Shopping Cart graphic

Starting an E-commerce Website

2009-10-17T08:59:00.003-07:00

With the advancement of technology, the internet combined with web hosting has created a whole new playing ground for people who want to go into having a business of their own. One very good way to have you business online is to have your very own e-commerce website. With this kind of website, you can use your website to buy and sell products. However, to have a good e-commerce website, you will need a good web hosting company.

Firstly, you should know what you need to have a successful ecommerce website. Like we mentioned, you need a good web hosting company to deliver that quality. Unfortunately, there too many companies out there for you to choose from and this process may prove a little bit challenging. However, when you eventually select the right one, you will get professional service, great security, tools, scripts as well as database systems and email service to fully put your business into a very commanding position.

Besides having the entire technical requirement that you need to get from your web hosting, you should also think about the appeal of your website to your audience. This will definitely come from the design of your website. With your website functioning, you will be able to satisfy your customers because today's competition in the industry has immensely gotten tougher and tougher. If you do not provide service which is up to standard, I'm pretty sure that your customers will look for another website that does.

So, you should find the right web hosting company so that they can provide you with everything you need in you e-commerce website. If you find the proper company, you will then be able to decorate your website with specially designed templates, easy transaction process where buyers and sellers can check their transaction without hassle and also shopping cart function to help customers simplify their shopping experience. You will also be able to get secured service that supports credit card transaction allowing convenience at its best. Furthermore, some companies even provide you with special graphics and catalogue to help you improve your business.

Therefore, the big question still comes to choosing the right hosting plan and company. Even though the service is much more affordable these days, we must still be cautious in selecting a company that can deliver what they promise. An e-commerce website can de done in a Linux or Windows server. It can be doe in a shared or even a dedicated server. The choice is up to you. If you plan for success in your business, an e-commerce will definitely be a good investment and tool for you to achieve success. Although you might have to invest a little in the beginning, the end result will definitely be worthwhile.

Looking for some honest web hosting advice? Check out WebHostingSecretRevealed.com - a place where the webmaster (Jerry) examine various hosting services by hosting websites on the web hosts first hand.

Article written by Justin Knights, freelance writer.

Ecommerce for Beginners

2009-10-17T08:59:00.001-07:00

Like most average persons, I wanted some extra money to supplement my regular income. I had considered a part time second job at times, but hated that option because it would take me away from the family, make me more tired and probably just pay minimum wage. I also wanted to be able to work from home.
I had surfed the internet for years and had often considered the idea of participating in the internet revolution. I had read some statistics on the use of internet and the increasing numbers of homes with computers and the increasing percentage of Christmas shopping done over the internet. So I decided to jump in with both feet.
First what is ecommerce? The online world designates web sites devoted to retail sales as an e-commerce site. E-commerce sites sell either information or hard goods such as cameras or knifes. E-commerce sites also have Shopping Carts and Payment Gateways attached to them that non-sales web sites do not need.
Okso you want to develop an E-commerce site. You are now probably asking do I have enough skill, mental patience or aptitude to be successful?
Well if you have average intelligence, I believe that you and thousands of people just like you could have an E-commerce web site. All that is required is the willingness to learn a few things, patience, and the determination to apply yourself.
How? I am glad you asked.
Let's begin. We first need to discuss the basics components you will need.
1. Computer 2. Internet connection 3. Site building software 4. Graphics Software 5. Web hosting company 6. Shopping cart 7. Payment gateway
The above elements are where most people stop when they think of what they will need when they want to start an ecommerce site. However, there are other elements that need to be considered, such as getting legal and product sourcing.
Items 1 and 2 above are pretty straight forward and most people can understand why they are necessary. The other items however are a little more complex. Site building software allows the beginner to construct a web site without knowing html programming code. What is Html programming Code?
Html is the programming language of the internet and stands for Hyper Text Mark Up Language. The two best software programs currently available to write Html are Microsoft's FrontPage 2003 or Macromedia's Dreamweaver. These programs are more correctly known as HTML Editors.
These two programs are the best ones available. I have them both but use FrontPage 2003 primarily. I think FrontPage 2003 is easier to use and does better tables then Dreamweaver. Most professional web site developers, however consider Dreamweaver the better of the two because some claim it has more features, but I find it is a little more complicated to use. I would recommend that you surf the internet and read the reviews on both of these programs and make you own choice.
Next you will need a good graphic program such as Adobe Photoshop 6. A graphics program allows you manipulate the size of images create images in different formats and create special effects. "PhotoShop 6" is the current version from Adobe and is the best software program for graphics. Adobe "Photoshop Elements" can also be used, but is a limited version of the full Photoshop software. The programs from Adobe are expensive so shop around for the best price.
Web hosting is very important and you need to comparison shop for features first, not on price. Web hosting and ecommerce are extremely related, and learned by personal experience the mistake trying to separate ecommerce from web hosting. The web host company is the company that rents room on their server for your web site, but they can much more. They can offer an integrated shopping cart.
The shopping cart is the heart of the ecommerce web site. The shopping cart for all intents and purposes runs your ecommerce web site so it is critical to get a good one. It contains and displays the products you intend to sell. It also does other neat administrative functions that will make your store easier to run. There are some stand alone shopping carts for sale but most come with web hosting service attached.
The "Payment Gateway" is the cashier in the store and is also known as a "Merchant Account." This is basically a business credit card account. The payment gateway allows your se store to accept credit cards and transfer money to you. Merchant Accounts are very important and you should also carefully review their services and prices. If you do not get a merchant account you are pretty much limited to papal. Search the web and check out the available shopping carts and payment gateways.
Now what are you going to sell, and where are you going to get it? You can look every where for the products you want to sell. How do you know what will sell well? You need to do some market research. Not everything sells well, including electronics. If you have no preference on what to sell, find some marketing software that will allow you to determine which products ell well online.
Next, you will need a source for those products. Assuming you are not making them yourself. The best way is to drop ship them. The trouble is finding a reliable drop ship source and avoiding the imposters.
Once you find you product source you need to open an account and stock your store and start selling. There munch more to an ecommerce store then can be explained in a brief article format. As someone who recently went from zero to an online store Cynscorion.com), I know first hand of the pit falls that await the beginning ecommerce site builder.
If you want to learn more about what to avoid in building an ecommerce site go to either: www.cynscorion.com and go to the bottom of the page and click on "Ecommerce Book For Beginners" ,or go to: http://cynscorion.com/store/cart.php?page=what_yofuture_release_of_a_very_unique_ecommerce_book This book is for people undecided on whether to start an ecommerce site and want to find one point of reference to assist them in making their decision.
Lastly, I wish you good luck and success in your ecommerce endeavors. If I can do it, so can you!
For additional assistance go to:
http://people.lulu.com/users/index.php?fHomepage=101573
The author created his own ecommerce web site going from knowing nothing to having a fully functional ecommerce site on the web, and wrote a book on the experience. The aptly titled "STEP 1: E-commerce for Beginners" explains to BEGINNERS what "STEP 1" is, and what they should be prepared for and makes recommedations to make the experience of building the 1st web site less stressful.

Basic Steps to a Great Business Website

2009-10-17T08:58:00.001-07:00

So much has been written on the topic of what makes a good business website, and I myself could go on and on about good content, meta tags & other search engine optimization, market strategies and so on.

But there are so many people out there that don't even know the basics of website creation; where to begin, where to place the graphics, what to avoid, and so many other things. Finding simple advice to get them going can be difficult.

Of course content, SEO, and marketing are absolutely essential, but first you have to organize and build the thing. And that is where a lot of folks get into trouble; right at the very beginning! And if it is not a quality site to begin with, or if you irritate your visitors, then all the marketing in the world will not help you get them to stick around or even think about coming back!

I know that many of the things that I personally look at when I visit a small business site are just pet peeves. I am in no way an expert on site building and promotion. I won't even pretend that I am. But as a website visitor, and e-commerce shopper, I do have an opinion on what types of things will make me quickly leave a site, or add it to my favorites for future browsing. My opinions are just that, but you can be sure that if something on a site annoys me, then others will inevitably find it annoying as well. It is true that not all visitors will be annoyed, but enough that it could cost you in the long run. Some things that we do or put on our sites are just not important enough to lose sales over. So re-examine your business site and ask yourself if there are things about it that could be changed, to attract and keep your visitors and customers.

Let's start with website hosting. No matter how many times it has been said, there are still small business owners who do not understand that you should NEVER EVER use free web hosting for a business website. Any credibility that you hope to establish for your business will go right out the window. I for one, would not even consider buying from, or joining the opportunity of a company that cannot or will not pay for good hosting service. If the company cannot afford one of the very many great hosting deals out there (some of them as little as $5 per month with less than $12 per year for domain registration) then something is very, very wrong! So before you even begin to plan the design of your site, then you need to register a domain name that is easy to remember, on a host that is reliable. If you are just starting out, Yahoo has very reasonable rates for hosting, with lots of space, several email addresses, free domain registration, and more. They also have a very good site building tool that allows you to point, click and build a site without having to know any html.

Let's talk about graphics and fonts. This is where a lot of builders go wrong. They have the domain, they have the hosting, but they have no idea about graphics use, layout and design. First of all, don't overload your site with graphics! They clutter the page, and can seriously slow down your page's loading time. Use a simple background a few simple graphics and fonts that are easily read by all computers! Verdana, Times New Roman, and Comic Sans are always good bets. Your site may look "cute" with some other font, but chances are 1/2 of your visitors will not even see it anyway! I have seen these sites address the issue with a little link telling me how to view the site the "proper" way, by going to another page and downloading the font that they have used. Why should I have to download a font, unzip the font, and install the font to view your site properly? I won't do it, and when my browser cannot read your font, it can wreak havoc on your layout! It is easier to just move on and find what you are looking for somewhere else. Browse around and look at other sites in your business category. You will get loads of ideas on what works and what doesn't. If the site is difficult to navigate, then ask yourself how it could be better. If something seems to be working, then incorporate the same style into your own site. Of course, you don't want to simply copy the site. Besides the fact that you would be dealing with copyright issues, let someone figure out that you have done that, and your adventure in on-the-web selling is over!

Organize the layout and don't overuse Java scripts. It is essential to make your site easy to navigate and without too many bells and whistles. Put your links near the top of the page, or better yet, side navigation is always a good way to organize the links to what you really want your visitors to see. Stay way from flashing text, and moving pictures! I have visited sites that have literally made me dizzy and sick to my stomach from all the movement going on! You don't want to overwhelm your visitors and make them run screaming from your site as fast as they can!

Speaking of scripts, there is one script that is guaranteed to help you lose sales! The Mouse Trailer! Ninety-five percent of the time, when I visit a site that has a mouse trailer, the image in the trailer blocks all the links that I try to click. This is not uncommon. I have been forced to leave these sites and shop elsewhere because I cannot click the navigation links. Not only has then been frustrating, but it has cost that merchant a sale. In my lifetime I have owned or used 5 computers. In that time, I have had only ONE computer that DID NOT do that. So I have had 4 computers that could not navigate sites with mouse trailers. Multiply those computers by even 100 and you might just begin to think, that even though that little trailing bee or those sparkling stars are cute, they are costing you a bundle in lost revenue. Get rid of the trailer for your businesses sake!

Misspelled words and bad grammar can really make you look unprofessional! Okay I know I am the world's worst typist! I make mistakes all the time. Little silly ones that should have been easy to see, but after spending several hours typing everything up, and then reading and re-reading it, I have simply stopped "seeing" the mistakes. Type your page content in MS Word first and use the "Spell Check" function to check for mistakes. Then copy and paste the text into your web page. But you will still need to be careful; you can misuse a word and it will not be "caught" by the spell checker. Here area few of the worst ways you can use grammar on a site!

Product's, Graphic's, Link's- I have seen the apostrophe overused more times that I could even count anymore! If you want to take your visitors to your Graphics, or your Products, then that is great. But leave out the apostrophe! The very basic rules of grammar that we learned in grade school tell us that the apostrophe is used to show possession in that instance and unless you are going to tell me about something that the product or the graphic OWNS, leave it off!

Stationery vs. Stationary- Note cards, paper and envelopes are Stationery. If you are standing still you are Stationary. It is possible for your Stationery to BE Stationary, but you probably wouldn't want to say that in your product description, so bee sure that you use the correct spelling for the situation!

Separate or Seperate- The correct spelling is Separate. Be sure to check that you have it spelled correctly in your text.

There and Their-If you are want customers to know where to find THEIR products, then direct them THERE.

Its and It's-The word "its" shows possession and the word "it's" is a contraction for the two words "it" and "is". Use them carefully in your text!

Avoid unprofessional mistakes! After you get everything typed and you have checked and re-checked have a friend or two proof read for you. A fresh pair of eyes will usually spot the mistakes that you have missed.

Don't use background music on a business site! It is 1am, and you have finally gotten a few minutes to do some web browsing. You crawl into bed next to your sleeping spouse, boot up the laptop and get ready to do a little shopping. You find what you are looking for, you click the link to the site, and suddenly "Yankee Doodle" is blaring from the speakers and your now wide awake spouse in not impressed! I cannot stress this enough; music has no place on a business site! It is annoying, period.

Don't overuse the statement "Coming Soon". Scenario: I am e-shopping. I am trying to find a certain product. I visit an online store, and YAY! I see a button that is going to take me right to what I need! I am so excited that I have FINALLY found what I was looking for. I click the button only to be hit with a message that says "Coming Soon!". This is so aggravating! If you do not have it, then do not create a link that promises that you do! If you want folks to know that something is on its way, then say that in the text on your home or main store page. Don't trick me into thinking that I will find what I am looking for when I follow your bogus link. I will probably not ever visit your site again. Why should I? You may just be telling me you have what I need, when in reality I will again be taken to an empty page.

If at all possible use a shopping cart on your business site! Your customers will not want to order via email or order form. They want to be able to shop, pay, and get a receipt right then. If you want them to fill out an order form, or email you an order and you "get back to them" with a total, then you run the risk that they will change their minds, find the item cheaper, or be able to get it faster from somewhere else. Paypal has a shopping cart that is very easy to setup and manage. If you are looking for a cart with more options and flexibility, then Mal's E-Commerce offers a very good free cart that can handle just about any aspect of your business. It can be set up to use with any site, but does require a little more knowledge of html scripting. They do, however have excellent helps, tips and tutorials to help you set up even the most complicated of shopping cart choices.

Don't use pop up traffic builders! It may make your page counter climb, but are you getting REAL visitors, that REALLY want to see what you are offering? Chances are your site simply popped up into someone's face and they closed it just as quickly as they could. Also, with the widespread use of pop up blockers, chances are your site isn't even getting seen all that much. Don't annoy your own customers with these awful things. Find better ways to advertise your site, where you will get quality visitors that really want to be on your site!

E-Commerce Website Designing Vs General Web Designing

2009-10-16T10:13:00.005-07:00

There are websites we design and since all the websites are not the same in the same way ecommerce website design is a lot different as compared to a website design. When the web designer is making a website in account with considering forthwith money and customers he gives additional consideration in its creation.

Conversion is the top precedence where visitors turn into paying customers. How the customers experience about the site is dependent by the conversion rate of an e-commerce site enormously. A question arises here what is the difference between e-commerce web design and regular web design? Can you design an e-commerce website just as you design an informational web page? The answer is no. The difference between the e-commerce website design and the regular website design is in detail.

E-Commerce Web Designers A website which has creative graphic designs and online marketing capabilities is established with proper execution. It provides a good online shopping cart, payment gateway, online merchant accounts etc. When a person visits an e-commerce website to buy something if he does not feel right about the website he would not but anything even if he is getting what he exactly wanted to have.

One way how e-commerce website makes money is undergoing a change of browsers into paying customers. It is very essential to keep in mind that when you are designing an e-commerce website you should make the site simple and good making the customer feel comfortable. A successful ecommerce website provides the customers a pleasant shopping experience that includes access to well categorized products with adequate information. The availability of a trouble free experience to online shoppers is the most important achievement of a good e-commerce website. A good ecommerce website will have these important things along with other capabilities good security, convenient ways of online payment and delivery, easy navigation and accessibility.

E-commerce web designers must put a special focus on:

Branding It is very important to gain trust of the customers and one should focus on it in order to make potential customers with all their trust and feeling of security and for all this it is essential that the e-commerce website should be well branded. A well branded website means good logos, mottos, designs, etc.

Shopping Carts Shopping cart system are developed using in depth technical knowledge of database management, billing and accounts practices, applications along with secure payment gateway implementation. The ease of shopping carts is an important factor in commuting browsers into customers.

Security and Merchant Accounts Due to the convenience, simplicity, security and speed, the online shopping industry has become so popular. Everyone can make online payments very easily and securely through credit cards through online secure forms which are encrypted for credit card fraud and safety. E-commerce web designers have now also reformed their talent towards these secured forms for all those people who wish to pay online for the ease but are reluctant due to online theft. Web designers are now also creating online merchant accounts that are secure and convenient for businesses to sign up for all their customers.

Gopixel offers website design and graphic design solutions for small businesses in Castle Rock CO, Parker CO, and Highlands Ranch CO. Visit Website Design Parker CO for more information.

Website Advantages for Your Online Strategy

2009-10-16T10:13:00.003-07:00

No one has to tell you that the internet is an overwhelming
source of information and is a major resource for individuals
and businesses to seek out products and services. If you have a
business of your own then you probably already have a website to
showcase your company's outstanding products and services. The
question that you should ask yourself is "am I taking advantage
of all the resources available to best market my business
online". If you haven't actively pondered this question and
aren't in pursuit of implementing your website's online strategy
action plan then you are at a disadvantage. The odds are that
your competition is already doing something about it. It takes
more than just having a nice website online. A successful online
business uses everything at its disposal. The tools available
today to heighten the aesthetics of your website, increase the
volume of your website, increase the search engine ranking of
your website, and increase the overall success of your website
include these components:

1. Graphic
Design

2. Flash
Animation

3. Integrated
Shopping Cart (if you sell products online)

4. Content
Management (CMS)

5. Rich
Media

6. Search
Engine Optimization (SEO)

Graphic Design is the process and art of combining text and
graphics and communicating an effective message in the design of
logos, graphics, brochures, newsletters, posters, signs, and any
other type of visual communication. It is important to portray a
professional look and feel on your website. A strong graphic
design element can significantly help the success of your
website.

Flash animation is a graphics animation element, written and
marketed by Macromedia,
that uses vector graphics. The resulting files, called SWF (said
like swiff) files, may appear in a web page to view in a web
browser, or standalone Flash players may "play" them. Flash
files occur most commonly in animated advertisements on web
pages and rich-media web sites. Many websites choose to have
only a Flash Header,
while some choose to build their site entirely within Flash.

An Integrated Shopping Cart is a piece of software that acts as
an online store's catalogue and ordering process. Typically, a
shopping cart is the interface between a company's website and
its deeper infrastructure, allowing consumers to select
merchandise review what they have selected make necessary
modifications or additions and purchase the merchandise.
Shopping carts can be bought as independent pieces of software
so companies can integrate them into their own unique online
solution, or they can be offered as a feature from a service
that will create and host a company's e-commerce site.

Content
Management is the processes and workflows involved in
organizing, categorizing, and structuring information resources
so that they can be stored, published, and reused in multiple
ways. A content management
system (CMS) is used to collect, manage, and publish
content, storing the content either as components or whole
documents, while maintaining the links between components. It
may also provide for content revision control.

Rich
Media refers to media on the web that offers an enhanced,
interactive experience. VRML for
3 D, Macromedia Flash
and Shockwave would be good examples of languages for rich
media. Rich media is often used for banner advertisements, for
homepage's and for e-mail communications. It is important,
however, for designers considering the use of rich media, to
understand the audience they are designing for, and make sure
the audience has access to the information being conveyed via
the rich media. Rich media is the delivery of video, voice,
data, and animation in a manner that can engage, entertain and
inform audiences faster and far more effectively than any
other type of communication. Rich Media is considered to be
the next generation of business communication.

Search
Engine Optimization, also known as SEO, is the process of
increasing the amount of visitors to a Web site by ranking high
in the search results of a search engine. The higher a Web site
ranks in the results of a search, the greater the chance that
that site will be visited by a user. It is common practice for
Internet users to not click through pages and pages of search
results, so where a site ranks in a search is essential for
directing more traffic toward the site.

Taking advantage of these online marketing and development
elements should not merely be an option for your website; they
should be a necessity. It is recommended that you learn more
about these methods and implement them into your business'
online strategy.

Types of Online Shopping Cart Systems: Options for your Business

2009-10-16T10:13:00.001-07:00

An online shopping cart is the best tool you will have if you are starting an online business.Â It works extremely well for buy and sell endeavours made over the net.Â It makes your work faster and it gives you better access to what you have earned for the day.Â With all of these important facets of online shopping cart systems, there are different choices to include in your list. When looking for the right type of online shopping cart system for your business, consider what the service provider is willing to offer you.Â As a newbie in the world of ecommerce, you want something that will work easier for you.Â You do not have to spend weeks just to be able to comprehend with how to use the shopping cart software.Â It may take you some time but it does not mean you have to spend a number of days just to be able to understand them.Â With this, you may start taking a peek at the types of online shopping cart systems for your Internet business. Different online shopping cart systems Service providers have created a number of ways to give you much ease when using your online shopping cart systems.Â This being said, you are faced with choices on what to use for your online endeavour.Â Here are some of the types of online shopping carts that will work for you and your clients: Ready-made shopping carts.Â If you do not have time to construct your own shopping cart systems, you may always look for this option.Â What you need to do is choose the design from the ready-made options of the service provider.Â After that, leave all the technical work to the team.Â The provider takes the responsibility in placing your company's logo in the cart system. Customised shopping carts.Â In this type of system, you may now relay your ideas to the service provider.Â From your ideas, the team will work on the graphic designs for your own website.Â Before they load your shopping carts, your approval will be sought for the designs they have made.Â Once you agree with what the designers have made, then your website is ready for your business. Specialised shopping carts with your own designs.Â If you have artistic hands, you may always design the shopping carts you want for your business.Â Utilising the service provider's website, you may use the graphic concepts and create your own carts in the process.Â To facilitate the endeavour, easy-to-follow steps are provided. All the above-mentioned options are for new online businesses.Â If you already have an existing website to your name and you are planning of adapting a shopping cart system to facilitate your daily transactions, there is a type of software you may use.Â This type of system is known as the stand alone cart mode.Â In this method, you may simply use the cut and paste options to add a shopping cart to your existing website.Â You may also customise the carts according to your existing website design.

If you are looking for different types of online shopping cart systems to use for your existing or new business, http://www.absoluteshoppingcart.co.uk has options to offer.

Ecommerce Website Design Services

2009-10-12T10:20:00.005-07:00

Ecommerce is that form of online business that continues to develop day by day. Due to the influence of the Internet, more and more individuals are entering the online business arena. Online shopping is of great appeal mainly because of the ease and comfort it offers. With increase in the number of online shoppers, ecommerce websites have to be more user-friendly and attractive. To be competent in the web market, it would be ideal to utilize quality ecommerce website design services. A Well-organized Website is the Need of the Day It is important to have a professional design for your ecommerce website, because that is what is going to attract customers. The website must be properly organized in order to create a positive and pleasing impression on the online shoppers. The website should precisely and appealingly display your products and services. A properly optimized website will make your visitors stay for a long time. This increases the chance of converting these visitors into customers of your products and services. Stay Competent with the Help of Unique Web Design Services For designing your ecommerce website, it is best to depend on a professional company. At present there are many companies offering state-of-the-art services. These firms offer outstanding website design solutions after carefully analyzing your business requirements and the targeted audience. For this purpose they maintain a team of skilled professionals who efficiently develop ecommerce websites using contemporary tools and techniques. The important ecommerce website design services offered by these companies include the following: â€¢ Planning and designing of website â€¢ Competitor analysis â€¢ Redesigning of existing website â€¢ Development of precise website contents â€¢ Creation of easy navigation scheme â€¢ Multi browser compatibility â€¢ Designing of shopping carts â€¢ Graphic design â€¢ Copywriting services â€¢ Ecommerce web marketing â€¢ Submission to search engines â€¢ Maintenance of sales reports These companies also offer other related services including inventory management, order management and tracking, product management, processing of payments, customer tracking and lots more. The web market is becoming more and more competitive. So it is important to depend on the right company, which can offer reliable and cost-effective services based on your requirements, and help you achieve your business goals.

Viral SEO Services is a full service internet marketing firm offering a fine line of website design services. We provide top notch solutions for ecommerce website development, and strive to bring you an immediate global presence.

Perth Web Design Team Finds Site Architecture More Important Than Graphic Design.

2009-10-12T10:20:00.003-07:00

When the topic of conversation turns to web site design, the common picture that comes to mind is usually a group of talented graphic designers who are all working hard to come up with a visual masterpiece using sophisticated graphic design software.

While this is often the case - especially when Perth web design team GTP iCommerce (GTP) is involved, there are many people who confuse graphic design as being synonymous to web design and this is not the case.

According to GTP's Perth web design team, a professional, visually appealing graphically designed website is a secondary consideration to building a successful internet marketing strategy and a performing web site needs more than just good graphics.

The Perth web design studio recommends focusing on the site architecture which involves considering a) What are all the elements required in the web site before design starts and b) grouping all these elements into an easy to use navigation structure that will make the end user experience simple. According to the Perth web design studio, a poorly designed site with a good architectural structure will out perform an attractively designed site with poor architecture every time.

Managing Director Dale Carter says that "a web site is something that is to be used and navigated like a map not just looked at and admired like a piece of art. By making it easy for your customers to find the information they want and then do something useful such as buy the product or request a brochure your site will perform far better than something that just looks nice"

The ideal result is to get the sites architecture correct and then use good web design to enhance the total visual appeal of the site.

This, according to the GTP Perth web design firm, is similar to needing both an architect to design a functional living space whereby all the bedrooms, bathrooms and living areas are integrated and well laid out in relation to each other and then using an interior designer to decorate and bring the spaces to life.

A poorly designed house even with good interior design will never be as appealing as a house with good architecture - as the interior design can always be changed. Similarly GTP's Perth web design firm say that with good structure you can redesign a web site after a period of time to keep the look fresh while conserving an effective site architecture that generates sales.

Good Perth web design companies knows that the foundation of well conceptualized site architecture is critically important to building an effective online business that can expand over time without significant additional outlay.

To identify good site architecture for your business

1.Research extensively your competition via Google

2.Research similar industries in other parts of the country or the world. Not just your local competition.

3.Take screen shots and print outs of these web sites for future reference.

4.Referring to your screen shots, write down all the link headings and variations of link headings and then consolidate duplicate headings. (e.g. About us and Company Profile are the same heading just named differently)

5.Group similar topics together and functional features together

6.Use word, excel or a piece of paper to organize the links into sections and positions. Repeat this process for each main section in your site to show how internal pages look

7.Take this structure to your web designer to discuss, refine and design

According to Perth web designer GTP, by establishing a well-formed site architecture up front, you will save money in the long term. More importantly you will find your web site is far superior in terms of sales lead generation and online sales bringing you a higher return on investment.

Perth web design company GTP also recommends building your web site with a) a flexible content management system that allows you to add pages and sections into your site yourself within the defined architecture and b) a user registration or email capture capacity as well as c)an email and autoresponder marketing platform to communicate and convert sales leads.

Finally Perth web designer GTP warns not to forget that d) your web site pages need to be able to have search engine optimisation work done on them. Therefore your site platform should have this in place other wise you will eventually need to move to a more flexible platform costing you more money.
Dale Carter runs a Perth web design and internet marketing firm and has helped more than 500 companies develop and implement successful web site strategies since 1996.

Dale Carter runs a Perth Web Design and internet marketing firm and has helped more than 500 companies develop and implement successful web site strategies since 1996. Visit http://www.gtp-icommerce.com/

Evariant Welcomes Noted Bay Area Graphic Artist

2009-10-12T10:20:00.001-07:00

The announcement is a significant addition to Evariant's talented team of professionals. He brings to the table a comprehensive knowledge of Fine Arts and diverse Graphical Mediums, from posters, album covers and even commissioned wine labels for rare vintages. Nicks' talents extend far past those of the traditional graphic artist, as he is able to blend traditional advertising mediums with highly prized and beautiful custom artwork for our most discriminating client's projects. Those who are interested in truly making a statement with their brand or service will not come away disappointed.

Evariant is an eBusiness Development and Marketing Firm whose Partners & Associates are experts in:

Custom Software ยท eBusiness Strategies & Implementations ยท Programming & Database Modeling ยท Web Design ยท Web Hosting ยท Domain Registration & Procurement ยท Multimedia Design ยท Content Development & Management ยท eCommerce Solutions & Deployment ยท Custom Graphics ยท Logo Design ยท VAR & Partner Management Strategies ยท Full Phase Product Development Strategiesยท Vertical Market Strategies ยท Branding & Product Positioning ยท Software Consulting ยท Sales Development ยท Fine Arts Projects ยท eMail Marketing ยท HTML eMail ยท Shared & Dedicated Web Hosting ยท Banner Ads ยท Domain Management/Negotiations ยท Technology & Continuity Planning ยท Shopping Carts ยท RFP/RFQ/Technical Sales Engineering & Development ยท HTML ยท Java ยท Keyword Ranking & Search Engine Optimization ยท Audio-Video (AV) & Media Campaigns ยท Brochures & Sales Collateral ยท Presentation Materials: Powerpoint/Flash/Streaming ยท Media Servers ยท Content/Webinars ยท Microsoft ยท LINUX ยท ASP ยท PHP ยท .NET ยท eLearning PrePress & Graphic Separation ยท Adobe ยท Frontpage ยท InterDev ยท MacroMedia ยท Access ยท SQL ยท MySQL ยท XML ยท Borland ยท JSP ยท JAVA ยท C++ ยท VB ยท Flash ยท Studio MX Development ยท CGI Scripting & More!

Griffin Internet Begins Using Web+Shop for Web Store Hosting

2009-10-11T10:20:00.005-07:00

Aberdeen, SD February 12, 2004--Webplus, Inc., the leading provider of leased ecommerce solutions, announced that Griffin Internet has begun using Webplus, Inc.'s award-winning ecommerce solution, Web+Shop, to set up online stores for their clients. Griffin Internet specializes in offering ISP services to the foodservice industry. Web+Shop will be used both for B-to-B and B-to-C applications.

"We are very excited to partner with Griffin Internet as this is the first time we've targeted offering Web+Shop to the foodservice industry." said Bryan Kriech, Business Development Manager at Webplus, Inc. "The first two stores they are setting up look fantastic!"

โGriffin Internet Services is proud to be teaming up with Webplus, Inc. in the development of a new, flexible and responsive e-commerce package for our customers.โ said Duncan Berry, Director of Sales at Griffin Internet. โWe could not have imagined a better โfit' of product, service and engagement.โ

About Griffin Internet

Griffin Internet Services was recently launched as the newest media division of Griffin Publishing Co. Their goal is to offer the full spectrum of premium Internet services at competitive prices, all backed by superior support. GIS is the destination for ALL your Internet needs: from high-speed wireless broadband service, to web hosting and design. Whether you have software problems, a snagged up network or just having trouble making it all work for you, GIS can help.

Why shop around for ISPs, hosting packages web designers? GIS does it all, and will spare you the techno-talk. Griffin gets the job done.

Building upon state-of-the-art upstream Internet wireless access technologies, GIS extends an equally sophisticated approach to meticulous and professional service at all levels. Our expertise ranges from code-intensive, graphically stunning web development strategies to live customer support. GIS specializes in offering technical services to the food service industry while also offering serving other sectors as well.

About Webplus, Inc.

Webplus, Inc. (talentsoft) is a leading Internet software and solution provider. Webplus, Inc. develops, markets, and supports web development tools, middleware, and application server software, B2B and B2C e-Commerce applications, and e-Business, e-Logistics, enterprise, and intranet/extranet solutions on multiple platforms such as Windows, Linux, and other popular Unix operating systems. Webplus's flagship products include Web+ Web+Shop, Web+IntraOffice, Web+IntraSchool, Web+HelpDesk, Web+CRM, Web+SDM (Sales Distribution Management), and Web+Enterprise. Millions of copies of Webplus's talentsoft software have been distributed to over 100 countries via online and traditional channels. Webplus, Inc.'s missions are to deliver affordable, simple, robust, and localized software solutions for Small-to-Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) through partnering with local solution providers and value-added resellers around the world. By leveraging market-leading position, Webplus, Inc. has become the leading provider of leased ecommerce solutions. The Web+Shop shopping cart has allowed thousands of merchants to sell their products on the web worldwide.

Jacob Lakhany, Business Development Manager

Aberdeen - Worldwide Sales and Customer Support Center

416 Production St. N

Aberdeen, SD 57401

(605) 229.0307, (605) 229.0391

sales@talentsoft.com

Vialogix Redesigns PictureQuest.Com for Dynamic Graphics Group

2009-10-11T10:20:00.003-07:00

CHARLOTTE, NC August 12, 2004 -- Vialogix, a Charlotteโ"based web development firm, announces the launch of PictureQuest.com, a royalty-free and rights managed stock photography site developed for Dynamic Graphics Group.

The new e-commerce site has been reengineered to offer creative professionals unparalleled accessibility and tools to search, select, license and download images. PictureQuest.com was developed using a massive data conversion technology infrastructure that ensures uninterrupted service and superior speed. Over 500,000 images were re-processed, creating in excess of 3 million new viewable photographs. In addition, customer history for 416,000 companies was converted including all associated shopping carts and lightboxes.

Users now have the luxury of searching the entire PictureQuest library of images in a single search with no registration required. Vialogix redesigned the โMy Accountโ tool allowing users the ability to access all prior license transactions and pre-set their desired search preferences and license types.

โWe didn't want PictureQuest.com to be just another stock photography site on Internet Avenue,โ noted David Moffly, CEO of Dynamic Graphics Group. โBy combining speed, easy search, depth and breadth of inventory with the highest level of customer service, we are offering our clients and those visiting for the first time a consistent experience that effortlessly answers their image needs, while transforming their desktops into the ultimate digital stock resource. This new site is the culmination of nearly two years of work by our technology teams collaborating with our sales teams and I am extremely proud of their achievement.โ

โHaving extensively researched the habits of users to stock photography sites, it was our goal to develop a product that offered unsurpassed speed and accessibility, and in turn generated a more profitable e-commerce solution,โ said Rob Norris, founder of Vialogix. โThe primary objective โ" simplify the process for PictureQuest customers. In doing so we increase user transactions and profit margin for our client.โ

About Dynamic Graphics Group

The Dynamic Graphics Group, a global media company celebrating 40 years as a graphics pioneer, offers solutions for the creative community in four segments: subscription royalty-free products, stock image brands, publications and events. Headquartered in Peoria, Illinois, the company maintains offices in New York, Washington, London, Sydney and Munich. Dynamic Graphics Group is also represented through an extensive worldwide distribution network that extends across North, South and Central America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

For more information visit www.dynamicgraphics.com

About Vialogix

Vialogix is a human-focused web development company best known for its internet, intranet and extranet web solutions. Vialogix partners closely with clients to develop intuitive, usable web solutions which work to obtain clients' business goals by reducing costs and increasing sales and productivity. Solutions include e-commerce, wireless access, online enrollment applications, content management systems and collaborative intranet tools. Clients include Bank of America, Novant Health, Baker & Taylor and First Citizens Bank.

For more information visit www.vialogix.com

Too-Simple Ways to De-Stress Holiday Gift Shopping

2009-10-11T10:20:00.001-07:00

Many of us are painfully familiar with the anxiety and stress that the 'happy' holidays can create. That feeling of drowning in indecision - that sensation of falling behind - that inability to enjoy events because we might not get everything done if we relax for even the briefest moment. Familiar frantic frazzly tingles starting at the back of your neck when you think about what to get for Aunt Julie this year? Do you swallow the dread in your throat and settle for yet another ceramic deer statue for Cousin Ellen, just because you saw one on her mantle ten years ago?
Do the gifts you receive reflect the panic and anxiety building up in someone else? Is this the third year in a row you've gotten a size three pink sweater from your dearly beloved, even though he should know by now you're not a size three, hate pink and never wear sweaters?
It's not uncommon for gift-giving to cause stress and panic, even when your gifting target is someone you've known all your life. We try to select the 'perfect gift no matter what' even as the other person is trying to do exactly the same thing FOR US.
If the thought of digging into holiday shopping is leaving you short of breath and teetering on the edge of panic, take a deep breath and try a few of these simple ideas. Make a list - but not of gifts...
Remember the 3-by-5 card approach in debate class? Each topic got a card, and that card contained hints, not the entire text of the debate point. Grab this idea and use it for your gifting guidance. Start this as early in the year as you think about it (like NOW!) and you'll have a priceless shopping resource for the holiday season. At the top of a card, print the person's name. Below that, put the gift that you gave last year (no sense risking duplicate). Then right below that, add in pearls of wisdom ... does she play tennis? Does he fly-fish? Jet ski enthusiast? Bookworm? Techie? Keep that list of hobbies as current as you possibly can and, if in doubt, ask Jerry if he's still taking that sailboat out every weekend. If the sailboat sunk last year, a brand new set of flotation cushions may not be well-received.
Use Gift Registry services - and don't forget yourself
Gift registry services are not just for brides... encourage those you'll be shopping for to sign up at registry services online and leave hints, clues, even specifics. I prefer the one at http://www.mygiftlist.com - give it a try. Whatever you decide to use, get your gift-target friends involved early so that they've had time to post their preferences long before the shopping crunch begins to hit.
Pick a done-shopping-date - and keep it.
For instance, pick two Mondays after Thanksgiving weekend (for 2006, that will be December 4th.) This gives you two weekends after that US holiday to get to the stores, battle the crowds (way too many folks try to cram their holiday shopping into the Friday after Thanksgiving!), get clear of the crammed parking lots, and get things wrapped and shipped in plenty of time.
Make a budget - and stick to it.
If you have $235 to spend on gifts, and you're shopping on the ground (not the Internet), go to the bank or ATM, and get that $235 out, and spend ONLY what you have with you. Stow the credit cards at home. Stick an extra $20 in the back of your wallet for gas money and wrapping paper, but spend only what you plan to spend on the gifts themselves. If you're wary about hauling cash around (and there are places on this planet where wariness of that sort is wise!), arrange for a debit card or use checks.
Shop early in the day - and deal with smaller, calmer crowds.
Know your crowd-control limits. If you find it annoying to stand in line at check-out counters for ten minutes, do your shopping as early in the day as possible. Don't put yourself into situations that you know will add to your stress level.
Shop the Internet - and let someone else handle the shipping.
Use SAFE sites which prominently display TrustE, Hacker Safe, Better Business Bureau stamps and the like. Look for secure shopping carts - look for the HTTPS:// in the cart address as you head for the checkout page. Many browsers will alert you if the security certificate associated with the site is out of date or inaccurate.
Can't find the perfect gift? Consider Time
If you can't find the right gift, find the right gift certificate, or make your own little booklet of certificates for services like a personal shopper day, a month of lawn-mowing, a three-week laundry reprieve, ten errand runs. Sometimes the most meaningful gift is the gift of your own time and attention.
Above all, Don't Panic
Take a deep breath, light a scented candle, relax and smile. T'is not the season to get mired in panic, anxiety, guilt and hassle. T'is the season to express our fondness and caring for our family and friends.
Casey does her shopping online, avoiding the last-minute panics and crowds with a passion born of years of painful experience. After battling with the overspending and overstressing holidays for too many years, she has settled on the simple and calm solutions. She applies her non-linear organization talents to her 'full-time job' as game developer and module designer for the online roleplaying game, Legends of Karinth, her graphics and website design services, and three e-commerce ventures - Lewis & Clarke's Nature To Go, Celtic Elegance and Karinthian Dragon Hoards.

The E-commerce Shop Pays $100 Affiliate Referral Fees

2009-10-09T10:28:00.001-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

The E-commerce Shop

URL http://software-exchange.com

Contact: Howard Berenbon at 248-788-3342

(available for telephone interviews)

email: info@software-exchange.com

The E-commerce Shop Pays $100 Affiliate Referral Fees

West Bloomfield, Michigan, January 17, 2003. The E-commerce Shop, a West Bloomfield, Michigan Web site design company, is now offering its affiliates $100 commission for each $299.99 Web site design referred. Internet referral programs are a great way for businesses to generate new clients. They work by paying affiliate participants a commission for referring clients from their site. Banners placed at the affiliate's site include special visitor tracking information so when the visitor buys a product or service, the affiliate gets credit. Affiliates are usually paid on a quarterly basis. The E-commerce Shop's affiliate program, paying $100 per referral, is one of the highest paying commission programs on the Internet.

Launched in December, 2001, the E-commerce Shop designs business Web sites for as low as $299.99 with a free, secure, shopping cart and $6 a month hosting. Comparible Web design firms charge a minimum of $2,000 for similar services. The service is ideal for nonprofit organizations and small businesses requiring an Internet presence with limited funds.

The E-commerce Shop offers effective and efficient Web site design tailored to the specific product or service so the potential customer or client will have all the necessary information to make a buying decision. The low price includes a 5-page Web site with text and graphics, clearly written product or service descriptions and shopping cart order/checkout buttons. It also includes free Web site promotion to 8,000 Internet sources and Web page maintanence at the low rate of $50 per hour.

For additional information on The E-commerce Shop contact:

Howard Berenbon at 248-788-3342

(available for telephone interviews)

email: info@software-exchange.com

The E-commerce Shop

Software Exchange LLC

PO Box 251682

West Bloomfield, MI 48325

URL http://software-exchange.com/

URL http://ecomshop.net

Casino Detroit Magazine

http://casinodetroit.net

The Water Exchange

http://thewaterexchange.net

Online Magazine Subscription Services Make Shopping Online Fun For Magazines

2009-10-09T10:27:00.003-07:00

If recreating the old experience of subscribing to magazines by filling out a subscription card is essential to the success as an Internet retailer, then MagMall.com takes top awards. The retailer has created a web site with all the ease of use of the original pop out cards through fast loading graphics, and an intuitively designed layout that is both easy to follow and navigate.
"Visitors to the magazine subscription site get the feeling that subscribing online is just as easy as subscribing through the mail, but with added benefits," says Fariman Dejouli, head of graphics design for Mountain Network Systems LLC. "It is a well laid out site for finding magazines and filling out subscription forms."
A recent addition to their arsenal of web-based tools is the ability for shoppers to search for magazines by price range, first letter, category or even description. Shoppers can use their advanced searching feature to combine different search parameters. Of course, the fastest way to find magazines is to just type in a title in their search box or to click a fast category link in their fundamentally simple left navigation system.
The web site enhancements were developed in conjunction with Mountain-net.com, which offers one of the original ecommerce shopping cart platforms called Webcart. The inclusion of the new web site searching tools is part of a multi-pronged strategy by MagMall to cater to consumers who want to subscribe to all their magazines from one place.
"MagMall does a much better job than its competitors when it comes to evolving its web site,", Dejouli says. "From a purely ecommerce transaction standpoint their site works extremely well."
Jason Ciment jason@magmall.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.magmall.com
Magazine subscriptions - Save up to 85% off retail prices ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.mountain-net.com
Webcart - The Total Ecommerce Shopping Cart Software Solution

How to Increase Sales and Conversion Rates With Zen Cart

2009-10-09T10:27:00.001-07:00

Your conversion rate will tell you how many visitors are taking a certain action - it could be completing a purchase (obviously, the ultimate goal) but could also include completely a contact form, signing up for a newsletter, etc. You can measure this by setting up goals within your analytics program. This will give you valuable statistics and metrics which you can use to measure against and help improve your business.

You need to optimize the functionality of the cart. The more clicks you make a visitor perform in order to get to the end result, the more likely they are to leave without doing anything. "Abandoning the process" is a big problem in Ecommerce.

Below are ways you can optimize and improve the cart and shopping experience for the customer:

Simplify the login / registration page

Rephrase blocks of text to make the user think less
Remove unnecessary information at sign up (DOB, Phone, etc)
Reduce the amount of clicks necessary to signup, increase white space and create a better flow to the process

Remove the create an account success screen
Just adds another click. After signup, take the user directly to the next screen they were expecting to visit

Make the Add to Cart, View Cart, Checkout, Continue and Submit Order buttons/links more visible, prominent and compelling
Self explanatory. You want to make sure these important buttons stand out from the rest of the website. It will draw the users attention and make them subconsciously follow the process you want them to

Clearly indicate an item has been added to the cart, and don't send them to their cart after adding an item
By default the user will be taken to their cart when they add a product. You want to skip this and let them continue to shop and add more products

Simplify the shopping cart page
Remove unnecessary text, such as "Visitor carts being merged with member carts", etc. Just confuses people. Remove the estimate shipping button and add that section directly the page, reduces clicks and confusion

Make changes to the checkout shipping page
Change the language
Add white space
Display the checkout button prominently

Make changes to the checkout payment page
Same steps as mentioned above with checkout shipping page

Reword the checkout confirmation page
Change the language so the user is not confused. Make sure they're aware that one more step is necessary to complete the transaction
Add the word "Edit" to the images
Modify the layout of the credit card information screen

Optimize the thank you page
The one time that you have the user's utmost attention is on the "thank you" page. It is one page that people not only read, but read carefully and take note of. Why? Because they want to find out what the next steps are for receiving the product they just ordered.
With the above information at hand, this is the page we should ask them to refer friends and add incentives - Receive a discount if you refer a friend, etc.
You could also provide a customer service survey at this page as well, so you can collect data that will help you to continually improve your cart

Create an impulse offer - FREE SHIPPING
Studies have shown time and time again that free shipping promotions are powerful offers which almost always result in an increase in sales

Simplify navigation where possible
Where possible you should reduce the amount of clicks it takes to find what the user is looking for

Build customer confidence
Prominently display secure and SSL images/certifications, return policies, phone numbers, etc.

Add as many payment methods as possible
CyberSource reported that retailers who offered three or more payment options saw an average of 14% increase in conversions. And Forrester Research contends that alternative payment methods help increase sales and reduce shopping cart abandonment

The following modules/add-ons is recommended:

Amazon Inventory Loader

This will allow you to export the products into an Amazon account where we can list and sell products

Best Sellers Page
This creates a page that will list best selling items

Contest System
By installing this, you can add a contest signup side box and offer the customer the chance to win something in exchange for their email address, which you then load into your email marketing program

Google Froogle Feed
Same functionality as the Amazon Inventory Loader, this adds the products to Froogle for sale

Better Together
Allows cross selling at a discount; a product can be linked with another specific product, another product from a specific category, or any other product, with an associated discount (in dollars or % off) if both are purchased together

Order Steps
Creates a graphical indicator of where you are in the checkout process

Free Shipping Rules
This shipping module allows you to offer free shipping when more than one requirement is set. These requirements include order total, total weight, and total items. For example, if the minimum order total is set to $1000 and the maximum weight is set to 5lbs, free shipping would only be given for orders that meet BOTH of these requirements

Tell a Friend - Free Shipping
This module will give the customer free or reduced shipping if they tell a friend using the form on the website

By implementing the above changes you should see a significant increase in your conversion rates and sales. To get help implementing these changes, and for further Zen Cart help, contact iBot Web

Josh Davis is owner of iBot Web, a Fort Worth-based company that designs and develops websites and print ready marketing materials, and also owns and operates a photography studio specializing in exotic vehicle & glamor photography. He also is a director for the Tarrant County Entrepreneur Club which holds monthly meetings for small business owners, entrepreneurs and decision makers in north Texas

Points to Remember to Increase Shopping Cart Conversions

2009-10-08T10:21:00.005-07:00

The percentage of Web users that shop online has increased year after year. As online merchants and Web sellers learn how to refine their shopping cart pages for increased conversions, we're able to identify several key components in this process to the benefit of online enterprises bottom lines - the money you end up bringing in from your marketing and advertising efforts.

1) Educate and Inform: If you are selling product online, then you have an obligation to your audience to educate, enlighten and inform them as well. The most serious and potentially damaging aspect to improving shopping cart conversion is the presence, or lack thereof, of helpful information on the products or services you are selling. The Riggs-Meyer Paradigm - an independent study of Web traffic which reveals that 70% of website visitors were researching information and only 30% were actually ready to buy - suggests that online merchants have an obligation to share not only critical information about their products and services (such as usage instructions) but also background information and general educational materials for experts and newbie alike.

2) Simplify Site Use: Developing a goal to improve conversion is essential. Online merchants notice when they design or redesign websites, strange things happen to their conversion rates - some go up and some conversion rates go down, way down. Even if a site looks professionally designed, problems always exist which can be corrected. Lower shopping cart abandonment rates means more money in your pocket at the end of the day, conduct research via polls or surveys, focus groups or interviews to determine where navigation was problematic, if graphics were poorly placed or not relevant to the mission of completing the sale, if search functions were hard to find or if they were helpful, and to what degree your shopping cart pages' call to action made a positive or negative impact.

There are so many ecommerce solutions are available in market. Reviewing such application will add more user friendly navigation and interaction to the site. Ecommerce website developed by magento developer or oscommerce developer will add their personal experience to boost your business so it's more advisable to take tips from professionals.

3) Express Trustworthiness: One of the most effective ways to build trust among your visitors is to provide an effective way to address visitors' fears about the security of shopping online by revealing information about your company such as email and postal address as well as toll-free and local phone numbers, or the location of customers support forms and privacy policies. Services such as Thawte or Validated Site enable website owners to convey their trustworthiness of their online presence (the availability of SSL -secure socket layer - pages) and the corporation and people behind the website.

Jimmy carter is the IT consultant providing consulting services to magento developer and oscommerce developer. He has done good

research on Open Source Customization and custom website development.

Streetsmart Tips In Choosing Your Online Shopping Cart

2009-10-08T10:21:00.003-07:00

What is a shopping cart?
All online entrepreneurs, including high risk merchants, need a highly efficient shopping cart. This fact can't be stressed too much -- many a business has failed because merchants are trying to use an incompatible shopping cart or is not using the full potential of commercial shopping carts available today.

Finding the perfect shopping cart for your online business is time consuming, if not too daunting. Merchants must acquaint themselves with the types of shopping carts in the market as well as test and experiment with their capabilities. It's important to choose the cart that will be flexible so that if a merchant changes his business' marketing plan a year later it will still be functional. In fact, the number one criteria in selecting a shopping cart is to make sure it meshes well with your marketing plan.

Types of shopping cart
Shopping carts may be classified into free or commercial, and hosted or non-hosted.
Free shopping carts are obviously very attractive options for low-budget businesses. It doesn't mean, however, that they are completely free. In fact, merchants will have to make use of a developer's skills to tweak a free shopping cart program like osCommerce. Free shopping carts are rooted from open source software and are as powerful as most commercial shopping carts. Unfortunately, they may not be as secure. Commercial shopping carts are preferred by high risk merchants who seek secure and reliable customer tools when purchasing online.

On the other hand, online merchants may use a hosted shopping cart or one that they can just buy as a software and thus configure. A remotely hosted software may include an affiliate management feature as well. Choosing a hosted shopping cart is another tricky process that may require another book to write! The advantage is that the merchant does not have to worry about the transaction process and record keeping since the host will take care of them. Other merchants prefer purchasing just the software. The advantage is it costs a lot cheaper and can be customized as required.

Shopping cart and your website: Do they mesh well?
The first thing you should consider is to make sure your website works well with the shopping cart you're adopting. The best way to do this is to research, read reviews, test, and experiment. Take advantage of the storefront demo that shopping cart sellers offer. High risk merchants should look at the following checklist as a guide in selecting the shopping cart for their online business:

CHECKLIST FOR CHOOSING ONLINE SHOPPING CART

Think Customers
Easy navigation for customers is number one prerequisite. Some carts let customers shop with a temporary ID so that they don't have to register. Another is to make sure you provide the "extras" such as search box, product reviews and product descriptions with graphics, as well as newsletters.

Hands On
It will be doubly difficult for high risk merchants to adopt a shopping cart that they find too bulky to manage. Features such as automatic alerts for new purchases, database importing, and searchable, viewable and downloadable daily and monthly reports are great add-ons for your customers.

Flexibility and Strength
How flexible are your shopping cart's features? Can you configure it to fit your business model? Can it be scaled to increase or decrease the number of products you may include or remove in the future? Can the database be expanded to fit new products and services and handle increasing customer data? It's also a must to consider how robust your shopping cart is. Make sure the database is secure and the server can handle simultaneous transactions.

Customer Support
Although price has always dictated many merchants' purchases, it's always a good move to contact the shopping cart seller's customer support even before you buy the cart. Obviously when trouble comes, you will know exactly where to go or who to find. The faster the response time is in all communication avenues (phone, e-mail, fax, or chat), the better your bet at getting an online shopping cart that is reliable.

Proper E-Commerce Provider - The Best Shopping Cart for You!

2009-10-08T10:21:00.001-07:00

Just make it look a it a bit more professional and youâ€™ll be benefitted the most. With the most advanced web services that are available today, your e commerce with receive a complete new dimension. What the e commerce providers generally use? E commerce providers will provide the following things: Usage of Java: The e commerce providers generally use Java for a number of reasons. They are the following: A richer user experience - Whether you're using a Java technology-enabled device, the Java platform provides the base for true mobility. The unique combination of mobility and security in Java technology makes it the perfect development and deployment vehicle for mobile and wireless solutions. The ideal execution environment for Web services - The Java and XML languages are the two major extensible and extensively accepted computing languages on the planet that offers optimum reach to everyone, ubiquitously, all time, to every device and platform. Enabling business from end to end - Java provides a single, unifying programming model that can unite all elements of a company infrastructure. ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ Usage of Flash; Â It is a common notion among e commerce providers, and no doubt it is true, that the ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂvisitors are attracted mainly due to usage of flash in the website. Flash can send a more effective message to the visitors who visit the website. With flash you will be able to create unlimited designs. With flash you will be able to do interactive work which is the soul of present day e commerce. Usually a flash template is appropriate for businesses like photographers, interior designers, and architects. You can also use flash for the graphical view of site or product and graphic and animation can improve your work. How the e commerce providers can create the best shopping cart site for you? It is a well known fact that e commerce provides will be able to create the best shopping cart site for you. This will be unique and high in demand. Presently a lot of shopping cart site is of use. For this purpose make sure that the e commerce provider is hosting the site for you apart from preparing your website. This is of vast importance since if your site is hosted by other companies then there might be a mess in the maintenance of website. How will you determine whether your <a onClick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href=â€http://www.akrostechnology.com/>e-commerce provider</a> is the best or not? You can make sure that the website which the e commerce provider is willing to create and host is up to the mark by having a look at their previous works which will give you glimpse of their performance in the long run.Â Just make it look a it a bit more professional and youâ€™ll be benefitted the most. With the most advanced web services that are available today, your e commerce with receive a complete new dimension. What the e commerce providers generally use? E commerce providers will provide the following things: Usage of Java: The e commerce providers generally use Java for a number of reasons. They are the following: Â·ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ A richer user experience - Whether you're using a Java technology-enabled device, the Java platform provides the base for true mobility. The unique combination of mobility and security in Java technology makes it the perfect development and deployment vehicle for mobile and wireless solutions. Â·ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ The ideal execution environment for Web services - The Java and XML languages are the two major extensible and extensively accepted computing languages on the planet that offers optimum reach to everyone, ubiquitously, all time, to every device and platform. Â·ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ Enabling business from end to end - Java provides a single, unifying programming model that can unite all elements of a company infrastructure. ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ Usage of Flash; Â It is a common notion among e commerce providers, and no doubt it is true, that the ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂvisitors are attracted mainly due to usage of flash in the website. Â·ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ Flash can send a more effective message to the visitors who visit the website. Â·ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ With flash you will be able to create unlimited designs. Â·ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ With flash you will be able to do interactive work which is the soul of present day e commerce. Â·ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ Usually a flash template is appropriate for businesses like photographers, interior designers, and architects. You can also use flash for the graphical view of site or product and graphic and animation can improve your work. How the e commerce providers can create the best shopping cart site for you? It is a well known fact that e commerce provides will be able to create the best shopping cart site for you. This will be unique and high in demand. Presently a lot of shopping cart site is of use. For this purpose make sure that the e commerce provider is hosting the site for you apart from preparing your website. This is of vast importance since if your site is hosted by other companies then there might be a mess in the maintenance of website. How will you determine whether your e-commerce provider is the best or not? You can make sure that the website which the e commerce provider is willing to create and host is up to the mark by having a look at their previous works which will give you glimpse of their performance in the long run.

Tyler Moon is an expert in article writing and internet marketing. She regularly contributes articles on various topics like security services, birth announcements etc.

E-Commerce Shopping Cart Function Is Free for Everyone through osCommerce Online Merchant

2009-10-07T10:22:00.005-07:00

E-commerce is the new way of doing business. Buying and selling is now done routinely online round the clock. The marketplace is always open, sensitive to all time zones around the world. Payment to any e-commerce site is done safely through various online solutions. Practically anyone can be a seller online, especially with osCommerce Online Merchant.What is osCommerce Online Merchant?osCommerce Online Merchant is a free e-commerce solution that enables online store set-up, running and maintenance for anyone, with various easy to use features including the shopping cart function. Setting it up is quick. There are no costs or fees because it is an Open Source Software covered by the GNU General Public License. What is Open Source Software?Open Source Software is any computer software usually developed collaboratively and in public by various parties and made available to the public for use, change or improvement. This movement began in 1983 with the GNU Project of Richard Stallman wherein the development of the free GNU operating system was begun. Eventually, the free software Linux became part of the GNU project. According to the initial announcement of Stallman, the goal has always been the development of "a sufficient body of free software [...] to get along without any software that is not free." The GNU General Public License grants recipients of the software the unlimited right to use it or modify its source code and to redistribute both the original and the modified versions.Open Source Software generates billions of savings for users around the world every year. Furthermore, it encourages the spirit of cooperation and collaboration for the common good. Anyone can contribute to the further improvement of the software involved, including adding more functionality for every need that arises. This challenges the imagination and skills of people.One example of Open Source Software is osCommerce. True to the spirit of the movement, people have been contributing add-ons to osCommerce daily, further improving it and widening its uses.What are the Requirements and Features of osCommerce?osCommerce Online Merchant v3.0 Alpha 5 requires that the server has PHP v5.2.0+ (with MySQLi extension) and MySQL v4.1.13+ or v5.0.7+, although it is compatible with all PHP 4 versions, as well.The osCommerce Online Merchant has the following features, among others. It accepts multiple currencies and various online payment processors. It is available by default in English, German and Spanish, supporting unlimited types, categories and numbers of products, whether physical or downloadable. The database can be easily backed up and restored, with statistics generated. Customers are able to see their order status and order history, and can post reviews. The store owner can send customers emails or newsletters. Invoices and packing lists can be printed out. The software also has tax and shipping functionalities.A good web site developer will take advantage of open source solutions to give you maximum savings. Thus, osCommerce is used by Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines Inc., a Manila-based BPO company that provides low cost advanced web site development packages, including e-commerce site solutions, to clients in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Korea, the British Virgin Islands and the Philippines.Since 1998, Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines Inc. has been providing its clientele with excellent business process outsourcing services including advanced interactive database driven web site development, advanced portal development, heavy web based programming, web application development, content management systems, website design, graphic design and multimedia components including flash animation development, web site maintenance and support, search engine optimization, search engine marketing and social media marketing. As a web hosting provider, it also does domain name registration.Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines. Inc. is your One Stop Shop Internet and Contact Center Solutions Vendor for the Global Market.Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines, Inc.Address: 2nd Floor, BT&T Center#20 E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave., Libis (C-5),Quezon City, 1110 PhilippinesE-mail: info@webdc.com.phTelephone numbers: (632) 634-4625; (632) 635-6104

Web Dot Com Website Development Phils., Inc.

Address: 2nd Floor, BT&T Center

#20 E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave., Libis (C-5),

Quezon City, 1110 Philippines

Phone: (632) 634-4625

Telefax No.: (632) 635-6104

In Australia (612) 800-61238

Email: info@webdc.com.ph

Website: www.webdc.com.ph

Shopping Cart Features to Consider

2009-10-07T10:22:00.003-07:00

Often the simplest Web stores have the most success. But shoppers like special features depending upon the type of store you have, how you market and use them, and if you don't overwhelm the shopper. Below I list as many features as I could think of, just to jog your creativity.
Coupon Codes: This seems like a no-brainer, but sometimes shoppers who don't have a coupon code feel cheated, like, "someone's getting a discount, but not me." You might want to consider labeling it, "Voucher Code," or "Promotional Code," or some other term which does not necessarily imply a discount.
Continue Shopping Button in the Basket Screen: When a shopper at your store gets to their basket, do you give them the option to shop some more, or is your site pushing them to checkout immediately? Continue Shopping buttons should take them to the last product or category page, or, worst case, the store home page.
Remember Me: Amazon does it, and people like it. Upon returning to the store, the shopper is greeted with, "Welcome Back, Bob Smith." This could be enhanced with order histories, preference settings, recommended products based upon purchase history, etc.
E-check Acceptance: The more payment options, the better. Electronic check acceptance is just like a credit card, without requiring a credit card account. Most banks have a simple process for accepting e-checks. Check with your host, ecommerce platform software provider, and your bank for information about what is available for your site.
PayPal Acceptance: Like e-checks, it's just another option for payment method.
Order Status Lookup: Once a customer places an order, they wait anxiously, worrying. Help them love your site more by providing a place for them to log in and check the status of the order - has it been shipped? If so, what is the tracking number?
Order History: Some customers like to look back and see what they've ordered in the past. Giving them this information is both helpful, and an excellent marketing tool. If your products are consumable, consider having an easy-order system where they can reorder previous products from their purchase history.
Quantity Discounts: Face it. People like the Web because they save money. Offering quantity discounts per product is a great way to increase the size of an order, while making your customer smile.
Gift Certificates: If your products are gift-worthy, don't make your customers choose what to buy. Offer gift certificates so they can send them to the gift recipient. Gift certificates should be easy to use, with a simple code entered upon checkout.
Multiple Ship-To Addresses: This allows customers to shop once and have gifts sent to multiple people. By offering the ability to have parts of the order go to different recipients, you're making it easier for your customer to buy more and more on each order.
Multiple Shipping Methods: Like multiple addresses, this allows the customer to send some items overnight, while paying less to send others at a slower rate. Options are always great for web shoppers.
Frequent Buyer Program: Offer your customers rewards for returning to shop. These programs could give points that are redeemable on your site, or discounts based upon shopping history. You might have a permanent discount for shoppers who purchase a total of over $5,000, or points that are worth 10% of an order that can be used on the next order. A return customer is often worth much more than a new customer.
Gift Registry/Wishlist: What better way for word-of-mouth than for people to tell others, "I want something from this site"? With this service, people set up an account and select items to place in their registry. Their friends and family come to the site, search the gift registry for items that have not been bought already, and place an order.
Tell-A-Friend: Another excellent word-of-mouth tool. Have your customers tell others about your products and services. Tell-A-Friend systems can be as simple as an e-mail link, and as powerful as a page that allows multiple e-mail addresses and a personal note. Be sure the system sends the URL of the page the person was on when they clicked on it, so the recipient isn't wondering what the sender was referring to.
Mini-Cart: This is a little place on every page that shows the contents of the shopping cart. This allows the customer to quickly know what they've added to their cart. It could be simple, with quantity of items and total. Or, it can have features like full list of items in cart, shipping calculator, and the ability to change quantities or remove items right in the mini-cart.
Live Chat: If your products or services are complicated and would benefit from a live conversation to answer questions, this feature can be very popular. You've seen the banners on other sites saying, "Click here to speak to a representative." Some of these services allow you to watch a shopper browse your store, and actively pop a window up saying, "We noticed you are browsing our store. Do you have any questions?" If you install Live Chat, be sure you have in manned most of the time. A banner that says, "offline" every time a shopper comes to your store is a negative rather than a positive feature.
Discounts: By far the most popular feature is offering some from of discount to the customer. The possibilities are almost endless. Popular discount methods include Buy 2 Get 1 Free, quantity based discounts, total dollar amount discounts,
Gift Wrap: Special packaging makes gift giving more convenient. If you offer gift wrapping, special gift packaging, or gift cards, be sure to mention it on your home page so people know they can have gifts shipped direct to the recipient, instead of having to receive the package, wrap it, and ship it again.
Breadcrumb Navigation: That's the name for the little path at the top of some screens that show the path you took to get to the page you're on. Usually, it looks like this: Home>Books>Fiction>Stephen King. The benefit of this feature is it helps people remember where they are at all times, with quick return to previous pages.
Featured Products: This can be simply products you choose to feature, new products, most-often-purchased products, most looked at products, or even products that are recommended based upon past purchases from the current customer.
Product Reviews/Ratings: With this feature, you allow your customers to review and/or rate your products, and show the reviews/ratings within the product information pages. The best advice for this feature is to not have the reviews automatically show up on your pages. Instead, have a system where you approve the reviews first, so you don't get nasty messages on your product pages by pranksters.
Wait List: If you have products that run out of inventory, don't just drop the item from your store until you get new stock. Instead, create a wait list function so people can request to be notified when the item is back in stock.
Printable Invoice: If your invoice/receipt screen has a lot of graphics from your site design, offer a "printable invoice" link that pulls up a simple black and white, printer ready screen.
Printable Order Form: Some customers shop on the Web, but prefer to call, fax or mail their order. Make it easy for them with a printable order form. It seems nonsensical, but sales can increase dramatically if you help those individuals who fear placing their credit card number online. Which brings up another point; you should most definitely have a telephone number (toll free is preferred) for orders and questions, even if it's just to make the customer more comfortable.
As you can see, there are many ways you can enhance your shoppers' experience at your site. Most of these are relatively simple to implement. Keep it simple, make these easy to use, and you might see increased conversions.
As an e-commerce consultant for over three years, and Web designer for over ten, Chuck Lasker has been helping individuals and organizations utilize the Internet in almost every arena. Chuck's e-newsletter and blog, The MerchantHowTo.com Report, at http://www.MerchantHowTo.com, is free and popular amongst e-store owners.

Take Your Shopping Cart To The Next Level

2009-10-07T10:22:00.001-07:00

A failing ecommerce business may not be the result of bad business decisions or improper management techniques. No ecommerce business needs to be discarded if it is not doing well. Many ecommerce businesses did poorly under one system but flourished under another. In some cases, it may be just a case of too much supply or too many of the same things.

A long term look at the web shows that successful sites are continually evolving to meet new trends and meet customer demands better. A simple change like altering the shopping cart can make all the difference on the balance sheet.

Most shopping carts do not work. It takes more than an image and a short blurb about the product to sell a product. This is the most critical step in the purchase process. Everything rides on the success of the product category pages. There are some success stories, but few new small business owners take the time to learn.

Front Pages

In the past people would surf through several pages before finding the items they want. Now they want to see dozens of items at a time. This worked in the past when most people had slow dial up connections. Today's DSL speeds make it easier to include better graphics and even video of products.

Single Item Pages

Take a hint from Ebay. Once the person has selected their item, lead them to a single item page where they can find everything they need to buy. Do not hold out any information. Include everything including possible taxes, shipping, weight, and other concerns.

Include a write up on the item. At least 300 words, and include a bookmark navigation which will lead the potential buyer down the page to the information they want - immediately.

Include video, scroll bars, photo galleries, and other visuals at the top of the page. Do not expect people to make a purchase based on a single image. In the past a 2" square picture may have sold a television set or computer, but not anymore.

Do not assume that the potential customer knows about the product. And, do not expect them to come back and write a review. If necessary, pay for reviews, find reviews on the net and ask for permission to post them on your site. Or, include links to the company's product pages. Do this by opening a new page, so people do not leave the shopping cart. This maybe a good place to insert a pop-up.

Guarantee

Guarantee the potential customer that they will receive the item in the picture. This is important in today's unsecure web world.

Buy Now

Each page should have a checkout box and a buy now box. Do not force customers to go through a long series of sign up pages before they can pay. In fact, most customers abandon their shopping carts if they must navigate through three pages. This is not the time to build a mailing list or do market surveys. Instead, let them sign out, make their purchase, and if you need market research information, ask them after the buy.

The last way to make a shopping cart more 'consumer friendly' is to include a tool like paypal.com. Millions of consumers already have this tool, have already signed up, and are secure in the feature's familiarity. A paypal button on each page may make the difference in the company's success rates.

Each of these things are guidelines that can improve the purchasing power of a shopping cart. Each is designed to satisfy the consumer's needs when shopping, and make your shopping cart stand out above the rest.

How To Set Up A Shopping Cart

2009-10-06T19:29:00.005-07:00

Mistakes in designing and configuring a shopping cart can result in abandoned shopping carts, customers leaving in frustration, and lost income. Most ecommerce owners never think of configuring the site when buying it. They just look at the images and graphics. They want easy to understand stats, and a site that is easy to build.

It isn't until the site sits on the web for months, and the sales are dismal, that these ecommerce business owners start looking at the site from the customer's point-of-view.

Action Buttons

The buttons that ask customers to take action are vita. They should be easy to configure, unfortunately, the free and open-source shoppi9ng carts rarely let users alter their buttons.

The Add To Cart button is the most vital. There should be an option to save the user's email address, so the shopping cart can be saved until a future visit. The Add to Cart button must be in an obvious place, be a bright color, and be easy to use.

A "Buy Now" button lets customers escape once they make a selection. Many people hit a site to buy one thing. The buy now, and add to cart, may both take the visitor to the same web page, but it is a matter of perception.

The action buttons should encourage the visitors to do something. Do not let them flip through sites. If they are not ready to buy, then give them the option of looking for more information, a better picture, or view more stats and comparative prices for the product.

Customer's Personal Information

The first reaction to a long personal information form is to abandon the shopping cart. The shopping cart is not a mailing list builder.

The best time to collect information is on the shipping form. If you want to ask the customer to join the company's mailing list, or request marketing information, then invite them to participate in a marketing survey before they reach the shopping cart.

The old belief that 'they are so far through the process that they would rather answer questions than abandon the cart' is a drastic mistake. Today's consumers are more likely to abandon their carts 'as an act of revenge' than they are to risk being the victim of a phishing or identity theft scam.

Keep the forms short. Consumers are frustrated when asked questions such as 'how did you hear about us,' and 'do you want to join our newsletter.'

Reliability and Credibility

Credibility is vital. Unfortunately, the 'about us' page often receives the least attention by business owners.
Today's online consumers are wary of phishing and identity theft scams. They are being taught to check out the company, make sure they are legitimate.

- There are a few ways to build credibility.
- Add the address of the business
- Add photos of your place of business.
- Include a telephone number
- Include a live chat
- blog about the company, improvements, and community information

are also good customer service tools. Many sites include SLL or other security images on each page, to remind consumers that their information is safe.

A disclosure statement promising that the consumer's information is safe and will not be sold to mailing list companies will help calm consumer's fears.

The most important step is to make sure each level of the shopping cart has the same domain name, and templates. If the customer is being sent 'off site' then post a warning, and tell the consumer that you value their security and are hosting your shopping cart on a safe site.

Check Out Process

The check out process on most shopping carts is confusing. The consumer clicks 'check out' and end up on a personal information form, leaving them confused, wondering if they are in the right place. Or, they must wade through as many as five pages before reaching the Confirmation Page.

Shopping carts should be configured to tell customers the check out process, where they are in the process, and what will happen next. The most common method is by using the step-by-step method to track the customer's progress.

This method includes 'call-to-action' buttons or phrases. These phrases are also used as Call to Action page titles such as Check out now, Make Payment, Arrange Shipping, Final Step.

Each is designed to reinforce the 'decision to buy' message by promising quick delivery, a guarantee, posting a HackerSafe or VeriSign seal on the page, and making the shopping experience as painless as possible.

The last step is the Confirm Order Page. This page should have a prominent 'Buy Now' button. Let the customer know that they are only one step from a purchase.

Can You Run A Full Blown Internet Business In One Ecommerce Shopping Cart Solution?

2009-10-06T19:29:00.003-07:00

A successful ecommerce business owner requires a product or service to sell, traffic to a web site, and converting traffic into sales. Success can not exist if one of these three is missing. Step 1 is the easiest but steps 2 and 3 are where things can become hard because there are so many choices out there; it is extremely easy to get confused and frustrated with it all.

But let's break steps 2 and 3 down into a more manageable list of categories. You'll need a domain name, a web site and web host with web hosting related services, a shopping cart, a merchant account, multiple marketing tools, traffic, training and support. You can see why things can become confusing for someone who is looking to become serious on the internet. All of these aspects will all come at a cost, if not just from your pocket but time too.

The three biggest issues are too many choices, logistics and costs.

Too many choices cause a headache right from the beginning. If you've ever tried to search for a decent and cost efficient web hosting service you'll more than likely end up with no hair (sorry if you're already bald!). The problem is that almost all web hosts that have been reviewed on public forums, have been because of a complaint and not the other way around. Unfortunately you will find this with all aspects of the ecommerce business world, from domain name registration services to merchant accounts; and so you run the risk of choosing the wrong ones. It can be a complete pain having to change an integral part of your ecommerce business.

Logistically speaking it can get very messy. Let's say you approached a separate company for every single aspect of your ecommerce business because they focus on the specific aspect, for example domain name registration. You have to browse through their site to ensure you get what you want; you'll have to create an account so you can use their service, and then learn how to use their online interface where your account is housed, and then get to know their support module because it is guaranteed you'll need it, especially if you're new. Now assume you have to do this for every aspect of an ecommerce business.

Then there are the costs. In actual fact the most taxing cost is time, however the financial costs increase the more services you use. You'll also have the administrative hassle of having to know which time of the month each service is going to bill you.

Then there's marketing, driving traffic and training. The list of marketing methods becoming available on the internet is increasing all the time. Many ecommerce business owners think they have to use them all, and what's worse, learn them all. Internet marketing is about reach and automation; getting the most reach efficiently to attract traffic, and automating the process of dealing with this traffic. When you consider there's pay per click, banner, newsletter, link and classified advertising, all with costs associated, how do you know which method is working the best?

When people visit your website you've got to convert them to sales. You've got to test headlines, graphics, colors, guarantees and sales copy. You need to determine the most wanted response, whether it is a direct sale, or to sign up to your email list. But once again, you need to test and automate the whole process, not to mention store the customer's details - another service that will cost money.

Having affiliates sell your products and services is one of the greatest ways if not the best way to gain more reach but how do you manage them? You've got to track the traffic, clicks and sales they generate not to mention pay them. This requires another service you have to pay for.

In recent times some companies have become multi-service. The more of these services a company can offer the cheaper it becomes for you, not to mention the time saved logistically because of a shorter learning curve and support for all the services is in the one place. Imagine being able to build and operate a complete ecommerce business from the one service and the one bill?

Finding a solution to all of the above requires finding a company that offers domain registration, web hosting and web hosting related services including a web site builder; a shopping cart and merchant account to accept online payments; marketing tools including opt-ins, auto responders, email and newsletter list management, affiliate tracking and promotional services, ad tracking and customer interaction; and to top it off, have training materials by way of online videos, online user guides, a knowledge base and an expert support team experienced enough to deal with all aspects of running an ecommerce business including technical support. Find one of these and you have the most powerful partner possible to help you in operating your successful ecommerce business.

Increasing Shopping Cart Conversions

2009-10-06T19:29:00.001-07:00

The percentage of Web users that shop online has increased year
after year. As online merchants and Web sellers learn how to
refine their shopping cart pages for increased conversions,
we're able to identify several key components in this process to
the benefit of online enterprises bottom lines - the money you
end up bringing in from your marketing and advertising
efforts.

1) Educate and Inform: If you are selling product online,
then you have an obligation to your audience to educate,
enlighten and inform them as well. The most serious and
potentially damaging aspect to improving shopping cart
conversion is the presence, or lack thereof, of helpful
information on the products or services you are selling. The
Riggs-Meyer Paradigm - an independent study of Web traffic which
reveals that 70% of website visitors were researching
information and only 30% were actually ready to buy - suggests
that online merchants have an obligation to share not only
critical information about their products and services (such as
usage instructions) but also background information and general
educational materials for experts and newbies alike.

2) Simplify Site Use: Developing a goal to improve
conversion is essential. Online merchants notice when they
design or redesign websites, strange things happen to their
conversion rates - some go up and some conversion rates go down,
way down. Even if a site looks professionally designed, problems
always exist which can be corrected. Lower shopping cart
abandonment rates means more money in your pocket at the end of
the day, conduct research via polls or surveys, focus groups or
interviews to determine where navigation was problematic, if
graphics were poorly placed or not relevant to the mission of
completing the sale, if search functions were hard to find or if
they were helpful, and to what degree your shopping cart pages'
call to action made a positive or negative impact.

3) Express Trustworthiness: One of the most effective
ways to build trust among your visitors is to provide an
effective way to address visitors' fears about the security of
shopping online by revealing information about your company such
as email and postal address as well as toll-free and local phone
numbers, or the location of customers support forms and privacy
policies. Services such as Thawte or ValidatedSite enable
website owners to convey their trustworthiness of their online
presence (the availability of SSL -secure socket layer - pages)
and the corporation and people behind the website.

10 Proven Methods to Decrease Your Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate

2009-10-06T04:55:00.001-07:00

Moving customers through the checkout process effectively is a critical element toward closing any sale online. Providing your customers choose to order directly from your website rather than over the phone, the information you present to them during checkout is ultimately what will help them decide whether or not to complete the purchase.Throughout this process you will need to continually reassure them, providing them with the necessary elements essential to developing trust and security. These elements are commonly called customer assurances. Their job is making the customer feel comfortable enough to complete the intended action (i.e. buying your product.)Cart abandonment is a problem that all eCommerce sites see in some degree. The rate at which your visitors abandon depends on how effective you have structured the checkout process. Shopping cart abandonment is an important statistic that needs to be tracked as it could mean the difference between a profitable eCommerce store and a potential loss.According to industry publications, average shopping cart abandonment rates are between 60% - 70%. Put in to sample numbers, if you have 100 people start the checkout process and 65% abandon it, you just lost 65 sales. To take that further, if your average order value is $49 you lost $3185 in revenue.To further demonstrate the hit your business just took, not only have you lost revenue but you lost 65 potential new customers as well. This translates to an undeterminable amount of future recurring revenue through repeat orders.Many factors that contribute to cart abandonment are out of the merchant's control; however there are a number of factors you can concentrate on that will help reduce the overall effect on your store.From a technical perspective, make sure your cart is working properly and is free of bugs.As elementary as this may sound, it is a vital component that often is not given the weight it deserves. Simple logic tells us that if a cart is not working correctly it will prevent a customer from being able to order. To alleviate this potential problem you should go through your order process and ensure it is free of bugs and works as you expect. It would be a good idea to also have others go through and test it periodically - especially after any updates to code or structure have been made that involve the checkout process.Keep your pricing competitive.Customers are also shoppers. What I mean is they are always searching for and comparing similar products prices. Unless your product is totally 100% unique and not easily duplicated, you must be aware of the price you assign to it. With the increase use in shopping comparison sites by consumers and in light of the current state of the economy, competitive pricing is more critical than ever. If your prices are out of the ball park your customers won't stay to watch the game.Decrease the steps in your checkout process.If your cart has the ability for a one page checkout that is fantastic. However, if you don't have that luxury, don't worry. Test have shown that shorter checkout processes which aren't one page only work just fine to convert visitors into sales providing a few elements are met. A good rule of thumb to follow here is to combine logical steps during the checkout process (shipping and billing address information as an example) and eliminate any extra steps. If you can get your checkout process down to four steps or less you'll be ok in most cases.Add process indicators to checkout procedure.You don't want a customer to wonder how much longer it will take to checkout or what part of that checkout process they are in. This is an easy fix. Simply adding process indicators in a graphic format near the top of the checkout process will help keep customers in the checkout until the end.Clearly provide proper customer points of assurance at the right locations.There is one word which makes customers buy and that word is "trust." Customer points of assurance provide information to the end user which build trust and answer questions. Things like security seals, customer service phone numbers, live chat, and privacy policy are examples of a few customer points of assurance. These should be displayed and easily seen especially at times when you are asking the customer to act.Clearly display your security and trust seals.Customers want to ensure the information they submit during an order is secure and protected. Make sure you clearly and plainly tell them that their transaction is secure and show them the seal to prove it. Don't hide the seal at the bottom of a page or make it hard to find. Tests have shown that adding a security seal within the user eye flow at critical times during checkout can improve conversion.Offer multiple payment methods including PayPal.Offering multiple payment methods opens up the number of people who will do business with you. Customers like to choice and control. Providing them with the choice of multiple payment methods in addition to PayPal will help keep them in the checkout process. In fact, 1 in 3 shoppers expect to be able to pay with PayPal or at least be given that option in addition to other methods.Enable customers to order over the telephone if desired.No matter how perfect a site is, there are going to be customers that prefer to complete their order over the phone. Whether they start the checkout process and have a question that needs to be answered or simply don't feel comfortable providing their personal information over the internet, you must give them the ability to call you to complete the transaction. Placing a customer service phone number in a clearly visible location with the text "Prefer to order by phone?" will help decrease cart abandonment.Clearly state return and shipping policies.In survey after survey, shoppers say one of the big reasons they abandon the checkout process is due to the shipping charge or return options. Many sites don't provide the shipping and return information to the customer until they are in step two or three of the checkout process. If the information they find there does not appeal to them they will leave. You can prevent this by offering them the shipping and return information at the first step of the checkout process or better yet from the page they are viewing their shopping cart from.Don't require registration to checkout.This is difficult for some stores to implement because of the architecture their cart is built upon. However, if you have the ability to offer what is often called a "guest checkout" feature you should do so. For privacy reasons, there are a number of people out there who do not want the information they provide you with saved and it is those people who will leave unless you provide them with an option to checkout without registering.Following these principles will not completely eliminate shopping cart abandonment at your site but it should help in reducing it to a more reasonable level thus increasing sales.

Eric Leuenberger is an ecommerce conversion expert and author of a leading Ecommerce Optimization blog at http://www.zencartoptimization.com/ He coaches etailer's, wholesaler's, distributor's and manufacturer's how to increase their website sales through skillfully crafted online paid search advertising, targeted marketing strategies and website sales strategies.

Systems Resources, Inc. Announces Patent Pending Applied For its Parametric Shopping Cart-PSC Web Based Software Product.

2009-10-06T04:42:00.003-07:00

June 18, 2004 -- The Parametric Shopping Cart-PSC product offers a powerful, packaged solution to support a variety of eCommerce transactions, including product requirements of Catalog and Custom Made to Specification products. The shopping cart is also integrated and compatible with M2SpecsXML standards portals allowing prospects to get real time quotes of custom and catalog parts from multiple vendors, and then allowing the shopper to place the order. The Wizard also allows rules to be defined between different options that are not compatible, therefore alerting the buying customer up front rather than depending upon an employee to manually checking for conflicts. PSC also has a real time graphic design ability with the results saved in Scalable Vector Graphic format. Each question has the ability to view additional information as well as graphic illustration in order to select an applicable option.PSC is very cost effective at $0.22/hr + Setup provided with a web site, and five templates verse paying a programmer thousands of dollars to do custom programming of which only the programmer can make math changes thereafter.A recent new customer Dwayne Clien of DC Signs in Miami, Florida said during a demo at the ISA show in Orlando, Florida, I like the product even more than the last demo you showed me. It has big potential like other comparison portals; such as e-Health. Everything is going to the Internet. I can even buy groceries on the internet and have them delivered to my home.For additional information or a Telephone/Internet demo, contact: Lee M Hinman 888-766-5601.To Lee M Hinman knowledge http://www.quotes4.biz/sign is the First Multiple Price Comparison Portal providing real time quotes from multiple vendors on the internet for custom and catalog parts.Systems Resources, Inc. A 27 year old Florida based Corporation offering state of the art technology utilizing SVG, XML, XSL, dotNET and WSE Web Services.CONTACT INFORMATION: Lee M HinmanSystems Resources, Inc. P.O. Box 7490 Panama City Beach Florida 32413Toll Free: 888-766-5601FAX: 678-528-7486Electronic version available at http://www.psc4.biz/nr0406

Is A Professional Site Design On Your Shopping Cart Important?

2009-10-06T04:42:00.001-07:00

An online store is a 24 hour active revenue machine, it should accurately display and describe your products and services in a professional manner to give you the best opportunity for each and every sale. Your success depends on this.Now, don't get the wrong idea, a site design does not need to be full flash, loads of custom images and special entry pages, look at Google, they have a nice logo and a clean understandable landing page. Depending on your target market, you may only need text to make your sales, but the text still needs to be clearly layed out and understandable. It's always best to carefully study and consider the designer for your website. Make sure he/she is prepared to show you many examples and ask many questions about your needs. They should ask for example sites that you like and work to your budget, not up-sell you special Flash graphics. If you are working with an ecommerce website shopping cart then it's advisable that you keep all design services and software technology within the one company as it's important for the designer to know the capabilities of the shopping cart software they need to work on.Design layout.Layout of a website is extremely important to the ease of navigation for your customers. Their product of choice should only be within 3 clicks from the home page. Be sure to to have an easy to use category menu and obvious product titles with good descriptions directly below. Always aim to cross sell in your product pages with thumbnails of related items.If you are using custom graphics or flash design, make sure this is kelp to a minimum in a shopping cart and only serves as a quick impressive display of professionalism rather than showing off how much money you have. Your design needs to look professional for one important reason. If your site looks like it was built yesterday and could easily be taken down today because you obviously don't care about the look of your business, then why would your customers be comfortable in spending money with you. Trust level is a big reason for customers parting with their hard earned money.Remember, you only have one chance to make a first impression. If a visitor comes to your site and doesn't like what they see, their gone and there's a good chance they'll never come back.James O'Brien Professional hosted and managedshopping cart software

Is A Professional Site Design On Your Shopping Cart Important?

2009-10-05T19:00:00.005-07:00

Online Shopping Carts - Shopping Cart Programs

2009-10-05T19:00:00.003-07:00

Online Shopping Carts have become more dynamic and effective over the years. However, there are some that suffer from poor functionality, compatibility, and effectiveness.There are sources of information on cart programs, but this will break it down for you so you absolutely choose the right one. Once you install a cart program into your website, it can be complicated and time consuming to switch it later.If you can allow me to be "basic" here for a minute: A shopping cart program is installed on a secure server to work within your website or connected to your website using a secure link. The online cart will allow customers to choose products that they wish to buy. Once the customer is ready to "Check Out" and buy, the cart then sends the information to your merchant and processor, so the payment can be processed. Having an online Internet cart that is compatible with processors such as Versign or whoever you choose to process your credit card orders is vital.Things to consider with online shopping carts: The compatibilityDo you want to offer an affiliate program, so other sites can send traffic to your website and you can pay them a commission? Not every shopping cart can handle that integration. You don't want an online cart installed and "put live", only to realize later that it does not integrate with your favorite affiliate software program.Online credit card processors must be compatible to your cart software. If you stick with the top companies, this should not be a problem - but you must ask: "Is your cart program compatible with xxxx processor?"Who are their other customers?Most established cart software companies will have a list of sample customers. This is very helpful in your decision making for several reasons.One: you want to see how the cart functions "live". Do you like the look of the screens (you can usually change the colors to suit your site), the speed - although that depends on the server, graphics, scripts and other things that may be slowing the site down, separate from the cart.Two: Seeing the customer sites that use the online cart can also tell you how successful the cart company is. You want to try to make sure this company has enough clients. It is very important that this company is established, successful and has a track record. This is a major integration and you don't want to have to do this all over again. If the cart program company goes out of business for any reason, you'll have to do the whole thing over!See a demoYou want to be the customer when viewing an online demo of the cart. You also want to see how easy it is to log in, make changes, add products, download orders and get reports. Never purchase a cart without seeing it live.FeaturesDo you get an email when an order is placed? Does the customer get a timely email? Can it be integrated with UPS or other shipping companies? Does it allow for state-by-state sales tax? Make a list of things you would need.Live supportMost companies have email support and that is good, but "live support", especially in the first 30 or 60 days is very important. Most established shopping cart companies will install the cart software for you and test it. Before or after the installation, website owners will need assistance. Even the most experienced webmasters incur issues and being able to reach someone in those times of need is very helpful. It is a deal maker or breaker for me. I want human beings! PriceAlways a factor, right? Well, don't let it be too big a factor here. Price is more of a concern when it includes monthly fees. Some companies will offer a cheaper sign up, but have monthly charges like a hosting company. I try to avoid these arrangements. I'd rather pay $400 and it's mine, than $100 set up and $25 or $50 a month. It is almost always better to buy the cart outright. I'd also rather pay a little more, knowing some of that money is going towards support staff and upgrades. Upgrades and enhancementsAre they free? Does the cart license allow you to use it for other domains?Like I said earlier, the choices have never been broader, but choices can bring confusion. The good part is almost all of the online cart programs have demos that you can play with and you'll know the right one for you. Don't be cheap and make sure you can call someone when you have problems.Best of luck to you with your online business!Nick Hunter is a marketing specialist and the President of American Investment Training (AIT). He also writes for runawebbusiness.com - a website dedicated to operating an Internet business.

Tips for Building Your First Online Shopping Cart

2009-10-05T19:00:00.001-07:00

Starting your first online store?Starting an online store can be extremely daunting for someone new to the world of online businesses, but, for a good reason. There are so many aspects which create success for a shopping cart in a world of powerful search engines, directories, affiliates and word of mouth, the chance of making it big can rely purely on a big budget or a brand new idea. If you're thinking of building your online extension of a current business or even starting a purely online business then hopefully the following will outline some of the most important aspects of getting started. Market research Ask yourself, is there any point in setting up any kind of online business at all, if there is no demand or so much competition you will be lost in the crowd? There have been a few exceptions in the past where small businesses are so well structured and marketed that they grow quickly and succeed, however this can be very difficult without the right support. So how are you going to set yourself apart? What will be your image? And what are your goals? These are questions you need to think about when you are researching. Find out if there is truly an opportunity for your company to succeed. The worst thing you can do is simply jump in and hope for the best, did the most successful companies in the world do that? Setting Targets and Goals Figuring out where you will be in 5... 10... 15... 20 years from now plays an integral part in the way your shopping cart is structured, managed and performs now. Target and goal setting makes an incredible difference to the level of success or success at all a company can enjoy. Start thinking about the steps your online store will make at each stage of it's life. When it starts to grow needing new staff When it needs financial assistance When changes to tax structure is important What new markets you wish to tap into Your staff rewards when targets are met Daily, weekly, monthly and yearly sales targets and the list goes on. Think big! If you aim higher than the rest, the chance of your shopping cart being successful is also higher. Setting up Your Store - general rules - Business Contact information The following information should be posted to the website in an easy to see location: A corporate address Product return address An e-mail address A contact number Big detailed pictures pay off Just like in a physical retail shop, your customers want to really know what they are buying and need to see it close up. Make sure you are uploading images larger than just the detailed product view. Upload at least 400 X 400 pixels and up to 700 X 700 pixels for every product image so your customer can get a clear detailed view of what they plan to buy from you, otherwise, they will simply click away.Testimonials Do testimonials work? Can testimonials be rigged and seem unauthentic? Sure. It seems like most testimonials are generic. If you include the first and last name as well as possibly an email address of the testimonial, you will earn trust and credibility. - Graphics While a flashy site with neat graphics may catch someone's eye, well written, descriptive, persuasive text is the ticket to sales conversions... it's the difference between the prospective buyer exiting your site and opening their pocketbook. Avoid any annoying music and long loading flash movies on your main pages. - Only knowledgeable people to take phone calls Consumers shopping online are no different than regular retail customers, they have questions about your product, your business and your delivery methods. It is important to greet any phone calls or emails with well trained staff who are knowledgeable about your company and products. The more your company can assist consumers, the better the conversion rates and repeat buying. Don't forget to cross sell and up-sell at this point! - Return policies should be easy and fair A good return policy can promote trust in the buyer and multiple orders. It is important to include return labels with the packaging and provide refunds when requested. Repeat business is your best business. Provide them with your best customer service and they will reward you for it by ordering from your shopping cart- not someone else's. - Navigation Make sure you maintain a simple navigation throughout your shopping cart. There should be no reason to steer customers more than two to three clicks deep within your site, the home page should always be only a click away. The clearer your site is presented, the more time customers can spend looking at all your products and info without getting frustrated. It is important that your build your shopping cart using a quality programmer and designer or well designed/built shopping cart software. -Be sure of your postal methods Ever not received an item you ordered online and paid for upfront, only to find out no-one knows where it is? Ever received an item in the post only to open and see it damaged? This is one of the most frustrating things about buying online. Make sure you back yourself up with tracking codes and trustworthy shipping companies. Content Make It Count! A method to inducing the first click is providing a strong call to action or incentive. By featuring discounts and free shipping offers, the offer may intrigue the user to commit another click. Don't let them go Once you have the prospective buyer "on the hook" don't kill the sale with poorly written product descriptions. Nothing kills a sale quicker than a product that is as enthralling as reading the ingredients of a bag of frozen peas. You have invested the time and effort to build your shopping cart; don't miss out on sales due to poorly worded product descriptions. Being personable is also important. Instead of having the most exciting part of a television product description be it's "titanium silver color" talk about how the consumer's home will be the place to come and watch the big game (on a screen so big you can see the sweat coming out of the players' pores). Speak about how the "picture in picture" capability means there will be no more flipping back and forth- saving the fingers precious energy for snatching up potato chips. Do all you can to involve the person's emotions and senses into the product description. Sure, the technical stuff should be included, but put it at the bottom of the description. Provide a strong reason for why they should buy Ever see the phrase "buy from us" in an online store? This has to be one of the biggest turn off's to visitors. Consumers are fragile, you need to provide strong evidence to why anyone should buy from your store, this needs to be your POINT OF DIFFERENCE. Make your point of difference obvious, something which truly give someone a reason to look further into your products and proceed to the shopping cart checkout. Simply telling them to buy for no particular reason apart from you wanting the sale is not good enough.... and they know it. Now that your site is built. It's one thing to have a fantastic site with great content, products and designbut. What good is it if no one can find it? Stay tuned for part two, "how to market your online store"James O'Brien http://www.ashop.com.au

Griffin Internet Begins Using Web+Shop for Web Store Hosting

2009-09-07T10:12:00.003-07:00

Author: Anonymous

Source: free-articles

Aberdeen, SD February 12, 2004--Webplus, Inc., the leading provider of leased ecommerce solutions, announced that Griffin Internet has begun using Webplus, Inc.'s award-winning ecommerce solution, Web+Shop, to set up online stores for their clients. Griffin Internet specializes in offering ISP services to the foodservice industry. Web+Shop will be used both for B-to-B and B-to-C applications.

"We are very excited to partner with Griffin Internet as this is the first time we've targeted offering Web+Shop to the foodservice industry." said Bryan Kriech, Business Development Manager at Webplus, Inc. "The first two stores they are setting up look fantastic!"

โGriffin Internet Services is proud to be teaming up with Webplus, Inc. in the development of a new, flexible and responsive e-commerce package for our customers.โ said Duncan Berry, Director of Sales at Griffin Internet. โWe could not have imagined a better โfit' of product, service and engagement.โ

About Griffin Internet

Griffin Internet Services was recently launched as the newest media division of Griffin Publishing Co. Their goal is to offer the full spectrum of premium Internet services at competitive prices, all backed by superior support. GIS is the destination for ALL your Internet needs: from high-speed wireless broadband service, to web hosting and design. Whether you have software problems, a snagged up network or just having trouble making it all work for you, GIS can help.

Why shop around for ISPs, hosting packages web designers? GIS does it all, and will spare you the techno-talk. Griffin gets the job done.

Building upon state-of-the-art upstream Internet wireless access technologies, GIS extends an equally sophisticated approach to meticulous and professional service at all levels. Our expertise ranges from code-intensive, graphically stunning web development strategies to live customer support. GIS specializes in offering technical services to the food service industry while also offering serving other sectors as well.

About Webplus, Inc.

Webplus, Inc. (talentsoft) is a leading Internet software and solution provider. Webplus, Inc. develops, markets, and supports web development tools, middleware, and application server software, B2B and B2C e-Commerce applications, and e-Business, e-Logistics, enterprise, and intranet/extranet solutions on multiple platforms such as Windows, Linux, and other popular Unix operating systems. Webplus's flagship products include Web+ Web+Shop, Web+IntraOffice, Web+IntraSchool, Web+HelpDesk, Web+CRM, Web+SDM (Sales Distribution Management), and Web+Enterprise. Millions of copies of Webplus's talentsoft software have been distributed to over 100 countries via online and traditional channels. Webplus, Inc.'s missions are to deliver affordable, simple, robust, and localized software solutions for Small-to-Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) through partnering with local solution providers and value-added resellers around the world. By leveraging market-leading position, Webplus, Inc. has become the leading provider of leased ecommerce solutions. The Web+Shop shopping cart has allowed thousands of merchants to sell their products on the web worldwide.

Jacob Lakhany, Business Development Manager

Aberdeen - Worldwide Sales and Customer Support Center

416 Production St. N

Aberdeen, SD 57401

(605) 229.0307, (605) 229.0391

sales@talentsoft.com

Vialogix Redesigns PictureQuest.Com for Dynamic Graphics Group

2009-09-07T10:12:00.001-07:00

Author: Anonymous

Source: free-articles

CHARLOTTE, NC August 12, 2004 -- Vialogix, a Charlotteโ"based web development firm, announces the launch of PictureQuest.com, a royalty-free and rights managed stock photography site developed for Dynamic Graphics Group.

The new e-commerce site has been reengineered to offer creative professionals unparalleled accessibility and tools to search, select, license and download images. PictureQuest.com was developed using a massive data conversion technology infrastructure that ensures uninterrupted service and superior speed. Over 500,000 images were re-processed, creating in excess of 3 million new viewable photographs. In addition, customer history for 416,000 companies was converted including all associated shopping carts and lightboxes.

Users now have the luxury of searching the entire PictureQuest library of images in a single search with no registration required. Vialogix redesigned the โMy Accountโ tool allowing users the ability to access all prior license transactions and pre-set their desired search preferences and license types.

โWe didn't want PictureQuest.com to be just another stock photography site on Internet Avenue,โ noted David Moffly, CEO of Dynamic Graphics Group. โBy combining speed, easy search, depth and breadth of inventory with the highest level of customer service, we are offering our clients and those visiting for the first time a consistent experience that effortlessly answers their image needs, while transforming their desktops into the ultimate digital stock resource. This new site is the culmination of nearly two years of work by our technology teams collaborating with our sales teams and I am extremely proud of their achievement.โ

โHaving extensively researched the habits of users to stock photography sites, it was our goal to develop a product that offered unsurpassed speed and accessibility, and in turn generated a more profitable e-commerce solution,โ said Rob Norris, founder of Vialogix. โThe primary objective โ" simplify the process for PictureQuest customers. In doing so we increase user transactions and profit margin for our client.โ

About Dynamic Graphics Group

The Dynamic Graphics Group, a global media company celebrating 40 years as a graphics pioneer, offers solutions for the creative community in four segments: subscription royalty-free products, stock image brands, publications and events. Headquartered in Peoria, Illinois, the company maintains offices in New York, Washington, London, Sydney and Munich. Dynamic Graphics Group is also represented through an extensive worldwide distribution network that extends across North, South and Central America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

For more information visit www.dynamicgraphics.com

About Vialogix

Vialogix is a human-focused web development company best known for its internet, intranet and extranet web solutions. Vialogix partners closely with clients to develop intuitive, usable web solutions which work to obtain clients' business goals by reducing costs and increasing sales and productivity. Solutions include e-commerce, wireless access, online enrollment applications, content management systems and collaborative intranet tools. Clients include Bank of America, Novant Health, Baker & Taylor and First Citizens Bank.

For more information visit www.vialogix.com

Too-Simple Ways to De-Stress Holiday Gift Shopping

2009-09-07T10:11:00.005-07:00

Author: Casey Van Bronkhorst

Source: download

Many of us are painfully familiar with the anxiety and stress that the 'happy' holidays can create. That feeling of drowning in indecision - that sensation of falling behind - that inability to enjoy events because we might not get everything done if we relax for even the briefest moment. Familiar frantic frazzly tingles starting at the back of your neck when you think about what to get for Aunt Julie this year? Do you swallow the dread in your throat and settle for yet another ceramic deer statue for Cousin Ellen, just because you saw one on her mantle ten years ago?

Do the gifts you receive reflect the panic and anxiety building up in someone else? Is this the third year in a row you've gotten a size three pink sweater from your dearly beloved, even though he should know by now you're not a size three, hate pink and never wear sweaters?

It's not uncommon for gift-giving to cause stress and panic, even when your gifting target is someone you've known all your life. We try to select the 'perfect gift no matter what' even as the other person is trying to do exactly the same thing FOR US.

If the thought of digging into holiday shopping is leaving you short of breath and teetering on the edge of panic, take a deep breath and try a few of these simple ideas.

Make a list - but not of gifts...

Remember the 3-by-5 card approach in debate class? Each topic got a card, and that card contained hints, not the entire text of the debate point. Grab this idea and use it for your gifting guidance. Start this as early in the year as you think about it (like NOW!) and you'll have a priceless shopping resource for the holiday season. At the top of a card, print the person's name. Below that, put the gift that you gave last year (no sense risking duplicate). Then right below that, add in pearls of wisdom ... does she play tennis? Does he fly-fish? Jet ski enthusiast? Bookworm? Techie? Keep that list of hobbies as current as you possibly can and, if in doubt, ask Jerry if he's still taking that sailboat out every weekend. If the sailboat sunk last year, a brand new set of flotation cushions may not be well-received.

Use Gift Registry services - and don't forget yourself

Gift registry services are not just for brides... encourage those you'll be shopping for to sign up at registry services online and leave hints, clues, even specifics. I prefer the one at http://www.mygiftlist.com - give it a try. Whatever you decide to use, get your gift-target friends involved early so that they've had time to post their preferences long before the shopping crunch begins to hit.

Pick a done-shopping-date - and keep it.

For instance, pick two Mondays after Thanksgiving weekend (for 2006, that will be December 4th.) This gives you two weekends after that US holiday to get to the stores, battle the crowds (way too many folks try to cram their holiday shopping into the Friday after Thanksgiving!), get clear of the crammed parking lots, and get things wrapped and shipped in plenty of time.

Make a budget - and stick to it.

If you have $235 to spend on gifts, and you're shopping on the ground (not the Internet), go to the bank or ATM, and get that $235 out, and spend ONLY what you have with you. Stow the credit cards at home. Stick an extra $20 in the back of your wallet for gas money and wrapping paper, but spend only what you plan to spend on the gifts themselves. If you're wary about hauling cash around (and there are places on this planet where wariness of that sort is wise!), arrange for a debit card or use checks.

Shop early in the day - and deal with smaller, calmer crowds.

Know your crowd-control limits. If you find it annoying to stand in line at check-out counters for ten minutes, do your shopping as early in the day as possible. Don't put yourself into situations that you know will add to your stress level.

Shop the Internet - and let someone else handle the shipping.

Use SAFE sites which prominently display TrustE, Hacker Safe, Better Business Bureau stamps and the like. Look for secure shopping carts - look for the HTTPS:// in the cart address as you head for the checkout page. Many browsers will alert you if the security certificate associated with the site is out of date or inaccurate.

Can't find the perfect gift? Consider Time

If you can't find the right gift, find the right gift certificate, or make your own little booklet of certificates for services like a personal shopper day, a month of lawn-mowing, a three-week laundry reprieve, ten errand runs. Sometimes the most meaningful gift is the gift of your own time and attention.

Above all, Don't Panic

Take a deep breath, light a scented candle, relax and smile. T'is not the season to get mired in panic, anxiety, guilt and hassle. T'is the season to express our fondness and caring for our family and friends.

Casey does her shopping online, avoiding the last-minute panics and crowds with a passion born of years of painful experience. After battling with the overspending and overstressing holidays for too many years, she has settled on the simple and calm solutions. She applies her non-linear organization talents to her 'full-time job' as game developer and module designer for the online roleplaying game, Legends of Karinth, her graphics and website design services, and three e-commerce ventures - Lewis & Clarke's Nature To Go, Celtic Elegance and Karinthian Dragon Hoards.

How to Increase Sales and Conversion Rates With Zen Cart

2009-09-07T10:11:00.003-07:00

Author: Josh A Davis

Source: ezinearticles.com

Your conversion rate will tell you how many visitors are taking a certain action - it could be completing a purchase (obviously, the ultimate goal) but could also include completely a contact form, signing up for a newsletter, etc. You can measure this by setting up goals within your analytics program. This will give you valuable statistics and metrics which you can use to measure against and help improve your business.

You need to optimize the functionality of the cart. The more clicks you make a visitor perform in order to get to the end result, the more likely they are to leave without doing anything. "Abandoning the process" is a big problem in Ecommerce.

Below are ways you can optimize and improve the cart and shopping experience for the customer:

Simplify the login / registration page

Rephrase blocks of text to make the user think less

Remove unnecessary information at sign up (DOB, Phone, etc)

Reduce the amount of clicks necessary to signup, increase white space and create a better flow to the process

Remove the create an account success screen

Just adds another click. After signup, take the user directly to the next screen they were expecting to visit

Make the Add to Cart, View Cart, Checkout, Continue and Submit Order buttons/links more visible, prominent and compelling

Self explanatory. You want to make sure these important buttons stand out from the rest of the website. It will draw the users attention and make them subconsciously follow the process you want them to

Clearly indicate an item has been added to the cart, and don't send them to their cart after adding an item

By default the user will be taken to their cart when they add a product. You want to skip this and let them continue to shop and add more products

Simplify the shopping cart page

Remove unnecessary text, such as "Visitor carts being merged with member carts", etc. Just confuses people. Remove the estimate shipping button and add that section directly the page, reduces clicks and confusion

Make changes to the checkout shipping page

Change the language

Add white space

Display the checkout button prominently

Make changes to the checkout payment page

Same steps as mentioned above with checkout shipping page

Reword the checkout confirmation page

Change the language so the user is not confused. Make sure they're aware that one more step is necessary to complete the transaction

Add the word "Edit" to the images

Modify the layout of the credit card information screen

Optimize the thank you page

The one time that you have the user's utmost attention is on the "thank you" page. It is one page that people not only read, but read carefully and take note of. Why? Because they want to find out what the next steps are for receiving the product they just ordered.

With the above information at hand, this is the page we should ask them to refer friends and add incentives - Receive a discount if you refer a friend, etc.

You could also provide a customer service survey at this page as well, so you can collect data that will help you to continually improve your cart

Create an impulse offer - FREE SHIPPING

Studies have shown time and time again that free shipping promotions are powerful offers which almost always result in an increase in sales

Simplify navigation where possible

Where possible you should reduce the amount of clicks it takes to find what the user is looking for

Build customer confidence

Prominently display secure and SSL images/certifications, return policies, phone numbers, etc.

Add as many payment methods as possible

CyberSource reported that retailers who offered three or more payment options saw an average of 14% increase in conversions. And Forrester Research contends that alternative payment methods help increase sales and reduce shopping cart abandonment

The following modules/add-ons is recommended:

Amazon Inventory Loader

This will allow you to export the products into an Amazon account where we can list and sell products

Best Sellers Page

This creates a page that will list best selling items

Contest System

By installing this, you can add a contest signup side box and offer the customer the chance to win something in exchange for their email address, which you then load into your email marketing program

Google Froogle Feed

Same functionality as the Amazon Inventory Loader, this adds the products to Froogle for sale

Better Together

Allows cross selling at a discount; a product can be linked with another specific product, another product from a specific category, or any other product, with an associated discount (in dollars or % off) if both are purchased together

Order Steps

Creates a graphical indicator of where you are in the checkout process

Free Shipping Rules

This shipping module allows you to offer free shipping when more than one requirement is set. These requirements include order total, total weight, and total items. For example, if the minimum order total is set to $1000 and the maximum weight is set to 5lbs, free shipping would only be given for orders that meet BOTH of these requirements

Tell a Friend - Free Shipping

This module will give the customer free or reduced shipping if they tell a friend using the form on the website

By implementing the above changes you should see a significant increase in your conversion rates and sales. To get help implementing these changes, and for further Zen Cart help, contact iBot Web

Points to Remember to Increase Shopping Cart Conversions

2009-09-07T10:11:00.001-07:00

Author: Charlene Fin

Source: articlerich.com

The percentage of Web users that shop online has increased year after year. As online merchants and Web sellers learn how to refine their shopping cart pages for increased conversions, we're able to identify several key components in this process to the benefit of online enterprises bottom lines - the money you end up bringing in from your marketing and advertising efforts.

1) Educate and Inform: If you are selling product online, then you have an obligation to your audience to educate, enlighten and inform them as well. The most serious and potentially damaging aspect to improving shopping cart conversion is the presence, or lack thereof, of helpful information on the products or services you are selling. The Riggs-Meyer Paradigm - an independent study of Web traffic which reveals that 70% of website visitors were researching information and only 30% were actually ready to buy - suggests that online merchants have an obligation to share not only critical information about their products and services (such as usage instructions) but also background information and general educational materials for experts and newbie alike.

2) Simplify Site Use: Developing a goal to improve conversion is essential. Online merchants notice when they design or redesign websites, strange things happen to their conversion rates - some go up and some conversion rates go down, way down. Even if a site looks professionally designed, problems always exist which can be corrected. Lower shopping cart abandonment rates means more money in your pocket at the end of the day, conduct research via polls or surveys, focus groups or interviews to determine where navigation was problematic, if graphics were poorly placed or not relevant to the mission of completing the sale, if search functions were hard to find or if they were helpful, and to what degree your shopping cart pages' call to action made a positive or negative impact.

There are so many ecommerce solutions are available in market. Reviewing such application will add more user friendly navigation and interaction to the site. Ecommerce website developed by magento developer or oscommerce developer will add their personal experience to boost your business so it's more advisable to take tips from professionals.

3) Express Trustworthiness: One of the most effective ways to build trust among your visitors is to provide an effective way to address visitors' fears about the security of shopping online by revealing information about your company such as email and postal address as well as toll-free and local phone numbers, or the location of customers support forms and privacy policies. Services such as Thawte or Validated Site enable website owners to convey their trustworthiness of their online presence (the availability of SSL -secure socket layer - pages) and the corporation and people behind the website.

Jimmy carter is the IT consultant providing consulting services to magento developer and oscommerce developer. He has done good

research on Open Source Customization and custom website development.

E-Commerce Shopping Cart Function Is Free for Everyone through osCommerce Online Merchant

2009-09-07T10:07:00.001-07:00

Author: Business Local Listings

Source: articlesbase.com

E-commerce is the new way of doing business. Buying and selling is now done routinely online round the clock. The marketplace is always open, sensitive to all time zones around the world. Payment to any e-commerce site is done safely through various online solutions. Practically anyone can be a seller online, especially with osCommerce Online Merchant.What is osCommerce Online Merchant?osCommerce Online Merchant is a free e-commerce solution that enables online store set-up, running and maintenance for anyone, with various easy to use features including the shopping cart function. Setting it up is quick. There are no costs or fees because it is an Open Source Software covered by the GNU General Public License. What is Open Source Software?Open Source Software is any computer software usually developed collaboratively and in public by various parties and made available to the public for use, change or improvement. This movement began in 1983 with the GNU Project of Richard Stallman wherein the development of the free GNU operating system was begun. Eventually, the free software Linux became part of the GNU project. According to the initial announcement of Stallman, the goal has always been the development of "a sufficient body of free software [...] to get along without any software that is not free." The GNU General Public License grants recipients of the software the unlimited right to use it or modify its source code and to redistribute both the original and the modified versions.Open Source Software generates billions of savings for users around the world every year. Furthermore, it encourages the spirit of cooperation and collaboration for the common good. Anyone can contribute to the further improvement of the software involved, including adding more functionality for every need that arises. This challenges the imagination and skills of people.One example of Open Source Software is osCommerce. True to the spirit of the movement, people have been contributing add-ons to osCommerce daily, further improving it and widening its uses.What are the Requirements and Features of osCommerce?osCommerce Online Merchant v3.0 Alpha 5 requires that the server has PHP v5.2.0+ (with MySQLi extension) and MySQL v4.1.13+ or v5.0.7+, although it is compatible with all PHP 4 versions, as well.The osCommerce Online Merchant has the following features, among others. It accepts multiple currencies and various online payment processors. It is available by default in English, German and Spanish, supporting unlimited types, categories and numbers of products, whether physical or downloadable. The database can be easily backed up and restored, with statistics generated. Customers are able to see their order status and order history, and can post reviews. The store owner can send customers emails or newsletters. Invoices and packing lists can be printed out. The software also has tax and shipping functionalities.A good web site developer will take advantage of open source solutions to give you maximum savings. Thus, osCommerce is used by Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines Inc., a Manila-based BPO company that provides low cost advanced web site development packages, including e-commerce site solutions, to clients in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Korea, the British Virgin Islands and the Philippines.Since 1998, Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines Inc. has been providing its clientele with excellent business process outsourcing services including advanced interactive database driven web site development, advanced portal development, heavy web based programming, web application development, content management systems, website design, graphic design and multimedia components including flash animation development, web site maintenance and support, search engine optimization, search engine marketing and social media marketing. As a web hosting provider, it also does domain name registration.Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines. Inc. is your One Stop Shop Internet and Contact Center Solutions Vendor for the Global Market.Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines, Inc.Address: 2nd Floor, BT&T Center#20 E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave., Libis (C-5),Quezon City, 1110 PhilippinesE-mail: info@webdc.com.phTelephone numbers: (632) 634-4625; (632) 635-6104

Shopping Cart Features to Consider

2009-09-07T09:58:00.001-07:00

Author: Chuck Lasker

Source: articleage.com

Often the simplest Web stores have the most success. But shoppers like special features depending upon the type of store you have, how you market and use them, and if you don't overwhelm the shopper. Below I list as many features as I could think of, just to jog your creativity.

Coupon Codes: This seems like a no-brainer, but sometimes shoppers who don't have a coupon code feel cheated, like, "someone's getting a discount, but not me." You might want to consider labeling it, "Voucher Code," or "Promotional Code," or some other term which does not necessarily imply a discount.

Continue Shopping Button in the Basket Screen: When a shopper at your store gets to their basket, do you give them the option to shop some more, or is your site pushing them to checkout immediately? Continue Shopping buttons should take them to the last product or category page, or, worst case, the store home page.

Remember Me: Amazon does it, and people like it. Upon returning to the store, the shopper is greeted with, "Welcome Back, Bob Smith." This could be enhanced with order histories, preference settings, recommended products based upon purchase history, etc.

E-check Acceptance: The more payment options, the better. Electronic check acceptance is just like a credit card, without requiring a credit card account. Most banks have a simple process for accepting e-checks. Check with your host, ecommerce platform software provider, and your bank for information about what is available for your site.

PayPal Acceptance: Like e-checks, it's just another option for payment method.

Order Status Lookup: Once a customer places an order, they wait anxiously, worrying. Help them love your site more by providing a place for them to log in and check the status of the order - has it been shipped? If so, what is the tracking number?

Order History: Some customers like to look back and see what they've ordered in the past. Giving them this information is both helpful, and an excellent marketing tool. If your products are consumable, consider having an easy-order system where they can reorder previous products from their purchase history.

Quantity Discounts: Face it. People like the Web because they save money. Offering quantity discounts per product is a great way to increase the size of an order, while making your customer smile.

Gift Certificates: If your products are gift-worthy, don't make your customers choose what to buy. Offer gift certificates so they can send them to the gift recipient. Gift certificates should be easy to use, with a simple code entered upon checkout.

Multiple Ship-To Addresses: This allows customers to shop once and have gifts sent to multiple people. By offering the ability to have parts of the order go to different recipients, you're making it easier for your customer to buy more and more on each order.

Multiple Shipping Methods: Like multiple addresses, this allows the customer to send some items overnight, while paying less to send others at a slower rate. Options are always great for web shoppers.

Frequent Buyer Program: Offer your customers rewards for returning to shop. These programs could give points that are redeemable on your site, or discounts based upon shopping history. You might have a permanent discount for shoppers who purchase a total of over $5,000, or points that are worth 10% of an order that can be used on the next order. A return customer is often worth much more than a new customer.

Gift Registry/Wishlist: What better way for word-of-mouth than for people to tell others, "I want something from this site"? With this service, people set up an account and select items to place in their registry. Their friends and family come to the site, search the gift registry for items that have not been bought already, and place an order.

Tell-A-Friend: Another excellent word-of-mouth tool. Have your customers tell others about your products and services. Tell-A-Friend systems can be as simple as an e-mail link, and as powerful as a page that allows multiple e-mail addresses and a personal note. Be sure the system sends the URL of the page the person was on when they clicked on it, so the recipient isn't wondering what the sender was referring to.

Mini-Cart: This is a little place on every page that shows the contents of the shopping cart. This allows the customer to quickly know what they've added to their cart. It could be simple, with quantity of items and total. Or, it can have features like full list of items in cart, shipping calculator, and the ability to change quantities or remove items right in the mini-cart.

Live Chat: If your products or services are complicated and would benefit from a live conversation to answer questions, this feature can be very popular. You've seen the banners on other sites saying, "Click here to speak to a representative." Some of these services allow you to watch a shopper browse your store, and actively pop a window up saying, "We noticed you are browsing our store. Do you have any questions?" If you install Live Chat, be sure you have in manned most of the time. A banner that says, "offline" every time a shopper comes to your store is a negative rather than a positive feature.

Discounts: By far the most popular feature is offering some from of discount to the customer. The possibilities are almost endless. Popular discount methods include Buy 2 Get 1 Free, quantity based discounts, total dollar amount discounts,

Gift Wrap: Special packaging makes gift giving more convenient. If you offer gift wrapping, special gift packaging, or gift cards, be sure to mention it on your home page so people know they can have gifts shipped direct to the recipient, instead of having to receive the package, wrap it, and ship it again.

Breadcrumb Navigation: That's the name for the little path at the top of some screens that show the path you took to get to the page you're on. Usually, it looks like this: Home>Books>Fiction>Stephen King. The benefit of this feature is it helps people remember where they are at all times, with quick return to previous pages.

Featured Products: This can be simply products you choose to feature, new products, most-often-purchased products, most looked at products, or even products that are recommended based upon past purchases from the current customer.

Product Reviews/Ratings: With this feature, you allow your customers to review and/or rate your products, and show the reviews/ratings within the product information pages. The best advice for this feature is to not have the reviews automatically show up on your pages. Instead, have a system where you approve the reviews first, so you don't get nasty messages on your product pages by pranksters.

Wait List: If you have products that run out of inventory, don't just drop the item from your store until you get new stock. Instead, create a wait list function so people can request to be notified when the item is back in stock.

Printable Invoice: If your invoice/receipt screen has a lot of graphics from your site design, offer a "printable invoice" link that pulls up a simple black and white, printer ready screen.

Printable Order Form: Some customers shop on the Web, but prefer to call, fax or mail their order. Make it easy for them with a printable order form. It seems nonsensical, but sales can increase dramatically if you help those individuals who fear placing their credit card number online. Which brings up another point; you should most definitely have a telephone number (toll free is preferred) for orders and questions, even if it's just to make the customer more comfortable.

As you can see, there are many ways you can enhance your shoppers' experience at your site. Most of these are relatively simple to implement. Keep it simple, make these easy to use, and you might see increased conversions.

As an e-commerce consultant for over three years, and Web designer for over ten, Chuck Lasker has been helping individuals and organizations utilize the Internet in almost every arena. Chuck's e-newsletter and blog, The MerchantHowTo.com Report, at http://www.MerchantHowTo.com, is free and popular amongst e-store owners.

How To Set Up A Shopping Cart

2009-09-03T17:59:00.001-07:00

Author: Mark Walters

Source: isnare.com

Mistakes in designing and configuring a shopping cart can result in abandoned shopping carts, customers leaving in frustration, and lost income. Most ecommerce owners never think of configuring the site when buying it. They just look at the images and graphics. They want easy to understand stats, and a site that is easy to build.

It isn't until the site sits on the web for months, and the sales are dismal, that these ecommerce business owners start looking at the site from the customer's point-of-view.

Action Buttons

The buttons that ask customers to take action are vita. They should be easy to configure, unfortunately, the free and open-source shoppi9ng carts rarely let users alter their buttons.

The Add To Cart button is the most vital. There should be an option to save the user's email address, so the shopping cart can be saved until a future visit. The Add to Cart button must be in an obvious place, be a bright color, and be easy to use.

A "Buy Now" button lets customers escape once they make a selection. Many people hit a site to buy one thing. The buy now, and add to cart, may both take the visitor to the same web page, but it is a matter of perception.

The action buttons should encourage the visitors to do something. Do not let them flip through sites. If they are not ready to buy, then give them the option of looking for more information, a better picture, or view more stats and comparative prices for the product.

Customer's Personal Information

The first reaction to a long personal information form is to abandon the shopping cart. The shopping cart is not a mailing list builder.

The best time to collect information is on the shipping form. If you want to ask the customer to join the company's mailing list, or request marketing information, then invite them to participate in a marketing survey before they reach the shopping cart.

The old belief that 'they are so far through the process that they would rather answer questions than abandon the cart' is a drastic mistake. Today's consumers are more likely to abandon their carts 'as an act of revenge' than they are to risk being the victim of a phishing or identity theft scam.

Keep the forms short. Consumers are frustrated when asked questions such as 'how did you hear about us,' and 'do you want to join our newsletter.'

Reliability and Credibility

Credibility is vital. Unfortunately, the 'about us' page often receives the least attention by business owners.

Today's online consumers are wary of phishing and identity theft scams. They are being taught to check out the company, make sure they are legitimate.

- There are a few ways to build credibility.

- Add the address of the business

- Add photos of your place of business.

- Include a telephone number

- Include a live chat

- blog about the company, improvements, and community information

are also good customer service tools. Many sites include SLL or other security images on each page, to remind consumers that their information is safe.

A disclosure statement promising that the consumer's information is safe and will not be sold to mailing list companies will help calm consumer's fears.

The most important step is to make sure each level of the shopping cart has the same domain name, and templates. If the customer is being sent 'off site' then post a warning, and tell the consumer that you value their security and are hosting your shopping cart on a safe site.

Check Out Process

The check out process on most shopping carts is confusing. The consumer clicks 'check out' and end up on a personal information form, leaving them confused, wondering if they are in the right place. Or, they must wade through as many as five pages before reaching the Confirmation Page.

Shopping carts should be configured to tell customers the check out process, where they are in the process, and what will happen next. The most common method is by using the step-by-step method to track the customer's progress.

This method includes 'call-to-action' buttons or phrases. These phrases are also used as Call to Action page titles such as Check out now, Make Payment, Arrange Shipping, Final Step.

Each is designed to reinforce the 'decision to buy' message by promising quick delivery, a guarantee, posting a HackerSafe or VeriSign seal on the page, and making the shopping experience as painless as possible.

The last step is the Confirm Order Page. This page should have a prominent 'Buy Now' button. Let the customer know that they are only one step from a purchase.

Can You Run A Full Blown Internet Business In One Ecommerce Shopping Cart Solution?

2009-09-03T14:29:00.001-07:00

Author: Dean T Whittingham

Source: articlesfactory.com

A successful ecommerce business owner requires a product or service to sell, traffic to a web site, and converting traffic into sales. Success can not exist if one of these three is missing. Step 1 is the easiest but steps 2 and 3 are where things can become hard because there are so many choices out there; it is extremely easy to get confused and frustrated with it all.

But let's break steps 2 and 3 down into a more manageable list of categories. You'll need a domain name, a web site and web host with web hosting related services, a shopping cart, a merchant account, multiple marketing tools, traffic, training and support. You can see why things can become confusing for someone who is looking to become serious on the internet. All of these aspects will all come at a cost, if not just from your pocket but time too.

The three biggest issues are too many choices, logistics and costs.

Too many choices cause a headache right from the beginning. If you've ever tried to search for a decent and cost efficient web hosting service you'll more than likely end up with no hair (sorry if you're already bald!). The problem is that almost all web hosts that have been reviewed on public forums, have been because of a complaint and not the other way around. Unfortunately you will find this with all aspects of the ecommerce business world, from domain name registration services to merchant accounts; and so you run the risk of choosing the wrong ones. It can be a complete pain having to change an integral part of your ecommerce business.

Logistically speaking it can get very messy. Let's say you approached a separate company for every single aspect of your ecommerce business because they focus on the specific aspect, for example domain name registration. You have to browse through their site to ensure you get what you want; you'll have to create an account so you can use their service, and then learn how to use their online interface where your account is housed, and then get to know their support module because it is guaranteed you'll need it, especially if you're new. Now assume you have to do this for every aspect of an ecommerce business.

Then there are the costs. In actual fact the most taxing cost is time, however the financial costs increase the more services you use. You'll also have the administrative hassle of having to know which time of the month each service is going to bill you.

Then there's marketing, driving traffic and training. The list of marketing methods becoming available on the internet is increasing all the time. Many ecommerce business owners think they have to use them all, and what's worse, learn them all. Internet marketing is about reach and automation; getting the most reach efficiently to attract traffic, and automating the process of dealing with this traffic. When you consider there's pay per click, banner, newsletter, link and classified advertising, all with costs associated, how do you know which method is working the best?

When people visit your website you've got to convert them to sales. You've got to test headlines, graphics, colors, guarantees and sales copy. You need to determine the most wanted response, whether it is a direct sale, or to sign up to your email list. But once again, you need to test and automate the whole process, not to mention store the customer's details - another service that will cost money.

Having affiliates sell your products and services is one of the greatest ways if not the best way to gain more reach but how do you manage them? You've got to track the traffic, clicks and sales they generate not to mention pay them. This requires another service you have to pay for.

In recent times some companies have become multi-service. The more of these services a company can offer the cheaper it becomes for you, not to mention the time saved logistically because of a shorter learning curve and support for all the services is in the one place. Imagine being able to build and operate a complete ecommerce business from the one service and the one bill?

Finding a solution to all of the above requires finding a company that offers domain registration, web hosting and web hosting related services including a web site builder; a shopping cart and merchant account to accept online payments; marketing tools including opt-ins, auto responders, email and newsletter list management, affiliate tracking and promotional services, ad tracking and customer interaction; and to top it off, have training materials by way of online videos, online user guides, a knowledge base and an expert support team experienced enough to deal with all aspects of running an ecommerce business including technical support. Find one of these and you have the most powerful partner possible to help you in operating your successful ecommerce business.

Increasing Shopping Cart Conversions

2009-09-03T13:59:00.001-07:00

Author: Pete Prestipino

Source: articleage.com

The percentage of Web users that shop online has increased year

after year. As online merchants and Web sellers learn how to

refine their shopping cart pages for increased conversions,

we're able to identify several key components in this process to

the benefit of online enterprises bottom lines - the money you

end up bringing in from your marketing and advertising

efforts.

1) Educate and Inform: If you are selling product online,

then you have an obligation to your audience to educate,

enlighten and inform them as well. The most serious and

potentially damaging aspect to improving shopping cart

conversion is the presence, or lack thereof, of helpful

information on the products or services you are selling. The

Riggs-Meyer Paradigm - an independent study of Web traffic which

reveals that 70% of website visitors were researching

information and only 30% were actually ready to buy - suggests

that online merchants have an obligation to share not only

critical information about their products and services (such as

usage instructions) but also background information and general

educational materials for experts and newbies alike.

2) Simplify Site Use: Developing a goal to improve

conversion is essential. Online merchants notice when they

design or redesign websites, strange things happen to their

conversion rates - some go up and some conversion rates go down,

way down. Even if a site looks professionally designed, problems

always exist which can be corrected. Lower shopping cart

abandonment rates means more money in your pocket at the end of

the day, conduct research via polls or surveys, focus groups or

interviews to determine where navigation was problematic, if

graphics were poorly placed or not relevant to the mission of

completing the sale, if search functions were hard to find or if

they were helpful, and to what degree your shopping cart pages'

call to action made a positive or negative impact.

3) Express Trustworthiness: One of the most effective

ways to build trust among your visitors is to provide an

effective way to address visitors' fears about the security of

shopping online by revealing information about your company such

as email and postal address as well as toll-free and local phone

numbers, or the location of customers support forms and privacy

policies. Services such as Thawte or ValidatedSite enable

website owners to convey their trustworthiness of their online

presence (the availability of SSL -secure socket layer - pages)

and the corporation and people behind the website.

10 Proven Methods to Decrease Your Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate

2009-09-03T11:58:00.009-07:00

Author: Eric Leuenberger

Source: ezinearticles.com

Moving customers through the checkout process effectively is a critical element toward closing any sale online. Providing your customers choose to order directly from your website rather than over the phone, the information you present to them during checkout is ultimately what will help them decide whether or not to complete the purchase.

Throughout this process you will need to continually reassure them, providing them with the necessary elements essential to developing trust and security. These elements are commonly called customer assurances. Their job is making the customer feel comfortable enough to complete the intended action (i.e. buying your product.)

Cart abandonment is a problem that all eCommerce sites see in some degree. The rate at which your visitors abandon depends on how effective you have structured the checkout process. Shopping cart abandonment is an important statistic that needs to be tracked as it could mean the difference between a profitable eCommerce store and a potential loss.

According to industry publications, average shopping cart abandonment rates are between 60% - 70%. Put in to sample numbers, if you have 100 people start the checkout process and 65% abandon it, you just lost 65 sales. To take that further, if your average order value is $49 you lost $3185 in revenue.

To further demonstrate the hit your business just took, not only have you lost revenue but you lost 65 potential new customers as well. This translates to an undeterminable amount of future recurring revenue through repeat orders.

Many factors that contribute to cart abandonment are out of the merchant's control; however there are a number of factors you can concentrate on that will help reduce the overall effect on your store.

From a technical perspective, make sure your cart is working properly and is free of bugs.

As elementary as this may sound, it is a vital component that often is not given the weight it deserves. Simple logic tells us that if a cart is not working correctly it will prevent a customer from being able to order. To alleviate this potential problem you should go through your order process and ensure it is free of bugs and works as you expect. It would be a good idea to also have others go through and test it periodically - especially after any updates to code or structure have been made that involve the checkout process.

Keep your pricing competitive.

Customers are also shoppers. What I mean is they are always searching for and comparing similar products prices. Unless your product is totally 100% unique and not easily duplicated, you must be aware of the price you assign to it. With the increase use in shopping comparison sites by consumers and in light of the current state of the economy, competitive pricing is more critical than ever. If your prices are out of the ball park your customers won't stay to watch the game.

Decrease the steps in your checkout process.

If your cart has the ability for a one page checkout that is fantastic. However, if you don't have that luxury, don't worry. Test have shown that shorter checkout processes which aren't one page only work just fine to convert visitors into sales providing a few elements are met. A good rule of thumb to follow here is to combine logical steps during the checkout process (shipping and billing address information as an example) and eliminate any extra steps. If you can get your checkout process down to four steps or less you'll be ok in most cases.

Add process indicators to checkout procedure.

You don't want a customer to wonder how much longer it will take to checkout or what part of that checkout process they are in. This is an easy fix. Simply adding process indicators in a graphic format near the top of the checkout process will help keep customers in the checkout until the end.

Clearly provide proper customer points of assurance at the right locations.

There is one word which makes customers buy and that word is "trust." Customer points of assurance provide information to the end user which build trust and answer questions. Things like security seals, customer service phone numbers, live chat, and privacy policy are examples of a few customer points of assurance. These should be displayed and easily seen especially at times when you are asking the customer to act.

Clearly display your security and trust seals.

Customers want to ensure the information they submit during an order is secure and protected. Make sure you clearly and plainly tell them that their transaction is secure and show them the seal to prove it. Don't hide the seal at the bottom of a page or make it hard to find. Tests have shown that adding a security seal within the user eye flow at critical times during checkout can improve conversion.

Offer multiple payment methods including PayPal.

Offering multiple payment methods opens up the number of people who will do business with you. Customers like to choice and control. Providing them with the choice of multiple payment methods in addition to PayPal will help keep them in the checkout process. In fact, 1 in 3 shoppers expect to be able to pay with PayPal or at least be given that option in addition to other methods.

Enable customers to order over the telephone if desired.

No matter how perfect a site is, there are going to be customers that prefer to complete their order over the phone. Whether they start the checkout process and have a question that needs to be answered or simply don't feel comfortable providing their personal information over the internet, you must give them the ability to call you to complete the transaction. Placing a customer service phone number in a clearly visible location with the text "Prefer to order by phone?" will help decrease cart abandonment.

Clearly state return and shipping policies.

In survey after survey, shoppers say one of the big reasons they abandon the checkout process is due to the shipping charge or return options. Many sites don't provide the shipping and return information to the customer until they are in step two or three of the checkout process. If the information they find there does not appeal to them they will leave. You can prevent this by offering them the shipping and return information at the first step of the checkout process or better yet from the page they are viewing their shopping cart from.

Don't require registration to checkout.

This is difficult for some stores to implement because of the architecture their cart is built upon. However, if you have the ability to offer what is often called a "guest checkout" feature you should do so. For privacy reasons, there are a number of people out there who do not want the information they provide you with saved and it is those people who will leave unless you provide them with an option to checkout without registering.

Following these principles will not completely eliminate shopping cart abandonment at your site but it should help in reducing it to a more reasonable level thus increasing sales.

Is A Professional Site Design On Your Shopping Cart Important?

2009-09-03T11:58:00.007-07:00

Author: James O'Brien

Source: download

An online store is a 24 hour active revenue machine, it should accurately
display and describe your products and services in a professional manner to give
you the best opportunity for each and every sale. Your success depends on this.

Now, don't get the wrong idea, a site design does not need to be full flash,
loads of custom images and special entry pages, look at Google, they have a nice
logo and a clean understandable landing page. Depending on your target market,
you may only need text to make your sales, but the text still needs to be
clearly layed out and understandable.
It's always best to carefully study and consider the designer for your
website. Make sure he/she is prepared to show you many examples and ask many
questions about your needs. They should ask for example sites that you like and
work to your budget, not up-sell you special Flash graphics.
If you are working with an ecommerce website shopping
cart then it's advisable that you keep all design services and
software technology within the one company as it's important for the designer to
know the capabilities of the shopping cart software they need to work on.

Design layout.

Layout of a website is extremely important to the ease of navigation for your
customers. Their product of choice should only be within 3 clicks from the home
page. Be sure to to have an easy to use category menu and obvious product titles
with good descriptions directly below. Always aim to cross sell in your product
pages with thumbnails of related items.

If you are using custom graphics or flash design, make sure this is kelp to a
minimum in a shopping cart and only serves as a
quick impressive display of professionalism rather than showing off how much money you have.
Your design needs to look professional for one important reason. If your site
looks like it was built yesterday and could easily be taken down today because
you obviously don't care about the look of your business, then why would your
customers be comfortable in spending money with you. Trust level is a big reason
for customers parting with their hard earned money.

Remember, you only have one chance to make a first impression. If a visitor
comes to your site and doesn't like what they see, their gone and there's a good
chance they'll never come back.

James O'Brien

Professional hosted and managedshopping
cart software

Is A Professional Site Design On Your Shopping Cart Important?

2009-09-03T11:58:00.005-07:00

Author: James O'Brien

Source: articleage.com

An online store is a 24 hour active revenue machine, it should accurately
display and describe your products and services in a professional manner to give
you the best opportunity for each and every sale. Your success depends on this.

Now, don't get the wrong idea, a site design does not need to be full flash,
loads of custom images and special entry pages, look at Google, they have a nice
logo and a clean understandable landing page. Depending on your target market,
you may only need text to make your sales, but the text still needs to be
clearly layed out and understandable.
It's always best to carefully study and consider the designer for your
website. Make sure he/she is prepared to show you many examples and ask many
questions about your needs. They should ask for example sites that you like and
work to your budget, not up-sell you special Flash graphics.
If you are working with an ecommerce website shopping
cart then it's advisable that you keep all design services and
software technology within the one company as it's important for the designer to
know the capabilities of the shopping cart software they need to work on.

Design layout.

Layout of a website is extremely important to the ease of navigation for your
customers. Their product of choice should only be within 3 clicks from the home
page. Be sure to to have an easy to use category menu and obvious product titles
with good descriptions directly below. Always aim to cross sell in your product
pages with thumbnails of related items.

If you are using custom graphics or flash design, make sure this is kelp to a
minimum in a shopping cart and only serves as a
quick impressive display of professionalism rather than showing off how much money you have.
Your design needs to look professional for one important reason. If your site
looks like it was built yesterday and could easily be taken down today because
you obviously don't care about the look of your business, then why would your
customers be comfortable in spending money with you. Trust level is a big reason
for customers parting with their hard earned money.

Remember, you only have one chance to make a first impression. If a visitor
comes to your site and doesn't like what they see, their gone and there's a good
chance they'll never come back.

James O'Brien

Professional hosted and managedshopping
cart software

Online Shopping Carts - Shopping Cart Programs

2009-09-03T11:58:00.003-07:00

Author: Nick Hunter

Source: articleage.com

Online Shopping Carts have become more dynamic and effective over the years. However, there are some that suffer from poor functionality, compatibility, and effectiveness.

There are sources of information on cart programs, but this will break it down for you so you absolutely choose the right one. Once you install a cart program into your website, it can be complicated and time consuming to switch it later.

If you can allow me to be "basic" here for a minute: A shopping cart program is installed on a secure server to work within your website or connected to your website using a secure link. The online cart will allow customers to choose products that they wish to buy. Once the customer is ready to "Check Out" and buy, the cart then sends the information to your merchant and processor, so the payment can be processed. Having an online Internet cart that is compatible with processors such as Versign or whoever you choose to process your credit card orders is vital.

Things to consider with online shopping carts:

The compatibility

Do you want to offer an affiliate program, so other sites can send traffic to your website and you can pay them a commission? Not every shopping cart can handle that integration. You don't want an online cart installed and "put live", only to realize later that it does not integrate with your favorite affiliate software program.

Online credit card processors must be compatible to your cart software. If you stick with the top companies, this should not be a problem - but you must ask: "Is your cart program compatible with xxxx processor?"

Who are their other customers?

Most established cart software companies will have a list of sample customers. This is very helpful in your decision making for several reasons.

One: you want to see how the cart functions "live". Do you like the look of the screens (you can usually change the colors to suit your site), the speed - although that depends on the server, graphics, scripts and other things that may be slowing the site down, separate from the cart.

Two: Seeing the customer sites that use the online cart can also tell you how successful the cart company is. You want to try to make sure this company has enough clients. It is very important that this company is established, successful and has a track record. This is a major integration and you don't want to have to do this all over again. If the cart program company goes out of business for any reason, you'll have to do the whole thing over!

See a demo

You want to be the customer when viewing an online demo of the cart. You also want to see how easy it is to log in, make changes, add products, download orders and get reports. Never purchase a cart without seeing it live.

Features

Do you get an email when an order is placed? Does the customer get a timely email? Can it be integrated with UPS or other shipping companies? Does it allow for state-by-state sales tax? Make a list of things you would need.

Live support

Most companies have email support and that is good, but "live support", especially in the first 30 or 60 days is very important. Most established shopping cart companies will install the cart software for you and test it. Before or after the installation, website owners will need assistance. Even the most experienced webmasters incur issues and being able to reach someone in those times of need is very helpful. It is a deal maker or breaker for me. I want human beings!

Price

Always a factor, right? Well, don't let it be too big a factor here. Price is more of a concern when it includes monthly fees. Some companies will offer a cheaper sign up, but have monthly charges like a hosting company. I try to avoid these arrangements. I'd rather pay $400 and it's mine, than $100 set up and $25 or $50 a month. It is almost always better to buy the cart outright. I'd also rather pay a little more, knowing some of that money is going towards support staff and upgrades.

Upgrades and enhancements

Are they free? Does the cart license allow you to use it for other domains?

Like I said earlier, the choices have never been broader, but choices can bring confusion. The good part is almost all of the online cart programs have demos that you can play with and you'll know the right one for you. Don't be cheap and make sure you can call someone when you have problems.

Best of luck to you with your online business!

Nick Hunter is a marketing specialist and the President of American Investment Training (AIT). He also writes for runawebbusiness.com - a website dedicated to operating an Internet business.

Tips for Building Your First Online Shopping Cart

2009-09-03T11:58:00.001-07:00

Author: James O'Brien

Source: download

Starting your first online store?

Starting an online store can be extremely daunting for someone new to the world
of online businesses, but, for a good reason. There are so many aspects which
create success for a shopping cart in a world of powerful search engines,
directories, affiliates and word of mouth, the chance of making it big can rely
purely on a big budget or a brand new idea.

If you're thinking of building your online extension of a current business or
even starting a purely online business then hopefully the following will outline
some of the most important aspects of getting started.

Market research
Ask yourself, is there any point in setting up any kind of online business at
all, if there is no demand or so much competition you will be lost in the crowd?

There have been a few exceptions in the past where small businesses are so well
structured and marketed that they grow quickly and succeed, however this can be
very difficult without the right support.

So how are you going to set yourself apart? What will be your image? And what
are your goals?

These are questions you need to think about when you are researching. Find out
if there is truly an opportunity for your company to succeed. The worst thing
you can do is simply jump in and hope for the best, did the most successful
companies in the world do that?

Setting Targets and Goals
Figuring out where you will be in 5... 10... 15... 20 years from now plays an
integral part in the way your shopping cart is structured, managed and performs
now. Target and goal setting makes an incredible difference to the level of
success or success at all a company can enjoy.

Start thinking about the steps your online store will make at each stage of it's
life.

When it starts to grow needing new staff

When it needs financial assistance

When changes to tax structure is important

What new markets you wish to tap into

Your staff rewards when targets are met

Daily, weekly, monthly and yearly sales targets

and the list goes on. Think big! If you aim higher than the rest, the chance of
your shopping cart being successful is also higher.

Setting up Your Store - general rules

- Business Contact information

The following information should be posted to the website in an easy to see
location:

A corporate address

Product return address

An e-mail address

A contact number

Big detailed pictures pay off

Just like in a physical retail shop, your customers want to really know what
they are buying and need to see it close up. Make sure you are uploading images
larger than just the detailed product view. Upload at least 400 X 400 pixels and
up to 700 X 700 pixels for every product image so your customer can get a clear
detailed view of what they plan to buy from you, otherwise, they will simply
click away.

Testimonials

Do testimonials work? Can testimonials be rigged and seem unauthentic? Sure. It
seems like most testimonials are generic. If you include the first and last name
as well as possibly an email address of the testimonial, you will earn trust and
credibility.

- Graphics

While a flashy site with neat graphics may catch someone's eye, well written,
descriptive, persuasive text is the ticket to sales conversions... it's the
difference between the prospective buyer exiting your site and opening their
pocketbook. Avoid any annoying music and long loading flash movies on your main
pages.

- Only knowledgeable people to take phone calls

Consumers shopping online are no different than regular retail customers, they
have questions about your product, your business and your delivery methods. It
is important to greet any phone calls or emails with well trained staff who are
knowledgeable about your company and products. The more your company can assist
consumers, the better the conversion rates and repeat buying. Don't forget to
cross sell and up-sell at this point!

- Return policies should be easy and fair

A good return policy can promote trust in the buyer and multiple orders. It is
important to include return labels with the packaging and provide refunds when
requested. Repeat business is your best business. Provide them with your best
customer service and they will reward you for it by ordering from your shopping
cart- not someone else's.

- Navigation

Make sure you maintain a simple navigation throughout your shopping cart. There
should be no reason to steer customers more than two to three clicks deep within
your site, the home page should always be only a click away. The clearer your
site is presented, the more time customers can spend looking at all your
products and info without getting frustrated. It is important that your build
your shopping cart using a quality programmer and designer or well
designed/built shopping cart software.

-Be sure of your postal methods

Ever not received an item you ordered online and paid for upfront, only to find
out no-one knows where it is? Ever received an item in the post only to open and
see it damaged? This is one of the most frustrating things about buying online.
Make sure you back yourself up with tracking codes and trustworthy shipping
companies.

Content
Make It Count!

A method to inducing the first click is providing a strong call to action or
incentive. By featuring discounts and free shipping offers, the offer may
intrigue the user to commit another click.

Don't let them go

Once you have the prospective buyer "on the hook" don't kill the sale with
poorly written product descriptions. Nothing kills a sale quicker than a product
that is as enthralling as reading the ingredients of a bag of frozen peas. You
have invested the time and effort to build your shopping cart; don't miss out on
sales due to poorly worded product descriptions.

Being personable is also important. Instead of having the most exciting part of
a television product description be it's "titanium silver color" talk about how
the consumer's home will be the place to come and watch the big game (on a
screen so big you can see the sweat coming out of the players' pores). Speak
about how the "picture in picture" capability means there will be no more
flipping back and forth- saving the fingers precious energy for snatching up
potato chips.

Do all you can to involve the person's emotions and senses into the product
description. Sure, the technical stuff should be included, but put it at the
bottom of the description.

Provide a strong reason for why they should buy

Ever see the phrase "buy from us" in an online store? This has to be one of the
biggest turn off's to visitors. Consumers are fragile, you need to provide
strong evidence to why anyone should buy from your store, this needs to be your
POINT OF DIFFERENCE.

Make your point of difference obvious, something which truly give someone a
reason to look further into your products and proceed to the shopping cart
checkout. Simply telling them to buy for no particular reason apart from you
wanting the sale is not good enough.... and they know it.

Now that your site is built.
It's one thing to have a fantastic site with great content, products and
designbut. What good is it if no one can find it?

Stay tuned for part two, "how to market your online store"

James O'Brien
http://www.ashop.com.au