A client I work for has two websites. These websites sell completely different products and have a completely different look and feel with different names and branding. The client would like the users to be automated forwarded from one site to the other after they have purchased a product. My view is that this is bad practice and at the very least we should have a splash page in between or allow the user to have the option. I feel it would be a poor user experience if they are suddenly wisked off to another site the moment they have purchased something. Can anyone help point me inthe right direction for web standards that I can refer them to? Do you agree that this would be bad practice or do you think it's ok?
I'm not sure if there is a standard in this area. From my own experience, when I made a purchase on one small site, it redirects me to another site for payment (branded with original site, however). It did tell me that I would be redirected to another site. On completion of the payment, I was redirected back to the original site again. Anyway, I think it's a bad practice to send a user to a different unwarned, particularly with drastic change in design. It may scare off some clients.
Using the “thank-you†page as a way to generate extra sales is always a good strategy, but DO allow the user to have the option. The "thank-you" page of most web sites typically says nothing more than "Thanks for you purchase. Click here to return to my homepage". This is huge mistake! Your "Thank-you" page should be directing customers to related offers and opportunities, indeed. You might find this article interesting: http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3492331
I agree with Lilly, after the purchase, tell them something like "since you purchased XYZ, you might like ABC (link)". Personally, if I bought something and was redirected to a site I've never heard of, I'd be concerned about the purchase I just made... maybe enough to want to cancel the order.
many thanks to those who replied. I'll advise the client to make use of a page giving the user the option.