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Blogs, Podcasting, and RSS - How will these technologies affect eCommerce
At this moment in time , Blogs , Podcasting , and RSS are not going to fundamentally change any aspect of your online business, but rather, offer your company new ways to speak to your customer segments.. Blogs, Podcasting, and...

Ecommerce: A New Artform
What creative project do you have in the back of your mind? Writing that novel? Putting together a bluegrass band? Painting the sunsets over the Rio Grande? How about starting a business? When you think of the term creative endeavor, does...

eCommerce Web Site Building: Where Do I Start?
Building a web site isn't something that is really cut and dry. There's a huge variety of products and services that can either help you get your web site where you want it or simply confuse you. It's also important that you make the right choices...

Getting Started in ECommerce - Part One
In 2004, Enquiro.com conducted a study of the search behaviors of men vs. women. They found that women spend more time in their searches and at specific sites. The study also revealed that women tend to be more deliberate in reading search results,...

The Ecommerce Myth
Introduction Ecommerce is growing rapidly. Besides the big players such as Amazon.com and Buy.com, small businesses realize that they can also increase their sales revenues by using the Internet. With this realization, more and more online stores...

 
A Successful eCommerce Website - Part 1



So you want to succeed at eCommerce? Welcome to a very large group. First off, let’s be clear that there are a lot of ways to do business on the internet - and a lot of ways to both make and lose money. No way can I cover all of them in a few fairly short articles.



This article is going to assume that you have some of the fundamentals, that you understand the language and that you are serious. I’m not going to tell you how to set up a web site or get a decent hosting account. We’re a bit beyond those basics. The basics here have to do with factors which will influence the success (or failure) and the degree of success an eCommerce web site experiences.




First and foremost, you need to provide value for your customers. Absurd as it seems to have to repeat that, a lot of so-called eCommerce sites provide no or very little value for their visitors. Pretending to offer value is not the same thing as providing value. Promoting miserably written, hackneyed, cloned ebooks filled with questionably useful and/or outdated content doesn’t make for a high value site. Sure you can make some money. Once. And you’ll likely have a high refund rate. Essentially you'd be taking advantage of the inexperience of your customers and abusing their willingness to trust you. Not a good path to a long-term business with steady repeat customers.



Value on the net is not very different from any kind of off-line retail sales -- a quality product line that will attract potential customers and a competitive price that will lead to purchases. An honest, quality product that will meet the expectations you’ve created in your buyers. Hyped junk won’t do it.



Next, you’ve got to have a smooth, user-friendly, easy to follow process all the way to your thank you page. The simpler, cleaner and clearer you can make the process, the better. Where it makes sense you can augment this user-responsive site profile by adding live-response chat.



If you do use call-in or live chat, it’s imperative that your operators be well-trained, understand your products and your system and BE customer friendly. This can be a difficult job if you outsource. The less expensive out-source


alternatives can be a bad investment. You’ll need to check very carefully and be certain the operators do actually speak and understand the primary languages(s) of your targeted customer group. You’ll need to provide extensive background information and highly flexible, well-written scripts. You should also collect customer evaluations of these services - separately, and carefully monitor your results to be sure you are getting a decent return on the investment.




You need to have an attractive website. Some can do well with an ugly site, but, in that case, you need to really understand what you're doing and why it might work. The ugly site tactic is not for the inexperienced and very few individuals truly have the grasp of marketing and customer psychology that can lead to a successful "ugly" site.



To provide a pleasant experience, you need to be careful in what you use - colors, text-size, graphics, animation and white space can add value to your site or turn it into a user nightmare. Test your site with people who will tell you the truth. Just because you love it doesn't mean anyone else will. In general, aiming for a professional appearing site is your best option.



Wherever you can, provide incentives for customers to buy and to return. The return factor is a critical piece of a long-term strategy for success. Anyone who buys is your best possible future customer. Keep them, track them, make them special offers. Use coupons, discounts, special deals, customer-only offers and back end sales. Your customer base is your gold mine. They have at least some faith in you, enough to have purchased. Do your utmost to never damage that faith and treat them with the care they deserve.



The next article in the series will discuss factors such as personalization, security and assisting your staff in dealing consistently with customers customer support.



About the Author

Contracting the computer bug in the early 80's (yes, pre-www) and never cured, Richard, a PhD Clinical Paychologist, now writes on eCommerce, RSS and Niche marketing at http://www.Building-eCommerce-Websites.com

You may freely reprint but the link must be live and spiderable

 

E-Commerce Times: Because E-Business Means Business
Everything you need to know about doing business on the Internet. Information for C-Level executives and small-to-mid-sized business managers.
www.ecommercetimes.com
 
ECommerce-Guide to News, Reviews and Technology Solutions
ECommerce-Guide provides ecommerce business owners with e-commerce news, hardware and software reviews and tutorials, technology solutions and information ...
www.ecommerce-guide.com
 
Electronic commerce - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Electronic commerce (also referred to as EC, e-commerce or ecommerce) ... Even in product categories suitable for e-commerce, electronic shopping has ...
en.wikipedia.org
 
E-Commerce News for IT Managers
Daily e-commerce news for managers of business covering marketing, transaction processing, security, retailing and service delivered over the Web.
www.internetnews.com
 
New Zealand Government E-Commerce
Resource containing information on electronic commerce, including law, trade, tax, privacy, consumer protection, and help for businesses.
www.ecommerce.govt.nz
 
eCommerce Guidebook for web hosting
The eCommerce Guidebook provides many resources, including a directory of online transaction providers, a tutorial, and many other resources.
www.online-commerce.com
 
ClickZ Internet Marketing Solutions for Marketers
Includes columns with commentary and analysis on a wide variety of internet marketing subjects ranging from B2B marketing to search engine marketing.
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Shopping cart software for Dreamweaver, Frontpage, CSS ecommerce ...
Shopping cart software integrated into Frontpage, Dreamweaver, CSS and Golive ecommerce software templates.
www.ecommercetemplates.com
 
E-Commerce & the Internet
Information from the FTC on E-commerce and the Internet. Includes anti-fraud tips.
www.ftc.gov
 
Economy & Work: eBusiness | Europa - Information Society
The e-business concept goes well beyond e-commerce (buying and selling ... A pilot study on E-commerce and the Internet in European businesses (2002) was ...
ec.europa.eu
 
Online Business
If your e-commerce site currently accepts online payments, and is really, really, ... They are looking for entries from ugly e-commerce sites to win a new ...
onlinebusiness.about.com
 
eCommerce Info Center- ONE-STOP for eCommerce info, services ...
eCommerce Info Center, created and maintained by Slim Baltagi, will make it easier and faster for you to find out relevant eCommerce information, ...
www.ecominfocenter.com
 
eCommerce Innovation Centre
Practical resources for small business involved in or considering eCommerce implemetations. Expert Advice and Assistance.
www.ecommerce.ac.uk
 
Web Marketing Today -- E-Commerce, E-Mail, Internet Marketing, and ...
Articles, tips and advice on e-commerce and effective Internet marketing strategies.
www.wilsonweb.com
 
Web Marketing Today Research Room for E-Commerce
The largest collection of annotated links to web marketing and ecommerce articles and resources to be found at any single place on the planet.
www.wilsonweb.com
 
The 2005 E-commerce Awards - Welcome
The UK national E-commerce awards organised by the DTI and Interforum.
www.ecommerce-awards.co.uk
 
Mal's e-commerce
Mal's e-commerce ... Customize the look and feel of your store; No scripts or applications to install; Build as large an e-commerce site as you want ...
www.mals-e.com
 
Howstuffworks "How E-commerce Works"
E-commerce has exploded in the last 10 years. Find out how e-commerce works and how you can harness the potential of e-commerce, from affiliate programs to ...
www.howstuffworks.com
 
Ecommerce Guide - Terms You Need to Know to Do Business on the ...
An online computer dictionary and internet search engine for internet terms and techincal support.
e-comm.webopedia.com
 
Shopping Cart Software Ecommerce Solutions
Ecommerce solutions by Volusion will take your business to new heights. Volusion offers the best prices in the industry for a complete ecommerce web ...
www.volusion.com
 
 

 

Content Menu
  • 7 tips to increase sales with your ecommerce web site

  • accepting payments online an ecommerce web site overview

  • advertising your ecommerce web site

  • an arm a leg for ecommerce

  • an ecommerce internet merchant account

  • ask mr d ecommerce sales

  • a successful ecommerce website part 1

  • a successful ecommerce website part 2

  • blocking and tackling a quick look at some ecommerce fundamentals

  • blogs podcasting and rss ecommerce impact

  • blogs podcasting and rss how will these technologies affect ecommerce

  • building ecommerce websites that work part 1

  • building ecommerce websites that work part 2

  • building ecommerce websites that work part 3

  • building ecommerce web sites where do i start

  • canadas ecommerce opportunity

  • canada and ecommerce

  • choosing an ecommerce shopping cart

  • comparing ecommerce software programs 5 tips

  • cost effective ecommerce solutions

  • developing a winning ecommerce marketing strategy

  • developing a winning ecommerce strategy

  • divesify with ecommerce

  • drop shipping is ecommerce snake oil

  • ecatalog a key component of your ecommerce initiative

  • ecommerce 101 online credit card processing

  • ecommerce and other strange animals

  • ecommerce a new artform

  • ecommerce a plan

  • ecommerce boost your business roi

  • ecommerce communications and the global internet community

  • ecommerce development for microsoft great plains tools and highlights for programmer

  • ecommerce fundamentals

  • ecommerce hosting considerations

  • ecommerce hosting for your online business

  • ecommerce hosting how to choose a merchant account

  • ecommerce how much does it cost

  • ecommerce installing and configuring your shopping cart

  • ecommerce making your bank account grow

  • ecommerce marketing plan

  • ecommerce seo

  • ecommerce solutions

  • ecommerce solutionsthe call of the time

  • ecommerce solutions compared

  • ecommerce solutions for small business owners

  • ecommerce solution for the big and small business

  • ecommerce store owners want visitors heres how

  • ecommerce that makes sense

  • ecommerce turnkey sites

  • ecommerce website development brings more people to your business

  • ecommerce website overview accepting payments online

  • ecommerce web design solutions

  • ecommerce web hosting all you need to know

  • ecommerce web sites if you build it they will come or will they

  • ecommerce web site building where do i start

  • ecommerce your opportunities are unlimited

  • econnect ecommerce development for microsoft great plains

  • evaluating vendors of ecommerce fulfillment services

  • ever wondered what an ecommerce merchant account is

  • eyes on your ecommerce website

  • for your ecommerce success

  • getting started in ecommerce part one

  • getting started in ecommerce part two

  • hosting options for an ecommerce web site

  • how exactly does ecommerce work

  • how to achieve ecommerce success you gotta plan

  • how to create a money magnet ecommerce web site

  • how to set up the ecommerce shopping cart software tools to handle your transactions and how to do in smart efficient and cost effective way

  • increasing your conversion rates 50 tips for ecommerce sites

  • index

  • integrating microsoft great plains accounting erp rms crm ecommerce lotus domino overview

  • integrating microsoft great plains accounting erp rms crm ecommerce lotus domino overview for developer

  • internet basics ecommerce is like playing house

  • introduction to ecommerce

  • is ecommerce right for our business

  • leading ecommerce consultant admits you should only listen to one real expert and its not him

  • meeting the uk ecommerce regulations

  • merchant services add ecommerce functionality to any business

  • microsoft dynamics gp 9 0 ecommerce web development overview for programmer

  • microsoft ecommerce web development great plains econnect net approach highlights for programmer

  • microsoft great plains ecommerce know your options and alternatives

  • microsoft great plains ecommerce overview for developer

  • microsoft great plains ecommerce stored procedures approach

  • microsoft small business manager ecommerce overview

  • my top 7 favorite ecommerce tools

  • network monitoring for serious ecommerce

  • oscommerce a viable ecommerce solution

  • outsourcing your ecommerce order fulfillment

  • quick ecommerce tutorial

  • reverse logistics and ecommerce

  • rotator

  • search engine optimization in an ecommerce world

  • select a niche market for ecommerce

  • seo for ecommerce

  • small business ecommerce web design

  • surviving the ecommerce competition

  • the ecommerce business plan

  • the ecommerce myth

  • the lowdown on ecommerce making all the pieces fit together

  • the no 1 ecommerce solution tip for you

  • the rumors of ecommerce death

  • the seven pillars of ecommerce defined

  • using ebay to market your ecommerce website

  • victoryvisions your one stop to build a successfull ecommerce website

  • web design for ecommerce

  • web ecommerce where to begin

  • whats toll free numbers got to do with ecommerce

  • what ecommerce software has to offer

  • why ecommerce is not ready for my daughter or me

  • why vps is perfect for ecommerce hosting

  • why you should use turnkey websites to jumpstart your ecommerce activity