Once you’ve decided to sell your product online, there are a few things you will want to work on.
You site should have a professional appearance. When you are asking people to trust you enough to give you credit card information to purchase products online, a professional appearance is very important. You want to make you customers comfortable.
To add to the comfort of your customers it is a good idea to include a return policy, a privacy policy and a security policy. Let them know that you are serious about protecting their information and following through on your commitment to serve them professionally and courteously.
When you are planning an e-commerce site, take the time to plan and execute carefully. A bad experience for your customers due to lack of planning on your part can be a costly mistake.
Yesterday, we looked at the advantages to selling online. Today, we’ll look at some of the obstacles facing businesses that are considering selling products online.
The first obstacle is cost. If you already have an existing website, obviously that will help some, but, if you plan to sell more than just a small number of items, and, you are not a tech company, you will most likely need help to do this. You will need a way to keep track of the inventory as well as the internet marketing components of the e-commerce site.
Another obstacle is security. In order to process credit card payments online, you will need a secure server. Of course, you could always opt out of accepting credit cards but some statistics say you will be turning away 80% of your business. Not a good choice.
The last obstacle we will discuss here today is customer service. You will need a way for customers to contact you with questions and a system that ensures that you respond in a timely manner. Because customers are buying from you online, they never have the opportunity to meet your friendly sales clerks, so, you have to find a way to give them a friendly feeling experience online.
Obviously, there are ways to overcome most of these obstacles and give your customers a great experience from buying from you online. The investment in doing in right could add a whole new customer base to your business.
Ever thought about selling your product online? There are a lot of things to consider. Today, let’s look at some of the advantages.
- You can be open 24/7/365. Your products are available for purchase when your customers are ready to shop, whether you, or your employees, are there, or not!
- According to a 2008 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 78 percent of Internet users either agree or strongly agree that online shopping is “convenient,” and 68 percent say that it “saves them time.”
- Even if you’re a small, home-based company, you can establish a global reach
- A well-designed, well-written Web site can do double (or triple) duty as a marketing and advertising tool, a salesperson and a cashier, all wrapped up in one.
- Anyone, anywhere, with an internet connection can read about your product, and even better, buy it!
These are just some of the advantages of selling products on line. This week we will look at e-commerce – advantages, disadvantages and some tricks of the trade.
