E-commerce Insights:Improve Your E-mail Sign-up Process

Twenty-eight sites (62 percent) understand this, and request or require minimal data. The remaining sites ask for additional data, increasing user frustration. To get e-mail from PC Mall, one must create an account, which entails filling out 16 fields, of which 11 are required. Neiman Marcus calls for the visitor to provide a last name and a ZIP code. Harry & David requires account creation to sign up for e-mail, and uses unfriendly language if the address isn’t Postal Service-hygienic. Tool King insists that its visitors provide names and ZIP codes (and if the visitor doesn’t, the site generates both an error and a thank-you message — confusing.)