Part of the E-Commerce User Experience Series

If you’re running a business-to-consumer site without wishlists and gift certificates, you’re giving up valuable business. And even if you have these features, you’re probably still not taking full advantage of them if your site is anything like those we tested. Gift buyers come to your site because someone they know likes to shop with you, not because they have an independent relationship with your site. The smallest glitch in the user experience can be fatal for these users.

This 118-page report contains 109 design recommendations based on our usability research. Discussions and numerous screenshot illustrations supplement the findings. Flow charts with wireframes feature our recommendations for process steps.

Benefits

• Checklist of 109 guidelines for designing shopping features that increase conversion 
• Attract new customers by building usable registries and wishlists
• Best practices for designing gift-giving features

Topics

• Attitudes toward online gift giving
• Steps involved in choosing a gift online and barriers at each step
• Gift certificates: Purchasing, giving, receiving, and redeeming
• Wishlist considerations
• Finding a trustable site and a suitable item
• Choosing gift options
• Gift receipt and message for the recipient
• Shipping to a different address
• Advertising certificates on your site
• Redeeming certificates
• Creating a wishlist and adding items
• Sharing the list
• Buying from a wishlist
• Email as a gift-giving medium

Download report excerpt (2MB PDF)

Research Method

The information in this report is based on our user research with 29 people, including:

• One-on-one usability testing of 22 websites
• Field studies (We observed people shop in physical stores and add items to registries.)