Ecommerce Information |
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Getting Started in ECommerce - Part Two
In Part One we talked a little bit about what Ecommerce is, getting a domain name and setting up a merchant account. Ecommerce is more than that, much more. To have a really good online presence that gets people to stop and shop you need a strategy for success. Your strategy must include your USP or Unique Selling Position in the marketplace. What makes you stand out from all the other online entrepreneurs looking for the same type of customers as you? Can you stand out from the competition based on quality, price or benefits? Once you know your USP, you can begin the monumental task of telling the world about your site. A really unique selling position will give you an advantage over all the competition - well that and a lot of planning and investing of your time and money. FOCUS Emphasize the benefits and the results the customer will get from purchasing from you and using your product or service. You can discover the benefits by listing all the features and then converting them to benefits. List everything your product or service offers. For each feature list a relative advantage from the customer's perspective. You can discover the customer's perspectives when they buy. Simply ask them, " Why did you place an order today or use our service?" BE very specific when creating your benefit statements. An example of this is, "You will save $100.00 sells better than "you will save money." "You will loose 20 pounds in 10 days" sounds better than "you will loose weight." Rank your benefits in order of importance to the customer. If you have enough of them, use bullet points for emphasis. Emotion sells. People make most buying decisions with their heart and not their head. Paint a picture of the results the customer will get when they purchase from you. " You will look 20 years younger." "You will be $100 richer." Make sure you include a call to action. Want them to make a buying decision today? Give them a reason to do so. Offer a bribe (discount, bonus, something for nothing). Your website must load quickly and function easily. If your site loads slowly people will get impatient and go elsewhere. Do all your links work? Have you tested your order page by running sample orders? Have you tested load time using different connection speeds? You can get a fr*ee analysis by visiting Submitplus.com. Make your website easy to look at and read. I find dark background tend to be more difficult to read than do pale backgrounds. The overall look of your site should be clean and professional. When we were first creating the Women's ECommerce Association, International we did everything in-house. Not being truly adept at HTML coding we thought we could just use a simple program to create a professional site. It was okay, but the one we now have is so much better. Why? Because we hired a professional. You can create a website with a good template program. We are using ECommerce Templates to create our new look for WUN Publications. It is simple to use and relatively inexpensive. When it comes to graphics, be conservative. Sites that are laden with graphics and flash tend to take longer to load. If your site takes more than 3 seconds to do so, you will loose many visitors and potential buyers. If you must use graphics, make sure the files sizes used have been reduced as much as your image editing/compression software will allow. View your site using as many different browsers as possible. In addition to Internet Explorer and Netscape, there is Opera, Mozilla, Lynx and those are just the ones that run on Microsoft Windows. WebMonkey has a chart of those supported by Macintosh, Unix/Linux and others. Also, many people will surf with their browser's graphics switched off. Make sure you know what your site looks like without the graphics and that it is still easy for visitors to surf. One last thought Make sure all your important information is above the fold. If you know that visitors are looking for something specific and you make them scroll down to find it, chances are they won't. Excerpted from The PMS Principles - Powerful Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Business © 2005 - Heidi Richards Heidi Richards is the author of The PMS Principles, Powerful Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Business and 7 other books. She is the owner of Eden Florist & Gift Baskets and the Founder & CEO of the Women's ECommerce Association, International http://www.WECAI.org (pronounced wee-kī) - an Internet organization that "Helps Women Do Business on the WEB." BASIC Membership is Free. She can be reached at http://www.HeidiRichards.com or heidi@wecai.org. You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.
MORE RESOURCES: Amazon introduces new shoppable ad formats Digital Commerce 360 How an ecommerce site increased commercial monthly organic traffic from 37K to 210K Search Engine Land Shopify Stock: Shopify Earnings Top Views. E-Commerce Giant Plunges On Outlook Investor's Business Daily What do Europeans, Americans and Australians have in common? Scammed $50M by fake e-stores The Register Alibaba seeks growth in Mongolia with marketplace selling Chinese goods South China Morning Post Amazon launches a Prime-free marketplace in South Africa, its first in sub-Saharan Africa TechCrunch Retail ecommerce spending grows in first third of year, Adobe data shows Digital Commerce 360 Google Revs Ecommerce SERPs Practical Ecommerce AD E-commerce Solutions Program Launches New Digital Initiative Industrial Distribution Adobe: 2024 e-commerce spend exceeds $330 billion so far Chain Store Age Speakeasy Co. Unveils 2023 eCommerce Year In Review: Key Insights on Consumer Behavior and BevAlc Trends PR Newswire From Home Delivery & Store Pickups to AI Integration: The Key to Embracing Ecommerce for Grocery Retailers MarketScale Data, online delivery and the search for continual e-commerce improvement ComputerWeekly.com Ecommerce earnings recap: What you missed from Aritzia, Peloton and more Digital Commerce 360 New Ecommerce Tools: May 7, 2024 Practical Ecommerce How a TikTok ban could impact ecommerce retailers Digital Commerce 360 Shopify revenue and GMV grow more than 20% in Q1 Digital Commerce 360 New retailers partner with DoorDash, Instacart for last-mile delivery Digital Commerce 360 ACV Auctions posts a strong Q1 Digital Commerce 360 News / Airlines face Q4 capacity 'balancing act' as they weigh up ecommerce potential theloadstar.com Ahold Delhaize ecommerce switch helps Q1 sales in the U.S. Supermarket News Market Map: Ecommerce plots a comeback with 'prepurchase' startups PitchBook News & Analysis TikTok to expand e-commerce business into Mexico, major Western European markets South China Morning Post Builders FirstSource eyes $1 billion in digital sales by 2026 Digital Commerce 360 Global Access Celebrates 22 Years of Empowering Cross-Border Ecommerce with Revolutionary Technology The Herald Journal MerchantPro brings eCommerce leaders to the 2nd edition of dotCommerce Digital Forum on June 11th Romania-Insider.com Navigating the complicated bedroom category with e-commerce supplier Walker Edison - Furniture Today Best ecommerce tool of 2024 TechRadar Guest Article: E-commerce and Plastic Packaging Regulations | SDG Knowledge Hub | IISD IISD's SDG Knowledge Hub Exploring Temu's Fast Delivery Revolution in E-Commerce Retail Merchandiser B2B buyers want (and use) multiple digital sales channels Digital Commerce 360 Goodwill opens Wellsboro ecommerce online location | Local | tiogapublishing.com The Wellsboro Gazette US ecommerce sales penetration hits new high in 2023 Digital Commerce 360 Contentsquare CMO Reveals Why Brands’ Best Acquisition Strategy is a Retention Strategy Retail TouchPoints Platforms see scorching summer sending ecommerce sales soaring The Economic Times Amazon Ecommerce Facts and Statistics Digital Commerce 360 Common E-Commerce Challenges Businesses Face - businessnewsdaily.com Business News Daily Alibaba flagship website Taobao begins largest revamp in years as e-commerce giant sharpens focus on user ... South China Morning Post Liquidity Services posts mixed Q1 results for its B2B surplus assets marketplace Digital Commerce 360 Children’s products retailer Kidsy leans into overstock sales model Digital Commerce 360 U.S. ecommerce sales in Q4 2023 hit new high despite slow growth Digital Commerce 360 E-Commerce Bolsters Brick-and-Mortar Business Floor Focus Expat Google engineering exec Claire Southey heads home to join ecommerce marketer Rokt Startup Daily Specialty Food News Specialty Food Association Legal Business Partner - Ecommerce Law.asia Descartes’ Annual Ecommerce Analysis Throws Light On Growth Of Online Buying Travel And Tour World E-Commerce Study Shows Online Buying Grows but Consumers Still Face Delivery Problems Supply and Demand Chain Executive How to use social media ecommerce effectively in 2024 Sprout Social The top 10 ecommerce sites in the US eMarketer Ecommerce earnings recap: What you missed from Columbia, Harley-Davidson and more Digital Commerce 360 Worldwide Retail Ecommerce Forecast 2024 eMarketer With 14 million ecommerce sites, the US is atop the online world Digital Commerce 360 |
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