I would like to know what features you have ever seen on an e-commerce site and why these features were useful to you.To let you know what type of answers I am looking for here are some of my all time favorite features:(1) Being able to post and read reviews on specific items(2) Being able to pay using credit card or paypal(3) being able to hover over a thumbnail image and make a larger image pop-up.
      Answer1:1) To be able to see prices, including UK Postage and Packing, without having to spend hours Registering ..I usually conclude that sites which refuse to give me a total in the shopping cart (without forcing me to open an account) are hiding excessive postage costs .. so I just leave & go back to ebay2) Pages that do not waste my time (and bandwidth) with annoying multi-media cr*p .. especially I do NOT want to spend 5 minutes viewing some Flash presentation on what a wonderful company we are when I arrive at the site and I do not want annoying lift music playing in the background ..3) Product Information that actually gives technical details of the product and not some half-baked marketing spiel .. and as normal text (i.e. searchable) web pages (and not some scanned images or "you have to download our 500 page PDF Catalogue")4) NO POP-UPS !!!!!!My total all time hate is pages full of annoying pop-ups that ALWAYS pop-up to hide whatever Im trying to read when I accidentally move the mouse ..If I want a higher res. pix., Ill CLICK on the picture ..5) Finally (for what its worth) pages that still display OK inn Firefox with FlashBlock, NoScript and AdBlockPlus active ...
      Answer2:This question relates to web design. You need to know what you want the viewers to do. 1. This is best done on a blog, where you can put comments and reviews. This helps as you see other peoples inputs, and can convince you to do what the owner wishes. Warning - this can be deliberate!!2. This is the sales page. You are offering a specific product or service for sale, and the call to action is to buy. Therefore a merchant account is important.3. This is standard SEO techniques, the thumbnail provides additional info which saves space and reduces clutter on the main page. Too much info may cause distraction when there are many products on display, and if the viewer wants a specific product, this helps.Hope that sheds some light.Melvin