E-Commerce for All

Starting an online store has become the very trendy thing to do recently, however, most new shop owners are misguided, make rash decisions and lack the understanding and research necessary to be successful in their online business. This series of 5 posts will hopefully serve as a guide to developing your own online store as painlessly and successfully as possible.

So you want to be a Shop Owner Part 3

Today we will cover some options you have for the development of your shopping cart and the hosting resources you will need to run your business properly.

With most e commerce platforms you can do the initial shopping cart configuration and set up yourself.  However, unless you are using a hosted e-commerce solution I would highly recommend you at least get a consult from an e-commerce developer who specializes in the software/platform you have chosen.  A developer who knows the online shopping business and the software you are using can make your store successful with their experience and knowledge.  Its okay to do this “in house” so to speak, but there will be a great deal of research and learning involved to do an adequate job.

Not all shopping cart software is created equal… Remember back in Part 2 of this series we covered the different types of platforms.  Hopefully now, since you have decided on a shopping cart platform you have made certain your choice of software “can” do everything you need. This is where that e commerce developer comes in… They have a much greater understanding of the software’s capabilities and e-commerce trends.

Here are some questions you might ask a shopping cart developer BEFORE you choose them.

• What are your greatest strengths as an ecommerce shop developer?
• What other shopping cart platforms do you develop?
• Do you have some examples of stores you have developed for me to view?
• Do you have a few business references I can contact?
• How long have you been in business and have you always specialized in e-commerce?
• Do I “HAVE TO” host my website with you?
• What don’t you do in the development process (what will we “have to” do ourselves”)?
• Do you provide ongoing support and what is the cost?

Working with an e-commerce expert will help you avoid some of the pitfalls and ensure that your new store has everything it needs to succeed.  Many times in business we absorb a cost up front and expect the investment returned to us in sales/success. Retaining a ecommerce development firm is a better choice if you will require extensive integration or customization.

Web stores, like any other website rely heavily on their ability to rank organically in the search engines.  You can make mistakes with your website, which not only hinder organic results, but can be very costly down the line to repair your organic standing.  I would suggest you do a deep read in to the “help” section or forum of your shopping cart software and look for things like content duplication, url structure, load speed, title tags and other website anomalies related to your specific ecommerce software.

If you have qualified technical person on staff with relative experience in ecommerce development, you can save some money by doing some or all of the shop development in house.

Starting an online store has become the very trendy thing to do recently, however, most new shop owners are misguided, make rash decisions and lack the understanding and research necessary to be successful in their online business.  This series of 5 posts will hopefully serve as a guide to developing your own online store as painlessly and successfully as possible.

So you want to be a Shop Owner Part 2

There are basically 3 options for choosing the software or platform to run your online store…

1. Hosted E-commerce Solutions - These are shopping carts such as Yahoo Stores, eBay Stores and Nexternal.  These platforms have at least the catalog end of your business hosted on their own servers.
2. Self Hosted Static Carts - This is a cart you host and build using a static catalog and for example the PayPal shopping cart system. You maintain this store.
3. Self Hosted Shopping Cart Software - These platforms may be open source or purchased software, but you host and maintain the site yourself.

Each platform has some pros and cons to consider.  So lets dig in to how these solutions will work for you…

The truth of the shopping cart decision is that MOST businesses need more from their online store.  Things like enhanced shopping cart functionality and cross selling, order processing and shipping tracking systems and even multiple product options are generally required.

Starting an online store has become the popular thing to do recently, however, most new shop owners are misguided, make rash decisions and lack the understanding and research necessary to be successful.  This series of 5 posts will hopefully serve as a guide to developing your own shopping cart website as painlessly and successfully as possible.  Lets get on with it…

So you want to be a Shop Owner Part 1

The first logical decision needed is a solid determination of your company’s need, ability and budget to build a web store.  There are many factors to consider…

1. Are your products really salable in a shopping cart environment?
2. Can you provide the stock and manpower necessary to fill orders from the web?
3. Does your business answer the phones for extended hours?
4. Can you afford the development and maintenance cost involved to develop and build a great online store?
5. Can you and your co-workers manage the high dedication and demand of a great shopping website?

Does your company have products that can be properly ordered online or are they far to complicated, perishable or fragile to make it a good shopping venue?  There are in fact many products, regardless of their great profitability are just NOT suited for a shopping cart format.  Sometimes a nice informative static site with great content and a strong funneling or flow control to generate email or phone leads is just the ticket!

E commerce  is short for electronic commerce, and it seems like everyone has or wants an online store. Online stores are popping up for all different products types of industries… Its really amazing what you can buy online these days!  Many consumer based products are a  good line to sell on an e-commerce shop: all types of clothes, household gadgets and decor, all kinds of supplies, lighting and electrical, pet supplies, consumer electronics, and even cookies. However, as I eluded to earlier… Not all products are at all suited for the web shopper.  Very high dollar purchases that buyers will want to test drive and overly complicated items with many  of options and information requirements just do not have the potential to convert shoppers in to sales.

#2 Can your business fill the web orders in the event you are successful… Or will shoppers just complain about your service and delivery.  You see, even if the store obtains only minimal sales you and your staff have got to plan to deliver the expected level of service for your company… Even on the web.

I have seen very highly organized companies hit the web and fall on their proverbial asses.  You must develop the proper integration and procedures to connect you cart to your existing business.  This is not an area to work around, the integration needs to be seamless.

Absolutely plan to extend your phone hours.  Just because your store is on the web does not mean shoppers don’t have questions and problems.  That lie perpetrated by many e-commerce schemes “Make money in your home just 2 hours a week and gross 100k”.  If that’s what you think… Then play the lottery your odds are better.  The simple fact is this…

Everyone has an passionate opinion on this one, and honestly most theories are in general correct as there are many very effective schools of thought regarding domain registrations. The most important thing, in my opinion, is to register a domain that will do what you need it to do. Makes sense?

You most easily accomplish this by starting with an honest marketing and business model first. You must answer some tough questions like:

1. What types of services or products will you be selling with your online store? (Now and in the future as you grow)
2. What is your targeted area/region or customer base age, gender…? (Demographics)
3. What other companies will you form relationships with? (Distribution, etc.)
4. What kind of budget does your store development project have? (A real budget… Never over extend)
5. What is your plan for marketing and information distribution? (PPC, local marketing etc..)
6. Is your brand or company name well known or rich enough to include in your domain effectively? (Probably not)
7. What is the potential traffic for your store’s products/services? (What are others in the same niche doing?)
8. How much or deep is the competition? (Who’s on top and what do you have to do to beat them?)
9. Are you serious about making a successful commerce store… or have you big dreams and little execution?

There are a really host of things to consider in your domain name selection… some you can control and some you really cannot. Obviously, domain availability is one that is generally out of your control. If the name you “must have” is already registered, you might attempt to purchase it for a substantially higher investment. I strongly suggest you have a qualified SEO check it out first as there a many tricks and issues which can spoil the deal… and get a domain broker to handle the purchase for you… Would you sell your house using a car salesman?. Then, realize for certain, this is going to cost a great deal more than 10 bucks… So set your budget and stick to it.  Secondly, there are certain rules and restrictions regarding domain name registration.

• Domain names over 26 characters are supported in most web browsers, but many email, programs, and form fields will not be able to handle them. For reasons beyond my comprehension, however, in most extensions you can register up to 63 characters long.

• Domain names cannot begin or end with a hyphen.

• Names can only include English letters, numbers, and hyphens. For most TLD extensions the name must be 3 letters or longer.

Generally speaking, if you plan to target your home country (or another) you will benefit from registering a country level/coded domain and hosting physically residing in that country as well. If you are seeking a global market, then I suggest .com for a business or .net if you have to. If you are an organization or group, then .org would be perfect. In the United States, there is the .us, which I am personally against registering your business with this as it’s main url..