One: Make sure your online store looks professional.

Ensure your online shop is presented professionally to your site visitors. I have come across literally hundreds of online stores run by legitimate businesses where the appearance lets their business down. Take a look at your competition and see what their e-commerce website looks like and draw some inspiration. A professional appearance builds confidence and helps convert visitors into paying customers. After all, would you buy from an online shop that looked unprofessional?

Two: Place products on the front page.

Placing products on the front page of your e-commerce store allows you to deliver exactly what your visitors have come for as soon as they walk though your virtual door. Some stores have lengthy text about their company or pictures of their high street shop with a “shop online” button buried somewhere in the jungle of links on their site. This is a critical mistake and can lead to many visitors simply pressing their back button. If your shop sells mountain bikes then make sure a selection of mountain bikes is right on the main entrance page. Better still, feature your best deals and money-off bikes as an incentive for shoppers to go deeper into your store.

Three: Structure your product categories sensibly.

Have a clear set of product categories somewhere highly visible on your pages and try to ensure the list of categories appears on all pages. There are a host of better quality e-commerce software packages that follow this ethos and will construct your categories for you automatically once you have entered the details. Think about how your customers will find their way around your store and name your categories in easy to understand terms and not shop-talk or just price brackets. Not only will this assist your visitors with navigating your website but in addition the presence of categories can be used to promote other products. For example, I may be viewing a product in the “Road Bikes” section when my eye is drawn to the “Discounted Bikes” category.

Four: Name your products correctly.

Product names are critical for your shoppers and your position on the major search engines and can have an immense impact on the amount of visitors your online shop receives. Naming your products logically will also allow your visitors to use your own in-shop search box more effectively. In my experience the most effective formula for product naming is Brand + Model + Item, such as “Peddler Hilly500 Mountain Bike”, “Peddler” being the brand, “Hilly500” being the model and “Mountain Bike” being the item. Many quality e-commerce software solutions will name the product page URL after the product name which is a huge help with search engines, so you now have a friendly URL for the product page such as

www.yoursite.com/peddler-hilly500-mountain-bike.html

Five: Use high quality product images.

Product images can greatly influence the decision to buy on your store so it is very important your images are clear, sharp, a decent size and blend in as much as possible with the “look and feel” of your e-commerce shop. The product thumbnail image should be large enough to be able to see the product easily and the larger image should load quickly and not require the visitor to scroll, especially left-to-right! I tend to advise clients to make their larger images no wider than 800 pixels which ensures easy visibility in all screen sizes. NEVER use images from other websites without permission and always obtain permission from manufacturers if you intend to use their images. If you are an authorised dealer for your product range most manufacturers are happy for you to utilise their images and some will even supply an image library on CD or DVD.

Six: Type compelling and accurate product descriptions.

The description part of your product page is your sales pitch to the customer, yet this section is often the most overlooked on product websites. Your visitor has seen the name of the product, one or more good quality images and now is the time for you to clinch the deal with a knock-out description that will convince them to buy. Simply pasting in a specification sheet is probably going to be meaningless to most of your would-be customers and the same spec sheet can be found on every website selling the same item. Type an accurate description of the product, why it is popular with your customers, the advantage of buying that product, features and benefits versus other similar products, etc. A two paragraph unique description for every product may take longer but the rewards will follow with business. Try to mention your product name at the beginning of your description, somewhere in the middle and again towards the end and NEVER copy and paste product descriptions from competitors’ websites. After all, if the content on your site can be found on 10 other websites there is no reason for Google or any other search engine to give you a good ranking.

Seven: Try to include product reviews and customer testimonials.

In addition to your product description it’s a great idea to include a product review from an existing customer on the same product page. Not only will it add credibility to your website but it will also bolster the sales potential of the product, bringing a level of reassurance from existing customers to new customers. Either a single well written product review or one or two customer testimonials can make all the difference when promoting a product and will provide more product-related unique content for your e-commerce store.

Eight: Be clear about prices, taxes and shipping.

Your prices should be highly visible and preferably located at the top of the product page next to the product name and image. Different circumstances and countries dictate the tax situation but make it crystal clear if your prices include tax or not. You also need to be public about shipping costs, even if it’s free, preferably right beside the price. Shoppers online often abandon their baskets when a nasty shipping charge is presented on the checkout page so presenting your postage or courier costs upfront will keep your visitors fully informed. A separate “shipping and returns” page is essential on your site to display your shipping policy, your returns policy and any other terms relating to sending products to customers. It protects both the retailer and the customer and if any disputes arise in the future the shipping and returns page may be used for reference.

Why not ask your customers what they think of your e-commerce site?

Nine: Ensure good communication with your customers.

Nothing is worse than buying something from an online store only to hear absolutely nothing from the retailer – not even a thank you in some cases! Worse still, they have taken your payment from your card and the item still hasn’t arrived! Stay in contact with your customers, thank them for their orders and keep them well informed with events relating to their purchase. If your client has ordered that “Peddler Hilly500 Mountain Bike” from you and it’s out of stock – get in touch! Even a simple telephone call or polite email can save the day and gain you a lot more business through good customer referrals in the future.

Ten: Provide Top Class Customer Service

Your customers are your bread and butter and those same customers are holding the plate, so providing top class customer service is a must. Good communication, helpful assistance and a “we are pleased to hear from you” attitude can dramatically increase your online business. The old saying “the customer is always right” has never been more correct, even when they are wrong, so try to assist them whenever they require your help and be happy to resolve problems or challenges when they arise. In the virtual world, just as in the real world, problems do occur but good customer service coupled with a polite and helpful attitude will probably see your customer return to shop online at your store again!

I know of many small businesses where the business owner themselves are totally responsibe for all aspects of their online shop. This is perfectly possible, even from home in the evenings, as many small businesses do. Once the initial work of setting up your e-commerce shop website is complete there is a small set of tasks that will need to be done, either by you or a member of staff. These include:

• Adding, removing and altering products and information to your e-commerce store
• Preparing images for products
• Checking and processing customer orders
• Responding to customer questions
• Processing payments for online orders
• Packaging and dispatching customer orders
• Marketing of your online shop
• E-Commerce site administration such as revenue, visitor stats, etc

It is perfectly possible to run your e-commerce store without staff

Set Some Time Aside To Run Your E-Commerce Shop

Whether it be adding products, images, processing orders, doing some online promotion or responding to customer queries, these activities all take time so remember to assign time to accomplish them. This is especially important if you are tackling online trading alone. All the tasks in the list above will have to be done sooner or later but if you begin to see your e-commerce shop as a hindrence and not an opportunity then you may be on the road to failure. Your online shop is an important as your real shop.

E-Commerce Staff Considerations

In an ideal world you would have someone to assist you with the running of your online shop. Even one person can make a world of difference, taking a major workload off your shoulders and speeding up the progress of your e-commerce project. Consider hiring someone with the basic skills your online shop will require:

• Basic computer and typing skills with good English
• Experience of resizing and changing images with photo-editing software
• The patience to take their time and enter details correctly

Even more progress on your e-commerce project could be made if:

• The person has experience of e-commerce software or similar software packages
• They have experience of content re-writing (in their own words) and/or blog/product review writing
• They have experience of internet marketing and an understanding of search engines

A single employee could have their day divided into sections, making leaps and bounds with your online shop. This makes your progress easier to track and provides variety in their work. For example, their timetable could consist of:

• The first and last hour of every day could be spent checking orders and responding to customers
• Mornings Mon-Thurs could be spent preparing product images for entry
• Afternoons Mon-Thurs could be spent entering product details, prices, descriptions and images
• Friday could be spent promoting the site, building links and witing blog entries

Which ever way you structure your day or the time of your employees, developing a system is the most productive way to make progress with your e-commerce venture.

Maintaining Your E-Commerce Website

Your e-commerce site needs products, product descriptions, accurate prices, product photos etc. Consider who is going to carry out this site maintenance and if it is you, how much time are you willing to devote? A well laid out online shop with good quality images, well written descriptions and good photographs of products will be far more likely to succeed. Someone has to check orders, answer customer queries, process payments and prepare good for dispatch. All these things take time and whilst it is fine to start small don’t be afraid to hire someone part time or assign someone in your business to maintain your e-commerce website.

Once established you can develop a system to update and maintain your e-commerce store for maximum results

Customer Service & Attention

Your customers are the whole reason for running your e-commerce venture so don’t treat them like a hindrence. It may sound rediculous but I’ve seen it happen so many times I have lost count. It is absolutely imperitive your customers receive top-notch service, particularly if you are selling online. Respond to their enquiries, listen to their feedback, suggestions and concerns. Make sure their orders are dealt with promptly and their goods dispatched as soon as possible. If their is a delay of any kind keep the customer fully informed at all times.

Marketing Your E-Commerce Shop

There are many ways to market your e-commerce shop and marketing your store should be treated as a priority. From search engine marketing to pay-per-click marketing, these topics will be discussed in a future article. However simple steps can be taken to assist your e-commerce shop such as correctly naming products and categories, making sure your web address is on all your company literature and signs, running promotions in your physical shop, placing adverts in printed magazines and newspapers etc. You must devote time to marketing your e-commerce store in order to succeed.

It goes without saying that the main tool in your e-commerce business is your website. Before you begin you should understand your marketplace and the customers your e-commerce business is attempting to target. This information is critical for the correct construction of your shop and marketing your website in the future.

The Domain Name For Your E-Commerce Store

This is always a difficult choice since there are various factors to consider. Generally speaking it is better for search engine purposes to have your product line included in your domain name. If this is the case the search engines will consider your web address to be more relevant to the search. For example, if your domain name is knittedscarfs.co.uk and you are selling knitted scarfs, your site will be given a higher priority. If your domain name is xyztrading.co.uk and you sell knitted scarfs it will not be so relevant. Your business name can still be displayed on your e-commerce shop but it doesn’t have to be in your domain name. It is also possible to buy two or more domain names and have them point to the same website in case your customers do type in your company name. B&Q use the domain name www.diy.com, for example.

Choosing the right domain name is critical to your e-commerce shop

E-Commerce Hosting

Hosting is the space required to store your e-commerce shop so that it can be displayed on the internet. Hosting companies offer many different solution but generally speaking they are not expensive. Your e-commerce shop should reside on secure servers which encrypt details such as customer credit card numbers and other details. You can always tell when an e-commerce store is on secure servers as a padlock appears in the browser window when the customer proceeds to payment. Your e-commerce hosting company will be able to assist you with the best options for hosting your e-commerce shop.

E-Commerce Software

This is the software that runs your actual online shop. It is possible to build your own from the ground up but nowadays many high quality e-commerce software packages are available with built-in features that can be very useful for the store owner and the customer. Again there is a myriad of packages to choose from, some more expensive than others, so be sure to shop around for the software that best suits your needs. As a friendly warning, and for good security reasons, stay away from free software. There’s no free lunch on the internet and if you intend to establish a legitimate e-commerce store for your business then you should be prepared to invest some money to establish yourself.

There are some basic rules which dictate the success of any e-commerce shop and if these rules are followed it can make a huge difference to online sales for any business. In my previous article I outlined the benefits of planning for e-commerce and these fundamental, yet sometimes simple rules should be part of your e-commerce business plan.

Make Your Online Shop Look Neat & Professional

There is nothing more off-putting to a potential customer than a poorly designed, unprofessional looking business website. Don’t settle for less just because your neighbour’s son said he could build you a website – this is your business we are talking about. Take a look at what your competitors have and aim high and within your budget. Be prepared to pay for a decent website and remember that it represents your business online. In addition stay away from free e-commerce software and don’t try to cut corners when it comes to being professional on the internet. Customers are wary of poorly designed websites and will be reluctant to buy from your online shop or give you their contact details and credit card numbers if your e-commerce store looks unprofessional.

Ease Of Use Is The Key To E-Commerce Success

Probably the single biggest factor in boosting confidence levels of shoppers on your e-commerce shop is ease of use. products should be clearly displayed along with all related prices such as cost, shipping and taxes. The different categories of products should be well thought out and visible from any page in your website and your “add to basket” buttin should be highly visible next to every product. Make sure your “checkout” button is also highly visible on every product page of your website. You should make it as easy as possible for your customers to add products to their online shopping cart and pay for them quickly and securely.

The item, price, shipping and add-to-basket should be clearly displayed on all products in your e-commerce store

Give Your Online Customers What They Want

You have ten seconds to give your customers what they want or say goodbye. Doesn’t sound like much time, does it? It isn’t. In the world of e-commerce people are searching for products for a reason, they want to research them or, more likely, buy them. If your e-commerce website doesn’t deliver those products on-screen to online shoppers they will leave and all research shows that people wait an average of 8-10 seconds before hitting that “back” button. Poorly designed menu’s or badly laid-out, slow-loading sites are often to blame for this phenomenon. If customers have to hunt around your store for five minutes to find out what they are looking for, you have a problem – they won’t. They’ll simply leave and visit another online shop.

Make sure your products are clearly displayed along with your categories. If you sell clothing for children then place some examples on the front page of your site. Better still, make sure your e-commerce software has a built-in search engine your customers can use to quickly find the products they want.

Be Professional To Your E-Commerce Customers

It sounds basic but you wouldn’t believe how often this issue is overlooked. You wouldn’t leave a customer standing in your high street shop for two days waiting for an answer, so don’t do it online either. Online shopping is big business and people are very savvy when it comes to the internet. If they are not receiving the customer service levels they expect you will never see them again. Bad service travels like wildfire so the effects can be far-reaching. If a customer asks a question respond quickly and show your clients online that you value their business. Your e-commerce store is no different than your real shop.

Before you start anything to do with e-commerce you need a plan or at least a clear idea of what you intend to do. Planning your e-commerce business is critical as it gives you an outline to work with and can avoid costly changes further down the line. In a previous article I outlined why you should use e-commerce and how it could benefit your business. This article outlines the essentials for a basic e-commerce business plan and what to consider before selling online.

Write down an outline plan for your e-commerce business

Write Down Your E-Commerce Business Plan

Before you rush out and buy e-commerce software take the time to sit down and write down your e-commerce business plan. However simple, a written plan always helps you to see how things could be done and often helps you forsee future issues and problems with selling online. Included in your e-commerce business plan could be:

• What do you intend to sell online?
• What will you need to run an e-commerce website?
• How will you accept payments?
• Where and how will you ship your products?
• What time will you set aside to run your online shop?

The points above are just some of the factors you may want to consider and jotting these things down at the kitchen table can be a huge benefit. Even before building this e-commerce advice site I sat down and planned out the basic structure of the site on paper.

E-Commerce Opportunities For Your Business

E-commerce works in different ways depending on the type of business you have. You may be selling physical products that can be shipped to a customer, digital products that can be delivered instantly or showcasing larger products to generate leads and draw customers to your business establishment.

Selline Online Directly To Customers

This form of e-commerce is the fastest growing area of online sales for small businesses in the UK. The main benefit is the ability to sell online directly to your customers without them actually visiting your shop or business. Selling physical products on your e-commerce website will require the products to be delivered whereas selling digital products, such as photographs or music, means your customers will receive an electronic delivery of their product, usually right after payment has been accepted.

Brochure Websites And Generating Sales Leads

This type of e-commerce is one step removed from direct sales online and means you are using your website to generate sales leads for your business. You may have a brochure website, without a shopping cart, where customers can view details and specifics about your products and perhaps follow up with a telephone call or a visit to your premesis. Your customers could also fill out an enquiry form on your website which would be delivered to you by email. Brochure sites are a pre-sales promotional activity and this form of e-commerce is particularly suitable for businesses with “non-shippable” items such as vehicles, farm equipment, etc.

E-Commerce And Customer Support

Another commercial activity which can be conducted online is customer support, for new and existing clients as well as potential customers. For example, you may wish to have an online FAQ regarding your business or products. This can dramatically reduce calls to your business and provide a lot more information to your customers, such as images, technical details, information and pre-sales questions.

Setting Targets For Your E-Commerce Business

However basic, set some targets for your new e-commerce business. Targets give you a goal to reach for and help you measure the effectiveness of your e-commerce venture. For example, you may decide that you want to achieve £2000 per month of online revenue after six months, draw in an extra 10 customers a month from your brochure website or reduce calls to your customer support depeartment by 20% over a six month period. All these forms of e-commerce work best when an initial plan and set of simple targets are established.

In the next article I shall outline some basic rules for e-commerce and your customers online.

Why finding the right e-commerce site design company really matters

In the last article I discussed why you shouldn’t use free ecommerce software and some of the dangers it could pose to your business. The same ethos essentially applies to choosing a good ecommerce design company – it’s all about security, integrity and money. If you were employing someone in your real shop you wouldn’t trust just anyone to watch over your cash register, would you? Of course not and it’s the same on the internet. The web design agency you use is responsible for providing the facility for you and your customers to conduct transactions online. You’re going to be taking peoples money – it has to be right.

Choosing the wrong ecommerce design company could sink your online business and cause no end of problems

1. Ask to see examples of their work.

Any good ecommerce website design company will have no problem in showing you examples of their work. Many place a portfolio on their own websites showcasing work they have completed for a client list. Have a close look at their design capabilities, browse through some of the shops they have designed and see if you like the appearance, functionality etc. Try to imagine one of them being your online shop and make notes of the things you like and don’t like.

2. Ask them what they use to build their ecommerce stores.

I mentioned in the previous article the dangers of using free or “open source” solutions for businesses selling online and why you shouldn’t use free software. The same applies to e-commerce design companies and they don’t always play ball. For example, I know of many businesses who paid decent money to a “web designer” to have an online shop build only to find the designer himself used free software to do it. Ask your chosen company what they use to build their client’s stores and don’t be afraid to ask if it’s their own solution or is it open source. If they say “open source” then open the door and leave. I wouldn’t expect any small business to know the names of every piece of e-commerce software but you have every right to check of they are using free software. If it’s their own solution or an established software solution that’s fine.

3. Ask for a reference or two that you can contact.

This is a must and if the company you are dealing with won’t provide a reference then don’t deal with them. A reference is gold dust as you can chat with an existing customer, ask them how they are finding their e-commerce solution and what problems they have encountered, if any. Don’t ask about price though – it’s bad karma and it doesn’t apply to your business anyway. prices for ecommerce web design vary with every customer and change all the time.

4. Ask about future support and assistance.

Find out how much free support you will get with running your online store. Is there someone you can contact in the web design company for help should you need it? Will the software be updated at any time? Is there a build-in help guide or any kind of manual to assist you?

5. Find out the cost of e-commerce site designs and compare.

It’s good to shop around and compare prices from different e-commerce design companies. My gereral rule of thumb is not to touch anything under £500. Realistically your ecommerce shop should be costing you more than £1000 to establish. Ask about any other costs such as domain name charges and hosting for your site. Make sure there are no other hidden costs that will rear their heads at a later date. Going with the cheapest company isn’t always the best idea either, it all depends on the quality of their work, but remember your ecommerce store is designed to generate business for you. It’s not money down the drain to establish your online store - it should be making you money in the longer term. Invest in a good e-commerce solution for your businesses.

6. You run your business – they don’t do it for you!

Finally, remember that hiring an ecommerce web design company to build your website doesn’t mean they are responsible for the amount of business you do or money you make. They are only there to build your website, it’s up to you to run and promote it. The internet is not a magic door to millions of pounds, it takes work. Never try to hold a web design company responsible for a lack of business or low earnings. It may sound obvious but people do!

The Dangers Of Free Ecommerce Software

In my experience building and running ecommerce websites for both large and small businesses I have established several rules of thumb which I pass on to my small business customers. One point I am quick to highlight is cost and the dangers of using free software to sell online. Incredibly some people still expect to be able to avoid paying for their ecommerce software even though it is the most important part of their online business. If you were opening a high street store would you expect the shop to be free? Of course you wouldn’t.

There’s no free lunch, not even on the internet. If you are serious about ecommerce for your small business, stay away from free ecommerce software products.

The world of ecommerce is huge and consequently there are many ecommerce software products available. The thought of establishing an ecommerce site for free may sound tempting but it’s full of pitfalls. For example, there are a lot of so-called “open source” ecommerce products on the market. Open Source means the programming code is open to the public and, if you are a developer or programmer, you can work on the product to improve it’s use and write add-ons and modules. Whilst this may be fine for many types of software I am of the firm belief that free Open Source software should not be used for ecommerce.

Basically, if you didn’t program the software yourself you don’t know whats in it. In addition, open source ecommerce software products often have a poor support network and dubious security breaches, usually relying on the customers themselves helping each other through forums. Often there is no “company” to talk to at all.

I know of one instance where a small household appliance company used free open source software to run their ecommerce shop. It looked just fine and after a while the owner decided to add a newsletter module, also free, which had become available for the software. The newsletter worked just as the business owner expected it to, however unknown to him there was another program running silently in the background. It’s job was to harvest and copy all the credit card details from all the store’s transactions and send those details off via the internet to a central computer in Russia. Only when the police were on his doorstep did he realise something was terribly wrong. Extreme perhaps, but very common, and just to save a few hundred pounds at the beginning.

Free or Open Source software may be fine if you are selling pencil drawings from your kitchen via PayPal but it’s no way to run an online shop for any small business. You should always expect to pay for your ecommerce store and why not? After all, if you are serious about selling online it’s a worthwhile investment!

My general rule of thumb is: If your ecommerce store costs less than £500, don’t do it. Realistically you should be looking at spending upwards of £1000 for a professional solution. Most of my own small business clients have spent between two and five thousand pounds establishing their online shops. They were happy to pay for a safe, tested solution to their ecommerce needs.

Having a successful online business is about being professional, efficient and secure. It’s also about taking money from your customers online. Don’t use free ecommerce software to run your business, it will bite you in the end.

Lastly, if you are using an ecommerce company to build your online shop for you, make sure they arn’t using free software either. Believe it or not some do and it’s not something that should be given to any business customer. In the next article I will outline what you should expect from a good ecommerce design company.

Your ecommerce site will be stored on secure servers to protect you and your customers.

Starting An Ecommerce Business

1. Your Products

Before you do anything with ecommerce it’s worth making a plan. Some of my largest business ecommerce projects began with an evening on the sofa and some solid thinking. Sit down with a piece of paper and write down the kinds of products you plan to sell online. In our examples on this site we are imagining you own a pet shop so, for example, you may decide to sell products up to a certain size or value, only pet accessories and not actual pets, etc. Think about the stock you have in your shop and what items are more popular with your existing customers. Use the following checklist to decide what will be on your ecommerce shop:

• Which products will you sell on your ecommerce store?
• Can they all be shipped or posted?
• What area are you willing to sell to? The whole UK, or Europe, Worldwide?
• How will you deal with product returns?
• What payment methods are you willing to accept? Cards? Cheques? Reserve and pay in-store?

2. Your Ecommerce Website

In order to start your ecommerce business you are going to need a website. It’s possible you may already have a website that doesn’t actually conduct transactions, for example a brochure-style website. Either way you will need a website to place your products on. Rather than attempting to bolt ecommerce software on to a badly designed or older website I would suggest scrapping what you have an starting afresh. Many ecommerce software packages will now run your whole website for you, allowing you to place products on the front page, highlight featured products, products on sale etc. I will go into more details about ecommerce software in a future article shortly, but in the meantime let us assume you have your ecommerce software for your website.

3.  A Domain Name For Your Online Shop

You are probably used to domain names such as johnlewis.co.uk, google.co.uk etc. This is simply the web address of your online shop. However, unless you are a reasonably well known company it’s better to think carefully about your domain name as this can affect how you appear in search engines and therefore the amount of business you gain. For example, lets say your pet shop is called “Snakes & Ladders” or “John Smith & Sons”. Your business nature or product types need to appear in your domain name. Therefore neither of these names will do, but “York Pet Supplies” or “Pet Shop Online” may work much better. It doesn’t involve changing the name of your business, it is simply your web address. Something easy to remember and preferably something people are searching for. What would you type into Google if you were searching for a pet shop? Your ecommerce website design company will be able to help you with your choice of domain name but shortly I will include a futher article to assist you with domain names.

4. Secure Servers

Secure what I hear you say? Secure servers are where your website is hosted or “stored”. They are called secure because they use sophisticated software to encrypt details. In order to accept peoples money online you MUST use secure servers to host your website. Normally the company you have asked to build your ecommerce site will make sure that is the case, but you can do some tests yourself on other business websites. When you are on a secure ecommerce website and have begun the checkout process, in otherwords you are ready to pay for your items, a padlock will appear in your web browser either at the bottom or in the address bar at the top. This tells the customer that the website is secure and the transaction will be protected.

Ecommerce Jargon Buster:

• Hosting: Hosting is the “space” on the servers where your website is “stored”
• Servers: These are like large computers, connected to each other all over the world. This is how the internet actually works.
• Encryption: This is like “scrambling” the information and turning it into a complicated code. Useful for credit card numbers and personal details of customers.
• Software: This is the computer programme that will run your ecommerce shop.
• SSL: Secure Socket Layer – this is the “secure” part of your website.

In summary, to sell online you will need:

• A domain name for your website, such as petsupplies.co.uk
• Ecommerce software to run your website and display your products
• Secure server hosting to keep your website safe (usually done for you)
• Methods of payment you are willing to accept
• An established shipping method to send your products, such as Royal Mail or Parcelforce
• And lastly your products you wish to sell online!

Most businesses will ask a specialist ecommerce web design company to build their online shop for them and that company would take care of most of the items mentioned above, but there are some factors you should be aware of. In the next article I will discuss the reasons your business should stay away from free ecommerce software.

For most small businesses there are two types of websites – a simple brochure website or an ecommerce website. On a brochure website you may have pictures or details of your products, whereas on an ecommerce website people can actually order them and pay for them on your site. Brochure sites were commonplace for years and are still perfectly adequate for certain types of business, such as business selling items which cannot be shipped or items which are too expensive to buy online, such as cars or combine harvesters. Ecommerce enabled sites can be used to sell anything which can be shipped or posted to a customer.

How Ecommerce Websites Work

Most ecommerce websites consist of two halves – the public side and the admin side. The public side is what your customers see and where they can view and purchase your products. The admin side is only seen by you, the store owner. This is where you check your orders, add or remove products, change prices etc. A user name and password is required to access the admin side of your ecommerce shop and only you know what these are, so only you can make any changes or see customer and order information.

How Ecommerce Works For Your Customers

Your customers will go to your website by either typing in your website address or searching for products, such as dog baskets, on Google and other search engines. Once on your website they are able to browse through your products, viewing pictures, product details etc. When they see a product they want to purchase they add it to their basket – usually done by clicking a button next to the product – and once they have chosen everything they want your customers then pay for their products by using a credit or debit card. Normally you would have your shipping details on your website so your customers will know when they can expect delivery of their products. Some of the main benefits of ecommerce for your customers are:

• They can shop from the comfort of their own home
• Your shop is open 24 hours per day, even when your real shop is closed
• Your customers can view all your products, pictures and details in their own time

Customers can use their credit and debit cards to purchase your goods on your ecommerce website

How Ecommerce Works For You – The Shop Owner

Ecommerce works in tandem with your real shop and once all your products are online running your ecommerce shop becomes much simpler. Every day you would log in to the special “admin” side of your ecommerce shop and check to see if you have any orders. The orders from your customers are listed along with their personal details such as name and address plus payment details such as credit card numbers. Once you have taken the payment (this will be discussed in another article) you simply dispatch the item to the customer – and thats it! You have the money and your customer has their product. In many ways it’s not much different to the customer coming into your real shop. Ecommerce is just another way of selling products to customers and marketing your business. Some of the main benefits of ecommerce for shop owners are:

• Your shop is open 24/7 to everyone
• You are not restricted to the town you live in or the location of your real shop
• You can check your orders anytime or from anywhere
• Ecommerce brings you more business from a wider area
• You gain customers you would never see in your real shop

Ecommerce is a win-win for both your customers and your business and can open new doors for you. Unlike your real shop, your customers can shop at their leisure and don’t need to visit your real shop at all. Your products are available to anyone who wishes to purchase them from Land’s End to John O’Groats and as long as they have an address your products can be shipped to them.

Don’t be afraid of technical terms, computers or jargon. Ecommerce is actually very easy to do and doesn’t require a lot of computer knowledge.

In the next ecommerce article I shall be outlining what you need to start your ecommerce business .