Webogram power, Part 2 (page 2 of 2)

Having deviated via a particular hyperlink to another virtual aisle in your store -- that is, to another page -- your customers will encounter new and interesting products that are meaningful to their needs. Your linking strategy should work like a virtual salesperson, offering ideas, extending the customer's knowledge of products, and taking hints from the customer as to what else she might need but just hasn't thought of yet. But do remember: The number of links you offer should be informed by your customers' preferences. Again, observe customers' behavior in the brick-and-mortar store and reflect their apparent tolerance for persuasion, deviation, and exploration in the number of links your site offers. Too many will lead to confusion and frustration; too few may lead to boredom and a quick exit from your site.

* Promotion program. Special promotions are another means of cross- and upselling. You might feature a ketchup promotion with sausages, for example. Or milk where breakfast cereals are to be found. In short, think about uniting complementary products. Again, analyze in-store behavior to clarify ideas on complementary promotions. Just because you think one product bears a logical relationship to another, doesn't mean a customer will, and the coincident appearance of an arbitrarily chosen product may not inspire a shopper to purchase the promoted item along with the one he intended to buy. Short message: Don't guess at your customers' preferences and tendencies. Know them by research and analysis.

I know these thoughts haven't made you an instant Webogram expert. But, hopefully, they've sparked some ideas for you and perhaps caused you to rethink your existing cross- and upselling strategy. If you're among the 50 percent of online e-tailers who are already thinking this way, I'm sorry for wasting your time. However, the rest of you -- get going!

Remember, cross- and upselling won't happen by itself. These are achieved as the result of careful planning, which every online site manager should be engaged in. There's a lot of work to do before you can conclude your conversion rate has fulfilled its potential. Offline retailers have been planogramming their way to increased conversion rates for years. So, what are you waiting for? Plan that Webogram.