Ecommerce Blog

Impress Customers in Three Seconds or Less: Tips for Ecommerce Web Designers

2012-03-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

Now that even magazine publishers are getting a piece of the ecommerce pie, more and more ecommerce websites are coming into the mix. Because of this, the competition gets stiffer as corporations and online stores compete for online shoppers. The challenge for an ecommerce web designer now is how to impress visitors in the shortest amount of time possible.

Matt Winn, Volusion’s Social Media Manager, names six elements that could help an ecommerce web designer impress customers in just three seconds or less. These web elements can, as Matt puts it, make or break a customer’s impressions and this is important if you want to boost online sales.

First, it is important that your page loads quickly. Online shoppers have a lot of websites to choose from and if it takes around 5-10 seconds for a single page to load, then it is most likely that they will never come back to your site again.

Colors are likewise important if you want to impress customers. Red, for instance, symbolize passion and intensity whereas white is a symbol of purity and trustworthiness. Winn suggests using the psychology of colors to make a subtle first impression.

One image that summarizes your whole brand is your logo so for an ecommerce website designer, this is very important. The logo should represent your brand because consumers will quickly associate this particular image with your products, services, and company as a whole.

Simplicity is another web element that can easily appeal to online shoppers. No one likes a cluttered desk and the same goes for ecommerce websites. Too many images and advertising copy above the fold is just too much for a visitor to take in. It is confusing and distracting and they might not even end up buying anything from your website.

In line with this, Winn suggests making a slideshow with multiple messages. This way, there is a focal point which will attract the attention of your visitors. And finally, make sure that all elements in your website work perfectly together. The web elements found in your website should result to a truly stand-out website.

First impressions are very important especially for first-time consumers. In the ecommerce industry, making a good first impression can lead to conversions.

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Site Testing Works, According to 38% Of E-Commerce Merchants

2011-11-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

According to Get Elastic's Linda Bustos, only 38% of e-commerce merchants reported A/B testing of their website design as "effective," in a survey done by Forrester Research. This despite the constant proclamations of e-commerce experts and bloggers about the importance and effectiveness of site testing.

In her article, Bustos shares some reasons why some e-retailers feel that site testing is not as effective as it should be.

1. High expectations. According to Bustos, a conversion lift of 3% is good enough to start with. This can also mean a "pretty good existing process." Do not fixate your sights on that double-digit.

2. Testing the wrong things. For radical results, you need to target radical changes. Bustos suggests supplementing analytics data with user testing (it does not have to be a lot of testers) to create your hypothesis will help you keep track and test the conversion elements that prove to have the most impact. If you focus on one field at a time or make too minor changes, you will end up with insignificant test differentials.

3. Non-usability and cart abandonment. Cart abandonment is not just about the e-commerce site checkout page design. Other factors include "value propositions, creating urgency and supporting multi-visit conversions with persistent carts."

Remember that one inconclusive test does not mean that site testing is a failure. Even if you feel that the testing produced insignificant change, think of it as valuable information that answers your hypothesis. Bustos reminds e-commerce merchants that the key is to adjust strategy based on the results of your test and to "never stop testing."

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E-Commerce News: Black Friday Is Coming Early

2011-11-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

Major e-commerce merchants are wasting no time. With still a full month before Black Friday, Amazon.com Inc. and Overstock are already jumping in on the post-Thanksgiving shopping bandwagon.

In a report for the Internet Retailer by Allison Enright, Amazon announced its Black Friday Deals store (amazon.com/blackfriday) where customers can find deals such as a 15% discount on an LG TV, two-for-one video game deals and other discounts. Amazon also announced a Black Friday Deals Week which will begin on Thanksgiving week. The leading e-retailer (according to Internet Retailer's Top 500 guide) will offer more discounts on that week. This early start has attracted the interest of early bird buyers and those who are starting to plan their Thanksgiving shopping lists. Experian Hitwise, a firm that monitors web traffic, reported that traffic to top e-commerce sites was up 10% year over year for the week ending last October 23. The firm added that 47% of all searches for "Black Friday" included the retailer's name ("Black Friday, Amazon"). Not surprisingly, Amazon was the number 1 most trafficked e-commerce site during Black Friday last year.

Not to be outdone, Overstock is also making an early play for Black Friday shoppers. The online retail giant announced that customers can get a free 60-day trial membership to Club O which is the company's rewards program. Membership gives customers free shipping and 5% of the cost of purchases as a credit for future purchases. This means that those who sign up now will get the credits and the free shipping benefit through the Holidays. Those who don't cancel after 60 days will be charged $19.95 for one year's worth of membership. Additionally, Overstock is also running a Pre-Black Friday Sale on its site and a Black Friday contest on its Facebook account.

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Trends to Explore for Ecommerce Website Designers

2011-10-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

To create an increased web presence, web design engineers are encouraged to keep up with the latest trends to make sure that today’s audience appreciate the visual precept and usability of websites without spending too much on web design.

Kabir Bedi of LeXolution IT Services (LIT) enumerates a few areas that ecommerce website designers should explore to make sure that websites are updated with the latest trends:

Simple and minimalistic designs – While animations are very attractive, the current trend in web design today is the simple and minimalistic approach. This is fairly new when it comes to developing websites for eCommerce purposes but the focus is to be able to communicate the message to the audience without beating around the bush.

Stylized fonts and topography – Nowadays, web programming languages already allow the use of unique fonts for websites. For instance, Serif fonts, which used to be displayed on the background before, are now on the forefront thanks to high-resolution screens.

Big headers, bold graphics – The use of eye-catching and attention-grabbing headers and graphics are the latest trends in ecommerce web design. Not only is this aesthetically pleasing but it adds to the element of visibility as well.

Informational graphics – Graphics attract visitors because they are easier to read than text-based information, but today’s trend incorporates both graphics and information by highlighting the content.
Content sliders – Ecommerce website designers are also encouraged to use content sliders when building web sites because of the graphical elements and slide shows that visitors appreciate instead of going back and forth through different web pages.

Video marketing – A relatively new concept that ecommerce web designers should explore, video marketing involves creating relevant content such as how to’s and tutorials to attract visitors.

24/7 online customer services – Chat or email-based customer service should be a focus when developing websites for today. Round-the-clock services can attract visitors because they are guaranteed of full support when availing products or services from the business.

Social networking – With the rising trend in using social media marketing, joining social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn can help build a brand’s online reputation and popularity.

While there are standard and traditional practices that should be incorporated in web design, ecommerce website designers should try to experiment and explore many trends that are currently in place today when it comes to planning a website’s structure and composition. Additionally, the evolution of today’s technology has made possible many avenues of exploration for websites and online portals.

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A Visual Guide To Penetrating The UK Holiday Market

2011-10-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we shared with you an infographic about the state of e-commerce in India. Today, we are going to get visual again but this time we'll show you facts and figures about the UK Holiday landscape. As an e-commerce merchant, you should not be limited to your local audience. The Internet allows you to reach out to a global audience and you should take advantage of the opportunities available.

Linda Bustos of Get Elastic leads us to an infographic from Deals.org.uk which gives us an insight into the state of Christmas shipping in the UK for 2011.

E-Commerce Speaking, What's Happening Over In India?

2011-10-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

India is among the countries to watch out for if you are looking for fresh territories to invest in. As an e-commerce merchant, it is important to know what is happening in other parts of the world, especially if expansion is part of your long term plans.

Get Elastic's Linda Bustos shares an interesting infographic about the state of e-commerce in India. Look and learn.

E-Commerce News: More Top E-Commerce Merchants Are Going MobileI

2011-10-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

If you are still undecided about getting into mobile e-commerce, you may want to rethink your position after reading this article.

According to an Internet Retailer report by Kevin Woodward, 37% of Internet Retailer's Top 500's e-retailers have dedicated mobile e-commerce sites as compared to last year's 12%. This figure is from a study made by digital marketing firm Acquity Group, LLC. The Top 500 Guide ranks e-commerce merchants in North America based on their online sales.

Acquity Group Vice President of Digital Strategy and Design Tom Nawara was quoted in the article saying "mobile is becoming a key digital channel for many customers." He reiterated the need for online retailers to ensure that their e-commerce sites are optimized for display on mobile devices. The study also revealed the declining trend in designing mobile e-commerce sites with specific devices in mind. For example, the percentage of retailers who optimized their sites for the iPhone went down to 9% as compared to 2010's 11%. Nawara notes that this "non-specialization trend" is expected to continue as mobile browsers become more similar and adhere to shared standards. The study also revealed that 26% of the Top 500 is offering an app, as compared to only 7% who did so in 2010.

The report further notes that the retailers' reasons for having a mobile application varies but it can be often traced back to the e-commerce merchant's objectives, customer base, and the particular devices that the target market uses.

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E-Commerce Tips: Holiday Ideas To Improve Sales

2011-10-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

The Holidays are fast approaching and before you know it, Christmas shoppers will be flocking your store (whether it is online or offline). While the Holidays do mean a significant increase in sales, it does not mean that you should rest on your laurels. Times are hard and customers will definitely be choosy on where to spend their money. As an e-commerce merchant, this is your opportunity to present your product and services by incorporating some clever marketing ideas.

In this article, we will share with you five tips to help you take advantage of the Holiday season shopping rush, courtesy of Practical Ecommerce's Armando Roggio.

1. Start now. According to Internet marketing firm, Responsys, some major brands and companies tend to start their Holiday marketing campaigns as early as 69 days before Christmas. Learn from the industry bigwigs and start working on your campaigns now. This will give you an advantage during the "gift idea" phase of Holiday shopping. The start of your campaign need not be fancy. You can begin by sending an e-mail to your network. The important thing is to start as early as now.

2. Go to Amazon. Amazon.com is a prime e-commerce space because it features a wide range of sellers. There are millions of people around the world who go to Amazon to shop so this is also a perfect place for you to set up shop. There are two ways for you to utilize Amazon. First, you can place a pay-per-click ad on specific categories and product pages. Second, you can sell products directly. To get maximum bang for your buck, go for both options.

3. Offer gift cards. According to the National Retail Federation, gift cards have become very popular over the years and it continues to be a "favorite choice" for both givers and receivers. Roggio explains that gift cards are easy to manage on a busy business season and can carry over until after the Holiday shopping season. Many e-commerce platforms have built-in gift card features so it should be easy for you to incorporate it into your campaign. You can also use it as part of a promo to reward a loyal customer or to entice repeat business.

4. Use video marketing. According to Roggio, video is an "excellent e-commerce merchandising tool" and in fact, some published reports say that it can increase conversions by as much as 40%. This is due to the fact that video is a great way to present product features and create a hype for demand. Making videos can be quite tedious so start by making videos for your top ten products.

5. Include a "Gift Ideas" landing page. Consider it a double edged dagger. You help out undecided Holiday shoppers and at the same time, you advertise your business. Make it creative and specific (e.g. "Ten Cool Gifts For Tweens" or "Five Gift Ideas For Your In-Laws). Of course, support this landing pages with Internet marketing campaigns to drive traffic.

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Three Tools That Can Help You With Your E-Commerce Enterprise

2011-10-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

Change is constant, especially in the world of e-commerce. That is why as a business owner, you should regularly assess and reassess your business structure, solutions and tools to make sure that your business output is at par with what is going on in the market.

In this article, we will share with you some tools that can help you boost the performance of your e-commerce enterprise, courtesy of Practical Ecommerce's Armando Roggio.

1. Twilio. Twilio is an infrastructure-as-a-service and cloud communications provider that, according to Roggio, can help e-commerce merchants in at least two ways. First, it helps automate telephone workflows with a call center wherein operators work from home and manage conference calls. Twilio also helps create a system wherein voice mails and calls are forwarded to the relevant personnel wherever they might be. Second, Twilio also offers SMS services which can be used for text marketing. The article points out that Twilio's system is relatively cheaper than some text marketing firms.

2. Get Satisfaction. If you want to reduce product and customer support cost, you might want to try Get Satisfaction. In addition to customer feedback services, the company also allows you optimize marketing efforts and choose which particular products to include in the inventory. Companies can put a "Feedback" link on their own e-commerce sites where customers can submit suggestions, post inquiries and express concerns. Get Satisfaction's services can also help you create that genuine sense of customer community which is a pivotal aspect in online marketing today.

3. UserTesting.com. UserTesting.com is a crowd-sourcing solution which offers insightful user interaction data which can be used by e-commerce merchants to come up with educated choices about key website decisions such as landing page design, shopping cart layout and even product layout. Essentially, UserTesting.com helps make e-commerce websites more primed for conversions.

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E-Commerce News: With Steve Jobs Gone, What Happens Next?

2011-10-06T18:42:00.000-07:00

Despite prior knowledge of his battle with pancreatic cancer, the whole world was still shocked at the news that Steve Jobs, former Apple CEO and perhaps the most well-known man in Silicon Valley, has died at the age of 56. His amazing life story and larger-than-life persona has helped give the man an enigmatic and charismatic appeal and a cult following so strong that he practically carried the Apple brand on his shoulders. Now that Steve Jobs, the visionary and creative genius behind revolutionary products such as the iPod and the iPhone, has officially left the building, what's next for the tech world and the e-commerce world in general?

In an article for MacNewsWorld, Erika Morphy shares thoughts gathered from industry players on what could be the future of a tech world that heavily looked up to Steve Jobs. Rob Walch, who hosts Today in iOS, was quoted in the article saying that Steve Jobs will be among the names that historians will list as key figures in world development. He further noted that, as an inventor, Jobs focused on the end user--creating products that spanned generations with its usability and ingenuity.

The report also cites how Jobs' inventions revolutionized the way we listen to music and even the way we communicate. Under his helm, Apple's products became the benchmark of technological advancement. With his passing, the tech world seems to have lost its fire. As the article points out, while there are many equally or even more talented inventors and leaders in the industry, there are many doubts that no one has the same vision as the late Steve Jobs.

Even before his death, Jobs had already stepped down as Apple CEO and handed the reins to former Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook. A Jobs-less Apple has announced that "it will continue its path of innovation and change without him." In a memo to employees, Cook wrote, "No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve's death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much."

According to the Apple website, thoughts, memories and messages of condolences may be sent to rememberingsteve@apple.com.

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Now Available: Two New Tools That Will Help Drive E-Commerce Performance

2011-09-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

E-commerce merchants have two new online tools that could help them drive their e-commerce ROI.

In an article for the BizReport by Kristina Knight, it was reported that a new couponing site called CouponCodes.com was launched. This new site is from the parent company of Offers.com. According to the report, this new hub will offer coupons from the top 2,500 retailers with the "best deals" vetted by an editorial team and updated everyday to ensure that the most interesting deals are always at the top of the page.

Steve Schaffer, founder and chief executive of Vertive, LLC who is CouponCodes.com's parent company, said in a statement that the new site is a response to the growing trend of online companies offering coupons for more savings. The head honcho also added that they plan to expand CouponCodes.com so that it will one day become the "go-to source for consumers looking for reliable coupon codes that work."

Meanwhile, Buddy Media launched a social commerce tool they call ConversionBuddy. This new tool helps a brand track "connections" throughout the social space, for example the number of shares and tweets that a brand gets. This way, a company is able to optimize the conversion rates. Additionally, ConversionBuddy pinpoints valuable products and content for a brand as well defines which social media platforms generate the best revenue per share to help improve web traffic and sales.

Buddy Media founder and CEO, Michael Lazerow, explained that this new social commerce tool "has taken the guesswork out of social marketing" and highlights their new software solution's ability to measure not just qualitative data but measure direct correlations between brand connections and sales as well as other conversions.

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E-Commerce News: PayPal Makes A Move Offline

2011-09-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

When it comes to online payments, PayPal is the top of mind choice. Now, the eBay subsidiary is looking at new technologies aimed at "integrating the online marketplace's payments arm into brick-and-mortar retail stores."

According to an Internet Retailer report by Zak Stambor, PayPal is moving towards its vision of becoming the ultimate shopping companion. This includes using it to view mobile ads before entering a store, scanning a bar code in store, using the online money transfer's real-time inventory search to find a local merchant that carries a particular product and of course, paying for the product via a virtual wallet. Scott Thompson, PayPal president, said in a statement in the article that "PayPal is reimagining money" both for the betterment of merchants and consumers.

The Palo Alto, California-based company has big plans to incorporate its traditionally online services into the physical marketplace. It is planning on offering customers multiple ways to pay such as entering a telephone number and a personal identification number as well as tapping a phone on a designated payment terminal. There are also plans of a card that users can pay with at credit and debit card terminals in stores.

PayPal also wants to enable customers to use their mobile devices for payment without having to go to the checkout counter, thus further strengthening the role of mobile e-commerce in the future. A video demonstrating this technology can be seen on the eBay blog. The video also shows how PayPal is planning on a scanning technology which will allow customers to receive discounts as soon they enter the store.

eBay chief executive, John Donahoe, said that PayPal hopes to roll out this point-of-sale functionalities to up to 20 national retailers by 2012. The article also noted that eBay sees this move as "fairly significant incremental opportunity that will play out over the next three to five years." He also noted that the company would like to be instrumental in the growth of offline businesses in the same way that PayPal has been useful to online merchants around the world. However, there are still no reports on how much PayPal would charge merchants for this new offline service.

According to the report, PayPal has 100.3 million accountholders, making it one of the most significant e-commerce players in the industry today.

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An E-Commerce Website Designer’s Guide to Designing the Product Page

2011-09-24T07:49:00.000-07:00

The product page on your e-commerce website is the most crucial. This is where the potential customer turns into an actual customer, and where the purchase decision is made. Therefore, as an e-commerce website designer, it is vital that the product page is well designed and optimized for search engine optimization (SEO). In this article, we will share with you tips on essential principles that should be taken into consideration when designing the product page.

1. Keep it simple. This is an overstated design tip, but also an often overlooked one. The key is to focus each page on one product. As an e-commerce website designer, you should know that complexity can be overwhelming and can easily turn off online shoppers. If a blouse comes in multiple colors, that is considered one product. If you are selling cameras with different lenses, the links should be on a category page, and each link should lead to a separate product page for each type of camera or lens.

2. Do not forget a descriptive title and text and of course, a photo. Ideally, the photo can be enlarged with a click. The enlarged version of the photo should be significantly bigger and should always come with SEO-friendly information and the “Buy” button. The “Buy” button should always be present in a prominent yet non-distracting way. Alternate photos will give customers different angles of the item and show as much details as it can. The text should make up for the details that cannot be shown by the camera.

3. Provide all relevant information. Relevant information includes (but is not limited to) delivery time, product availability, promotions relevant to that product, and final cost (after shipping fees and taxes). Avoid business jargon. The product page should also link to the policies and warranties section of the site.

4. Build the page with sensible navigation features. A professional e-commerce website designer should know the criteria that online shoppers use to buy, and this should be strategically built into the navigation system of the product page. Product pages should be linked together according to attributes that make sense to a browsing customer, as a way to recommend relevant products to the customer.

Keep reading this blog for more tips on e-commerce website design.

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Tips For The Novice E-Commerce Website Designer

2011-08-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

When it comes to the design of an e-commerce website, creativity is important but effectiveness is paramount. Effectiveness, here, is defined as the likelihood of a site visitor being converted into a customer. Many factors can be used to measure the effectiveness of a website but simply put, it boils down to how well the e-commerce website delivers the needs of its target market.

As an e-commerce merchant, you definitely want the best for your business. Hiring a professional e-commerce website designer to do your site for you is always the first choice but if it is not possible due to budgetary constraints, you can always be your own e-commerce website designer especially if you have the basic skills for it. However, basic technical skills are not enough so here are some tips to guide a novice e-commerce website designer.

1. Avoid a cluttered layout. Unless your visitors specifically went online to visit your website, your initial goal is to keep their attention. From the get-go, your e-commerce website should clearly say what you are selling. Avoid elaborate graphics and animation especially if it is irrelevant to your products. The tabs on your site should all be related to the purchasing process. No line, color or copy should be on your website if it has nothing to do with selling your product or your service.

2. Make it easy for your potential customers to find the products in different ways. This is especially true if you have a vast product catalogue. Make sure that your design layout has room for navigation in product categories that will allow a visitor to browse products in different ways (e.g. by price, by color, by date added to stock), depending on what is applicable. As an e-commerce website designer, the idea here is to give your potential customers the shortest route from their entry point to what they are looking for in your site. If you are able to add a search capability to your website, go for it. Just keep it simple and straightforward so that they do not get lost in overly helpful website design.

3. Keep the check out process as simple as you can. Many sales are terminated at the check out page and it is mostly due to the complicated process it involves. Always go back to the basics. Ask only for the necessary information and try to keep it at one to two pages.

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E-commerce jumps 17.5% in Q2

2011-08-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday, U.S. Commerce Department announced that online shoppers spent $47.5 billion, a 17.5% jump from last year $ 40.2 billion. This marks the ninth consecutive month that e-commerce has posted double-digit gains. Michael McNamara, vice president of research and analysis for MasterCard Advisors, believe the causes to this increase include high gas prices and the summer heat wave. He believes the heat and high gas prices are keeping people off of the roads.

It has been reported by MasterCard that E-commerce accounted for approximately 4.6% of total retail sales during the second quarter, the highest E-commerce has ever accounted for in the retail industry. MasterCard based this report on retail sales using all payments forms, including credit and debit cards of all brands, along with cash and checks. The retail sales growth estimate is based on July same-store sales totals reported of 28 retail companies, excluding Wal-Mart. Total adjusted retail sales excluding food service during the second quarter reached $1.04 trillion. The Commerce Department’s report on e-commerce sale for retail industry is even higher, for June showed retail spending was up 8.9% from a year ago, but declined 1.1% from May to June this year.

High retail sales usually result in higher inventory levels and expenses, but due to the recent swings in the stock market and economy, retailers are still carefully watching their spending. One example is Saks Inc.'s forecast that it would raise inventory level by a mid-single digit percentage, a very slight increase, during the second half of 2011 compared to last year.

Despite the economy downturn, top online retailers tend to have a competitive advantage at this time because they continue to spend on marketing and advertising, constantly improving their e-commerce website, and offer lower prices than small and mid-sized retailers. Through this, top 25 retailers have gained market share throughout 2009 and 2010. However, holiday promotions and back-to-school sales have helped ease the market share lost experienced by small and mid-sized retailers.

Helen Leao
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Ecommerce Tip: Naming Your Ecommerce Store

2011-08-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

Once you have decided on venturing into the world of ecommerce and have gone through the basics of starting an ecommerce store, it’s now time to think about naming your store and creating its personality.

Your ecommerce store’s name is a compelling part of your entire branding as it can define the identity of your business. Below are some suggestions on choosing a name for your ecommerce website. Note, however, that this is not a guideline on choosing a domain name, which will be tackled in another post.

Know what you are communicating through your name. What do you want your customers to say about your business? When you have already decided on what you want to communicate to your prospective customers, try writing your thoughts in a single sentence. Shorten your sentence until you are left with just a word or two.

Play with the names. You may use synonyms of what you want to communicate, or even memorable misspellings. Take for example “Flickr,” the popular photo portal website. It hails from “Flicker,” which is associated with a camera’s flash. Creative, yet memorable.

Spell it as it is and pronounce it as it is. Ecommerce stores usually span a certain number of cultures and regions so it is better to have a simple name that everyone can spell and pronounce. For example you are of Chinese descent, but your target customers are in the United States. You wouldn’t want your online store to be Xiao, Huang, or Tsen and expect to target people from America.

Scope the competition. Check out the names of your competition. Make sure it does not sound too similar to the others, lest you want to confuse your customers and drive them to the other ecommerce websites. Your name should be at par or even better than the competition, but it should not be too similar to them to avoid confusion.

Consult with the target market. Narrow down your ecommerce business names to five or less and test them with your target customers. For example, you want to sell costume jewelry for teens and young adults. Test your names with females from high school and college. Do not assume you know how your target profile will react to your name choices.

Remember that your name is a part of your ecommerce store’s identity. Choosing the best one that fits your business will be imperative to the long-term success of your online store.

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Advice for Ecommerce First Timers

2011-08-08T10:11:00.000-07:00

Thinking of opening your first ecommerce store? Congratulations! A lot of exciting things await as you venture into the wonderful world of ecommerce. But first, hold off your excitement. Don’t jump into designing your ecommerce store right away and placing all the products to sell if you haven’t fulfilled the nitty-gritty of starting an online business.

Take a step back. Before jumping the gun and getting lost in the big picture of an ecommerce store, first work out the tiny details as these could make or break your success.

Know what your strengths and weaknesses are. Listing down the areas in which your business is good at and need help on, would allow you to allocate time and funds to equip your ecommerce store for success.

For example, if you are good in the operations department but struggle with numbers, then you already know that you need help in the accounting department. If you have a knack for designing the ecommerce website but do not know how to market it, you could either develop your skills in Internet marketing (which takes time) or hire outside professional Internet marketing services.

Know and build on your uniqueness. If the products you offer in your ecommerce site is already in a niche market, that’s great. But if you belong to the crowded segment where many others are selling the same product, find a niche in that marketplace. You have to stand out amidst the competition. Offer something that others don’t. Some examples of making a statement would be offering the lowest price in the market, 24/7 live customer chat support, free mystery gift, among other things. Think outside the box and be creative. Once you’ve come up with a unique selling point, think of ways to build your brand.

Give your brand some life and personality. Think of the benefits your products bring to the lives of consumers. Build up your brand’s personality. Is it happy, fun, and whimsical? Is it business-like and professional? Knowing this would make a huge impact your ecommerce website design and ecommerce website content.

Come up with a marketing strategy. No matter how outrageously awesome your ecommerce website design is and how amazing your products are, it will NOT generate sales if you do not have an online presence. Educate yourself in the different Internet marketing services. Consult Internet marketing experts and find out the right mix of services for you. Some of these Internet marketing services are Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Email Marketing, PPC Management, Social Media Marketing, etc.

Set your budget and work around it. As with any start-up businesses, venturing into the ecommerce world is not free. Know what you can and cannot afford and make smaller investments along the way as your business grows. Initially, you have to start with a pleasing ecommerce website design. As like shops in malls, your website is your display window. You have to attract customers to it. Next, invest in Internet marketing services. Again, if online marketing is not your strength, find Internet marketing experts on this field who can work around your budget.

Now that you have the nitty-gritty down, check out our post on Ecommerce 101: The Basic Elements You Should Know in Creating a Successful Online Business.

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Essential Features Every Ecommerce Store Should Have (PART I)

2011-08-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

Ever notice what makes ecommerce stores successful? Whether you have a big, small, or local ecommerce store, there are certain key features that you should have in your web design to make it attractive and hassle-free for visitors. These features are critical if you want to increase conversion rates and lower cart abandonment at the same time. Here are some of the essential features you should have in your ecommerce store to achieve an increase in online sales.

1. Product navigation – A hassle-free and easy-to-use navigation site is important to any website, more so if you have an ecommerce store. A website’s navigation system should be designed with the visitors in mind. Users should be able to shop with ease, browsing through different product categories in a hassle-free manner – quickly and effortlessly. Well-organized categories, robust navigation menus, fly-out menus and drop-down menus are some of the best means to display products in your inventory without causing too much digital space and giving shoppers a great shopping experience.

2. Search boxes – Some ecommerce website designers prefer to feature search boxes in ecommerce stores while some believe that they are not needed. This is not true. When developing ecommerce stores, search boxes are crucial because it helps users locate the products they want easily. Especially for those who have specific products in mind, search boxes save time in browsing through unnecessary items in a store’s inventory. Search boxes are often found high up in the layout to encourage the user to search the site and save them time.

3. Shopping cart – Often the first thing to appear upon checkout, all ecommerce stores should have shopping carts. Shopping carts are a must because they display the products that a user decides to purchase which is basically a summary of what users are buying. The most important elements of a shopping cart are the product name, description, price, total cost, and quantity box. Some ecommerce stores also display shipping information.
There are certainly other features that make ecommerce stores, big and small, effective. Our next post will conclude on this two-part series and discuss how featured products, product view filtering and storing, and product images affect and entice visitors to shop from your ecommerce store.

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DIY Ecommerce Solutions Small and Local Businesses Can Easily Avail To Start Selling Quickly

2011-07-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

Custom ecommerce solutions are not for every business. Local and small businesses often don’t have the budget to hire professional ecommerce website designers to set up their online store. Fortunately, there are a number of great options that small businesses can avail to start setting up shop easily and quickly. These hosted services and subscription-based web applications are perfect for small businesses who want to start an ecommerce store but lack the budget to do so.

Mashable gives 5 of the best DIY ecommerce solutions, offering the average cost, basic requirements, and main features that will help small businesses decide which one is best for their ecommerce store.

1. Big Cartel - Big Cartel prides itself in giving small business the chance to set up ecommerce stores and charges customers by the number of products offered online. There are a few reasons why ecommerce business owners would choose Big Cartel: monthly fees that start at $9.99/mo for 25 products without taking a percentage of online sales and links to PayPal or any bank account.

2. Shopify – Plans offered by Shopify start at $29/mo for 100 products and can cost up to $699/mo, at which the plan includes 50,000 product inventory, disk space and bandwidth scaling. Unfortunately, Shopify charges an additional transaction fee that ranges from 0.5-2% on top of the monthly plans except for the largest plan. The extra cost that comes with using Shopify is worth it, as the company has been around for a long time as compared to its competitors. The trust, reputation, and dependability make up for it.

3. Big Commerce – Less expensive than Shopify, Big Commerce is ideal for bigger ecommerce stores that have a high volume and large inventory as its monthly fees range from $49.95-$299.95/month. Bigger stores would opt for the top two plans as they are allowed unlimited products whereas the bottom three allows for 100, 500, and 1000, respectively. Other features that would make ecommerce stores choose Big Commerce include eBay and Facebook selling tools, marketing and drop-shipping support, reporting tools, and SEO services.

4. Volusion – Volusion is an ecommerce solution that even professional ecommerce website designers use. An all-in-one ecommerce provider, Volusion offers plans starting at $25/month and can cost up to $149/month. Volusion merchants are also given access to 24/7 customer service support, as well as the freedom to choose design templates to customize each ecommerce store.

5. Vendder – Vendder is ideal for small ecommerce businesses because it offers a free plan for those who have a maximum of 15 products to sell, though customization and theme options are limited. The two other plans, which cost $24 and $49 per month, are for those with products that reach up to 500. Customization tools and templates are available for subscribers and Vendder also prides itself in not charging for any additional transaction fees.

The list, as provided by Kelli Shaver of Mashable, is by no means exhaustive. While there are certainly other DIY ecommerce solutions available in the market today, the 5 solutions aforementioned should help small and local business get started. Aside from being inexpensive, they also offer custom plans that small businesses can avail of that suit their budget.

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*all images taken from ecommerce sites mentioned above.

Conversion Tips for Ecommerce Website Designers

2011-07-24T09:50:00.000-07:00

There are times when ecommerce website designers prioritize creativity and design over customer usability, overshadowing certain features that would create a better shopping experience for online consumers. Anything as simple as colors to the more complicated flash animations can send the wrong signal to shoppers if not used accordingly. Not only can this lead to less traffic, but those who actually get to visit the ecommerce site would soon abandon the cart if the shopping experience proves to be a nightmare.

3DCart, a reputable eCommerce platform, offers helpful tips that ecommerce website designers can put into practice when creating online stores to increase conversion. With years of experience, these tips are guaranteed to bring one or two positive changes to both ecommerce website designers and store owners.

1. Shopping cart should be visible. Ecommerce website designers should make online shoppers feel at ease when they purchase products by making sure that the shopping cart is visible at all times. This simple web design technique assures shoppers that products they want to buy are actually registered. Additionally, the check out data should be readily available so customers can easily go back to the checkout page no matter where they finish shopping.

2. Optimize “add-to-cart” buttons by using a direct call-to-action approach. Experience has shown that offering options such as “more details,” “learn more,” or “add-to-cart” buttons don’t offer as much conversion as having a specific “Buy now” option. The choice of colors is likewise important as the buttons should correspond to the site’s overall concept and theme.

3. Offer auto-complete functions for search boxes. Ecommerce website designers know that search boxes are a necessity for online stores because it makes searching for products easier. To give shoppers a better experience, the “auto-complete” function can give searchers the closest matches in real time, which means that searchers can see the results as soon as they type in the keyword. It also avoids directing shoppers to the wrong products if they don’t find the right keywords.

4. For ecommerce stores with thousands of products and categories, navigation paths should be as clear as possible. The best way to do this is to have fly-out menus because shoppers can easily access any category page without too much clutter on the webpage. Also have a path between categories and subcategories so shoppers can easily find their way through the website.

5. Visitors should have the firsthand as to how they want to shop. Shopping preferences vary across all shoppers and it would be very difficult to please each customer. However, as long as you have the right tools that allow shoppers to customize how they browse through products (by price, new arrivals, bestsellers, size, color, budget, etc), conversion rates will increase in no time.

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E-Commerce Security Issues Do Not Prevent Customers From Online Shopping

2011-07-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

When it comes to e-commerce, a key issue has always been information security. However, in an article for the BizReport by Kristina Knight, a study by security software company, Symantec, reveals that US customers are not hindered from online shopping by the security issues lurking online.

The article notes that only about 15% are using secure Internet connection while on social media, while only about 55% of online shoppers leave a site without SSL encryption despite the fact that 80% claimed to know that they "should look" for the padlock icon. In addition, 81% of the surveyed respondents claim to know that domain URLs should match up with certificate domains but only 56% actually leave the sites with mismatched information.

This report on the attitude of US customers on online security issues comes at the heel of a good year so far for e-commerce, mobile commerce and social commerce as well. According to reports from the National Retail Foundation, retail sales have been up for the twelfth straight month. However, no statistics have yet to be reported on online-only sales.

The Symantec report also revealed that while the majority of US online shoppers are "somewhat" concerned about online privacy, the ease of e-commerce or even online banking still outweighs this concerns which leads to customers not acting as safely online as they should.

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Measure the Success of Ecommerce Websites through Customer Base

2011-07-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

Measuring the success of any ecommerce website is relatively easy. While online sales are the primary means of determining whether the ecommerce site is a hit or miss, Rebecca Corliss of HubSpot identifies three ways to rightfully measure the success of ecommerce sites in terms of the people who visit your website.

1. Revenue is an important measure of success, both for online and offline businesses. However, for eCommerce sites whose revenues are primarily derived from online marketing and sales, there is another factor to consider – the visitors. The customer base is just as important because it helps to know who converts their visits into sales. Are your customers first-time visitors or are they repeat customers? Do they belong to a large network? What drove them to purchase products from your eCommerce store? Does your customer base grow over time? The profiles of the consumers who drive by your site is likewise important because it helps in determining what they want, what they look for, and what they expect from your site.

2. Knowing where your best customers are coming from is also an important measure of success. Do your customers come from social media marketing sites such as Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn? Or do they come from product review sites such as ThisNext, CNet, Epinions, or ConsumerReports? This helps understand which eCommerce efforts are working or not because it gives you ideas on what visitors look for in your website.

3. Evaluate reasons behind cart abandonments. Cart abandonment, sadly, occurs most of the time as there are online visitors who will visit your site, thereby driving relevant traffic – except without completing a sale. By identifying the visitors who choose not to complete a transaction, you can follow up with them and encourage them to close the sale. These customers should be nurtured. Perhaps effective email campaigns can assist them to ultimately make a purchase from your eCommerce store. You can also increase customer base by being transparent. Offer pertinent information such as shipping rates and return policies so customers know what rates and services to expect when they make a purchase.

Now that you know how to measure the success of your eCommerce store based on the visitors who come to your site, give them more reasons to stay and complete purchases.

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SteelHouse Helps eCommerce Marketers by Revealing 10 Most Common ‘Shopping Personalities’

2011-07-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

eCommerce marketers are given a glimpse in the minds of shoppers as SteelHouse, a Behavior Commerce pioneer, reveals the 10 most common personalities of online shoppers. The Top 10 Shopping Personality Profiles, which was unveiled in the recently concluded Internet Retailer 2011 Conference and Exhibition, will help eCommerce owners get into the psyche behind consumers’ shopping motivations and behaviours.

According to SteelHouse, here are the 10 most common shopping personality profiles:

1. Distracted Shopper – Prefers to begin the checkout process but doesn’t always complete the purchase due to a number of reasons.

2. Premium Shopper – Prefers the best products, with premium brand names, latest features, and the most advanced technology.

3. Determined Shopper – Prefers to research products before making a purchase, ensuring to get the best deal or offer in price.

4. Active Shopper – Prefers shopping without always buying – just browsing. Incentives may help active shoppers complete a purchase.

5. Free Shipping Hunter – Prefers websites and products that offer free shipping.

6. Thrifty Shopper – Prefers refurbished or previously owned products, especially second hand items that are much cheaper than others.

7. Loyal Shopper - Prefers eCommerce stores that offer a rewards club or special rewards program, thereby becoming a loyal shopper to certain stores.

8. Methodical Shopper – Prefers to shop by product – the exact product. A web design with detailed site navigation becomes extremely helpful for Methodical Shoppers who browse until they find the perfect product.

9. Impatient Shopper – Prefers to search the product as soon as landing on the given page and shops at another eCommerce site if the product is not available at the previous one.

10. Wish List Shopper – Prefers online shopping but not always purchases. Every product is added to the shopping cart and completion of sale is determined based on what the total price will be.

SteelHouse CEO Mark Douglas believes that it is equally important to understand what drives online consumers to shop and purchase from eCommerce stores – the personalities and buying behaviours, so to speak. He also shares that knowing the personalities of an eCommerce store’s customer base will help them recognize who prefers free shipping, full prices, discounts, and sales. The personality profiles, adds Douglas, “enables marketers to present the right offer to the right type of shopper at the right time”, thereby increasing conversion rates and revenue.

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SSL 101: The Importance of Secure Sockets Layer in Ecommerce

2011-07-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

Any website that conducts secure transactions should have SSL encryption. All businesses, from banks to ecommerce sites, need SSL to protect not only financial information of the customers but also to protect the website and its business. Secure Sockets Layers are protocols that allow secure communications to happen in the World Wide Web. Hackers are powerless against SSL encryptions, thus the need for businesses to enforce this protection on their websites. SSL encryptions are often packaged with web hosting companies and it is very important to know what options are available for you and your business.

Listed below are the different kinds of SSL web hosting companies provide their ecommerce clients:

1. Domain validation – Because it is the most inexpensive option, it is also the simplest to accomplish and may not be 100% safe from hackers. For a small additional charge, ecommerce business owners can purchase domain validation wherein the certificate is acquired with very little effort – it actually only takes a few minutes because all ecommerce practitioners have to do is submit the validation of the domain ownership. It provides minimal protection which may discourage online shoppers to transact business with you so this type of SSL certificate is not recommended for those that host shopping carts.

2. Organization Validation – Offering a 256-bit encryption, an Organization Validation SSL Certificate are often invested heavily on by big brands and companies, who are focused on building a positive and professional reputation among its clients in the ecommerce world. Because this requires more effort (companies need to submit documents before being issued an SSL certificate), it costs an average of a few hundred dollars per year. The benefits precede the cost, however, as ecommerce stores are guaranteed the security of their shopping carts and online shoppers can see the details of the company on the website, encouraging trust in the business itself.

3. Extended Validation – The most expensive yet but most secure SSL Certificate of all, the Extended Validation SSL Certificate is actually worth every penny. Extended validation SSL Certificates are ideal for the bank and medical industry. It requires extensive verification by the certificate authority which follows guidelines set by CA/Browser Forum, whose trusted members come from Internet software vendors as well as the legal and audit professions.

True that investing in SSL Certificates will cost you hundreds of dollars but every penny shelled out is worth it because it offers ecommerce shoppers protection and security, encouraging them to do business with you as they are secured in the fact that their financial information will not be compromised.

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Email Marketing Tips for Ecommerce Businesses

2011-06-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

Email marketing is an aspect of online advertising that does not receive as much attention (and probably efforts) as search engine optimization or social media marketing. The truth is, email marketing is an internet marketing strategy that builds customer relationship and generates repeat sales because it builds brand recognition and customer loyalty. Small to mid-sized businesses can greatly benefit from email marketing because it is targeted, cost-effective, and has a more effective reach now than when it was developed a few years ago.

On the ecommerce side, email marketing is first accomplished by having an opt-in subscription form that offers visitors the chance to receive news, updates, and special deals on their emails. Keep in mind though that it is very important to assure subscribers that their email addresses will not be used for purposes other than what the business has explicitly stated on their website. Additionally, it is imperative that subscribers are guaranteed the privacy of their emails – this means that they will not receive spam emails nor will their email addresses be syndicated to other companies.

To make email marketing effective and bring ecommerce sales, it would be wise to hire professional copy writers to do this because it takes skill and talent to convince people to some call of action just by reading an email. Professional copywriters should have a knack for writing that leads to a strong call of action. Content should motivate and encourage readers to visit your ecommerce store and make a purchase.

Before sending out emails, it is best to have a clear and definite plan of how to go about with your email campaigns. By being clear on what you are offering (which readers should have a hard time refusing), it should get your readers to make a purchase. Whether it’s free shipping or volume discounts, marketing newsletters should be tasty enough for your readers to bite it.

With email marketing, it is easy to drive sales because readers can easily visit the websites linked to the emails and conveniently make a purchase. It may be a challenging task but hiring an email marketing professional may ease the burden. Keep in mind, though, that each email marketing campaign should be tailor made for a specific business to make it effective in the long run.

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Habits of Highly Effective E-Commerce Merchants

2011-06-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

Is your e-commerce enterprise on the right business track? There are several metrics that will help you determine if you are. But for starters, here are five habits that all highly effective e-commerce merchants--big or small--should have.

1. Think like a customer. Once you become an entrepreneur, it is easy to forget what it feels like to be on the other side of the fence. But to be an effective e-commerce merchant, you have to access your own insights as a consumer to help you reach out to your market. For example, place your products in more than one category. If you are selling fashion items online, come up with a category where you have recommended looks created from your most popular products. Also, be sure to give your customers options. When presenting your products, start from the least expensive to the most expensive. They will be more likely to purchase the higher priced items if they are presented as options.

2. Keep it simple. Simplicity, as a rule of thumb, applies to the design and layout of your e-commerce website as well as the presentation of content. Do not beat around the bush when it comes to payment and shipping policies. It also helps your customers feel more secure if your contact information can be seen easily.

3. Focus on the photos. A picture really is worth a thousand words ,so make sure you have great photos of your products (taken at different angles, if applicable) with minimal text to support it. Be clear and concise, present your product descriptions in bullets rather than in long paragraphs. Remember, online shoppers tend to scan the text and look more closely at the photos.

4. Do not forget to market. There is a wealth of knowledge available both online and offline regarding the principles and techniques of Internet marketing. So as an e-commerce merchant, you have no excuse to not try any one of these online marketing techniques.

5. Make it easy for customers to pay. You do not want to lose a sale because of a payment glitch. One way to ensure repeat business is to make the transaction as smooth as possible. There is PayPal, which is a household name in online payments. If your business is growing fast, you may want to consider investing in an online merchant account to help you better manage your payment process.

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E-Commerce Tips: Segmenting E-Mail Subscribers

2011-06-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

As an e-commerce merchant, you would certainly want to know more about your customers. How often do they want to receive information from you? Which sort of products and services are they really interested in? There are many ways to do it--some complicated, some simple. But according to Get Elastic's Linda Bustos, the simplest way to do this is by asking them. How, you ask? Bustos suggests three ways you can do so by collecting e-mail subscriber information.

1. Simple box. This is very common on e-commerce websites and according to the writer, it is as simple as an empty field with a call to action to "Subscribe" or "Sign Up." A simple box can easily take a backseat to more recognizable Facebook or Twitter calls to action. Plus, as an e-retailer, all the information you get is lumped together and you do not get the chance for segmentation, which can help you come up with more personalized e-mails.
2. Box Plus Segmentation. Depending on how you want to categorize your e-mail subscribers, you can do segmentation without making it too complicated for you and your customer. Bustos uses the example of ASOS which categorizes customers according to gender. You can also categorize between "personal" and "business" e-mails. Just remember that anything more than two can be confusing.

3. Preferences Center. You can choose to set up a separate preferences center (aside from the simple box) so that your customers are more inclined to give you their information upfront. One example she uses is LL Bean. Aside from asking for the e-mail address (required), it also asks for product preferences and events that customers might like to attend. Bustos cautions e-commerce merchants to ensure that the form is not too complex and that the call to action button (in this case, "submit") is big enough that customers can easily spot it.

A few more tips: always make sure that whatever format you choose is consistent with your e-mail marketing strategy and that you contact your existing subscribers so they can update their information using your segmentation forms or preference center.

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Global E-Commerce Tips: Creating An International Profile

2011-06-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

The Internet has made the world smaller and for e-commerce merchants, it means that it is easier to connect and reach out to customers from all over the world. In an article for the BizReport, Kristine Knight shares tips gathered from Liz Elting, CEO and co-founder of Translations.com, on how to create an international profile.

According to Elting, e-commerce merchants who are determined to go global should not rely on social media to direct their marketing efforts. International marketing efforts require time and resources since multilingual social media is something that cannot be automated. She cites the example of using Twitter or Facebook. Elting notes that for this scale of social media marketing campaign, there is a need for human experts to take charge of the translation process since "appropriate idea expression" is more important than transliteration. The lady chief further notes that "effective localization and translation requires more than plugging words into a bot that spits out literal results." She highlighted the increasing importance of connotation as the communication process becomes more compact. Once again, she uses Twitter as an example. "Crafting those short texts and broadcasting them frequently takes ongoing local support, since the basis of social media is not one-way communication but many-to-many conversation." Elting points out a special feature of social media. It is not the solution for businesses that are looking for a marketing tool that will need to be worked on once and then used as a template solution for everything else especially if the business goal is to become global.

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Tips For A Faster E-Commerce Website

2011-06-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

Your e-commerce website's performance can make or break your online business. With a slow page load time, you can easily turn a potential customer into a disgruntled customer who will most likely not go back to your site again. That is why it is necessary for you, as an e-commerce merchant, to find ways to reduce page load times without sacrificing the quality of your website's aesthetics (video and graphics in particular). How do you balance aesthetics and website efficiency? Get Elastic guest columnist Armando Roggio shares tips for a faster e-commerce website.

According to Roggio, the first step is to measure your current page performance. To do this, there are several tools that can be used. One is WebPagetest which is a free service which basically gives you "a waterfall view of your site’s performance, along with other reports. This resource will give you an idea of which page dependencies are the biggest hold-ups to your site performance." There are also three Firefox plug-ins that you can install to measure page performance. The writer also notes that "Firefox is, perhaps, the best web browser for designing, developing, and updating a website because it provides so many great add-ons that make it easier to learn what a site is doing or how it is coded."

The first Firefox add-on is Firebug. It is, according to the article, "the premier, free site inspection, debugging, and analysis tool." It is also a prerequisite to the next two add-ons. The next is YSlow from Yahoo! which "builds on Firebug to analyze your web page, comparing it to known performance best practices." Finally, Roggio suggests getting the Google Page Speed which he describes as "very similar to YSlow with a slightly different rule set." He noted that it is helpful to compare results from these two tools to more accurately determine the critical areas of site performance.

Now, on to the tips for a faster e-commerce website.

1. Make fewer HTTP Requests. HTTP can be a leading cause of slow page load times and Roggio recommends three tips to cut down on HTTP requests. First, if you have a lot of JavaScript files on your site, use LABjs which is a free tool that loads JavaScript files in parallel. Simply put, your pages could load way faster than they normally would. Next, Roggio recommends "having one or two larger cascading style sheets instead of several smaller files." And finally, use image sprites. According to the writer, "a sprite is a compound image that contains all of the various states of variable site graphics." For an example of image sprites, check out the menu in Apple's online store.

2. Optimize your images. Remember that PNG files are file size savers (and have much higher quality) as compared to GIF files and that JPEG files "offer the best balance of image quality and file size." Roggio also suggests using Pngcruch which is "an image file optimizer that can squeeze every wasted bit out of a PNG file."

3. Use a Content Delivery Network. A content delivery network is "a series of data depots that store copies of some files. When a user makes a request the requested data is pulled from the depot nearest to the client, shaving milliseconds off of site load times."

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Smaller Ecommerce Websites Should Tighten Security Measures

2011-06-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

Surely, fraudsters would target the big guns in the ecommerce industry, right? Their huge customer base is like succulent bait for hungry fraudsters in the prowl. That is safe to assume, however, it is a big misconception.

While the end goal of fraudsters is to get money, they are not targeting big ecommerce stores. They go for the little companies for the main reason that smaller ecommerce sites seem to have overlooked one important component – stringent security measures. The easy access to vital information and the vulnerability of security systems lure these fraudsters to smaller ecommerce stores.

According to a report done by web security firm Trustwave, approximately 90 percent of credit card security compromises in the ecommerce industry come from Level 4 Merchants or ecommerce sites that process less than 1 million total card payment transactions and less than 20,000 ecommerce transactions in a year.

Although no steps in improving a small ecommerce site’s security were presented, the report outlines where and why smaller merchants fail to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

The report states that 98 percent fail to maintain their firewalls that are designed to protect sensitive payment information. The security of their card-protection system is not tested on a regular basis. Moreover, 75 percent do not offer any protection on the payment data that is stored on their ecommerce site.

Thus, smaller ecommerce website owners often fall prey to the hands of cyber criminals. Much of their efforts are dedicated to daily business operations. Data security becomes a secondary concern because they think that being a small player, they lack the time and the resources to improve on these.

What can ecommerce storeowners take in from all this?

Whether you are a big player or a small one, the same amount of effort, time, and resources must be devoted to payment system security. Your customer is the lifeblood of your online business. A low security measure on your ecommerce website is the biggest deterrent on a customer. In the mind of a consumer, he or she would rather pay extra for an item rather than fall prey to credit card fraud; all because of a discounted item in your ecommerce site.

Your goal is not only to keep your customers happy, but to keep them safe as well.

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Ecommerce Tip: Ecommerce Videos Boost Traffic

2011-06-13T10:41:00.000-07:00

As the old saying goes, a picture paints a thousand words. With videos becoming an online sensation, perhaps it won’t be a thousand words being painted, but millions.

To prove the growth of online videos, comScore reports that 172 million US Internet users viewed videos online, averaging 14.9 hours per viewer in the month of April alone. Each month, the number of the video viewing audience increases.

What does this mean for ecommerce? Simple. An ecommerce video on your ecommerce website will boost ratings, traffic, and eventually, customers. In fact, it may be the missing ingredient to skyrocketing sales and conversions. In effect, when traffic increases in your ecommerce site, it automatically improves your business’ overall SEO health.

Below are a few tips on getting started with ecommerce videos how to make these videos the driving force of your sales:

1. If budget is a main concern, you may go the DIY route. All you need is a simple video camera and an editing software. As computers are equipped with user-friendly editing tools, technical experience is no longer necessary, but just a good eye and discerning taste.

2. Decide if your ecommerce video will require the use of a talent talking about your product if it just a collation of pictures accompanied by music and a voice over. This is a chance to showcase your creativity.

3. Keep your ecommerce videos short. No one wants to watch an epic documentary on why your products or services are incredibly amazing. A two-minute video is already considered long.

4. Engage your customers with a product demonstration, not a presentation of your product’s features. Customers want to see what’s in it for them and how it will be useful in their lives.

5. Be sure to include product close-ups taken at the best angle and the best lighting. Your ecommerce video should be flashy and enticing, making every product look fantastic.

6. Imbed these ecommerce videos in your ecommerce website. Take advantage of distribution outlets such as YouTube or social media sites such as Facebook. Make a catchy yet keyword-rich headline. Do not forget to include tags containing relevant keywords, for a little bit of search engine optimization strategy.

Take advantage of the ecommerce video revolution and witness how it can revolutionize your sales.

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Ecommerce Tip: Make Room for M-Commerce

2011-06-10T10:33:00.000-07:00

A few years back, it has been predicted that mobile commerce will be growing at a steady pace; most especially when mobile handsets become more advanced. Surveys recently conducted by Compete and comScore show that indeed, m-commerce is causing quite a stir in the world of commerce and ecommerce.

As comScore reports, 234 million Americans aged 13 and above are now mobile and 74 million of which are using smartphones or phones with Internet capabilities. Meanwhile, Compete talks about mobile payment popularity, assessing which items and services consumers are most likely to pay for with their mobiles.

Clearly, the numbers above shows that it would be advantageous for ecommerce websites to also have a mobile-ready store. How then should ecommerce stores gear up for the mobile revolution?

First of all, having a mobile specific subdomain would be a good start. Make changes in your ecommerce website by preparing it to be mobile-friendly. If you must, use a handset-specific CSS (cascading style sheet). If your ecommerce website design is developed according to current web standards, a simple change in your CSS would allow you to adjust your layout easily to fit the size of mobile screens.

Next is to think mobile. Since mobile screens are smaller, an empowered site search is extremely important. A regular ecommerce site viewed on a large monitor allows shoppers to take in more visual elements. On a mobile screen that is just a few inches wide, visual browsing is less desirable. Doing a quick site search is the best option.

As ecommerce sites require an exact match in its search field, it’s an entirely different story in mobile commerce sites. Do away with rigid search matches. Typing on a regular keyboard is far easier than typing on tiny keypads. Considering misspelled words and suggesting search matches as the shopper types makes for a more enjoyable mobile shopping experience.

Lastly, look for additional payment options. According to the survey done by Compete, consumers are still wary of typing their credit card information on a mobile device, thinking that it is less secure than an ecommerce site. You may want to consider Pay Pal, Google Checkout and the like as payment options wherein no credit card information is necessary. Another option is to offer mobile-specific payment options in which the transaction is billed through the customer’s phone bill. Mobile service providers usually contact the merchant when the transaction is complete.

Or how about waiting for the much talked about Google Wallet, said to revolutionize the mobile paying market?

Don’t be contented with the current slice of the pie you have as your ecommerce customer base. Tap into the mobile market share. Your ecommerce website complimented with an m-commerce store might not just bring you an extra slice or two of the market share, but the entire pie itself.

Link building Don’ts for eCommerce Stores

2011-06-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

Previously, we shared link building tips that you can implement in your eCommerce store. Time and again, it has been established how important link building is as a strategy in search engine optimization. For eCommerce merchants, getting their online stores to the top pages of search engines will mean more sales and hopefully a loyal customer base. There are many ethical ways to do link building – press releases, blogs, guest blogging, product reviews, and more. However, there are also quite a few methods that are deemed unethical and can possibly land you on search engines’ penalty box. Here are some of which you should never practice to gain links for your eCommerce store.

1. Forum Spamming – Forums are online communities that are quickly garnering relevance as users tend to research reviews before purchasing products and this is where they head to find just that. Forums allow for discussions, troubleshooting, and opinions posted by consumers. They were not devised for link building. Though forums allow links on a keyword rich anchor text, it is better to include them in your signature if you plan to be a regular on the website. Forum users have an eye for spammers and posting on threads that only allow links or providing irrelevant comments just so you can post a link can easily get you banned from the site.

2. Blog spamming – Similar to forum spamming, blog spamming occurs when you post copy-pasted comments that have nothing to do with the article, yet you still include a link on your post. To get links from blogs, regularly visit blogs and post only on those worth commenting on. Share information, get to know the blog owner, and maybe, just maybe, blog owners will give you a blog roll link or allow you to add a link when you comment.

3. Email spamming – Email marketing is another aspect of internet marketing. Email spamming, however, is an entirely different matter. Using software to send hundreds of emails at a time with no personal message to different emails is spam. If you really want to do link building via email, personally reach out to the site’s owner in such a way that it does not come out as pushy. Include specific information so they know that you have indeed visited the website and personally written the email as well.

4. Link farms – Link farms offer hundreds of links for a certain amount. Not only is this link building tactic bad for your eCommerce store, Google has also red flagged link farms so it’s best to stay away from them.

5. Link exchanges – The reason why link exchanges are classified as spam is because none of the sites who exchange links benefit from doing so. Trading links is done for the sole purpose of search engine optimization, thus making no one benefit from link exchange.

Other methods that you should never practice when it comes to eCommerce include buying links, using the wrong directories, and social spamming. Clearly there are more but if you feel uncomfortable doing so or if you think that a particular method will earn links that are not of great value, then don’t do it. When it comes to eCommerce, having a positive online reputation is very important to maintain credibility as well as earn the trust of your customers.

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Customer Service Improvement Tips for eCommerce Merchants

2011-06-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

Customer service for eCommerce stores is definitely not the typical type wherein consumers fall in line, asking questions to a store expert. Great customer service will not only do wonders for your business in terms of reputation but offering helpful service for your eCommerce store will encourage consumers to come back and do business again. For eCommerce merchants, providing great customer service poses a greater challenge because there is no way merchants can see their visitors face-to-face. All contact information should be available at the website, whether it’s via email, phone, or chat, so customers can easily contact your eCommerce store for any questions and be responded to in a quick manner. To improve customer retention, here are some ideas to keep in mind:

1. Information should be clear. Never make any assumptions when it comes to consumers. Avoid being vague about shipping, pricing, delivery, and return options and do not assume that visitors are familiar with how you operate your eCommerce store. FAQ sections are a great way to share information with visitors and it is also important that all web content is up-to-date at all times. Clarity on information also offers legal protection should a customer file a complaint against you.

2. Accessibility is key. For eCommerce stores, communication with customers can be a challenge, thus it is extremely important that customers can easily reach your business 24/7. By displaying your eCommerce phone number and physical address as well as offering an email contact form, you assure online visitors that you are ready to answer their inquiries anytime of the day. A live chat feature is your best option but it is still important to have contact information displayed on your website.

3. Great customer service means being friendly and approachable. Remember the saying, “The customer is always right?” Well, it doesn’t always apply but it helps to empathize and be polite with a customer when he or she asks about a product or service from your eCommerce store. Listen and value the insights of your customers because they are the ones who will ultimately make or break your business.

For eCommerce stores, having great customer service will bring wonders to your online reputation. This is what will help you build a loyal customer base in the online world.

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Ready To Take Your E-Commerce Enterprise To The Next Level? Six Tips To Consider

2011-05-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

If you think you are ready to conquer a bigger market for your e-commerce enterprise, take a step back and consider the following factors. Get Elastic's Linda Bustos shares in an article six things an e-commerce merchant should consider before embarking on an international expansion.

1. Market Attractiveness. Bustos reminds online entrepreneurs about the necessity of research. For example, consider the varying cultural perceptions on the type of wares or services that you sell. Different cultures also have different attitudes and expectations about spending money online, particularly where pricing and shipping are concerned. The writer cites the example of Overstock's lesson on how the UK market expects prices inclusive of shipping charges after they have received complaints. Another type of research you should do is competitive research--"both for competitors in your 'home' country that have forayed into the new market, and the new market’s domestic players." Bustos suggests answering these questions to help you get started on building the data. Will your brand be recognized? Is there a domestic brand you could acquire? Have your home country competitors successfully built awareness? Are they mentioned in social media? Do their localized sites attract customer reviews? Aside from your own web analytics, the writer also recommends gathering data from market and customer surveys as well as consultancy firms.

2. Legal. This is a tricky course to navigate but legal considerations are an absolute must when doing business on an international level. Be aware of regulatory issues in your target country and invest in a good legal counsel to help you work your way around it. According to Bustos, some of the key areas you need to cover are sales tax collection and disclosure, pricing, merchant account, payment collection, security and privacy regulations.

3. Operations. Here you should be able to answer questions such as how will you fulfill your product? Do you resort to drop shipping? Do you need to source out local vendors? Are you going to use landed warehouses or retail stores? Bustos also mentioned partnering with a company which specializes in cross-border logistics.

4. Organizational. In terms of managing your business, how will you delegate responsibilities? Will you need an Internet marketing team? Do not forget to consider differences in time zones and language.

5. Technological. Bustos asks the following questions: Does your existing platform support international expansion? Can you add multiple stores using your current license? Can the platform handle foreign character sets, multiple currencies, date formats, checkout fields (postal code format, VAT etc), new payment methods or single sign-on for customers who wish to shop both your .com and local sites? What 3rd party technologies like geolocation and content delivery networks are required to deliver tip-top user experience?

6. One site or multiple sites? As an e-commerce merchant, you should decide whether it is best to serve your new international clients from one centralized site or to create separate sites for each local market.

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E-Commerce Bounces Back

2011-05-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

According to data from web measurement firm, comScore Inc., e-commerce merchants have gained $38.0 billion in sales during the first quarter of 2011--a major leap from pre-recession e-retail sales from the first quarter of 2008 which amounted to $31.8 billion. In a report for the Internet Retailer by Allison Enright, e-commerce entrepreneurs are said to be "gaining market share from physical retailers in the wake of a recession", a development driven by increased online shopping for consumer electronics and the rising popularity of mobile devices.

comScore further notes that the "19.5% growth in e-commerce since early 2008 shows that online retailing has recovered faster than bricks-and-mortar retail." In addition, according to unadjustde U.S. Commerce Department tallies, e-commerce sales were up 26.3% in Q1 this year as compared to the same span in 2008. This strong showing by the online market is attributed to the shift in consumer behavior especially in the consumer electronics category. comScore notes that "about 50% of all computers and 30% of all consumer electronics bought in the United States are now purchased online."

Additionally, the article notes that mobile Internet access is helping e-commerce merchants make significant gains. The data also reported that "31% of U.S. mobile phone subscribers, or 72 million consumers, now go online using smartphones" and that they use their mobile devices to search prices and do comparison shopping. In fact, 33% of all smartphone owners say that they use their phones to compare prices at other merchants while in a retail store, according to another study conducted by comScore. Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore, was quoted in the article saying "“It used to be that if you got the consumers in the store the likelihood of closing a purchase was pretty high. The reality today is that with smartphones, consumers can visit, touch and feel a product, then scan the bar code and get online and compare the price. Retailers now feel that they are competing with Amazon within their own store.”

Aside from electronics retailers online, e-commerce merchants selling mass merchandise are also starting to feel the changing consumer buying patterns. The article also pointed out that US consumers spent approximately $15 billion online for packaged good in 2010, which is 10% more than in 2009. Additionally, an approximate 12% of Internet users claim that they have purchased their grocery supplies online.

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Linkbuilding Tips for Your Ecommerce Store

2011-05-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

Link building for both e-commerce and search engine optimization is a very important process. Creating links that lead to your e-commerce store will not only bring you more customers but it will also affect your website’s PageRank, especially if the links come from other websites. Gaining inbound links is so important that several internet marketing experts believe that it should comprise 60% of a company’s overall SEO strategy. Just how do you build links without being considered spam? There are different methods to gain inbound links the right way and Zippycart.com names some which you should consider for your ecommerce store.

1. Guest Blogging and Blogrolls – Creating a corporate or personal blog for e-commerce stores is a great way to build links because it becomes another means to share information to your customers through unique content. With a blog, customers can find out more about the goods and services you sell, with appropriate hyperlinks that lead back to your e-commerce site. Blogrolls too, are important because it creates a community with the same interests or products. Exchange links with fellow bloggers and request that they link to your home page, if this is the specific landing page where you want to initially build links. Guest blogging, on the other hand, allows you to write articles for other users’ blogs whose niche matches yours. It establishes your company, your brand, and your expertise. Attach links in your posts and in your bio that leads back to your e-commerce store.

2. Product Videos – Links can be placed in product videos, in case you don’t know that by now. Thanks to YouTube, links are now allowed in the video description area. Make sure that the URL is complete with http://www. In order for it to become a link.

3. Contests and promotions – Contests and promotions allow you to become closer to your users because it encourages them to participate to win prizes. Good promotions can go viral in a few days and other blogs will quickly link to your website. Consumers can spread the word through social networking sites, especially if you ask them to vote for their favorites.

4. Press releases – Paid press release allows for a maximum of 4 links that you can put in your release before getting it syndicated for you. Vocus, for example, allows one link for every 100 words so a longer article has basically more room for links. Each time the press release gets picked up and becomes posted on the website, it also means more links for your e-commerce store.

5. Social bookmarking and networking sites – Submitting your website to trusted social bookmarking sites such as StumbleUpon and Delicious helps your e-commerce store especially if you post unique contents such as top 10 products, bestsellers, or new arrivals. Tweeting or sharing links can also be retweeted and reposted on Facebook if they are interesting enough.

Other means of building links ethically include garnering sponsorships, creating widgets, and writing product reviews. Try and test each one of these methods to find out which ones work for your e-commerce business.

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Visa Joins the E-commerce World by Launching Its New Digital Wallet

2011-05-20T08:01:00.000-07:00

Visa becomes another force to reckon with in the e-commerce world as it launches its new digital wallet. The new digital wallet is an e-commerce solution pioneered by Visa to allow consumers to pay for goods and services with just a click on their smartphones. With Visa set to launch another promising e-commerce solution, the world of digital and mobile payments has just gotten bigger.

Michelle Heng of Zippycart.com also reports that Visa launching the new digital wallet should be no surprise as the payments technology company has recently acquired two monetizing solutions aimed to make consumer shopping seamless and hassle-free. The combined purchase of the $190 million worth PlaySpan and CyberSource in 2010 has made Visa a powerful force in the already expanding e-commerce and m-commerce market.

PlaySpan was purchased by Visa in February of this year, paid for in cash for a whopping $190 million, excluding bonuses for performance milestones. The company specializes in ecommerce monetizing solutions for online games, making partnerships with various social networks and gaming companies such as Facebook, Ubisoft, Sanrio, and Disney.

CyberSource, on the other hand, was purchased a year earlier for a huge sum of $2 billion. The e-payment company operates on a global scale, providing services to simplify and automate payment operations. Customers will find the e-payment platform familiar, seeing the CyberSource and Authorize.Net options as a means to pay online simply and securely, minimizing the risk of fraud.

With the combined purchase of PlaySpan and CyberSource, V isa’s new digital wallet is expected to make consumer e-commerce shopping more convenient, offering more choices with greater control. Joseph W. Saunders who is the Chairman and CEO of Visa, Inc. also states that merchants can greatly benefit from Visa’s digital wallet as it helps curb abandoned online shopping carts while bringing new clients at the same time. This, he boasts, is actually a win-win-win situation for merchants, consumers, and financial institutions.

The digital wallet will make online payments easier by linking and consolidating both Visa and non-Visa cards and accounts for online and mobile ecommerce transactions via a “click-to-buy” option. Consumers will also save more time as the digital wallet can securely store credit card information such as the number, expiration date, and billing information so purchasing becomes more convenient as there is no need to enter the same information each time.

Expect to hear more about the launch of Visa’s digital wallet in the fall of 2011 when it is released in the US and Canada markets.

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All Customers Love Fast Loading Ecommerce Websites

2011-05-04T06:01:00.000-07:00

The most impatient customers densely populate the world of ecommerce. As the speed of the Internet goes higher, the patience of people goes lower. That’s why, ecommerce website owners must learn to let go of a flashy website and do what it takes to make it load faster. Even if you have a great product and a sleek ecommerce website, if it takes too long to load, a customer almost always hit the X button and go to faster loading sites.

Listed below are some basic things to remember for your ecommerce sites to have a shorter loading time:

Simplicity is the key. It is very east to get carried away with designing your storefront. You think that captivating graphics incorporated with movement will entice the consumers to buy. While it may look aesthetically pleasing, too much graphics and animations take forever to load. Keep your ecommerce website simple, effective, and straight to the point. De-clutter and consider decreasing the size of your gigantic images. Remember, customers go online shopping to save time and energy, not to be mesmerized with moving images.

Know a little bit of the basics. While most business owners tend to leave the ecommerce website design to the hands of web developers, it would never hurt to know a little about how websites function. Knowing a little bit of the technology would not have your running to your Webmaster when a little glitch comes up. Also, with a little bit of knowledge, you would be able to tell your webmaster how exactly you’d like your ecommerce site to be without compromising loading time. Webmasters are focused on making a good website. Your sales are not really a priority to them.

The appearance matters. While we talked about simplicity earlier, the over-all appearance of your ecommerce site matters. When your storefront is properly presented, all customers feel that they are catered to. Think of your ecommerce website as a display window of a boutique. If it looks messy and is unappealing to the passerby, they would not bother going inside. An ecommerce website is the same. If it looks too cluttered, people will not waste their time browsing the inner pages even if it loads really fast.

Never underestimate the power of an ecommerce website. Having a simple yet effective website that loads fast reflects well on you and your ecommerce business. As the end goal of any ecommerce storeowner is to increase sales, this would never be possible if your storefront does not have the capability to lure people in and make them stay in your store.

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What Every Ecommerce Store Should Have

2011-05-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

In a previous blog post, we talked about what consumers hate to see in ecommerce websites. Now, we will tackle the basic elements every ecommerce store should have.

Easy Navigation, Simple Words. One thing we should always avoid in ecommerce website design is making a costumer decipher how to navigate through the entire site. Site navigation should be natural and intuitive. Also, while people tend to get carried away with flowery words, do not use them in your ecommerce website. Keep the link that says “buy” or “purchase” as it is instead of trying to be clever and place “procure.” Call “shopping cart” as it is and not an “artifact vessel.” Do not keep them guessing or you’ll lose the customers quickly.

Content Highlights. The content of your ecommerce website gives it personality, separating your site from the millions out there. If you have something that you think would attract a potential customer, call attention to it and use it as a bait for them to dig deeper in your site. Highlights could be a recent blog post, an ebook, or anything brag-worthy.

Contact Information. Making the contact information greatly visible to all adds more credibility to the ecommerce website. Be sure to include a local address, a phone number, and an email address. If you have additional websites such as a blog, a Facebook page, Twitter, etc. you may want to include widgets that would lead them directly to that page. This information not only proves that you are a real entity and can easily be reached, it also helps in search engine optimization.

Lead Them. First of all, lay out the goals as to what the bottom line of your ecommerce website is. If your end goal is for them to make a sale, set up an offer and lead them towards the “buy now” button. If your goal is to provide information on certain topics, make sure to lead them to articles and resources found within your ecommerce site. Just as an ecommerce website’s navigation is simple and intuitive, so should your call to action buttons be.

Company Blog. A lot of people underestimate the value a company blog brings, but these blogs brings life to your company. A blog is the voice of your ecommerce store. It gives consumers a deeper insight of what you are and what you can offer. It strikes conversations and attracts links, which are most beneficial to SEO.

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What Consumers Hate in Ecommerce Websites

2011-04-29T11:10:00.001-07:00

The main goal of ecommerce websites is to attract and engage customers to shop, ultimately leading to more sales and conversions. However, as online shoppers are naturally nitpicky, finding one single thing they don’t like on your website is more than enough reason for them to click on the X button and open a new ecommerce site.

What then are the things shoppers hate to see in ecommerce websites?

Poorly Created Website Design. Yes, it all boils down to aesthetics. Just as a poorly packaged product is associated with bad quality, a badly designed ecommerce website is associated with unprofessionalism and untrustworthiness. The key to online sales is trust. Any consumer will not trust a poorly created website with his credit card information. Thus, invest in a professionally created website design.

Errors. This just speaks clearly of an ecommerce website that was not proofread, not well thought of, and done in a haste. Admit it, typos and bad grammar are rather annoying. Consumers went to the site to shop, so please do not distract them with typos.

Results Cannot be Filtered. Online shopping is supposed to be an enjoyable and a less time-consuming experience. Sifting endlessly through product grids defeats the entire purpose of shopping online. Ecommerce sites should be equipped with sorting and capabilities.

Missing Search Bar. Consumers who have a specific product in mind will instantly get turned off if an ecommerce store has no search option. Clicking through the entire product catalogue to find one single thing is not worth the effort, especially if they could have just easily typed it in the search bar.

Missing Customer Service. Hello? Can anybody help me? Do not let consumers navigate through the entire ecommerce site to find the contact information. If shoppers encounter a problem or want to ask something, make sure that you are reachable. If possible, place the contact information on every page of the ecommerce website.

Login First Before Ordering. Studies have shown that shopping cart abandonment happens when ecommerce stores force consumers to register first or log in before making a purchase. If they want to purchase and checkout as a guest, allow them. After all, you don’t enter into a boutique in a mall and register in their guest list before making a purchase.

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Effective SEO-Friendly Content Copy Writing Tips for Ecommerce Website Designers

2011-04-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

Professional writing is very crucial in website building. Ecommerce website designers should integrate copywriting services to create beautifully-crafted words that are carefully executed, equipped with relevant keywords that are incorporated in such a way that a webpage is not stuffed repetitively causing search engines to penalize these sites. Content is crucial in the search engine optimization because having good content will increase a page’s rank in a major search engine’s results. With the right balance of usability and searchability, here are effective SEO-friendly tips to create successful content copy writing from ecommerce website designers.

1. Length of On-Page Content – A website’s on-page content is its inline content – this means content that does not include the headers or sidebar content. The accepted minimum number of words for page copies intended for SEO is 250 words. It’s definitely okay to exceed, as long as the content is rich with information without sounding too repetitive and stuffed with irrelevant keywords. Pages containing 1,000+ words often rank higher for the keywords they are optimized for, as long as content is valuable. Perfect examples for this are category pages on blogs or ecommerce sites.

2. Scanable Line Paragraphs – For ecommerce website designers, scanable line paragraphs increases a webpage’s usability because it allows readers to easily scan or skim through a page’s content. This is easily achieved by having around 3-4 paragraphs consisting of 2-3 sentences each with a maximum of 5 lines for each paragraph. This is also consistent with a page’s 250-word minimum content. Through scanable line paragraphs, readers have a higher chance of consuming the content.

3. Headers – Headers are useful for ecommerce website designers because it keeps a user engaged despite having multiple products featured on one page but still keeping with the 250-word minimum content. Structuring content by creating sections helps a user read content easily while providing visual cues to attract a reader’s eye through content. In terms of SEO functionality, headers that contain keywords help search engines know what your content is about.

4. Keyword Density – Keyword density is a formula that defines how often a keyword should appear on a page. It factors in the total numbers of words and the accepted keyword density ranges from 2%-5%. It also helps in creating more useful and valuable content as it helps preventing spam and non-robotic information. An additional tip is to place keywords in the header tags to optimize keyword density without making the actual copy sound unnatural.

5. Bullet lists – Bullet lists may be scanable but search engines consider them “broken content”, which means that content is not ranked as important as other page copies. To go around with this, use bullet lists at the top of the page to serve as an outline of what the page contains, guiding the readers on what to expect. Another tip is to place bullet lists further down in the content as long as it is preceded by valuable content.

The most important tip for ecommerce website designers when it comes to producing rich content is to make sure it is engaging, SEO-friendly, and user-friendly. The goal of any copy is to create backlinks, go viral, and increase a page’s rankings in search engine results. Think of the user first before the search bots, but the right mix should increase usability and optimize SEO content.

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What Ecommerce Practitioners Should Know About Web Hosting Companies

2011-04-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

Web hosting services host servers which clients can purchase or lease to use for their businesses. These are perfect for ecommerce practitioners. Most ecommerce web hosting companies also offer Internet connectivity, web pages, and small-scale file hosting. Clients can upload files via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or Web interface. With web hosting, ecommerce-based companies can set up shopping carts when selling products and services over the Internet. Ecommerce practitioners can also accept multiple payment options and send money to bank accounts, which require secure hosting companies. So before picking the perfect ecommerce web hosting service, here’s what you need to know.

1. Company history – An ecommerce web hosting company’s background speaks for itself. Do research on the company’s history, portfolio, and feedback. Reputable ecommerce web hosting companies put the founding dates on the website and this is important because it allows you to know how long the company has been in the web hosting business. Search the company’s name on the Internet and look for possible complaints made on webmaster forums or consumer websites to give you an idea on how the company treats its consumers. Blog posts and press releases are also reliable sources of information when it comes to how a company regards changes or problems.

2. Long-term costs – Ecommerce web hosting is not entirely free. Ecommerce-based companies often have to pay annual or monthly fees to avail of this service. An online advertising budget is not always in a company’s marketing plan, so, cost is an ongoing factor when choosing the right web hosting service. When calculating, factor in how much the service will cost for a year because paying by the year is often cheaper than monthly payments. If you do plan on staying with the ecommerce business for years, avoid lump sum payments that can greatly hurt your business in the future.

3. Average Downtime – 99.9% is the average uptime web hosting services offer to clients. Again, reputable companies would put this information out in the open because ecommerce clients would prefer web hosting providers with fast uptime. A poor performing service can greatly cost any company huge amounts of revenue. Should a web hosting service offer a different average uptime, check out why. Determine the reason for the outage and how the company handles this issue. The time it takes for web hosting services to respond to customer inquiry comes to play at this point too.

There are different types of web hosting services. Choosing the right one depends on the type of ecommerce service you provide. As with any service, it is always best to do research before purchasing a company’s services to ensure you save not only money, but time - should issues and problems arise in the future.

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Innovative Web Video Ideas for Ecommerce Website Designers

2011-03-23T07:32:00.000-07:00

Video marketing has proven to become a positive trend in internet marketing. May ecommerce website designers have caught up with using web videos as tools to create eye-catching and engaging video clips to grab a viewer’s attention. With well-crafted and distributed videos on the internet, businesses can reach specific audiences while simultaneously having a tremendous reach. For small businesses, creating web videos may seem like a daunting task, but the truth is that it isn’t. Here are a few creative web video ideas you can successfully implement in your website.

1. Request for video testimonials – In this day and age when every web video aims to “go viral”, it does not necessarily mean it will. Mashable expert Zachary Sniderman suggests asking help from the audience to make your brand and product reach out to a wider audience, hence, saving yourself the trouble while bringing web videos to a whole new ballgame. Certain ecommerce website designers and businesses have used this technique, requesting video submissions from clients using the products they have purchased from a certain company. For example, GilaTools recently launched a promotion wherein the first 50 customers who submit a video clip highlighting why they love the diamond blades they purchased will receive a free diamond blade similar to one used in the video testimony. This strategy is also a means of extending your relationship with consumers past the point of sale, building an online forum and community.

2. Videos as content carriers – That we are now living in a fast-paced, technical world should be a clue on what consumers now want from businesses. With the average attention span lasting for only a few minutes, it is important to have creative means of sharing information. This is where web videos come in. Ecommerce website designers make it a point to include videos when designing websites to engage consumers in a dynamic video experience. No one wants to read a text-heavy webpage when they can watch a 5-minute clip of it. On the professional side, consumers seeing business owners on videos creates a more personal approach.

3. Product demos – Product demos are not for all types of businesses. Ecommerce website designers can also choose to do webcasts to highlight advanced features of products and services while some may opt for tutorial demos to educate consumers as a means of attracting more viewers.

4. Customer service via video chat – Offering good customer service is not just accomplished by phone anymore. More and more companies are integrating video chats to engage consumers’ interaction. Use Skype or Gmail and encourage callers to ask questions or assist with troubleshooting. It helps create a stronger relationship with customers because they know they can rely on you anytime of the day with any inquiries they have.

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Current Trends Ecommerce Web Designers Should Explore

2011-03-01T23:10:00.000-08:00

Trends are everywhere. From fashion to social media, experts predict and discover trends all the time. Ecommerce is no exception as web designs change from time to time. Ecommerce web designers should explore and examine current trends to keep up with the standards the industry is practicing. Additionally, as ecommerce web designers constantly reinvent and redesign websites, it is important to implement techniques that have the longest effects on consumers and businesses. Armando Roggio of Practical Ecommerce shares the three trends he thinks are worth following.

1. Content sliders – As the name says, content sliders feature horizontal and vertical movements to which consumers can interact with. Roggio suggests ecommerce web designers incorporate content sliders into websites because of its “professional” look. Yes, they are simple to implement but its simplicity is what makes it a great addition to web design because ecommerce web designers can show off their technical prowess with an understated look that screams “professionalism” – a factor consumers will certainly appreciate when browsing through a website’s online store. Slideshows, or carousels, as content sliders are sometimes called, are also very functional, allowing a great deal of information to be displayed without taking too much on-page real estate.

2. Adobe Flash – Adobe Flash is a rich internet application that is predicted to be the future of ecommerce. Ecommerce web designers use Adobe Flash because of its ability to provide uncompromised viewing of applications, content, and videos on screens and browsers. Websites that incorporate Flash or Flex into their ecommerce sites can offer users a better experience while sites themselves can gain a competitive edge over their peers.

3. Big – What is big when it comes to web design? Everything, apparently, as Roggio considers ‘big’ to be a design trend. Ecommerce web designers should start using big fonts, logos, and images to capture a user’s attention. Make big impressions big time by making every element big on a webpage. Just don’t overdo it, of course.

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Top Five Open Source Platforms for Ecommerce Website Designers

2011-02-02T21:50:00.000-08:00

Tripwire Magazine, a weblog catered to the web designers and developers, has recently named the top 15 open source platforms for ecommerce website designers, useful for both professional internet marketers and individuals that desire to start their own online store. Open source platforms allow users to modify, change, and improve the software. Here are the five most popular open source platforms ecommerce website designers use for their clients and businesses:

1. Magento – Magento Enterprise is a free open source platform and is considered the fastest growing platform. Merchants use the platform to conduct $25 billion worth of transactions. With the Enterprise Edition, merchants are able use powerful tools such as store credits and gift cards and top notch support. The Community Edition is free for download, without the support provided by the Enterprise Edition.

2. osCommerce – As with Magento, osCommerce is a free ecommerce platform that offers a quick, cost-effective, and painless means of setting up an online store. Although it is free to use, merchants will need to pay for some of the 5,800 add-ons offered by osCommerce to make their websites stand out.

3. Zen Cart – Also free, Zen Cart offers the standard features but also adds a newsletter manager, discount coupons, multi-volume discounts, and the option of choosing the cards you prefer for payment.

4. X-Cart – For $115, X-Cart is ideal for both established ecommerce website designers and those who are just beginning to set up their online stores. The amount of support and features included with X-Cart, such as professional and community support for merchants, makes up for the hefty price tag. Programmers will also be glad to know that X-Cart uses the Smarty template system, compliant and search-engine friendly.

5. CubeCart – With three different skins, CubeCart 3 is a free ecommerce platform that offers customer order history, unlimited products, multi-currency support, and product search – all of which are essential to any ecommerce store. For those willing to shell out big bucks, CubeCart 4 costs $100 and offers enhanced SEO, courier tracking URL, and the ability to change orders from the back-end, just to name a few.

Tripwire offers the pros and cons of each and it is up to you to choose one that fits your business’ needs. While some ecommerce platforms are free, there are also those that offer a wide range of prices with additional features. To read the original article, you may go here.

What to Look For in an Ecommerce Website Designer

2011-01-18T22:09:00.000-08:00

With today’s technological advancements and the availability of information on the world wide web, setting up a website is no longer rocket science. You don’t need a college degree to set up your own site. There are even templates which you can use to start up. But if you are an ecommerce merchant looking to set up your own ecommerce website, you should know that you don’t just need any website designer—you need an ecommerce website designer. An ecommerce website is set apart by its function—it should be designed to hook customers and successfully sell items. Thus, you need an experienced website designer that understands how ecommerce works.

Here are some criteria to refer to when looking for your ecommerce website designer.

1. Portfolio. When looking at a prospective ecommerce website designer’s portfolio, do not look at just their artistic ability. Remember, their task is to make a website that will sell products or services. If you are their first ecommerce website client, make sure that they understand key Internet marketing concepts such as social media marketing and pay per click management. If you are not their first ecommerce website client, check out the sites they have designed. Imagine yourself as a customer and see if this website entices you to buy. You can even get in touch with their previous clients and ask for feedback.

2. Industry know how. Technology is never stagnant especially in the world of ecommerce. Make sure your future ecommerce website designer is tech savvy and is up to date on new technology and developments to make sure your online business stays relevant and competitive.

3. Willingness to take risks. Your ecommerce website designer should not be afraid to get out of their comfort zone and try something new. Additionally, they should be able to clearly explain to you how they will execute your ideas. Your ecommerce website designer should bring something new to the table. If your designer just mimics what you are saying and constantly agrees to whatever you say, consider it a warning sign. In a cutthroat industry like ecommerce, what you need are thinkers, innovators and risk takers.

One-Page Checkouts for Ecommerce Sites

2011-01-12T23:52:00.000-08:00

With approximately 60% of checkouts ending without a conversion, ecommerce owners experience increasing frustration on how to lessen this amount and consequently improve revenues and profits. While some reasons for shopping cart abandonment are purchase prices and shipping costs, online shoppers checkout without completing a purchase also because of the difficulty of the checkout processes.

An easy solution to prevent cart abandonment rates from going higher is the introduction of single-page, Ajax-driven checkout forms that are convenient and feature asynchronous form validation. One main advantage of one-page checkout forms is that it loads faster than multi-page checkouts because there are no additional pages to load. Additionally, shoppers can easily understand the checkout process and determine which part of the process they’re actually in with one-page checkout forms. Customers will no longer get confused or worried that they might be purchasing the same product twice because of vague instructions. Single-page checkout forms have been proven to convert consumers faster and easier.

With Ajax-driven checkout forms, consumers are assured of some sort of validation before the order is actually confirmed. Ajax stands for ‘asynchronous JavaScript and XML’ and its best feature is its ability to address issues by validating the form without the need for the browser to reload. In essence, shoppers get feedback as soon as a field is completed because information is asynchronously validated so there is no need to reload the browser or to erase the form for users to fill out again.

By employing Ajax-driven, single-page checkout forms, ecommerce owners can expect an increase in sales conversions, better page performance, improved customer satisfaction, and advanced interactivity. Major shopping networks have proven that consumers will not tolerate slow-loading pages; and, on the other hand, no agitating form validation issues lead to a better overall shopping experience. Additionally, Ajax makes webpages more interactive, which consequently will lead to increased consumer interactivity.

There are a few points to remember though. Ajax works hand-in-hand with JavaScript so disabling it will render Ajax useless and revert to server-side validation. Additionally, browser functions may behave differently because Ajax does not necessarily work by page reloading.

Deciding whether to incorporate Ajax into your checkout system means weighing in on its potential benefits in customer satisfaction and sales but also spending more on development costs. Continue testing different checkout methods to find out which one works best for your business.

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Ten Ecommerce Ideas for 2011

2011-01-06T16:05:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, folks! It’s 2011 and we are ready to conquer the brand new challenges in the fast paced and constantly changing world of ecommerce. To jumpstart the year, we are featuring ten ecommerce ideas from industry insiders as published in an article for the Practical Ecommerce. Read on and learn from the experts themselves.

1. Marc Galeazzi of TrainHornsDelivered.com advises ecommerce merchants to build links daily. Using analytics, find out your top three keywords everyday and build one link for each keyword daily. He emphasizes the importance of link building as a “revenue-focused activity.”
2. LeftClick’s Daniel Jones suggests checking keyword matches type in AdWords.
3. Hold your order outsourced fulfillment partner accountable. Will Schneider of WarehousingAndFulFillmen.com recommends keeping a separate inventory and ensuring that they are contractually bound to fix mistakes when they happen.
4. Audio Transcription’s Randall Davidson advises to allow customers to upload product photos. It is a visible social proof strategy that encourages potential customers to actually purchase your product.
5. Invest in your ecommerce analytics and constantly review it to see what people think about your website. According to Richard Potvin of MapleSyrupWorld, you should have relevant landing pages for popular keywords.
6. On your product pages, let the sale prices stand out through “compelling graphic treatment”, according to WiderFunnel Marketing Optimization’s Chris Goward.
7. Mobile ecommerce has made waves in 2010 and its momentum is expected to carry on into 2011. Take advantage of this technology, advises Carl Prindle of Blueport Commerce The key for mobile ecommerce is that it should be easy to use and handy for providing the right information on products.
8. Virgil Dickerson of Suburban Home Records and Vinyl Collective shares the story and the secret of his ecommerce success—offer exclusive items. In his case, his online store took off by providing exclusive limited edition records.
9. Ask for feedback from your customers. Larry Chase of Blue Dot Paper Shop and LCI Paper recommends sending out an e-mail after each purchase to solicit feedback on your ecommerce site and using that information to improve your business.
10. Finally, Jamie Salvatori of Vat19.com reminds ecommerce merchants to focus on human customers and not on search engine computer algorithms such as Googlebot. As Salvatori puts it, “nothing spreads faster than a refreshing online experience.”

Tips on Inventory Management for Ecommerce Merchants

2011-01-04T23:38:00.000-08:00

Just because you are managing an online business, doesn’t mean that you don’t have to worry about inventory. Inventory may not be as enjoyable as planning your marketing and advertising strategies, but it is a necessary step in ensuring that you are making profit. Practical Ecommerce’s Shirley Tan shares some helpful insights on effective inventory management for ecom merce merchants regardless of what you sell online.

According to Tan, some entrepreneurs deal with the inventory issue by drop shipping. Drop shipping is the process by which suppliers deliver the goods directly to the customer. However, Tan further adds that some ecommerce merchants still prefer to have a hand in the delivery process and opt for stocking inventory or a combination of both.

For ecommerce merchants who choose to stock inventory, Tan points out two benefits—being in charge of your own shipping department and having first hand information on which items are in stock. The former allows you to set your own shipping rates and better resolve issues without waiting for the manufacturer’s response. The latter, on the other hand, makes it easier for you to develop promos based on real time inventory levels. However, when stocking inventory in house, there are some issues you need to deal with such as insurance and overhead costs and storage space.

In her article, Tan also shares other inventory management tips ecommerce businesses.

1. Investing in technology. According to Tan, using bar codes will help streamline the inventory process which leads to better forecasting and more efficient planning.
2. Measuring inventory returns
3. Maintaining a healthy relationship with your vendors, which will allow you to negotiate terms and conditions favorable to your online enterprise.
4. Understanding the fact that inventory is essentially money sitting idly. The longer it’s there, the more money is wasted. Thus, this can help you make decisions on excess inventory and how to reduce them.
5. Eliminating “obsolete inventory” through promotions such as gift with purchase.
6. Matching up pricing to avoid shipment hassles and accounting inconsistencies later on.

As a general rule of thumb, Tan recommends organizing your inventory based on which ones are the fast selling goods and which ones are not. Always keep a stock of the fast sellers and based on the market feel, avoid stocking up on items that do not have positive customer response.

Mobile Commerce Growth Continues

2010-12-30T14:36:00.000-08:00

As we ring in the New Year, the most promising trend to watch over is mobile commerce. With the explosion of mobile device carriers with internet access, mobile commerce has been steadily rising. Real time access to updates and sales through social media has allowed consumers to stay connected with their favorite brands more than before.

Mobile commerce grew to $3.4 billion in 2010, a 253% increase from 2008 and 143% increase from 2009. These are amazing numbers and are all due to the rise in smartphones and mobile retail applications.

To reinforce this mobile commerce trend, eBay recently reported a $100 million increase in mobile sales this holiday season between Nov. 25th and Dec. 25th. That's a $143% increase from $42 million the same time last year. More people are mobile and buying from their fans. The most popular items that were purchased via mobile smartphones, included clothing and accessories, toys, cell phones, sports items, and auto parts.

Clearly, mobile commerce will continue to grow. The enormous increase to $3.4 billion a year should be a signal for retailers to enter the market. Although we may believe that many people carry smartphones, there are still a large portion of individuals who don't. According to research done by Neilson Co, 31% of mobile phone carriers carried smartphones in Q3 2010, which is 19% increase from Q3 2009. About 69% carry conventional cell phones, which do not have advanced web browsing and application capability. The basic function many phones can do is texting. Americans love to text and a survey done by comSCORE found that 66.8% Americans text. The read rate for those opt-in text messages is 95%, according to Cardinalscore. Some retailers have found success by mass texting customers with sales, discounts, and coupon codes. Others have even provided customers to shop by texting item codes. In order to take advantage of the smartphone gap, companies should look into text advertising. It is much more cost efficient and able to reach a large demographic.

It will be interesting to see how far mobile commerce will go in 2011, especially as consumers continue to convert over to smartphones.How much more comfortable shoppers will be with mobile shopping remains to be seen. Much similar to the rise of e-commerce, it will take time for the transition to take place.

Written by Daniel T

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Easy Ecommerce Tips to Start 2011 the Right Way

2010-12-28T22:57:00.000-08:00

The incoming year offers another chance for ecommerce owners to maximize the internet for their business. By creating consumer-friendly websites, ecommerce site owners can easily gain more clients and increase their business’s sales while making each customer’s shopping experience an unforgettable one.

1. A faster website will bring consumers to your ecommerce store faster. Use free website performance diagnosis tools online to find out how fast your website operates. Speed up your website by optimizing your site for faster page loads.

2. Change website headers to answer these three basic questions: Where am I? What can I do here? Why should I stay? By keeping in mind that all site pages are potential “landing pages”, it is important to find ways to make customers linger and explore your ecommerce store.

3. Remember UVP = Unique Value Proposition. The UVP is very important as it answers the question “Why should I buy from you rather than one of your competitors?” This helps you decide how to enhance your webpage, products, and services in order to attract customers away from competitors.

4. Not everything your competitor does and has done will automatically work for you. Test web features before fully implementing them on your website to avoid mishaps that consumers will find discouraging and disappointing.

5. Ask for customer reviews by sending requests post-purchase. This can either be done by email or a quick survey on your website. Peer reviews are one of the most influential factors customers look into before purchasing a product or service.

6. Avoid “sticker shock” by informing online shoppers of tax and shipping charges in advance before checking out final purchases. Additionally, allow shoppers to copy shipping addresses to billing addresses when checking out.

7. Conversion rates aren’t the only metric you should track. Micro-conversions such as repeat visit rate, email sign-ups, and link visitor recency should also be measured.

These are just a few tips you could incorporate into your ecommerce store. The key is to think a like a consumer to know what changes should be done to make each client’s shopping a friendly and unique experience, encouraging them to come back and make repeat business.

Have Writer’s Block? Here are Helpful Blogging Topics for Ecommerce Websites

2010-12-21T19:04:00.000-08:00

Internet marketing practitioners know that setting up a blog is one of the most useful ways of linkbuilding. Ecommerce owners have ventured into blog writing to gain followers and help potential customers with topics related to their products. Just as any writer, however, ecommerce writers can sometimes suffer from writer’s block. Here are some topics writers can discuss on their ecommerce websites.

• As a general rule, avoid writing about your products only. It’s best to write about products that belong in your industry. Readers will not go to your blog site to search for articles for specific products, but rather for general information about products and services. You can write about how your product can solve or satisfy a consumer’s desire. It should have immediate value to your audience to drive them to your site. For example, if you are selling case sealers it means that you belong to the packaging industry. It would be helpful to write about the packaging industry in general and sometimes write about case sealers as part of your blog.
• Writing about a product’s usage can greatly help beginners. Not all products contain manuals or instructions. Additionally, certain products can be used in a number of ways, aside from its basic functions. By writing about a product’s added features and efficiency, you are offering readers knowledge they previously didn’t have before reading your article.
• Sharing the latest industry and product news should also be a goal of your blog. You could offer your opinion or simply be the first to break it to your readers. Write about new features or product enhancements that could affect your product. Optimize blog posts with spikes in searches to generate more traffic to your site.
• Don’t forget to blog about promotions and giveaways. Blog sites are basically an extension of your ecommerce website so where better to promote it than in your blog, right? Focus on how readers can benefit from your promotion and not just discuss your ecommerce store or product. Remember to consistently explain what your consumers can gain from participating in giveaways to encourage them to join.

As you develop your blog, you will eventually find out which topics readers love and appreciate the most. Use this information to optimize your blog to generate more traffic to your blog, and consequently, to your ecommerce site.

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Video Marketing for Ecommerce Owners (Part I)

2010-12-14T05:10:00.000-08:00

Creating videos to increase ecommerce sales has become a common practice among the ecommerce industry with the emergence of YouTube. With the launch of Google Instant, which provides real time search results as the user types, products accompanied by video marketing saw an increase in clicks by 28 percent, as stated by a panelist during the 2010 Search Marketing Expo East Conference. As web users’ attention spans change and become more visual, a two-minute web video becomes a preferable option, rather than text-based web pages. Here are a few ideas on how to produce and shoot videos for your ecommerce site.

1. A motivation to take action is the goal of every search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. Including a persuasive goal-oriented message at the end of each video, helps encourages consumers to take action. Whether it’s to take advantage of a promotion, visit a website, or call a toll-free number, suggesting any kind of action that leads to your business is an important goal in web videos.

2. High-definition, wide format videos are the latest in technology. Grainy videos are no longer the norm. To shoot in HD format, some formatting tips include shooting with a 16:9 aspect ratio, MP4 format with .H264 compression, MP3 or AAC compression, and the standard 30 frames per second. Videos should be 2 minutes or less to attract and keep the viewers’ attention.

3. Potential keywords can be found at YouTube’s search box. As Google now owns YouTube, suggestions from the video site are extremely helpful. Search YouTube afterwards with these intended keyword phrases to see what your competition is.

4. For the best SEO results, important keywords should be placed in titles, descriptions, and tags. Make it as compelling and engaging as possible to encourage users to select your video among all other options available on the web. YouTube allows 65 characters for titles, which means titles should be kept within this limit to avoid being cut off.

5. Just as with other business ventures, do a quick search to find out who your competitors are. This can be done by researching the analytics of videos similar to your products and services. Additionally, this can help you with keywords for your own video. Don’t forget to check your own video’s analytics, which will provide you with insight on how to increase viewership. Third-party tools are also available if YouTube’s features are not sufficient.

Ecommerce is similar to any business where owners need to keep up with the latest trends and technology to avoid being left behind. With video marketing, consumers are offered a more visually stimulating medium of advertising.

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Ecommerce Tips: Reducing WISMOs

2010-12-10T17:12:00.000-08:00

The Black Friday shopping craze has ended, but e-commerce merchants are still on “red alert” as the Holiday shopping season is about to take off. While this is expected to increase the volume of your sales, it is also expected to increase the amount of WISMO calls. WISMO stands for Where Is My Order. This, of course, refers to your customers who are following up on their orders. According to Linda Bustos, in an article for Get Elastic, WISMO calls can take up about 70 to 80% of customer service calls during the peak of the Holiday season shopping. As an e-commerce merchant, this can take up a large portino of your resources. Bustos shares some tips to reduce your WISMOs and improve your business’ customer service experience.

1. Overcommunicate delivery estimates. In these hectic shopping times, repeating yourself is the recommended course of action. Customers call because they do not know what to expect so provide them with the information that they need. Put your delivery schedule in various parts of your e-commerce site and let them know if you expect some setbacks. It is also wise to add a buffer to your delivery dates so you are ready for unforeseen and inevitable events which may cause delay.

2. Provide order tracking. If you are not yet offering this, you may find this to be a bit expensive for your budget. However, this is an investment that you’ll find useful, especially during this hectic shopping season. A few online shoppers base their e-commerce choices on a site’s efficiency in tracking orders. This is also a good way to increase customer satisfaction and save sales.

3. Once you have the order tracking tool (you can do this on your own or use your carrier’s tool), follow up each order with a link to that tool. If you don’t have this, go back to number one: repeat yourself. Also, Bustos suggests stating the delivery date in terms of month and day, which is more precise, instead of using X number of business days, which is more vague.

4. Send an e-mail when the order is shipped. Again, re-state the delivery dates.

5. On your FAQ page, address WISMO inquiries. This will ease the burden on your hotline, as customers can now inquire on there own, based on information from your e-commerce site. Again, take this opportunity to re-state your delivery dates.

6. Spend a bit more for second day shipping. If the difference between regular and expedited service is a few dollars, Bustos advices e-commerce merchants to pay for the extra costs. The additional cost can be a huge difference in terms of the customer service experience you provide and will in turn, significantly lower your WISMO calls.

Ecommerce Trends to Watch Out For in 2011

2010-12-09T06:08:00.000-08:00

The year 2010 is drawing to a close and ecommerce retailers and wholesalers will be busy with holiday promotions until the end of the year. Ecommerce merchants need to start researching future ecommerce trends to gear up for the drastic changes the internet has to offer for online businesses. Despite the drop in the economy within the past two years, consumers are starting to spend more thanks in part to innovations in search engines. To prepare for 2011, here are a few ecommerce trends to watch out as we enter a new era of web modernization.

1. Mobile Commerce – 2011 just might be the year mobile commerce becomes the mainstream due to the increase in consumers’ preference in smart phones. With the influx of iPhones and Blackberries, as well as tablets like the iPad and Kindle, more and more companies are beginning to offer mobile-friendly versions of their websites, such as smartphone apps, to provide a more custom mobile commerce transaction.

2. Price Loyalty – Consumers now practice price loyalty instead of the more traditional brand loyalty. In a world where shoppers think that price is king and comparison shopping is fast, consumers are now more open to shopping at different retailers because of the various discounts, incentives, and deals they can acquire. The fact that comparison shopping engines (CSEs) have grown tremendously over the past couple of years is testament that users are looking for worthy deals and promotions online before shelling out cash.

3. Social Commerce – Social commerce simply means utilizing social media and social networking sites to generate more sales. More and more ecommerce merchants are starting to realize the potential of social commerce, which is why retailers are beginning to incorporate it in their marketing efforts. Consumers are using social media for research and feedback with the purpose of finding out how a product or service works before they pay for it. This is the main reason why ecommerce merchants are starting to interact with consumers in these social commerce spaces. Because of this, expect to see a rise of social commerce solutions in 2011.

4. Video and Visual Search – In line with product researching prior to purchasing, studies have shown that video and image-rich information are easier to process and absorb so don’t be surprised that ecommerce retailers take advantage of this tactic. Coming from being completely text-based, ecommerce sites have incorporated images and videos to their repertoire of internet marketing strategies. Not only do videos and images help sell more, these added features also make users stay longer on websites and pages.

5. Co-Creation – Online shopping has revealed (and possibly made) consumers to be extremely picky to the extent of being allowed to customize products and services. Know as Co-creation ecommerce, these sites sites allow these consumers to indulge in personal whims and preferences by letting them customize every step in the process. From dresses to men’s suits, everything can be personalized nowadays and this innovation is expected to rise come 2011.

There are certainly more trends to expect in 2011 which will be discussed next time. While ecommerce owners cannot participate nor employ all of these, it is suggested to practice one with another to know which combination works best for your online business.

Easy-To-Do Tips for Making E-commerce Websites Consumer Friendly

2010-12-04T09:00:00.000-08:00

Earlier we provided you with five major no-no’s when doing e-commerce. While every e-commerce site’s goals are to convert visitors to buyers and rank highly on search engine results, many still utilize ineffective traditional methods. So here are 4 useful e-commerce tips to help ensure that your online store effectively attracts and produces returning customers and purchases.

1. Avoid over filling site content with key phrases in an attempt to rank higher on search engines. While placing relevant keywords in front of every possible word will help produce higher ranking, it doesn’t effectively help visitor conversion. Generating results with professional content writing includes texts that will evoke the proper response while getting their interest at the same time. A search engine optimized website in addition to well-crafted content, is the best way to entice customers.

2. Display payment options as soon as visitors view the homepage of your ecommerce site. Making payment options immediately visible on the homepage encourages visitors to stay and shop longer on the site. Don’t wait until consumers purchase a product/service before they discover how they can pay for their items. If they are disappointed with the payment options you offer, they will leave immediately.

3. An internal search engine is essential on every page. Consumers shop for a variety of products/services and it is important that they have the option of searching a product instead of browsing through pages of irrelevant items before they find what they are looking for. Internal search engines may not be the most efficient methods for research but consumers do use them to save time, so it is important to make sure one is available for your online store.

4. Don’t require registration in order for visitors to make a purchase. It is important to secure online transactions, but requiring customers to register first may turn them off. Limiting the information and prices they can see before they register is a major conversion killer. Shoppers shop online for convenience and user-friendliness. If you are making the experience difficult for them, not only will they leave your site immediately, but they may not return.

The most important thing to remember when designing an online store is to make it consumer-friendly in all ways possible without compromising security and quality. Think of yourself as a consumer and ask what things you want and prefer when visiting online shops. This will certainly assist you in the design and implementation of your consumer-friendly ecommerce site.

Facebook’s Increasing Role in the World of Ecommerce

2010-12-02T17:13:00.000-08:00

While we have all accepted and adjusted to the fact that Facebook is an essential part of being an ecommerce me rchant, the world’s most popular social networking site ups the ante in its ever increasing role in online business. Paul Chaney, in an article for Practical Ecommerce, writes about Facebook’s quest to become the preferred homepage of the Internet public and its effect on ecommerce merchants. According to Chaney, Facebook is among the top three sites that average consumers visit when they go online. Quoting a report from the TechCrunch and The Wall Street Journal, Chaney writes that “Facebook is split-testing a subset of its users, with a blue bar across the top of the page when they login, asking that they make Facebook their homepage.” This option will be rolled out in the next couple of weeks but according to the article, already there are some six percent of Internet users who already have Facebook as their homepage. This may be of some cause for alarm for another Internet giant, Google, but for ecommerce merchants this move also has its significant implications:

1. It reiterates the importance of establishing a Facebook presence. Notice how almost all ecommerce sites include a link to their own Facebook page. A Facebook account brings you closer to your customer base and establishes a connection with prospective customers. With Facebook applications like Payvment and ShopTab, you can also sell directly from the site.

2. SEO can lose some of its star power. At the dawn of ecommerce, SEO was king. Now with Facebook changing the game and attempting web domination, SEO may soon find itself out of the spotlight.

3. Facebook optimization becomes a must. Facebook’s response to Google’s PageRank is EdgeRank: an algorithm designed to determine what content is shared by users in news feeds. Although not as sophisticated as the former, Facebook’s dominant presence could soon spawn a new ecommerce industry wherein Facebook optimization is vital.

From just some social networking site to, now to THE website, Facebook is proving that it is not just a social fad. As an ecommerce merchant, it should be noted that Facebook is definitely one of the sites to watch out for in the near future.

Ecommerce Checklist for the Holidays

2010-11-28T06:15:00.001-08:00

It is officially shopping season, and if you are an ecommerce merchant, you should be on your toes by now getting ready for the large volume of customers about to come your way. It is easy to get overwhelmed by a sudden influx of orders so it is best to prepare as early as possible. In a post for the official LexiConn blog, Rob Mangiafico shares some tips for ecommerce merchants as the busy holiday shopping season approaches. Now, it’s time to whip out your checklist and see if you’ve got these holiday ecommerce essentials covered. Here are some of Mangiafico’s holiday shopping tips:

1. Make sure there are no security warnings on your checkout page. This can be a major turn-off for customers and can result in non-completion of a sale.
2. Check your website on the three major browsers. Mangiafico identifies these three major browsers as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome.
3. Prepare your holiday specials. Lend a helping hand to last minute shoppers by creating a special holiday shopping page. Mangiafico cites common examples such as “Gifts Under $50” and “Gifts for Him/Her”.
4. Highlight your freebies. According to Mangiafico, if you are offering free shipping, make sure it grabs the spotlight in your ecommerce site but does not mislead customers either. If there are restrictions, let them know and try not to make the font so small it’s practically unreadable.
5. Have a back-up plan for if/when something goes wrong. Due to the large volume of shoppers during this season, shipping and payment malfunctions and glitches are not uncommon, so be prepared.
6. Know what shoppers are looking for. Research is a vital aspect of ecommerce and it is not a one-time thing. Update yourself on what keywords shoppers are using to search for your products.
7. Use Google’s ThinkHoliday. Google gives ecommerce merchants a holiday treat with their special site made to help you find out what people are looking for this season.

Don’t worry if you haven’t got these covered, you still have time to catch up! Happy shopping season!

Increase Ecommerce Sales This Holiday Season

2010-11-24T11:09:00.000-08:00

Earlier in this blog, we gave you successful ecommerce strategies that you can use on your ecommerce store to make the most out of the holiday season. The sluggish economy presents a challenge to all businesses, ecommerce and otherwise. Online shoppers will maximize the internet to search for better deals, offers, and benefits before making purchases, so online retailers have to provide a more favorable shopping experience to compete with peers.

1. Basic search engine optimization (SEO) is a must. Doing a basic SEO will certainly bring good traffic to your site. Basic search engine optimization includes Page title, Meta description, unique product contents, heading, clear cut site navigation, static URL, image optimization, and Back link from relevant websites. Avoid practicing cloaking, keyword stuffing, and invisible links to avoid getting banned by search engines.

2. Pay-per-click (PPC) marketing is one of the most effective advertising techniques for your ecommerce store. Conducting PPC campaigns for new and top selling products, gift items, and promotional products is advisable as it is a surefire way to get targeted traffic to your ecommerce site. PPC campaigns can be done via Google Ad words or Yahoo! Search Marketing.

3. Consumers love information about the products they are researching. By now, ecommerce owners know that consumers don’t shell out money without doing careful research. The lack of being able to touch and feel the product should be compensated by as many information as possible about the product that also includes call-to-actions to encourage the shopper to buy. Lack of product information will result in a shopper navigating to other sites, decreasing the probability of returning to your site thereby losing an important sale.

4. Product reviews from other buyers is equally important to increase ecommerce sales. Peer reviews greatly influence a consumer’s decision to buy a product and allowing online shoppers to review products that you sell is an essential part of successful ecommerce transactions for the holidays.

Without fully incorporating these SEO strategies to your ecommerce business, one will never know what works and what doesn’t. These tips and tricks are bound to result in conversion so it’s important to try everything till you find out what works best for your ecommerce site.

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The Security of Credit Card Transactions in Ecommerce

2010-11-18T01:21:00.000-08:00

Ecommerce transactions or online purchases are more at risk than in-person credit card transactions. Not only are both parties at risk for fraud, but it is also more dangerous because of the financial data of both the business and the consumer. With the prevalence of identity and credit card theft, it is important to have secure policies in place. Online processing of credit cards offer two kinds of protection for ecommerce transactions: the “CVV” and “AVS” numbers. These systems protect consumers with higher levels of protection if retailers and wholesalers ask for both forms of information from buyers when accepting payments in the form of credit cards. But what exactly are CVV and AVS numbers? Take a look.

CVV or Card Verification Value

Card verification values (CVV) are located on the back of a consumer’s credit card which consists of three to four digit numbers. What makes CVV numbers secure is that they do not appear on any documents so there is no paper trail. The CVV therefore cannot be seen on credit card statements and having the CVV means having actual possession of the credit card. By asking for the CVV found on the credit card, many fraudulent ecommerce transactions can be prevented because most online credit card theft is done by someone picking up somebody else’s credit card statement trash or receipt. An incorrect CVV entered upon checkout will result in the credit card being declined, protecting the owner from fraudulent ecommerce purchases.

AVV or Address Verification Service

Improving online security is a continuous process and now with AVS or address verification service, fraudulent transactions can be further prevented. Simply put, the AVS ensures that the address entered on an ecommerce’s website order form match that of the owner’s billing address associated with the credit card. Contrary to the CVV, the AVS isn’t a requirement for ecommerce owners, which means that they can opt to ask for the AVS or not. The retailer decides whether an online shopper should enter an address associated with the credit card. Entering the address will prompt the credit card processor to send the owner an email to show whether the address matches the billing address of the card. Additionally, the credit card will not be automatically declined should the address be a mismatch, and it is up to the retailer to make a decision whether the transaction is safe or not.

Accepting credit cards as a form of payment for ecommerce transactions is risky, but is a very important feature for online businesses. Shoppers find online shopping sites a convenience because they can shop in their own homes and just use credit card transactions instead of bringing actual cash. Ecommerce owners should just make sure that they provide a safe and secure environment where online transactions can be done. Minimizing the potential for stolen credit cards used on your website will increase your consumers’ trust and encourage them to do repeat business with you.

Ecommerce Tips: Email Marketing for the Holidays

2010-11-17T17:21:00.000-08:00

It’s November and before you know it, it’s going to be Christmas time again! Christmas is a season of good cheers, good food, good company, and really good shopping. This season, e-commerce entrepreneurs are going to be on their toes making sure that they get some of that holiday shopping money. If you are an e-commerce merchant yourself, now is the right time to start informing your customers of the goods and services you are offering for Christmas. Make no mistake about it, competition is bound to be stiff and you will need all the advantages that you can get.

One of the ways to reach out to your customers is through e-mail marketing. This strategy is widely used by e-commerce merchants and as the busy holiday shopping season approaches, there is an unofficial race to your subscriber’s inbox. Martin Lieberman, from the blog Constant Contact, gives e-commerce merchants some e-mail marketing tips to help you stand out in an inbox full of marketing mails.

1. Give them specific gift ideas. Instead of just featuring a random item for the week, Lieberman suggests featuring a special item for a particular person. For example, this week is dad week, next week is sister week and so on and so forth. The author added that though this may not result in immediate sales, your customers will at least now know which e-commerce merchant to go to when they need something for that particular person.

2. Give them gift wrapping tips. Gifts need to be wrapped and it can be tricky at times. Unfortunately, not all gifts fit in an easy-to-wrap square box. Give your customers some extra service with how-to’s on wrapping presents, especially the awkward-sized ones. Lieberman adds that this little act of customer service can be that deciding factor that will turn your customer from a potential to an actual.

3. Give them convenience. Holiday gift shopping can be a hassle at times, especially when there’s one too many names on your gift list. Give your customers the option of “grab-and-go”, budget-friendly gifts. This can help customers ease the burden of shopping for so many gifts.

4. Invite them to your events if you have any. This is the perfect opportunity to promote any events you might have since the holidays can get pretty hectic. Don’t forget to include pertinent details such as date, time, and of course, where the event will take place. Lieberman also suggests telling your customers the benefits of attending your event so they will have a reason to put it in their calendars.

5. Invite them to support your cause. If you are supporting a charity, Lieberman says you can “invite” your customers to share your cause. Explain why you are supporting it and how they can help by purchasing your goods or services. Aside from shopping, holidays also bring out the best in people.

Expand Ecommerce through Social Networking

2010-11-10T04:38:00.000-08:00

Brand pages, also known as fan pages on Facebook, have proven how powerful social media is in creating a name for products and services. Twitter’s microblogging feature updates followers with the latest promotions on merchandise in less than 140 characters. To optimize social networking sites for your online business, we give you a few helpful tips.

1. Exclusive offers should be given to fans and followers. Twitter, for example, banks on offering up-to-the-minute posts which suits

impulse buys and quick coupon announcements, which makes it ideal to give spur-of-the-moment specials. With the limited characters Twitter allows (users are only allowed 140 characters), the message should be short and direct. Facebook, on the other hand, allows fans to “like” and comment on certain posts while letting users post photos, videos, and a reasonable amount of text. Ecommerce marketing on Facebook relies more on fan interactions that take place in leisure, community building forum.

2. Sometimes, a personal touch is all you will need. Use comment management systems to help you track comments posted by viewers and users on social networking sites like YouTube or Twitter. This way, it would be easy for you to respond to their queries regarding the services and products you offer. By personally interacting with your fans or followers, you can also gather important data such as age, sex, and location – all of which are crucial to segment your database.

3. Pictures do paint a thousand words. Upload photos frequently for users to know that you are taking social media seriously. Texts are important too, but photos can immediately grab the attention of your consumers. Their feedback through “liking” or commenting on certain products which can give you an idea what consumers prefer nowadays.

4. Make buyers promote for you. As an ecommerce business owner, it is not necessary that you do all the marketing yourself. Thanks to social media, word-of-mouth can be easily spread on the internet. Maximize social media by using tools such as the “Tweet button” function of Twitter, allowing users to retweet your posts without navigating away from your site. As with all social networking posts, keep updates informative, useful, and interesting.

5. Testimonials are always welcome. Make ecommerce consumers feel appreciated by posting their feedbacks and comments on your social networking site. Allowing comments is also one way of interacting with your fan base on Facebook. Users always value the personal interaction they have with brands and companies.

Social media and ecommerce have merged into something that we can no longer determine which is which. Maximizing social media for your ecommerce’s advantage can take you to greater heights. Optimize your Facebook and Twitter accounts to create a better brand for your company.

The Diverse World of E-Commerce Payments

2010-11-08T18:01:00.000-08:00

Money may be universal but in the world of e-commerce, it comes in different forms. In an article for GetElastic.com, Peter Sheldon wrote some of the different forms of global payments for e-commerce transactions all over the world.

According to Sheldon, China has the largest consumer market in the world with 420 million Internet users. Here, credit card penetration is low but this has not slowed down e-commerce business. Taobao, China’s version of eBay, has created Alipay which in essence is their version of PayPal. Alipay has over 300 million subscribers and, according to the article, allows its users to pay cash on delivery or immediately after transaction.

Meanwhile, Germans are more familiar with credit card transactions. However, Sheldon points out that Germans do not like the idea of having credit on their cards and so German e-commerce merchants offer the option of direct bank credit transfer. In Brazil, credit card payments are widely used but most e-commerce merchants allow their customers to pay in instalments, even of up to 12 months, interest free. International credit cards are often accepted, including their local card, the Hipercard.

In Japan, credit card installments are also a popular mode of payments. In fact, the Apple store in Japan allows customers up to 24 months to pay for their purchases. Additionally, Sheldon says that Japan is largely a cash-based society, where credit card penetration is also very low. If you are an e-commerce merchant targeting Japanese customers, Sheldon recommends konbini payments, which are essentially convenience store payments. After the customer orders the goods online, they select the convenience store option and are then given a pay ID. Customers then have six days to go to a konbini and pay for their items after which the goods are then shipped.

As an e-commerce merchant, what do these examples mean for you? As Sheldon points out, it encourages e-commerce merchants to do research. This is particularly important if you are targeting local markets. Find out what other e-commerce stores are doing and partner up with your payment gateway provider to help you set up a payment system that effectively caters to your customers’ needs.

Twitter Tips for E-Commerce

2010-11-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

By now, e-commerce merchants should know t hat social media marketing is a key tool in promoting their business. One of the more popular players in the social media field is Twitter. Twitter, unlike its other counterparts, poses the challenge of limited characters so each message should be clear, concise, and condensed. Twitter is a free and effective way for e-commerce merchants to regularly communicate with both potential and existing customers. However, due to the nature of social media marketing, certain guidelines should be observed to ensure that Twitter becomes a boon to your e-commerce enterprise.

PracticalEcommerce.com member and writer Paul Chaney shares some helpful e-commerce tips in his article entitled “Tips for an Effective Twitter Profile.”

1. Twitter Bio. When creating your Twitter bio, make sure it has your name (your personal name or your company’s name), location (even if you are an e-commerce merchant, state the physical location of your business), links (to your website and other social networking accounts) and descriptions (short, sweet but according to Chaney, never “cutesy”).

2. Photo. According to Chaney, choose only between your candid personal headshot, or, your company’s logo. Reserve the more formal photos for sites such as Linkedln.

3. Username. Like your photo, use your first and last name for personal accounts and your company’s name for official accounts. If your company’s name is too long, compromise and use the words that capture and represent the essence of your business. Chaney also warns against using numbers in the username because this is a habit typical of spammers, and as a legitimate e-commerce merchant, you do not want to be misconstrued as such.

4. Background Graphics. Use the custom background option to insert a larger version of your logo as well as other pertinent data such as your contact numbers and some details about your company.

In conclusion, Chaney also reminds e-commerce merchants to ensure that their profile is open for public viewing. Keeping your profile private would be defeating the whole purpose of utilizing the power of Twitter.

Helpful Tips For Building Your Mobile Commerce Site

2010-11-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

Forget simply checking email or playing FarmVille on Facebook while on the go, smartphones are providing consumers with a more convenient and mobile way to shop. According to Gartner, a research and advisory company, smartphone sales increased 49% in the first three months of 2010; this means there is a whole lot of new opportunity for established e-commerce merchants through mobile commerce. In the digital landscape of online business, mobile commerce is still in its infancy, but major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Bluefly, and eBay have been quick to establish mobile sites. According to an Internet Retailer article released just last month there are about 112 retailers, 58 of them are among the Internet Retailer Top 500, with 153 m-commerce sites and/or apps. If you’re an online retailer in the stages of building your own m-commerce site, the following are a few things to consider before launching the site.

1.) Keep design simple. Focus on three or four key features such as your products, special offers, ratings and reviews, and an easy to find shopping cart. You want customers to interact and shop effortlessly without having to wait for your site to download heavy text and complicated graphics.

2.) Offer multiple methods of transaction. Customers like using payment methods they are already familiar with such as PayPal or Amazon Payments. Familiarity breeds security, and it instills trust in your mobile site.

3.) Optimize your mobile site. Make sure that your mobile site or app will function on major
smartphone operating systems

4.) Integrate price comparison tools or social media tools such as Facebook’s “like” button into the
mobile site. It’s an effective way of reaching consumers across different channels.

5.) Use a universal shopping cart. Your customers can begin transactions on your mobile site and end them at home on their desktops. The universal shopping cart is an attractive feature because the whole appeal of mobile commerce is its portability.

Written by Ana A.

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Shipping Practices that Increase Ecommerce Sales

2010-11-03T03:31:00.000-07:00

Shipping costs and delivery time-frames are two of the most common complaints customers have for ecommerce stores. No matter how efficient the shipping service is, customers often have dissatisfaction ranging from issues of unrealistic delivery time periods to shipping costs. However, it is one of the most important things for online shoppers that products are being shipped to consumers’ homes or businesses. Merchants can increase shipping orders of ecommerce sales by following these few steps:

1. Offer a shipping policy section on your store’s ecommerce website. Give clients and potential consumers’ information on the shipping services you offer so they will know what to expect. This prevents future problems because consumers will have an idea of what you can and cannot do in terms of shipping products.

2. Shipping options, prices, and delivery time-frames are pertinent information that clients should know before purchasing any item from your ecommerce business. By giving customers available shipping options along with the cost and estimated delivery time, they will be more willing to do repeat business with you because of the upfront information you provide. By simply asking the zip code, you will have an idea of the cost of shipping if prices vary based on delivery location. Know when to ship tomorrow or if you need an extra day for the holidays or the weekends. Estimated delivery time should be as accurate as possible. It’s better to deliver early than deliver late.

3. Free shipping is great but it can also kill your ecommerce store if done incorrectly. Consumers would sometimes prefer a more expensive overall price than a cheaper item with high shipping costs. Established ecommerce retailers who have offered free shipping early on would suffer greatly if they revert to paid shipping. An alternative is to offer free shipping based on a certain amount but that can also backfire if you earn the same profit from both expensive and cheap items. Whatever you decide, choose between free shipping or price threshold shipping because retracting it for any reason may be the end of your online business.

4. Avoid USPS if you can. Using the United States Postal Service to ship products isn’t really a good idea unless your consumer doesn’t expect to receive the package in a week, a month, or maybe never. Shipping costs via USPS may be the cheapest means but added services such as delivery confirmation or package tracking means extra payment. Additionally, a package lost by USPS means that you’re going to have a big hassle trying to recover it. The time it takes to get the product back offsets the loss of the product and the cost of sending a new one.

5. Don’t procrastinate. Ship now. Why wait when you can ship the package now? Successful ecommerce retailers make sure that packages are sent out the day they are ordered. Customers may not buy from you again if they feel that you are wasting precious time before you prioritize their orders. Shipping early makes everyone happy because as an ecommerce retailer, you also are removed of all burdens once it is sent out.

6. Inform customers of every order status. There’s simply no reason not to. From the purchasing to the shipping and to the delivery process, consumers have every right to know the status of their shipment. An email letting them know that the item has been purchased and shipped is one way of making them feel appreciated and important. Finally, don’t forget to inform them should problems arise in the process.

No matter how good or efficient the shipping services at your ecommerce store are, there will always be customers who will complain. Just make sure that you are handling shipping in the best means possible and offer support should anything go wrong. With the best shipping practices, ecommerce sales are bound to increase.

Ecommerce Sites Have Faith in the Holiday Shopping Season

2010-10-27T01:52:00.000-07:00

Ecommerce business owners need not fret this holiday season, despite the controversy of whether the economy is already getting back on its feet or not. Internet retailers remain hopeful that online shopping is continually growing and that a boost in sales can still be expected, regardless of the downturn in the economy.

For example, Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Marketing believes that this year’s fourth quarter will have an estimate of 10-15% growth in sales as compared last year. Another survey indicated that most consumers plan to do their shopping online instead of going to stores’ physical locations: 49% of consumers plan to shop at marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay, while another 41% will start with search engines--67% of which prefer Google and 19% favor Yahoo! Higher acquisition costs are to be expected by ecommerce owners because of higher marketplace commissions, and paid search ads which experience a surge during the holidays.

Strategies to boost the ecommerce economy include free shipping coupons, focus on social networking, and decrease in shopping cart abandonment. More than three quarters, or approximately 85%, of online retailers will offer free shipping promotions just for the holiday season. About 27% of retailers will offer free shipping on selected items at selected times, 26% will give free shipping on selected products throughout the season, and another 13% vows to offer unrestricted free shipping at selected times for the entirety of the holiday season.

Boosting sales by focusing on social networking includes using texting as a means of promoting sales and easy shopping cart access, and improving traffic by including hyperlinks that link directly to the products. Facebook and Twitter are the top contending social networking sites that ecommerce owners will be using to market extensive social media plans.

Though most consumers said that they will probably spend the same amount as last year, they still prefer online searching for holiday gifts. Internet retailers can use this as an advantage, allowing them to capture sales before other retailers do. The high influx of shopping cart abandonment is due to the increased volume of browsers and waiters, meaning consumers who’d rather use the Internet for comparison or simply wait for the conditioned sales after Thanksgiving.

For the owners of ecommerce sites, there really isn’t any need to worry that online shopping will suffer this year. By consistently employing social media marketing and search engine optimization strategies, as well as offering consumer-friendly promotions, shoppers will still prefer to shop online for its convenience and hassle-free quality.

The Marriage of Traditional Media and Social Media

2010-10-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

If you are an entrepreneur and you don’t have either a Facebook account or a Twitter account for your business, then you are in some serious social media trouble. Social media is the easiest and most cost effective way to advertise your business and your products. But if you do have an account on these popular social networking sites and all you do is put “Follow us on Facebook/Twitter” on your traditional advertising media, then you have a serious problem. What problem, you ask? Integration.

In this rapidly growing and fast paced digital world, social media is king. Still, traditional advertising and public relations are not about to take a backseat. While more and more people are going online to do business, a majority of consumers still look to traditional media for information on the market. As an entrepreneur, it is your duty to integrate old and new media to come up with an effective communications plan.

Tom Martin, founder of Converse Digital, shares a “simple six-question integrated marketing development framework” in his article for the SocialMediaExaminer.com. According to Martin, social media and traditional media work best when they complement one another. He cited a report which revealed that consumers trust other consumers above all else. This is really where social media draws its strength from. Social media, as Martin puts it, brings back “believability in advertising.”

The six suggested questions around which to organize a truly integrated social media and traditional media marketing campaign are as follows:

1. What is the goal? Martin suggests that entrepreneurs start with the business goal rather than the communications goal.
2. Who is the audience? Find out who you’re communicating with, beyond just the demographics.
3. Where is the audience? By where, Martin means determining where your audience is in their lives.
4. How can I connect with my audience? This question not only refers to the channels by which you can reach your audience but also to the ways by which you can better connect with your audience.
5. How do I extend the conversation? As an entrepreneur, what do you plan to do next?
6. How can I get my audience to introduce me to others? Getting a recommendation from your audience is the key to expanding your business.

Remember, the keyword is integration. Use the strengths of both social media and traditional media to deliver a powerful message, not just to your target market, but to the entire world.

Good Shipping Practices for Good E-commerce

2010-10-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

If you are an e-commerce merchant, there is one crucial and indispensible aspect of your business that you must deal with and deal with efficiently—shipping. The nature of doing e-commerce makes shipping a key component of your business. Unfortunately, shipping, in itself, can be quite tricky at times so you need to implement a system that will work for you and your customers.

Jamie Estep of Ecommerce-blog.org cites some ideal shipping practices for e-commerce merchants. According to his article, shipping is one of the biggest complaints of e-commerce customers and as found out in a study, it is also one of the most important things to shoppers.

Here is Estep’s guide to good shipping practices for good e-commerce.

1. Have a shipping policy section on your e-commerce website. Manage your customer’s expectations. According to Estep, it does not matter if your shipping policy is rotten, just put it there. “A shipping policy should be a fallback point, not a guideline,” he added.
2. Include shipping options, time frames, and of course, prices. Estep suggests presenting this information visually. He also advised e-commerce merchants to pre-select the “best” options for customers. Start with the cheapest. As a good precautionary measure, ask your programmer to use logic to more accurately determine the delivery date of your goods. Estep reminds entrepreneurs that it is okay to deliver ahead of time, but certainly not after your promised delivery date.
3. Be careful about the promise of free shipping. If you can do it well, offering free shipping can be a great boon to your e-commerce enterprise. But Estep cautions entrepreneurs to carefully compute how offering free shipping fits into your long-term revenue prospects. Also, once you’ve started it, there is no turning back on free shipping.
4. Do not use USPS. According to Estep, UPS and FedEx provide good value for money. Finding a reliable e-commerce partner is essential to longevity in the business.
5. Ship now. If you can ship it now, don’t wait it out. A good starting step to a successful online business is being able to ship out goods on the same day as it was ordered.
6. Keep your customers informed. E-mail them every step of the way—whether it’s good news or bad news. You can also take advantage of this constant communication process to offer them incentives such as coupons. This way, you are building a relationship with your customers and paving the way for future repeat sales.

Creating Repeat Customers—the E-commerce Way

2010-10-24T03:30:00.000-07:00

As a customer, how many times have you had a terrible customer service experience while patronizing an e-commerce site? Do you remember the last time you had an exceptionally good experience while purchasing from an e-commerce merchant? Now, let’s turn the tables. If you are the owner of an e-commerce enterprise, how do you treat your new customers? How about your repeat customers?

Jamie Estep, proprietor of E-commerce-Blog.org, shares his personal e-c ommerce customer service experience, both good and bad, and reminds e-commerce merchants of the value of treating new customers well and repeat customers better. As Estep pointed out, it is a well-known and accepted principle in marketing that it is easier to sell to a repeat customer than to a new customer. Unless you are a major e-commerce player like Amazon, a typical online shopper will perhaps go to a site to buy something at least once or twice. This is why e-commerce merchants should focus on customers who are most likely to come back and purchase again. In the world of e-commerce, selling to a repeat customer also means lesser security and fraud risk, especially, if this customer has already made several purchases in the past. He reminded e-commerce merchants that “there’s no reason to assume all customers should be treated the same.” New customers should have a reason to come back and repeat customers should feel that their continued patronage of your business is well-appreciated through easy and efficient customer service. Citing Estep’s personal experience with an online pet supplies manufacturer, this usually means going the extra mile for a customer. Estep also cautioned entrepreneurs not to assume that a customer will suffer through bad customer service no matter how good the product or the service is. There are certainly many other e-commerce merchants out there offering the same product or service for a much lower cost and, perhaps, with much better customer service who are more than willing to pick up your slack.

The key point to remember? Always treat your customers nicely. They are the lifeblood of your business. And if they are repeat customers, treat them extra special.

Successful Ecommerce Strategies for the Holidays

2010-10-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

In line with SES, Chicago 2010, Retailcommerce.com interviewed SEM strategy consultant and PPC expert Lisa Raehsler. With over 30 successful pay-per-click campaigns under her name, Lisa Raehsler is also a certified Google Advertising Professional (GAP). To better equip ecommerce owners for the holiday season, when consumers shop the most, Lisa Raehsler shares insightful thoughts for both small and medium ecommerce practitioners.

First, small and medium-sized ecommerce owners should know that optimizing quality scores for competitive and profitable keywords is the best means of place higher on the list on the “sponsored results” section. Quality scores are the main factor search engines use to determine which ads will appear up on the list. Ranking higher on the “sponsored results” will, of course, potentially earn more sales. To strengthen campaign relevancy partnered with good quality scores, the same terms in the keyword list should both be in the advertiser’s ad copy and landing pages.

Second, allocating a sufficient budget for increasing traffic is especially critical during the holiday period. Most small and medium sized ecommerce miss opportunities to boost traffic because of misallocation of funds. Because people shop online more during the holidays, it is necessary to raise the budget allocated to increasing traffic to your site. Estimating seasonal increases can be done by researching sales and traffic data from previous years as well as by using tools such as Google Insights for region and timeframe-specific keywords.

Third, starting a holiday campaign early is the best way to promote your online business. Depending on the products and services you provide, it never hurts to have an early bird holiday campaign. For example, Raehsler suggests that ecommerce sites that sell apparel can start promotions as early as September or early October. Electronic products are usually in demand by Black Friday at the start of the holiday season. Integrating PPC into the marketing mix and leveraging results data from previous holiday seasons should be planned as early as possible.

Raehsler also said that product-specific long-tail keywords need not always suffer as many

believe. Internet searchers don’t always settle for the suggested search term, preferring instead to type with specific keywords in mind. With Google Instant, shopping results are displayed both in paid and organic results. Thus, optimizing product feeds is a crucial strategy for ecommerce retailers.

Finally, the PPC expert proposes a media plan consisting of PPC, Google “remarking” and efficient landing pages. Not only is PPC the cheapest, most cost effective, and measurable media for ecommerce owners, but with the surge in A/B testing of landing page elements, advertisers and ecommerce retailers are bound to get the increase in sales they deserve this holiday season.

Selecting Your Country

2010-10-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

One of the key advantages of e-commerce is being able to do business internationally minus the actual cost and hassle of being there physically. On the other hand, e-commerce merchants are faced with an often overlooked yet extremely vital task: making sure that their international checkout forms are usable and effective. After all, giving your customer the power to successfully complete a sale online is the final test of your success as an e-commerce merchant.

In an article for GetElastic.com, Linda Bustos, a well known expert in the marketing community, analyzes some of the international checkout forms of well-known and well-loved companies and e-commerce veterans, and culls helpful tips for other e-commerce merchants. Using the Victoria’s Secret website as a reference, Bustos notes that asking for the customer’s billing address is a prudent decision, instead of simply assuming that a customer’s IP address corresponds with their billing address. Additionally, Victoria’s Secret’s website has two checkout forms to better accommodate international customers—an international form and a US/Canada form. The writer notes that for businesses with “multiple stores for multiple countries,” having multiple checkout forms for each country is good for usability, but there is also a potential problem e-commerce merchants should be wary of—if their customer is not directed to the correct site, they might get stuck in the domestic site thinking that the company is not willing to do business with them. She cited the case of Apple where the country selector is not easy to spot. As Bustos puts it, it sends an all too wrong message, “it’s USA or go away.” A better approach, according to the writer, is to include a message to international customers who are in the wrong site. Doing e-commerce is never an excuse to forgo good customer service practices. There is no single template for an effective and usable checkout form. If you are an e-commerce merchant catering to international visitors, always consider what would be usable, helpful and easy for them. After all, international visitors are the ones who are helping keep your business afloat, so take the time to assess or reassess whether your checkout forms are there to be of service to your customers.

Building Ecommerce Consumers’ Trust

2010-10-20T00:25:00.000-07:00

Managing ecommerce can be a risky investment because of the lack of personal communication with your buyers. Despite the mind-boggling merchandising functionalities you boast in your ecommerce website, consumers will never purchase from you if you can’t gain their trust. As with any business, earning the trust of consumers is a crucial element to the success of any ecommerce website. For online retailers, gaining the trust of consumers simply means letting them purchase products from your business without any apprehension. Keep reading to see how humanizing an online store is actually possible.

Adding extra features on ecommerce sites is the best way for consumers to see that you indeed are a real person. It’s important that consumers see you as a person and that you are operating a legitimate ecommerce business. Prospective online shoppers want to know that they are doing business with a human being and not with an automated machine or software. Building a huge and loyal customer base can easily be done with the following features on your website:

LIVE CHAT: With a Live Chat button on your website, consumers know that all their queries can be immediately answered by appointed customer service representatives. Because they are text-based, live chats can be made more effective by adding a webcam so potential customers can actually see the person who is answering their question.

LIVE SPEAK: Toll-free contact numbers are the best means of providing an option for customers to speak with you or with one of your associates. This is one of the most effective ways of humanizing ecommerce websites. Display contact information on your ecommerce site or call back forms or even click to call functionality.

PRACTICE SOCIAL MEDIA: Bringing your ecommerce store to the social environment contributes a lot to humanizing your business. Increasing your visibility in the social environment includes creating a Twitter, Facebook, and blogging account, all of which have now become trends for online retailers.

Other things you can do to gain the trust of your online consumers is provide support via live email. Offering email support allows potential consumers to instantly contact you should they have any questions. Also communicating the services and products you offer through various channels including text, voice, and video increases your company’s visibility.

E-commerce On the Go: Lowdown on Mobile E-commerce

2010-10-18T20:17:00.000-07:00

Mobile phone technology has certainly come a long way. Once just a handy means of communication, now it has transformed into a new platform for e-commerce. Mobile web is not just a fad. It is a reality that is rapidly changing the playing field for many e-commerce merchants. However, the transition from traditional e-commerce to mobile e-commerce can be a tricky course to navigate.

PracticalEcommerce.com interviewed a developer from MobilizeToday.com, a company that specializes in making sites “mobile friendly.” Taihei Nagamine answered some frequently asked questions that interested e-commerce merchants had, and here are some of the key points he made:

1. Choose standards-oriented solutions over platform-oriented applications. According to Nagamine, it is more cost efficient to optimize a website for mobile standards than to create an application which is oftentimes restricting because it is made only for a specific device or a specific version.

2. Assess your business before jumping on the mobile e-commerce bandwagon. Nagamine advises business owners to evaluate the kind of clientele that they have. Are they most likely to use their mobile phones to make a purchase? For businesses that sell large and expensive items, a mobile optimized website can be a good place where potential customers might develop an interest in the product and eventually make an actual purchase.

3. Mobile web does have its limitations. Doing e-commerce is still not nearly as effective as doing business face to face. Mobile e-commerce pushes the limits of modern technology, but there are still some drawbacks. Entrepreneurs and customers alike have to deal with issues such as smaller screen sizes, greater difficulty in entering text, and low bandwidth Internet connections. This is what mobile e-commerce companies are for. Companies like MobilizeToday.com can help e-commerce merchants make that transition to mobile web with all the right tools and information. As Nagamine puts it, “If it works on a desktop, we can make it work on mobile phones.”

More Tips on Creating Effective E-commerce Product Photography

2010-10-08T00:17:00.000-07:00

Earlier in this blog, we taught you the basics of doing product photography for your e-commerce. In e-commerce, all transactions are done over the web and for customers, the inability to touch and feel the product is very crucial in buying a certain product. So for e-commerce practitioners, this setback has to be compensated in other means – through effective product photography. Bringing your products to life is very essential in the e-commerce industry. Aside from the basic steps of photography, we offer you additional tips that can ultimately transcend your products from the screen to life.

After taking photos of your products, keep in mind the e-commerce design of your website. Check if the photos match the overall aesthetics of the website. This includes the color scheme and graphics that customers see in your e-commerce website. Remember that when putting photos of your products together, the easiest way to deal with this is to keep it simple and minimalistic in design.

For older cameras, having a gray card really does help. A gray card is simply a middle-gray reference which helps your camera achieve an accurate and consistent color rendering. This is especially useful for older cameras that have limited controls for white balance and color. With the gray card, photos can achieve a more realistic portrait, having a real-life color by reducing the amount of post-exposure color adjustment. For as low as $10, effective product photography can easily be achieved.

An equally important piece of equipment one should have when doing e-commerce product photography is a reliable and sturdy tripod. Without a good tripod, taking sharp, consistent, and professional-looking photos is virtually impossible. Tripods are very helpful when taking photos on the floor from above – from a bird’s eye view, so to speak. Tripods are dependent on the type of camera you have. For example, DSLRs are obviously heavier which means a sturdier tripod is needed.

Another essential tool one must have is light reflectors which basically help spread light evenly, giving products a fresher look. With the many sizes and shapes available, a medium-sized light reflector which has the same size as a large pizza, should be enough for a crisp and lively finish. Additionally, light reflectors also have different surfaces: silver foliated, white foliated, and white. Knowing the different effects of these reflectors can greatly help you create brilliant product photography. For example, gold and silver sided light reflectors reflect the most light while white reflectors help you achieve a softer and warmer glow.

In summary, three essential tools are needed for outstanding product photography for your e-commerce design: a gray card, a sturdy tripod, and a light reflector. When processing photos, combine photos that match the overall design of your e-commerce website. Remember, when all else fails, you can always make everything simple and minimalistic.

Walmart.com Sets Excellent Example for a Mobile Commerce Site

2010-10-07T14:39:00.000-07:00

According to the Keynote Mobile Commerce Performance Index, Walmart.com’s mobile commerce site earned a perfect score for mobile web performance. The mega retailer’s m-commerce site homepage downloaded on average in 3.22 seconds and did so 98.99% of the time. That’s very impressive.

Keynote Systems Inc., a mobile and web performance firm, weighs and then combines load times and success rate to issue a score. Walmart.com’s mobile commerce site earned an index score of 985 out of 1,000- a nearly perfect score.

The retailer’s mobile site homepage is a minimalist’s dream. The mobile site is light on design, with an emphasis on text in category listings, and a site search box. The m-commerce site is stripped down to the most fundamental features, which helps to keep page download times to a minimum and keep customers happy. Companies in the stages of developing an m-commerce site should use Walmart.com’s mobile site as a template for success.

Surprisingly, only 8.8 % percent of retail organizations operate a mobile site. This information comes from an Internet Retailer survey of 149 chain retailers, web-only merchants, catalog companies, and consumer brand manufacturers. With more and more people switching over to smartphones, companies should start thinking about creating mobile versions of their websites. People are now relying on their smartphones to check email, checking into social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, surfing the web, and shopping. While businesses and brands have taken to creating an online presence in social media, they have not been so quick to develop mobile sites or m-commerce sites. It seems companies have been slow to join the mobile commerce bandwagon because advances in emerging mobile technologies have not been as available in the past as they are now.

The Internet Retailer survey indicates that 75.9% of ecommerce operators plan to launch an m-commerce site, and soon, anywhere between six months to a year. If Walmart.com’s mobile site proves anything, it’s that performance is key. Merchants can build a mobile-commerce site on a modest budget and be successful, so long as the site is easy to use and operates well.

Written by Ana A.

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Love Your Customers: Five Don’ts for E-commerce Website Owners

2010-10-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

Doing e-commerce is hard enough without physically seeing your customers. Additionally, from a customer’s point-of-view, not only are online transactions risky, but they are also unable to feel or touch the products they are interested in purchasing. So with these problems alone, e-commerce owners should make sure that their consumers have a pleasant shopping experience and avoid anything to alienate their visit. In this blog, we give you five mistakes e-commerce website owners should avoid committing.

1. Avoid one too many scripts – Flash, Javascript, Ajax, and Java can most definitely help your web design but just like everything else, too much of something is always bad. Never bombard your visitors with a plethora of flash pages, flash banners, warnings, and a whole multitude of worthless and unfriendly pages. Not only is this irritating, but to customers who see only these- it definitely equates to a bad experience.

2. Disabling the right click option is a waste of time. That small button on the keyboard that says “PRTSC” functions just the same as the right click option of a mouse, except with a few more steps to follow. The print screen allows users to copy images whether the right click option is disabled or not. A digital watermark or a transparent gif for your images is more useful if you want to prevent unauthorized reproduction of your images.

3. Re-sizing images only using the width=”" and height=”" html tags only slows down download speeds and creates poor images. Because web browsers were not built to properly resize and interpret data from images different from the browser size and the actual image, the actual size never really changes. Instead, it takes additional time to load up even smaller sized photos. What e-commerce website owners can do is resize images in an image editing program, or, have your server be set up to automatically resize them which can be done with several programming languages, excluding HTML.

4. Do not fill up the screen with Google AdSense or Yahoo! Ads. Yes, clicked ads can earn your business $10 or more, but strategically placing them on your e-commerce website is better than putting them virtually anywhere they can fit. Doing this only means that you’re not really trying to provide information, but rather, you just want people to click on the ads. Keep ads to a minimum and cleanly place them on your website – this guarantees your customers will come back for more.

5. Finally, a complex proprietary system that doesn’t give the support customers want will just drive your consumers away. Large companies are often guilty of doing this. Forcing customers to contact you by following intricate steps and then not providing any help at all is a big no-no. Answering hundreds of questions before even giving customers a form is bad – very bad.

Certainly there are more ways than one to drive your customers away but we don’t want that, do we? Follow this blog to get more helpful tips on how to keep your customers happy. A pleasant online shopping experience means repeat business which in turn can generate more sales for your company.