Doing business on-line

Ecommerce or Electronic Commerce is the way of buying and selling goods and services using electronic transactions as payment mode over the internet. Ecommerce has now a major role in our economy and buying online is a normal purchasing behavior for a large part of UK. We regularly hear businesses say "It won't work for me", "Our goods need to be touched, felt , experienced physically before buying" etc. While this may be the case in some instances, in our experience, even clothing, shoes, and all the goods and services the experts predicted "will never work being sold online" are now successful retailers. We've helped some of them achieve that success.

If you are considering starting and running an eCommerce site, then it is imperative that you are able to get into the mindset of your customer. What you need to understand is that when people shop for something online, and they have a specific product or type of product in mind that they want to buy, there are two key factors that influence their decision to do business with you First of all, don’t make your own website.

It can take a long time to learn how to design a website properly, so unless you are already a designer, don’t do it. The learning curve is pretty big. The other thing is that trying to sell from a “homemade” looking site can hurt your trust factor.Whilst it may be true that with some markets, the homemade site can convert well because people feel that someone like them built the site – in MOST cases it’s better to appear professional. And the best way to do that is to have a professional designer build your site.

So, my recommendation is that although it takes an investment to set up a site properly, it is one that will yield more sales and a stronger business.

2. There are some very simple elements you can easily add to your site that will instantly make you appear more trustworthy.

Many successful eCommerce site owners have extensively used and tested each of these elements You will be amazed at the difference it will make to your conversions if you add them to your site.

BEST PRICE

Obviously, your eCommerce site will be more successful if you’re selling something that people are already buying. However, the other side to this is that it means you’ll also be selling what other people are selling. So the problem is how to compete when your customers begin price-shopping, without having to cut your prices? Here are two tips:

1. Position your products as unique. Now 99% of marketers don’t make any effort to promote their products uniquely. Most f the time they simply take the photo and description provided by the supplier and use them as is. However, if you’ll take a little extra time, it’ll pay off in huge dividends. Start by changing the stock photo. Test different photos. Avoid using the same photo everyone else is using. Also re-write the description so it’s unique. The other thing you can do is give your products a unique name so that when people price shop products from your site, they won’t find any other products with the same name (clever, huh?).

2. Don’t cut your prices. Trying to be the cheapest source rarely works for long. One, you’re cutting your profits. And two, there will always be someone else to come along who’s willing to sell the same items cheaper than you. One great approach is to try bundling related items into greater bargains for your prospects – this is also known as ‘widgetising’. Using this approach this allows you to set the price you want and it also makes your offer unique.

These are just a few tips for making your eCommerce site more profitable. But there are literally dozens of different ways, just like this, that you can use to have a higher converting site. 

So, if you're thinking of selling online, please contact us and let us see how we can best help you. Of course, to successfully sell your products and services over the internet, inspire trust and allow the consumer to feel safe buying from you. This should be reflected in your ecommerce storefront. With that in mind and our expert design and marketing skills, we can help you achieve your goals. Please contact us to see how we could help you.