I'll admit I'm not much of a shopper. Instead of fighting the crowds and running all over town, I'd much prefer to shop online - it's quicker and easier than conventional shopping, and for businesses, it can be an effective way of reaching more customers than you would normally. So my article this month and next is about building successful online catalogues.

If you already have an online catalogue or are thinking about putting one on your website (and essentially if you print a catalogue you really should replicate it online as well), here are some things to think about. These points can apply equally to both a true online store, with e-Commerce facilities as well as detailed product catalogue providing information to the viewer.

Things that can hinder the viewer from clicking the 'buy now' button include:

• They don't think your product meets their needs
• They can't find a product they want
• They lose interest and decide to look elsewhere
• They don't like the look of what they see in your catalogue
• They think they can get a better deal elsewhere
• They don't trust the security of their personal details on your site

Each of these failures can be easily fixed if you simply take the time to identify where your site lets you down. Shopping online and shopping in a real store are very different processes and areas that can let down your site include:

• Shoppers can't experience your product as easily - if you sell music or books, you're lucky. If it's clothes or bikes or 'big things', the 'product experience' will be a challenge for your customers
• Shoppers make purchase decisions based on images in your catalogue - they're not standing in a store surveying shelves of goods from which to choose
• Shoppers don't usually have access to instant, face-to-face assistance in an e-Store - sure, you might have to wait for help in the local shopping centre, but once you've got the sales assistant's full attention, you're unlikely to let them go until you've asked them all you need to know
• While online shopping might be allotted more of the user's time than are some other online tasks, speed is still of the essence - where a user might sit down with a cup of tea to look through your physical catalogue, they face different pressures in the online environment.

So what do your shoppers want? Speed. Brevity. Information. Security. Ease.

Next month - organising your catalogue and how to support it.