I spend an enjoyable afternoon with the Hampshire Ecommerce Group a week ago. I am always interested in how these groups view their digital agencies. It seems no love is lost in that dept. within this group, so if you are reading this and you have a client in these type groups then I suggest you start paying attention to your clients needs.

According to iStrategyLab they are, the overall number of users between 18 and 24 years of age has grown only 4.8% between January and July of this year. That's compared to a 513.7% growth among users older than 55."

I am always amazed at how in this industry we can work for clients on the other side of the planet without problems. We have just launched another site this week

We are very proud to have helped deliver the new RYA website which launched early this morning.

We were engaged by the RYA last year to deliver a new look and a greatly enhanced user-experience to their website.

Our research showed that most users were getting lost in the complex navigation and large number of websites that the RYA presented. We prepared a new information architecture for the site, together with a strategy for bringing most of the external sites in under one new roof, together with a rich new design for the site.

Completely new sections include: 'Start Boating' which shows how easy it is to get on the water; 'Join & Renew', which simplifies the process of managing your membership; 'Information and Advice' which brings the combined knowledge of the RYA's expert teams together in one easy to navigate section; plus many more new features like weather & tides, programmes and a new Racing section for the performance boating. We are particularly pleased with the new shop, which now shows the full range of products in an easy to use and familiar manner.

The new site is also significantly faster than the previous one too. We believe this is a model for what is possible using Microsoft SharePoint and Commerce Server.

We hope you like it, and if you have a site that needs a good overhaul then get in touch with us!

- Don't require registration to shop
- Inform customers if the item is available
- Allow your customers to easily modify the order
- Provide users with real time support
- Keep the Back button fully functional
- Provide photos, specifications and links for the items in the basket
- Provide a progress indicator
- Keep the checkout interface simple
- Don't take the user out of the checkout process
- Inform the users about delivery times
- Tell the customers what happens next
- Send out a confirmation email

from a great article