The boom in e-Commerce hasn’t yet slowed but with new web stores opening up all the time, and the demand for more and more web designers to build stores, we are seeing a lot of stores pop up that leave a lot to be desired.

Here is my quick-fire list of 4 ways to ensure your e-Commerce store sucks:

1. Believing the goal of a web store is to “create an online presence” for your brand

Far too many brick and mortar retailers make the decision to get their products online to “get more of an online presence”. An e-Commerce site that provides you with “online presence” is about as much use as a car without petrol if it doesn’t convert sales.

 Think of a good e-Commerce store as a sales tool that funnels your site visitors to exactly where you want them to go – the checkout – and along the way, intuitively shows them your products you have for sale and encourages them to purchase.

2. Making your website all about you

When buyers come to your website, they really aren’t interested in learning about you (well, at least they aren’t in the first instance). Instead, they want a good deal on the products that you sell… and they want it fast!

Above all, your website should be about identifying your buyer’s pains and solving their problems through selling them products or information. Build your site around this principle and watch for an increase in sales.

3.  Insisting that buyers create an account before they can purchase an item

On a more practical note, another way to ensure your e-Commerce site sucks is by forcing customers to register an account before they can make a purchase.

While there are some benefits to collecting information from customer account registration, such as tracking spending habits and communicating with the buyer post-sale, you should know that account registration is a big turn-off for online customers.

4. You make it easy for shoppers to abandon your shopping cart

Shopping cart abandonment is a significant issue that all web store owners need to address. If regular stores like Wal-Mart had to deal with abandonment of physical, in-store shopping cart abandonment, they would need to hire new employees who would do nothing but unpack those carts.

Luckily the virtual world protects you from this laborious task, but still, cart abandonment is something you need to address in order to maximize sales from each site visitor.

The top reasons for cart abandonment are:

• Your shopping cart requires too much personal information or account creation is required (see point 3 above)
• The shipping costs are too high and not shown until the last step of the checkout
• The total cost of the items is too high (e.g. when a customer adds a number of items to the cart, but only realizes the total cost when they go to the checkout)
• There are too many steps in the checkout process or the checkout is complicated
• The buyer is saving the purchases for another time (they intend to return to complete purchase)

Which of these online retail sins does your e-Commerce store commit?

About the Author: Alice Delore is an education specialist for SaleHoo.com, an online community of over 95,000 online sellers and retailers. Their product range consists of an online selling course, ecommerce software  and their flagship product, a wholesale directory. 

Categories: Marketing | Date: Sep 18th, 2011 | Author: Mark | No Comments

Here’s a great infographic breaking down how people spend their money, and importantly, how much of that goes online.

Click for full size:

Via http://www.permuto.com/blog/2010/02/27/what-are-people-really-buying-online/

Categories: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 9th, 2011 | Author: Mark | No Comments

Magento is an ecommerce platform based on the open platform software principle designed to assist online merchants in the removal of common procedural barriers involved in online business. Though Magento has not existed as long as some competing platforms, it boasts some of largest online retailers as its clientele. Best of all, in addition to several premium packages, it offers numerous competitive packages completely free of charge.

The greatest advantage that Magento offers potential users is the complete customization afforded by its open source nature. Users can create plug-ins, add-ons, and develop a host of other features designed specifically for their personal ecommerce needs. With a reported number of downloads exceeding one million world-wide, an exceedingly large number of user created modifications exists for download and implementation.

Unfortunately, for users looking for a completely free platform, the only technical support available is from other users through the Magento forums. While the overall knowledge of the community is obviously vast, users lacking a great deal of inherent technical ability will often struggle asking the correct questions or interpreting answers offered by the community at large.

For users seeking additional support and revenue sharing capabilities, Magento offers a professional addition. However, though this package offers full support from the company with regards to technical issues, it starts at $2,995 a year. This is simply not manageable for many smaller companies. The Enterprise Edition functions at a step above even the Professional Edition with regards to support and added functionality, though the price is determined by Magento on an individual basis based on individual business needs.

Price and package options aside, will Magento offer enough ecommerce options and increased functionality to make wading through its complicated nature worth it for most online retailers? In a nutshell, yes.

Magento operates, at the open source level, on a theme based structure. I find this extremely similar to the basic structure of WordPress as far as basic design structure goes. Though initially challenging, managing the theme based structure allows for storefront customization and easily repeatable across multiple ventures. This in itself is a huge plus when compared to basic content management systems or ecommerce interfaces that operate on a theme-less structure.

Factoring in the ability to manage multiple storefronts from one control panel, and a plethora of SEO based optimization tools built-in, and I think Magento is clearly a great option for any online retailer.

This guest post is by Marc McDermott of Merchant Express.  Merchant express offers merchant accounts and various credit card processing technologies to small and medium-sized businesses. Marc also runs his own online shop – running Magento!

Categories: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 7th, 2011 | Author: Mark | No Comments

If you run your own eCommerce site then hopefully by now you will have already learnt about the importance of professional copywriting, the use of keyword rich titles and unique product descriptions and the importance of a clean and efficient checkout process to increase sales.

One are often overlooked by many small eCommerce sites is how the products are displayed. A well written product page may help visitors to find your website through the search engines and snappy calls to action may boost conversions, but an unexciting photo of the product can put many people off.

Sometimes using supplier photographs may not be an option, so in these cases it really can pay dividends to produce your own photographs. You may not wish to personally photograph all your stock but choosing the top 10% of products and then showcasing them further on your site can boost sales.

However, producing professional looking shots of products is not an easy task for an amateur and you really do need to invest in some photographic equipment. To start with you will need a digital SLR camera with a high quality macro lens for taking close up shots of items. You will also need a tripod and maybe a remote switch too. Lighting is important so you will need to some basic photo studio lighting, reflectors and back drops. These can all be purchased at a reasonable rate and many items can be picked up second hand on eBay.com.

To process the images you can purchase professional photo editing software such as Photoshop, however there are some free and open source applications available which do an excellent job. GIMP (the GNU Image Manipulation Program) is an open source piece of software which provides almost the same functionality as Photoshop. IrfanView is another free software package which provides some more basic photo editing options and is very easy to use, plus it loads quickly on older computers.

Once you have your equipment then you just need to learn the basics of still life photography. You can learn by reading a book on the subject or better still by enrolling on a photography course which is dedicated to still life or studio photo techniques.

The key elements to perfect for still life photography are composition, working with backgrounds and lighting. Once you have these mastered you will soon by creating visually stunning photos of your products for your website. Hopefully the small investment in time and equipment will result in a rise in revenue that will easily cover your costs. With photography it really is a case of practice makes perfect, so the more photographs you take and appraise the better your skills and photographs will become.

To improve your skills further you should consider a photography course  where you will learn all the basics of photography from composition and lighting through to image manipulation using digital editing software.

Stephen James runs photography training courses through CoursesPlus and specialises in product and lifestyle photography.

Categories: Marketing | Date: Jul 29th, 2011 | Author: Mark | No Comments

Shopify is one of the most popular easy hosted solutions out there. For literally today only, you can get 6 months on the business plan, normally $99/month, for $99 total – and with Appsumo’s their “100% money back guarantee! For any reason Anytime before you die” guarantee! This is via Appsumo, deals for internet marketers, who I personally really like. Better act fast!

Categories: Uncategorized | Date: Jul 22nd, 2011 | Author: Mark | No Comments

I found this great presentation on slide share called “Lessons Learned From The Top 10 Converting Websites”. There’s some great stuff on there.

I did my own analysis of the wireframes of top converting sites earlier this year. It also adds weight to my long held suspicion of one page checkouts – I’ve long believed that in most cases they reduce, not increase, conversions. Slide 6 adds weight to these suspicions.

Enjoy!

Categories: Uncategorized | Date: Jul 20th, 2011 | Author: Mark | No Comments

Frustrated by your Facebook page’s performance? Ready to establish your brand’s identity on Facebook but don’t know how to start? Whether you already
have a page but aren’t happy with its results or you’re finally ready to see what Facebook can do for you business, you want a page to grab visitors’
attention and continue to hold it.

This is how you create that kind of page:

Optimize Your Facebook Page’s Appearance to Make It Pop

Your profile picture is the first thing visitors will see. Make sure you choose one that makes an impact and creates a memorable association with your
brand. It’s also important for this picture to properly scale as a thumbnail.

You can reinforce your brand and profile picture with the row of five pictures at the top of your page. Choose pictures that will look good in any
order since Facebook will display them randomly.

It’s important to include relevant information visitors want to know about your business. Don’t use this as an excuse to clutter your page with
rambling. Conveying your important information in a succinct manner is the best way to overcome the short attention span of Internet users.

How to Acquire Page Likes from People Who are Actually Potential Customers

Did you know you can buy 1,000 Facebook Likes for $57? The problem is offers like this aren’t even worth their cheap rate. These Likes range from
overseas traffic to fake profiles. What they aren’t are visitors in your target demographic who are truly interested in your business.

You want the majority of your page Likes to come from your target demographic. The first way to attract these visitors is by promoting your page on
your existing web properties. WordPress and other popular platforms offer plugins and extensions that make it simple to link your website or blog to
your Facebook page.

Adding your Facebook page’s URL to your email signature is another simple but effective way to promote it. You can also consider adding the URL to your
business cards or other marketing materials.

Contests can yield excellent results. The key to getting the highest quality Likes from a contest is to offer prizes that appeal to your target
demographic.

Engage Your Page’s Audience by Talking About Something Other than Yourself

Acquiring Likes is just the beginning. A Like is similar to someone agreeing to go on a first date with you. You’ve piqued their interest, but that
doesn’t mean they’re committed to you. The ball is now in your court to show them you live up to their initial impression of you.

Updating your Facebook page follows many of the same principles as blogging. The difference is you want to keep the information you share shorter than
a standard blog post.

Always remember the focus should be on your audience and not on yourself. Your Facebook page is already promoting your brand, so your updates don’t
need to be a never ending stream of promotion. You’ll achieve much better audience engagement by sharing non-promotional information that is
interesting to your audience.

You also want to make your audience feel special. Sharing exclusive deals is a great way to make them excited about your page. Deals are also great
because you can promote yourself by giving something of value to your audience.

Sell Products Directly on Facebook

Once you have created a loyal following of users on Facebook, why not make it easier for them to purchase products from you? Rather than clicking from
Facebook to your website, which could be a disorientating experience, offer products for sale within your Facebook page. There are many apps that can
help you do this and the range is huge. Some companies charge thousands to set up a store while others are free. One free Facebook store app from Vendio is unique in
that it lets you sync the products that you sell in your online store with your Facebook page. That means less work for you and more exposure for your
products.

Helen Fang is an ecommerce and social media expert who is responsible for educating Vendio ecommerce software
customers on the best ways to sell online through channels like eBay, Amazon, Facebook and through their own online stores.

Categories: Marketing | Date: Jul 13th, 2011 | Author: Mark | 1 Comment

Ok, I’m totally ashamed at myself for not noticing this rather huge announcement earlier – it was a month ago! *hangs head in shame*. Anyway, Ebay has purchase Magento!

Here is the official announcement from Roy Rubin, CEO of Magento.

Categories: Uncategorized | Date: Jul 11th, 2011 | Author: Mark | 1 Comment

As an ecommerce developer I have been involved with the implementation of hundreds of ecommerce websites and online payment systems. Each of these projects needed a merchant account to facilitate credit card transactions via the Web. Over the years I noticed that merchants would ask the same support questions over and over again. This article answers several of the most frequently asked questions.

Q. What are the different transaction types, and how do I know which one I should use?

A. Here is a list of the most frequently used transaction types and terms:

• Authorization
• AuthOnly
• Auth & Capture
• Settled
• Marked for settlement
• Reversal
• Credit

Authorization

When a successful “authorization” (or AuthOnly) is run on a credit card, it means that there were sufficient funds available for the transaction (the card is good) and that those funds will be held for the merchant to collect later. Typically an authorization is good for up to 30-days however, some issuing banks may differ. The customer’s available balance on the credit card will be reduced by the authorization amount to prevent their card from going over the limit or available balance.

Authorization or AuthOnly is the recommended transaction type for most ecommerce transactions. This allows a merchant to review the transaction and determine if they want to fill the order and capture the money. This step prevents having to refund the transaction as well as reduces fraud.

Mark for Settlement
When a merchant wants to capture the money from a credit card authorization they must change the transaction to “marked for settlement”. This puts the transaction in a queue (with other transactions that are marked for settlement) to be batched out for settlement later that night. These transactions can be changed back to an authorization up until the time that the batch is sent.

Settled
Typically the batch file runs in the late hours of the night. Once the batch runs the transaction status (or type) is changed to “settled”. You can expect the money to hit your bank account 2-4 business days from the time the transaction in settled.

Auth & Capture
There are times when a merchant should run a transaction as an “auth & capture.” This process gets an authorization and markets it for settlement all in one step. This is the preferred transaction type when selling downloadable products or subscription based products, and the customer gets the product immediately.

Reversal
A reversal can be run on an authorization when the transaction will not be settled. This frees up the available balance on the customers card. This can happen if you are not going to fill an order because it is out of stock or discontinued. The cardholder may request that a merchant releases the authorization to make the funds available.

Credit
This transaction is used to put money back on a credit card transaction that has been settled.

To lean about how merchants can avoid fraud read this article.

About the Author: James Curley is the founder and CEO of Mountain Media, an eCommerce and online payment solutions provider.

Categories: Gateways | Date: Apr 13th, 2011 | Author: Mark | 3 Comments

Via Econsultancy

Ebay has just announced they are purchasing GSI Commerce, which powers some of the largest ecommerce sites in the world including Adidas, DKNY, Ralph Lauren, HP and QVC.

I’m curious to see what Ebay does with this. Will they keep it as is? Make a shopping mall type product? Will this change Ebay’s ProStores product? Interesting times ahead.

Categories: Shopping Carts | Date: Mar 29th, 2011 | Author: Mark | 1 Comment