Aeroplan’s website;  the main merchandising section on Wal-Mart’s home page; and the top navigation at GameStop.

While there are certainly many ways to get a curvy corner, oval, or ellipse effect for a Web project, a good designer’s first choice is often to use the Web’s primary presentation and formatting method, a style sheet…

No one likes to wait for a Web site to load.

Least of all someone doing some last minute birthday shopping for an expectant niece or nephew or the pressured husband that just realized tomorrow is his anniversary.

Shoppers have very little tolerance for slow loading retail Web sites, therefore, developers should do more to speed up site performance when possible.

YSlow Survey Demonstrates the Problem

I recently took a survey of 25 leading retail Web sites using Yahoo’s YSlow Firefox add-on…

With an estimated 245 million subscribers worldwide, the mobile Internet is rapidly becoming one of the best channels for retail sales.

With mobile commerce (mcommerce), merchants can reach potential customers as they commute, wait in the lobby at a doctor’s office, or eat lunch in the company cafeteria. But the mobile Internet can pose something of a challenge for web designers and developers, requiring an additional level of project planning and aforethought…

JavaScript can transform an otherwise static navigation menu into a feature-rich and interactive user interface that is both pleasing to use and helpful. But, if poorly executed JavaScript can also hide content from search engines, making a site harder to find, which in turn can be devastating for site traffic.

The difference between an effective JavaScript menu—that helps  visitors easily navigate the site and helps search engine spiders index it—and one that hides content can be as simple as how the JavaScript is written and implemented…

In spite of what you may have heard, it is possible to have both engaging Flash content and happy search engine spiders.

For several years, there has been tension in the web design and development community regarding search engine optimization (SEO) and the use of Adobe Flash for site content and applications. Flash naysayers have and still do argue that you should almost never use the platform if you care at all about search engine performance and site traffic…