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E-commerce

E-commerce - Shopping trolly key on a keyboardE-commerce is an effective way for you to attract new customers and cut your costs. If you're a retailer, you can sell through an online shop without the costs of a building and in-store sales staff. A single e-commerce website can serve your entire target market, and even if your customers sometimes need face-to-face meetings, it enables them to make repeat purchases online.

Planning your e-commerce website

You might find an existing e-commerce platform you can use to sell online - many small businesses sell through eBay or Amazon, for example. There might even be a specialist auction site or online marketplaces for your industry too.

Selling through others can be straightforward and inexpensive, but it won't give you the same flexibility as selling through your own website. Using e-commerce software - such as shopping cart software - to build an online store within your website can transform the way you sell.

Before you build your online store, however, you will need to know:

  • How distance-selling law will affect your operation (you may have to adapt your terms of trade, for example)
  • What kind of payments you are going to accept and make arrangements for (for example, to accept credit cards online)
  • That your e-commerce site has effective security protecting the site itself, payments and customer details
  • How your online shop will link with your product database and accounting systems
  • How you will fulfil orders (for example, by using a delivery company)
  • How you will keep product information up to date, deal with customer enquiries, and so on.

E-commerce web design

Good design is crucial to making your online business a success: a well-designed online store is good to look at and easy to buy from. Poor design will damage your brand and discourage potential customers.

Easy navigation through your e-commerce site is essential, so customers can quickly find the product they want. They need clear information about the product and it should be easy to order and pay for.

At the same time, the design and content of your site should help you stand out from the competition. Good content can lift you in search engine rankings and make it easier for potential customers to find your internet shop. Helpful product information and ease of contact - by phone as well as email - will set good standards of customer service, while regular updates can encourage repeat visits.

Over time, website analytics and customer feedback can help you further improve your website and build your internet business.

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Richard Sparks's picture

As you rightly point out, the type of payments you are going to accept makes a big difference to whether potential customers actually go through with the purchase. Paypal and other money wallets are barriers that are un-necessary when people are very willing to pay by BACS or credit card providing the site is secure enough.

Tue, 30/08/2011 - 14:13 — Richard Sparks
harkiratbedi's picture

I agree with more4mums too.

hire software developers

Tue, 05/01/2010 - 12:43 — harkiratbedi
More4mums's picture

I would agree with all of the above. Before you start you need to make sure you have researched your market online and your competition.

You should also realise that it will take time and money to get your first sales, you will have no customers walking past your shop you need to entice them onto your site!

Tue, 22/09/2009 - 18:33 — More4mums

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