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.
Showing posts with label ecommerce web site. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ecommerce web site. Show all posts
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
How to Build Your Ecommerce Name - Step 3 E-mail Addresses
E-mail addresses play a crucial role in doing business online. I had my own free as well as company accounts and I use them however the situation requires. Often, when I correspond by using free e-mail accounts such as @hotmail.com, @gmail.com, or @yahoo.com, I don't get responses or I get refused when I sign up. What is wrong with using free e-mail accounts?
Obviously, if you are using a company e-mail address it is a sign that you're doing business professionally. Does your ecommerce package allow you to create custom company e-mail accounts? It may not sound like a big deal but in business, sometimes the little things mean big things. Your ecommerce package should be able to host custom e-mail accounts for you.
Free e-mail accounts matter not just to your customers, but to other merchants as well. Doing business to business ecommerce requires more professionalism, because your target market are fellow merchants. Your ecommerce package is key to showing them that you are willing to invest on B2B ecommerce. You don't want them to be signing up to your services using free e-mail accounts too, do you?
How to Build Your Ecommerce Name - Step 1 Domain Name
How to Build Your Ecommerce Name - Step 2 Web Hosting
How to Build Your Ecommerce Name - Step 4 Should You Spam?
Obviously, if you are using a company e-mail address it is a sign that you're doing business professionally. Does your ecommerce package allow you to create custom company e-mail accounts? It may not sound like a big deal but in business, sometimes the little things mean big things. Your ecommerce package should be able to host custom e-mail accounts for you.
Free e-mail accounts matter not just to your customers, but to other merchants as well. Doing business to business ecommerce requires more professionalism, because your target market are fellow merchants. Your ecommerce package is key to showing them that you are willing to invest on B2B ecommerce. You don't want them to be signing up to your services using free e-mail accounts too, do you?
How to Build Your Ecommerce Name - Step 1 Domain Name
How to Build Your Ecommerce Name - Step 2 Web Hosting
How to Build Your Ecommerce Name - Step 4 Should You Spam?
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
ECOMMERCE STRATEGY 11 - Selling Online is Like Hiring
Do you know how much contact information about your company matters in your ecommerce site?
When I was out of college and was looking for jobs I didn't know the first thing about aggressive and efficient job hunting. Of course, I was a newbie. I needed work and learning about my prospective employers' background wasn't one of my biggest concerns. Back then, I had worked with all kinds of employers, and yes, some of them were unscrupulous, who didn't have good credentials, didn't pay government taxes (underground), and sometimes never showed up in the office! I learned a great deal after so many years of switching from job to job. Eventually I soon found out that when searching for a good job, the first step I would do is to check out my employer's background.
It's the same thing when selling services or products on the web. All merchants who own an ecommerce site should provide decent contact information online. This is one of the best ways to earn buyers' trust.
If I have access to a company's office address, phone number, email address, and even a short background on the owner and his staff on his ecommerce site, I can easily make inquiries. And if I can talk to the company representatives, that sets my mind at ease! Trust is a big deal when doing business online. Let your customers reach you, so they can trust you!
When I was out of college and was looking for jobs I didn't know the first thing about aggressive and efficient job hunting. Of course, I was a newbie. I needed work and learning about my prospective employers' background wasn't one of my biggest concerns. Back then, I had worked with all kinds of employers, and yes, some of them were unscrupulous, who didn't have good credentials, didn't pay government taxes (underground), and sometimes never showed up in the office! I learned a great deal after so many years of switching from job to job. Eventually I soon found out that when searching for a good job, the first step I would do is to check out my employer's background.
It's the same thing when selling services or products on the web. All merchants who own an ecommerce site should provide decent contact information online. This is one of the best ways to earn buyers' trust.
If I have access to a company's office address, phone number, email address, and even a short background on the owner and his staff on his ecommerce site, I can easily make inquiries. And if I can talk to the company representatives, that sets my mind at ease! Trust is a big deal when doing business online. Let your customers reach you, so they can trust you!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
WEB ECOMMERCE OPPORTUNITY 4 - Affiliate Marketing
Another possibility in ecommerce and small business is partnership through affiliate marketing. This gives opportunity to merchants who have only as little capital as a "personal blog" to earn money through promotion of relevant products. Google Adsense is famous for this democratic money making scheme.
Advertising has been the backbone of most existing businesses today. Ecommerce and small business owners pay for web space, bandwidth, design, maintenance costs, and other facilities and resources in order to give their products and services good exposure online. At the same time, they can also affiliate with other merchants who also sell relevant products and advertise them on their site for x amount of revenue.
Many merchants have made good money on affiliate marketing. If you are an ecommerce and small business entrepreneur, this is just one of the many avenues you can take. You either become a merchant who offers the affiliate program or the affiliate marketer itself.
Advertising has been the backbone of most existing businesses today. Ecommerce and small business owners pay for web space, bandwidth, design, maintenance costs, and other facilities and resources in order to give their products and services good exposure online. At the same time, they can also affiliate with other merchants who also sell relevant products and advertise them on their site for x amount of revenue.
Many merchants have made good money on affiliate marketing. If you are an ecommerce and small business entrepreneur, this is just one of the many avenues you can take. You either become a merchant who offers the affiliate program or the affiliate marketer itself.
Friday, October 26, 2007
ECOMMERCE WEB SITE SUCCESS TIP 3 - Use Your Backend Design to Your Advantage
It's funny how so much of the web has evolved. Back in the old days, all merchants could do is upload information on their products on a bulky program -- and it may take days, weeks, even months to see how the ecommerce web site will look like. Today if you have a good template and a product feed software, uploading data doesn't take an hour if you have a small product catalog.
But this is exactly why it's far better to invest on good ecommerce web site design these days. You are bestowed more flexibility when it comes to managing content for your store. Best of all, as you as become more well-versed in it, you can cut costs in the long run.
My opinion is that it takes certain experience to be able to pick a good ecommerce web site design provider that has everything that you want in one package. One that enhances the look of your store while giving your customers a good shopping experience, while at the same time making it easy for you to manage the content every time you make changes or add new products. Have you found the right provider yet?
Other articles:
ECOMMERCE WEB SITE SUCCESS TIP 1 - Three Rules of Thumb
ECOMMERCE WEB SITE SUCCESS TIP 2 - Build networks, Build Backlinks
But this is exactly why it's far better to invest on good ecommerce web site design these days. You are bestowed more flexibility when it comes to managing content for your store. Best of all, as you as become more well-versed in it, you can cut costs in the long run.
My opinion is that it takes certain experience to be able to pick a good ecommerce web site design provider that has everything that you want in one package. One that enhances the look of your store while giving your customers a good shopping experience, while at the same time making it easy for you to manage the content every time you make changes or add new products. Have you found the right provider yet?
Other articles:
ECOMMERCE WEB SITE SUCCESS TIP 1 - Three Rules of Thumb
ECOMMERCE WEB SITE SUCCESS TIP 2 - Build networks, Build Backlinks
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
ECOMMERCE STRATEGY 9 – What's Your Favorite Color?
I like buying stuff from Victoria's Secret store a lot. I either visit their brick and mortar store in Texas or browse on their ecommerce web site. One thing I appreciate about VS is that although they don't employ the best web site design, they allow me to see the dresses that I prefer in various colors. They do this by letting me click on the color patch. Then the model's dress changes to that shade that I have picked.
If you cannot provide this ability for your customers to see the outfits (or any product) in the colors that they pick, there's a high likelihood that they will not buy. I would say this is where employing this type of shopping flexibility becomes handy for your ecommerce web site. If you can't work this tactic, a customer might just abandon the shopping cart halfway.
So take notes. Victoria's Secret is well known for classy, sexy, and affordable outfits for women. Their ecommerce web site may not be the most impressive (their models are, of course), but they allow me to see the dresses that I like in my favorite colors. This is a huge convenience if I'm not able to visit their landbased retail store on a stormy day in the Lone Star state!
If you cannot provide this ability for your customers to see the outfits (or any product) in the colors that they pick, there's a high likelihood that they will not buy. I would say this is where employing this type of shopping flexibility becomes handy for your ecommerce web site. If you can't work this tactic, a customer might just abandon the shopping cart halfway.
So take notes. Victoria's Secret is well known for classy, sexy, and affordable outfits for women. Their ecommerce web site may not be the most impressive (their models are, of course), but they allow me to see the dresses that I like in my favorite colors. This is a huge convenience if I'm not able to visit their landbased retail store on a stormy day in the Lone Star state!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)