E-Commerce Insights: AJAX - Hero of E-Commerce?

3. Is adding AJAX an all-or-nothing proposition?
If you use a canned e-commerce platform that can’t be customized, you might not be able to add any AJAX capabilities. So ask your engineers.

If you have the ability to modify your site, however, you can layer AJAX enhancements onto certain areas without needing an entire site rebuild.

Make sure these enhancements are optional and that your site degrades gracefully for users who decide to disable JavaScript.

4. Our Web site is homebuilt. Any suggestions for our engineers adding AJAX functions?
Don’t reinvent the wheel.

There are excellent, free JavaScript libraries that dramatically speed up development. Some to check out include Yahoo’s User Interface Library (http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/), the previously mentioned script.aculo.us or Google’s Web Toolkit (http://code.google.com/Webtoolkit/).

5. Any downsides to AJAX?
Don’t make JavaScript mandatory; use AJAX as a tool to enhance the buying experience for users who accept JavaScript.

Also, check the impact of AJAX on your site analytics. Many Web analytics packages are page-based — they're ill-equipped to track AJAX experiences in their default configurations.

6. How vital should AJAX be to my 2008 plans?
For most catalogers, AJAX falls far down on the priority list. For example, you’ll get greater return from applying resources to the three pillars of search: site, natural and paid.

In 2008, treat AJAX as a spice, not as food. We’re still some years away from the average catalog site providing a full AJAX shopping experience — but that’ll come.

In the here and now, AJAX is a tool to make aspects of your critical pages more usable. Focus on search, product pages and your cart. Ask yourself, “Where would providing instant user feedback on the page, without a reload, make my selling path smoother?” Used judiciously, a sprinkle of AJAX will add zip to your online conversion!