Content can attract shoppers to your site. But to generate a continuous flow of repeat visitors, you need to provide access to an interactive community.

Community is just as important as content when planning an eCommerce site. If done right, community features on your site will increase the number of page-views per visit, giving you opportunities to offer merchandise to your shoppers.

Community features can be used to encourage customers to return to your site. Establishing a Learning Community can help shoppers develop expertise through the interaction with other shoppers who visit your site. Asking questions, discussing problems, raising issues, and the general camaraderie that develops in an interactive community breeds a kind of loyalty that is beneficial to the success of your Web store. And loyalty breeds repeat visits.

Communities can build your business. Think about it, the more times a shopper visits your site the more familiar they are with it. The more familiar they are the more comfortable they might get making a purchase from you instead of some unknown merchant. Communities are sticky. Visitors tend to spend longer periods of time at your site than before. The stickier they are the more loyal they get. Loyalty builds trust and trust is the currency of business.