Daily Archives: May 29, 2013

Good e-Procurement Starts with e-Commerce Fundamentals

A recent article over on VentureBeat on how Maslow’s hierarchy can help you build a great mobile checkout process had some good advice for e-Commerce sites and some startling statistics that need to be heeded by e-Commerce providers AND e-Procurement providers alike. Consider these statistics:

  • 29% of mobile shoppers who abandoned the checkout process did so because they were requested to register before buying
  • 42% of consumers have stopped or abandoned a purchase on a web site because of a safety or security concern
  • 49% of mobile shoppers don’t shop more on their smartphone due to an awkward shopping experience
  • 63% of consumers prefer mobile commerce because they can do it while multi-tasking
  • 79% of decisive consumers would be more inclined to make online purchases if given easier and more secure payment options

This means that you need to keep the following in mind when designing your e-Procurement solutions:

  • make purchasing on third party sites a native experience – awkward punch-outs are not going to be adopted by average buyers,
  • organizations are not going to adopt your solutions if they see any security risks in using it,
  • if you’re going to build a mobile experience, make it intuitive and don’t try to do complex tasks on the mobile app as it will just frustrate your customers,
  • don’t ignore the mobile aspect because it’s harder to properly design and deliver – your customers want it, and
  • if its done right, your mobile solution will see widespread adoption by users, who will be inclined to quickly approve invoices and expense reports for payment when on the go.

As the author says, if you:

  1. Keep it Simple and meet the basic needs of your customers,
  2. Give Your Customers Peace of Mind and make the application secure,
  3. Create a Familiar Environment and make your customers feel like purchasing belongs in the e-Procurement system,
  4. Let Your Customers Run the Show and give them self esteem, and
  5. Keep Up with Your Customers and help them self-actualize

it stands to reason that your e-Procurement system will be a success.