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So, it wasn't exactly Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood ("I've abandoned my CAAARRRRRRT!!!"), but when Jeffrey told me today that he still hadn't bought his nephew the Fisher Price Grow to Pro Basketball hoop after two weeks of putting it off, I assumed he was being dramatic. Jeffrey claimed to be sticker shocked from shipping cost inflation, a common reaction while shopping online. One minute, you think you know the whole price. Then - bam - you proceed to checkout, only to find that the price has shot up as much as 25%. Was Jeff being cheap? Probably. But it's understandable. The truth is that online shopping has spoiled us. When Amazon ships for free - at least it feels that way if you buy into Amazon Prime - and when Zappos wants you to return those shoes (yes, really), anything less feels like a cheap plastic substitute for the real thing. ToysRUs.com does so many things right. The product image views are clear and show multiple angles. The customer reviews are helpful and thoroughly integrated. I could go on, but the important thing - the reason they still haven't sold Jeffrey a Fisher Price Grow to Pro Basketball hoop - is that they set a poor expectation of total cost before checkout.

Last week, Brendan tackled how to answer the 5 unanswered questions customers face in the shopping cart (other than shipping costs). According to a recent study by PayPal and comScore, 45% of US online shoppers had abandoned shopping carts multiple times in just three weeks.

Plenty of studies suggest customers want demand free shipping: * 61% online shoppers prefer to shop with a retailer that offers free shipping than one that doesn't. - Forrester Research (2007) * 43% of shoppers abandon their shopping carts because of unexpectedly high shipping charges. - PayPal, comScore (2008) * 60% claim free shipping is a reason they are more likely to shop online. - Harris Interactive (2008) * 90% believe free shipping offers would entice them to spend more online. - The Conference Board (2008)

Add to Cart buttons - they may be small, but no online retail store can do without them. These little, rectangular, sometimes colorful clickables connect the product to the shopping cart and are an extension of your branding. It's important to put some thought into what your "Add to Cart" icon looks like in your shopping cart.

What are FUDDs? We're not talking about wabbit-hunters or the beer of choice in Shelbyville. FUDDs are fears, uncertainties, doubts and deal breakers that influence consumers' purchase decisions. How you address them can have a huge impact on your conversion rates. PayPal and ComScore recently conducted a study on shopping cart abandonment and discovered customers' top reasons were

Jason Billingsley shared with me his positive shopping experience with a multi-store retailer while shopping for a birthday gift for his wife Amy, and we both agreed it would make a great blog post. (Unless you've been following Get Elastic for a while, you may not understand the title of this post, please read on…)

Savvy online retailers can attract thrifty customers this holiday season with a sound comparison shopping strategy, but those merchants must be careful not to create a lot of extra work, damage their reputation, or waste money.

With 60% of online shoppers cite free shipping as a reason they are more likely to shop on the web (Harris Interactive, July 2008), if you use free shipping as a marketing vehicle, you want to make sure you communicate your offer at every touch point. In the current issue of eM+C magazine, you'll find my article Get Your Site Into Shipping Shape This Season with ideas on how "get the most mileage" out of your free shipping offer from search engine to shopping cart (this version includes screen shots):

Here are 5 key, unanswered questions (beyond shipping costs) of the shopping cart: 1. Do you offer alternate forms of payment (aside from credit card)? 2. Are you safe and secure? 3. Why are you asking for this information? 4. Do I have to set up an account to buy? 5. Do I get to review my order before we transact?

If you want to build your own shop and sell some branded products. So don't forget to the most important steps that you must take care of them is to choose the appropriate form for your site. The most important elements that should be interested : Colors Fonts Menus Easy to use the site Social networking and much more

See video product reviews by owners. Discover new products, watch product demonstrations, compare prices, and get unbiased shopping advice from people just like you.

report of a customer research on e-shops.

Last year we posted cart buttons from over 100 top online retailers. Just over a year later, I spotted 46 out of the 111 retailers using different button designs. But does that mean they're testing? Not necessarily.

Here are some holiday data feed management tips courtesy of the team at online retail merchandising technology provider, Mercent. This post is the fruit of a Twitter connection with Rick Galan, Strategic Marketing Manager of Mercent and ecommerce blogger. You can follow Rick on Twitter @rickgalan, or follow Jason Billingsley and me at @jbillingsley and @roxyyo respectively.

Despite the convenience of shopping online, many people still use the web only to research products to purchase offline. Multi-channel retailers with both physical stores and online stores have a leg up on pure-plays when it comes to serving and converting these buyers. Circuit City is an example of a retailer that's in tune with what customers want and expect from the cross-channel experience, offering customer service features that leverage its competitive advantage:

Shopping online is risky. Customers rely on relatively small, 2-D product images or sometimes video to get an idea of the actual 3D product they are potentially buying. One of the most common reasons for online returns is the item appeared different on the site, and the customer expected a different color, higher quality, different size or other attribute than what was perceived from the image. If a customer has a negative experience buying online, even if only once, the buyer will likely be more cautious for every future online purchase. This wary customer needs more trust-builders to convert. Common concerns include sizing and color fears.

One of the most important aspects of an ecommerce Web site is its product search. How your search results page is designed, and what it offers, are very important in terms of providing the results customers want. And as customers continue to expect more personalized results, they will create product searches that are increasingly narrow.

In online shopping, it is common to sign up for an account. Often, an ecommerce Web site will send you an email welcoming you to the site. But it doesn't always happen. And while it can seem annoying to have an inbox cluttered by welcome emails, I think it's a good thing to send a "welcome" email. And not just because I had to register on 36 Web sites in order to get the 20 examples I provide here.

Wishlists are becoming increasingly popular on ecommerce Web sites. This is due in great deal to the fact that we like to be able to personalize our online shopping experiences. Plus, what happens when you see something you like, but can't buy right now? With ecommerce wishlists, it is possible to save something you like for later purchasing without having to look all over the Web site to find it again.

Customer Experience management (for e-shops)