18 Aug
404
Page not found
The page you requested cannot be found on the server
Basically its an invite to the user to hit the back button and disappear from the website, also its a potential sale lost.
On the high street if a product is sold out its place on the shelf is soon filled by something else, so why not on the web.
Simply revamp the 404 page to say something like:
We are sorry but the product you are looking for is currently not available,
however here are some similar items.
Then list a few items from the same category, this will make your site more sticky and improve the chances of converting the visitor to being a customer.
The potential of 404 pages is limitless, you could add a search box, a full list of departments, brands, ranges etc etc.
Take a look at your site statistics how many 404’s are you generating?
What if just 1% of them was converted to a sale?






2 Responses for "Merchant 404 Pages – Get Creative and Increase sales"
Good post Keith and it’s something that is often missed. I think merchants can get even more creative too and turn the error into an opportunity i.e.
“We are sorry but the product you are looking for is currently not available,
however here are some similar items and here is a 5% discount voucher to apologise”
Yes, good idea and not difficult to do – we do it on LoveHoney with all our discontinued products like this: http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/product.cfm?p=648
But then some merchants have enough problems dealing with current products let alone worrying about old ones.
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