Lesson 5 Resources Development of Experiential Web sites This assessment tool provides a systematic way to evaluate and improve the 3Is of your business Web site, to better contribute to the 4Es, and to reinforce value from the 4Ps of the business.

Considering Technology

In terms of Interactivity, all Web sites must provide a customer with safe transactions and privacy as well as be easy to operate or navigate. However, the 4Es can be emphasized through the incorporation of features that allow customers to connect to other sites, customize content of the Web page, communicate or exchange content with staff or other customers, and enhance their knowledge or skills through competition.

Interactivity is the most difficult of the 3Is to incorporate for small businesses because special technology may be required, such as search engines that allow customers to find goods or services with specified qualities (e.g., black coats, oceanfront B&Bs).

Some useful forms of interactivity are:

• Links to other sites,
• Customization functions such as search engines that display goods based on parameters set by the customer (e.g., all red shoes available from the retailer),
• Customization functions, such as “customers who bought this product also bought these products,” that suggest companion offerings that the customer may find relevant,
• Customization functions, such as a “wish list”, that store information about a customer for later retrieval,
• Communication functions that allow the sharing of content among customers and the business, including customer service links, forums, chat rooms, customer reviews,
• Contests and games,
• Zoom functions that allow the viewer to focus on selected areas of the image.

As an example of interactivity used to enhance the customer experience, this Christian book retailer, parable.com, includes a customization function that suggests titles by the same author as the book selected by the customer.

Retail Parable http://www.parable.com/

See more examples of interactivity on the following pages.