Ecommerce user journeys contain many phases where retailers can inluence outcomes, corresponding to phases within the purchase decision cycle. The PIEPP purchase decision cycle model is great at helping to explain the complexities of human decision-making when we buy things.

PIEPP stands for:

Problem recognition - Identifying a need, whether “real” or not.

Information search - The more complicated the object, or the higher its ticket price, the more the information is needed to make a purchase.

Evaluation of criteria - Assessing whether the product meets your needs - a conscious and unconscious process.

Purchase decision - Are there any barriers to stop

The role of imagery in ecommerce is most apparent when considering its use in relation to product display. The nature of conducting transactions across the internet distances the user from the physical product – so they have none of the sensory information usually available when physically present such as touching, feeling, examining, seeing the product from any angle they wish, trying it on, etc.

Online retailing distances the user from the physical product - imagery plays a vital role in filling this sensory gap

Imagery therefore plays a vital role in filling this sensory gap – and as technology advances, the extent

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) - Natural /Organic Search

What is it?

This online marketing technique optimises websites to adhere to the relevancy algorithm criteria of the major search engines (Google, Yahoo! and MSN). The aim is to get your web pages to appear in the top positions on the search engine results pages (SERPs) for search queries. This mechanism is designed to drive targeted and qualified traffic to your website using relevant content that is attractive and useful to the consumer…

We want to do a series of posts that outline the pros and cons of various types of online marketing; these posts will help explain when and how to best use the right online marketing channel to meet you specific needs.

We thought we’d start with the bedrock - search engine optimisation (SEO) and give you a quick run through of the advantages and the disadvantages an SEO strategy has for your online business.