Contents:
What is an eStore?
With the dramatic growth in Internet usage, many companies and
entrepreneurs are setting up sites on the World Wide Web to pitch for
orders, accept orders, process payment and sometimes ship orders -
these are known as Web stores.
What are the advantages of a Web?
A Web store has significantly lower set up and running costs than a
bricks-and-mortar store and customers are able to place orders 24hrs
a day from anywhere in the world. Additionally, if you are selling a
service, information or software then you can deliver it straight from
your Web site.
How do get a Web store?
A basic Web store can be created by simply offer goods or services
for sale on a secured part of a Web site. However, once you move
beyond the most rudimentary of Web stores, software products to
support ecommerce applications require a great deal of customisation,
and many sellers chose to outsource all or part of their Web store.
How much of your store you chose to outsource will depend on the
nature of your business and the availability of relevant skills within your
organisation.
How do I maximize order intake?
To a large extent the design of Web stores is still a new science (or
art??) and much experimentation is still needed before it is possible to
establish exactly what does and doesn't work. And what will work for
you may be totally different from everyone else depending on the
unique nature of your business.
However, it is possible to lay down some guidelines that will help you
design an effective Web store:
- Ensure it loads fast
- Keep it simple
- Use a shopping cart
- Have clear navigation
- Remember that the Web is a global market
- Maximise ways to order and ways to pay
- Establish credibility
- Offer a personalised service
- Offer good presales support
- Offer good post-sales support
- Price your products or services realistically
- Remember to sell
How do I accept orders?
Although most Web stores are probably set up with the expectation
that the majority of orders will be received through the Web, the reality
is that many customers prefer to use the Web to aid in the selection of a
product and then to order by more traditional methods. You therefore
need to ensure you are able to accept orders in as many different ways
as possible:
- Secure order form
- E-mail
- Fax
- Telephone
- Snail Mail
How do I get paid? Can I accept credit cards?
- Credit cards
- Digital cash
- Electronic Checking
- Traditional payment methods
In order
to be able to accept and process the credit cards payments you must have a Merchant Account. You can obtain such
account with any major merchant bank issuing Credit Cards or seek the account or
Cards processing over the Internet. Some online companies provide Merchant Accounts and Credit Card processing
services.
How do I promote my store?
Once you have built your Web store you need to work hard to entice
customers to enter.
eStore "To Do" List:
Search engine and directory submittal
Negotiate cross-links with other sites
Buy links from other sites
Set up affiliate programmes
Researching and posting to relevant newsgroups
Keep refreshing your content
Online advertising via banners
E-mail marketing
Create a signature file
Issue press releases
Print your URL everywhere
* Corporate and Business Services visit:
www.BizOttawa.com
Contact Information
Ottawa Online Digital Development
Tel: (613) 742-5453
Fax: (613) 748-5772
Email: info@ottawaonline.com
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