Renting DVDs via Ecommerce Store - Who's Counting the Catalog?

WHO IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?

Despite varying opinions that going to the movie theaters is better than renting DVDs through an ecommerce store, or downloading movies on the TiVo or mobile devices, online movie rental has a big market to exploit. People from anywhere in the world love to watch movies now more than ever.

WHEN SHOULD YOU SELL?

There's no right or wrong occasion to sell. It's safe to say though that you should market aggressively during the season of the year when people would rather stay indoors than plow through the snow and mud to see a comedy flick.

WHERE DO YOU SELL?

Although movie rental ecommerce stores such as Blockbuster.com as scattered all over the U.S. and can ship DVDs almost at any state, a lot of online DVD rentals still don't have their own warehouses but merely dropship from a major distributor. Does it matter? The point is to provide customer convenience as part of the business concept.

WHAT IS YOUR UNIQUE ECOMMERCE SOLUTION?

Expand your DVD catalog. I am still disappointed, from a consumer point of view, that although ecommerce stores such as Blockbuster.com ship DVD titles pretty efficiently and handle exchanges well, I still have to look elsewhere for other titles I cannot find in their catalog.

Ecommerce Strategy - How to Sell Musical Instruments

The great thing about selling musical instruments online is that profit is not restricted to the occasion. You can make money anytime of the year, as long as you regularly update your product catalog with new items and keep in touch with new or old customers alike.

This holiday season, a good ecommerce strategy is to capitalize on selling musical instruments that people are likely buy as gifts to their friends and family.

eBay lists the Gibson Electric Guitar as one of the top musical instruments being sold and traded online. That is, with the exception of the iPhone, of course. (Haha.) A lot of people who own used Gibson electric guitars or manuals are selling them on eBay, while others auction brand new items. And others build their own musical instruments store as their Christmas ecommerce strategy.

If you're thinking of the same thing, you sure have a lot of competition to beat. But if your ecommerce strategy is to provide more value-added incentives to your buyers such as free shipping, gift wrapping, or discounts, then you're likely to take a bigger market share.

Ecommerce Technology Tip - Gadgets and Games Sell Best Online

Competition is tough for online electronic gadget merchants. But despite this ecommerce technology trend, online marketing experts report that computer and electronic gadgets are the best selling products online. The demand even tops apparel and other average consumer items. In eBay alone, electronic gadgets such as the iPod Nano, Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 are on top of the hot items list for Christmas 2007.

Ecommerce technology has broken the limit on what merchants can and cannot sell online. Because people have more freedom to compare prices, read reviews, and research on an enormous number of gadget stores, they are more encouraged to buy.

Online retailers should of course take advantage of this opportunity. By capitalizing on in-demand items such as the iPod Nano 8 GB or other popular gadgets, they can make a good profit this holiday season. The best part of it is that with the help of fast changing ecommerce technology upgrades they can bridge their brick and mortar and online stores, converting mere visitors into buyers.

How Do You Sell High Demand Transformers Toys on Secure Ecommerce?

How does one sell items by virtue of secure ecommerce? And here I don't mean just ordinary items and a small product catalog. I meant Transformers toys! If you're thinking of products to invest on these holidays, try plunking in some on Transformers toys sold online. The demand for them as Christmas gifts for kids (the third most popularly searched product according to eBay survey) is so huge that it would be hard to ignore what could be a good yearend profit for you.

And because so many Transformers fans are out to buy, sell, trade, and purchase gift certificates for these toys, making sure you transact on secure ecommerce system should be your first concern.

For example, if you buy Transformers parts from traders, you should make sure they are high quality items before you pay them. If you sell to Transformers collectors, make sure they have paid in full (layaway can also be considered) before shipping the items. For a more secure ecommerce transaction, provide various payment methods online (and offline) that are backed with anti-fraud tools such as SSL encryption and geolocation IP detection for international buyers.

Fraud happens a lot in many online transactions involving high demand and huge catalog so merchants must be sure they are safe whether selling toys online or offline.

ECOMMERCE STRATEGY - Are you Selling to Impulse Buyers?

Online shoppers buy on an impulse mostly because they are merely "window shopping" or are indecisive. For example, sometimes I go to flea markets without anything exact in mind to buy, but when I do find something nice, or something that I will probably need in the future and is offered at a low price today, then I buy it on an impulse. Even online many merchants take advantage of this "indecision" as an excellent ecommerce strategy.

And yes, you are familiar with this ecommerce strategy that even McDonald's and other brick and mortar fast food stores use.

People also buy on impulse if the products are on sale on a limited period of time. The temptation to buy and save money on the purchase is overwhelming enough to let the opportunity pass. As an online merchant, the more you can exploit this ecommerce strategy by offering "more for less", the better you will make a profit.

Should You Write Perfect Web Copy All the Time?

Should you write perfect web copy all the time?

Pffffft. I know some of you may laugh thinking how ridiculous this question is. We already know that bad web copy is a huge turn off. But did you also know you can take advantage of a few misspellings in your ecommerce web site to catch the "eye" of the search engines?

When you write web copy, you try to make it sound as natural and as convincing (if it's a sales copy) as possible to your visitors. Your goal is to convert them into buyers. If you're familiar with how people use the Internet to buy, or browse from one ecommerce web site to another, you will know that a lot of them make mistakes in spelling when searching for products online. This is something you can take advantage of.

A perfect web copy is spic and span. It's grammatically correct, it has natural flow of words, it's creative, and it's run on spell checker. But smarter ecommerce web site owners know that a little twist on word spelling and synonyms of their highly searched products which Internet users tend to overlook can mean a huge difference in potential sales.

When Movies and Web Ecommerce Collide

A lot of people are not aware that they can take advantage of the Internet to learn more about certain exotic, international, indie, or otherwise "rare" films they have always wanted to watch. Decades ago, it is almost impossible to get a hold of these movies. There are way more restrictions to what people can watch.

Decades ago also, moviemakers cannot reach their audience as much. A lot of movies simply go to the back archives because they are not allowed to be advertised on various forms of media. If they are, they cannot be watched by certain groups of audience such as minors or people who live in geographically restricted places.

Today, however, web ecommerce has changed the face of movie making and movie selling.

Movie producers know better than to take for granted all the possibilities that web ecommerce advertising can bring. Online, they can reach their target audience. Online, they can reach a "way bigger and more highly targeted audience". They can even encourage non-movie watchers to buy relevant items such as souvenirs, apparel, ringtones, or e-books.

With the help of social networking platforms such as blogs and forums, movie makers can promote films further. Viral marketing is a highly effective technique they can use.

And if finally, they are still not satiated with their web ecommerce marketing efforts, guess what -- they can do it the Second Life way. Film-based MMORPGs and action-packed online video games are the way to go.

ECOMMERCE SOLUTION 13 - 4 Essential People for Ecommerce Success

Selling online is never entirely a game of chance. Many merchants have been groping in the dark because they know so little how ecommerce works. They set up their store before they actually know what to put in it. Worse, they make their ecommerce web sites flashy and colorful as a way to attract online buyers.

Now, there's nothing wrong with a good ecommerce web site design. But before you hire your well-paid web designer, hire an SEO expert first! I've seen so many highly interesting and quality ecommerce sites languishing on the bottom of the pile. The search engines do not reach them, and if they do, they cannot be found on the first pages of search results.

If this is your problem, then you have made ecommerce web site design your enemy, not your friend.

The SEO seminar in Asia I attended back in October 2007 taught me a lot about the relationship of the web site designer, programmer, content writer, and webmaster. These four people are essential in making your online business a big success. A webmaster directs all marketing efforts and overall ecommerce set up, a programmer sets up the site according to SEO instructions, a content writer makes sure all text are search engine friendly, and a web designer works on the ecommerce web site design's goals to make the store an exciting place to shop and visit.

If you have these key people to help you build your online store, then you're not taking chances. You know you're likely to succeed.