For some, the allure of online shopping is never having to deal with a pushy salesperson. The downside of avoiding a human is how time-consuming it can be to search on your own. Try typing "car" or "blender" or "snarky t-shirt" into Google and see how long it takes to find precisely what you want. So it's not surprising when Envirosell, which studies shoppers' behavior, reports that web surfers are 40 percent more likely to linger on sites with some sort of personalized experience.

That's the trend that iGuiders, based in Beachwood, is now riding.

"We started with the biggest problem," says Alexis Dankovich, director of marketing, "which is that half of all [potential] web sales are lost because people can't find what they're looking for." iGuiders software in designed to head off the frustration by offering users a series of choices that narrow down the options.

A demo for a faucet manufacturer, for example, begins broadly, asking whether you want a one-handled or two-handled model. Then whether you want a high arc or low arc. Then chrome, stainless steel or matte black finish. And so on, right up to the option of buying immediately online or finding the nearest showroom.

Guiders also captures every move shoppers make, so that online sellers can see what grabs attention and what's usually ignored, or whether the online buying process itself is helping or hurting. "Often times," says Dankovich, "companies have no idea why customers make the choices they make."

"Searching online is such an independent process," says CEO Jodi Marchewitz, "but people still need expertise." She likens her company's Guiders to librarians who can lead patrons through the bewildering stacks to the books they really need.

The Northeast Ohio-based Things Remembered gift chain will begin testing a Guider on its web site next month. iGuiders is also working currently with an athletic apparel site and "a major healthcare organization," Marcewitz says.

Source: JumpStartInc.org
Writer: Frank W. Lewis