The eCommerce Platform Wars

The ecommerce field is always changing when it comes to software. While there are many shopping cart programs, only a few reign on high. Not only that, but there is one definitive winner that is used by almost a third of webmasters in the Alexa top one million. If you are thinking of joining the growing number of ecommerce businesses or if you want to change to a better system, then it’s good to understand which shopping carts are the most popular among the Internet’s top players. 

Magento

Magneto is currently the undisputed winner when it comes to popularity. Magneto Community Edition is currently used by about 30 percent of top webmasters. This is a favored program for newcomers and seasoned users because it’s easy to configure, install and use. You can also build a professional store in under an hour with this shopping cart. 

If you are looking for more power, then look no further than Magneto Enterprise Edition. This shopping cart has become much more popular recently. It’s currently used by about 5.8 percent of top Alexa websites, which gives Magneto control of 35.8 percent of the market. 

The reason for this large increase is because Magneto offered a limited free upgrade from Community Edition to Enterprise Edition. This move proved useful in converting more customers. 

Zen Cart

Zen Cart used to be a close competitor with Magneto, but times have changed. It seems that many people don’t like the simplistic approach of Zen Cart, or they have just forgotten about this shopping cart due to a lack of marketing. While Zen Cart has many features, it’s not nearly as powerful as many of the other leading shopping carts. 

It’s currently fourth in terms of popularity and it controls 7.4 percent of the market. While that’s great when you compare all of the other shopping carts, it spells dark days for Zen Cart if it can’t capture more website owners. 

Prestashop

In a surprising move, Prestashop has been able to catapult itself to second place with 12.3 percent of the total market. Much like Magneto, Prestashop is built on the premise of allowing new online business owners to develop an ecommerce website in an hour or less. It also offers many advanced features that are easy to use, such as catalog management and maintaining a list of clients. 

While Prestashop’s gains haven’t been nearly as dramatic as Magneto’s, it’s still a large leap for this relative newcomer. Many are even thinking that it will eventually become the leader in this close race. 

Shopify

Shopify offers many popular features, and it has dramatically jumped in popularity. Though Shopify is not used as frequently as Zen Cart or the others, an analysis of Google’s search results shows that many people are searching for Shopify, which can lead to a wealth of new users in the future. Shopify is currently third when it comes to search results, but it only controls about 3.7 percent of the market. 

This is another shopping cart to watch out for because it can easily rise through the ranks to become a top contender.

osCommerce

The osCommerce cart is definitely the veteran in this field. It has been around longer than most of the other leading shopping carts, and it still has a strong following considering its age. osCommerce controls about 6.3 percent of the market, putting it in fifth place. 

While osCommerce’s popularity has consistently waned in the last few years, it will still be a long time before this shopping cart is extinct.

VirtueMart

VirtueMart is in third place with about 11.3 percent of the market, but it isn’t gaining much attention for various reasons. It almost seems like luck that VirtueMart is so popular. Not only has it slipped from second to third, but its search popular is also decreasing. It’s currently right behind Shopify. 

This is a great ecommerce platform, but it seems like many people aren’t taking it as seriously as the other ones. As an interesting side note, VirtueMart is the most popular platform in Russia, but only a handful of people are using it in Japan. 

Read More

The eCommerce Platform Wars

The ecommerce field is always changing when it comes to software. While there are many shopping cart programs, only a few reign on high. Not only that, but there is one definitive winner that is used by almost a third of webmasters in the Alexa top one million. If you are thinking of joining the growing number of ecommerce businesses or if you want to change to a better system, then it’s good to understand which shopping carts are the most popular among the Internet’s top players. 

Magento

Magneto is currently the undisputed winner when it comes to popularity. Magneto Community Edition is currently used by about 30 percent of top webmasters. This is a favored program for newcomers and seasoned users because it’s easy to configure, install and use. You can also build a professional store in under an hour with this shopping cart. 

If you are looking for more power, then look no further than Magneto Enterprise Edition. This shopping cart has become much more popular recently. It’s currently used by about 5.8 percent of top Alexa websites, which gives Magneto control of 35.8 percent of the market. 

The reason for this large increase is because Magneto offered a limited free upgrade from Community Edition to Enterprise Edition. This move proved useful in converting more customers. 

Zen Cart

Zen Cart used to be a close competitor with Magneto, but times have changed. It seems that many people don’t like the simplistic approach of Zen Cart, or they have just forgotten about this shopping cart due to a lack of marketing. While Zen Cart has many features, it’s not nearly as powerful as many of the other leading shopping carts. 

It’s currently fourth in terms of popularity and it controls 7.4 percent of the market. While that’s great when you compare all of the other shopping carts, it spells dark days for Zen Cart if it can’t capture more website owners. 

Prestashop

In a surprising move, Prestashop has been able to catapult itself to second place with 12.3 percent of the total market. Much like Magneto, Prestashop is built on the premise of allowing new online business owners to develop an ecommerce website in an hour or less. It also offers many advanced features that are easy to use, such as catalog management and maintaining a list of clients. 

While Prestashop’s gains haven’t been nearly as dramatic as Magneto’s, it’s still a large leap for this relative newcomer. Many are even thinking that it will eventually become the leader in this close race. 

Shopify

Shopify offers many popular features, and it has dramatically jumped in popularity. Though Shopify is not used as frequently as Zen Cart or the others, an analysis of Google’s search results shows that many people are searching for Shopify, which can lead to a wealth of new users in the future. Shopify is currently third when it comes to search results, but it only controls about 3.7 percent of the market. 

This is another shopping cart to watch out for because it can easily rise through the ranks to become a top contender.

osCommerce

The osCommerce cart is definitely the veteran in this field. It has been around longer than most of the other leading shopping carts, and it still has a strong following considering its age. osCommerce controls about 6.3 percent of the market, putting it in fifth place. 

While osCommerce’s popularity has consistently waned in the last few years, it will still be a long time before this shopping cart is extinct.

VirtueMart

VirtueMart is in third place with about 11.3 percent of the market, but it isn’t gaining much attention for various reasons. It almost seems like luck that VirtueMart is so popular. Not only has it slipped from second to third, but its search popular is also decreasing. It’s currently right behind Shopify. 

This is a great ecommerce platform, but it seems like many people aren’t taking it as seriously as the other ones. As an interesting side note, VirtueMart is the most popular platform in Russia, but only a handful of people are using it in Japan. 

Read More

How to set up a PayPal to Your eCommerce Website?

These days, various businesses are there, who are looking to sell their products online to expand their business on a high-level. Across the world, you would find lots of online businesses, who want such eCommerce website, where they can sell their complete range of products without any hassle. When it comes to sell your products online through e-store, the major problem is that how you get paid for your sold products and services. If you are a new comer in the eCommerce industry, you will surely open up a merchant account in banks, which will be rejected.

However, you also need to get an exceptionally functioning eCommerce software platform which is not as affordable as it sounds; you need to spend your lots of money. If you are looking for easy and cheap method to get started with eCommerce site, PayPal is one of the excellent processes that surely like by your customers. Many of you all may not have complete information about PayPal and its features. It is a universal payment processor that is highly popular among eCommerce businesses.

It enables payment and money transfers to be made online. We can say that it is one of the best options to pay for credit card when purchasing products and services online, checks and money orders. Being a highly demanded payment processor, PayPal is one such solution that maximum number of eCommerce websites has PayPal integration beside other payment methods.

Using PayPal is Safe or Not?

Most of the PayPal users have question in their mind that using PayPal is safe and secure for their eCommerce website or not. One of the best and most secure payment processors ‘PayPal’ that allows your customers to redirected to the PayPal site. At the time of purchasing products from your site, your customers will be redirected to the PayPal site.

In this age, eCommerce merchants do not have to opt for merchant account as they need to buy security measures. So, PayPal secures check-out process of your customers as it comes with many security measures installed. The best thing about PayPal is that if your customer already has an account with PayPal, then they do not have to enter their credit card number.

How to Setup PayPal to your eCommerce site?

One of the major questions for eCommerce merchants is “How to setup PayPal to your eCommerce site?” Well, it is extremely easy and simple to setup PayPal to your eCommerce website. Firstly, you just need to sign for a PayPal account. After signing up, you will have some other commerce tools including inventory tracking, capability to save your PayPal check-out buttons. At the main page of PayPal, you will find Website Payment Standard from where you are allowed to select that whether you want to add buttons to “a single item” or want to “add multiple items” with the help of PayPal’s shopping cart.

From these two options, you are allowed to choose any option as per your eCommerce site’s requirement. Apart from this, you can also develop third-party carts, which is quicker way to integrate it to your site.

There are many eCommerce sites that are selling multiple products on their website, so it is better for them to go with multiple options that allow them to sell multiple items. If you want to opt for multiple items, you can click the option that enables you to sell multiple items. After this, you will be asked to customize your PayPal payment button.

Give name to your each product to make tracking easier and simpler. However, it is optional for you, but you should for this. Your product’s price and currency should b kept that you can select from the given list. Choose the currency that meets with your eCommerce site and if your eCommerce website selling products globally, make sure to USD.

After this, you can also setup shipping and tax as per your location’s shipping and tax rate. The image that is given below contains optional steps:

When it comes to step 2 and step 3, they are optional for you, but it is recommended to you that choose these options as it offers more features to your PayPal checkout process like tracking inventory, customize checkout pages, profit & loss and more. Once, you done with entire features, you should upgrade your free account to business account. Now, you can click on create button. Now, you have developed your button that you need to integrate into your eCommerce website. Lastly, you need to click the code area and copy it. Paste it into your eCommerce site at the below the product that you are selling. 

Read More

How to set up a PayPal to Your eCommerce Website?

These days, various businesses are there, who are looking to sell their products online to expand their business on a high-level. Across the world, you would find lots of online businesses, who want such eCommerce website, where they can sell their complete range of products without any hassle. When it comes to sell your products online through e-store, the major problem is that how you get paid for your sold products and services. If you are a new comer in the eCommerce industry, you will surely open up a merchant account in banks, which will be rejected.

However, you also need to get an exceptionally functioning eCommerce software platform which is not as affordable as it sounds; you need to spend your lots of money. If you are looking for easy and cheap method to get started with eCommerce site, PayPal is one of the excellent processes that surely like by your customers. Many of you all may not have complete information about PayPal and its features. It is a universal payment processor that is highly popular among eCommerce businesses.

It enables payment and money transfers to be made online. We can say that it is one of the best options to pay for credit card when purchasing products and services online, checks and money orders. Being a highly demanded payment processor, PayPal is one such solution that maximum number of eCommerce websites has PayPal integration beside other payment methods.

Using PayPal is Safe or Not?

Most of the PayPal users have question in their mind that using PayPal is safe and secure for their eCommerce website or not. One of the best and most secure payment processors ‘PayPal’ that allows your customers to redirected to the PayPal site. At the time of purchasing products from your site, your customers will be redirected to the PayPal site.

In this age, eCommerce merchants do not have to opt for merchant account as they need to buy security measures. So, PayPal secures check-out process of your customers as it comes with many security measures installed. The best thing about PayPal is that if your customer already has an account with PayPal, then they do not have to enter their credit card number.

How to Setup PayPal to your eCommerce site?

One of the major questions for eCommerce merchants is “How to setup PayPal to your eCommerce site?” Well, it is extremely easy and simple to setup PayPal to your eCommerce website. Firstly, you just need to sign for a PayPal account. After signing up, you will have some other commerce tools including inventory tracking, capability to save your PayPal check-out buttons. At the main page of PayPal, you will find Website Payment Standard from where you are allowed to select that whether you want to add buttons to “a single item” or want to “add multiple items” with the help of PayPal’s shopping cart.

From these two options, you are allowed to choose any option as per your eCommerce site’s requirement. Apart from this, you can also develop third-party carts, which is quicker way to integrate it to your site.

There are many eCommerce sites that are selling multiple products on their website, so it is better for them to go with multiple options that allow them to sell multiple items. If you want to opt for multiple items, you can click the option that enables you to sell multiple items. After this, you will be asked to customize your PayPal payment button.

Give name to your each product to make tracking easier and simpler. However, it is optional for you, but you should for this. Your product’s price and currency should b kept that you can select from the given list. Choose the currency that meets with your eCommerce site and if your eCommerce website selling products globally, make sure to USD.

After this, you can also setup shipping and tax as per your location’s shipping and tax rate. The image that is given below contains optional steps:

When it comes to step 2 and step 3, they are optional for you, but it is recommended to you that choose these options as it offers more features to your PayPal checkout process like tracking inventory, customize checkout pages, profit & loss and more. Once, you done with entire features, you should upgrade your free account to business account. Now, you can click on create button. Now, you have developed your button that you need to integrate into your eCommerce website. Lastly, you need to click the code area and copy it. Paste it into your eCommerce site at the below the product that you are selling. 

Read More

E-commerce Is Revolutionizing the Way We Do Business

The buying and selling of goods and services online is known as e-commerce. The Internet has become the main platform for an increasing number of merchants and customers, as evidenced by an exponentially increasing number of PayPal and credit/debit card purchases. E-commerce has also opened up the publishing industry to self-publishing authors with the digital print-on-demand technology and Amazon.com—a global giant of online retailers that sells everything from clothing and appliances to books. Sales of Amazon’s electronic reading device, Kindle, has soared—along with Kindle edition books. Kindle edition books are now out-selling print books.

E-commerce spending has become normalized in many countries. Online transactions are steadily growing worldwide as the technological capabilities of the Internet bring customers, businesses, independent contractors, and non-profit organizations together—rapidly eliminating many geographical obstacles. PayPal is quickly becoming a standard household name in a growing number of countries worldwide as it enables buyers and sellers to expedite payment with almost instant currency conversion features. As the global market matures due to the maturation of national and continental economies, geographic boundaries will shrink even further.

According to Search Engine Journal, Google has nearly 74% of the marketshare of online ad revenues. Data published in eMarketer shows that in 2012, 69.1% of all Internet users bought and sold online in Great Britain and during that same year, US retail e-commerce sales surpassed $189 billion—excluding event tickets, travel bookings, and digital downloads. These numbers in sales volumes have been steadily

There has also been a sharp uptick in the sale of mobile phones. Smartphone sales have increased by 270% in 2010 between the April-June quarter and the July-September quarter. This is paving the way for growth in the emerging mobile commerce, or m-commerce, channel of shopping by cell phone with Internet capabilities.

The software and web development application platforms used to build online businesses and the ability to utilize secure payment methods has expanded the dimensions of e-commerce and the developing of e-commerce sites has become much easier and more cost-effective. However, online businesses need to focus attention on customer satisfaction, goodwill, credible reputation building, and profitability that “brick and mortar” establishments strive for. Issuing refunds, settling payments, fulfilling orders, and integrating accounts apply to businesses in the cyber world of e-commerce as much as to businesses in “real space.”

Once an e-business has meticulously implemented all of these things, an e-entrepreneur has a global platform with a wider, faster, and more far-reaching potential customer base that spans 24 standard time zones across the world—you can literally do business while you sleep.

The e-commerce explosion is generating new job and business opportunities—not only for people who are skilled at online marketing, but also for web application developers. One such example is the growing demand for Ruby programmers and the implementation of web applications using Ruby as the programming language with Rails as the platform. The ability to collaborate online for completing projects, hosting events, and the ability to coordinate online with potential customers and offer customer support plus the emerging demand for people skilled at trouble-shooting such e-commerce infrastructures are just a few of the growing opportunities.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services, social media networks and coordination, political trending, secure online payment handling with currency conversion, and integrating online accounts are just a few of the major services that will continue to be in demand and drive the the growing e-commerce and m-commerce trend. E-commerce is here to stay.

More people in the US alone have (or are buying) Smartphones and/or computers than television sets. A bulletin from the Nielsen ratings service showed that television ownership has fallen by two points—a phenomenon that has not happened for the last 20 years. A lot of people who don’t have television sets are young, wealthy and well-educated. Nielsen’s Pat McDonough believes that this is due to more people using the Internet connection and computers and Smartphones as a substitute for a cable or satellite dish television subscription. The growth in online entertainment businesses such as Netflix and Hulu and the PC gaming industry seems to support this. This trend appears to be following suit in Western Europe and Great Britain as well.

With buyers becoming more Internet savvy, the outlook for e-commerce and m-commerce is a very positive one. Online businesses are becoming the new normal. And sharp entrepreneurs know that this means more than having a website; it also means being able to deliver what customers want and expect.

Read More

E-commerce Is Revolutionizing the Way We Do Business

The buying and selling of goods and services online is known as e-commerce. The Internet has become the main platform for an increasing number of merchants and customers, as evidenced by an exponentially increasing number of PayPal and credit/debit card purchases. E-commerce has also opened up the publishing industry to self-publishing authors with the digital print-on-demand technology and Amazon.com—a global giant of online retailers that sells everything from clothing and appliances to books. Sales of Amazon’s electronic reading device, Kindle, has soared—along with Kindle edition books. Kindle edition books are now out-selling print books.

E-commerce spending has become normalized in many countries. Online transactions are steadily growing worldwide as the technological capabilities of the Internet bring customers, businesses, independent contractors, and non-profit organizations together—rapidly eliminating many geographical obstacles. PayPal is quickly becoming a standard household name in a growing number of countries worldwide as it enables buyers and sellers to expedite payment with almost instant currency conversion features. As the global market matures due to the maturation of national and continental economies, geographic boundaries will shrink even further.

According to Search Engine Journal, Google has nearly 74% of the marketshare of online ad revenues. Data published in eMarketer shows that in 2012, 69.1% of all Internet users bought and sold online in Great Britain and during that same year, US retail e-commerce sales surpassed $189 billion—excluding event tickets, travel bookings, and digital downloads. These numbers in sales volumes have been steadily

There has also been a sharp uptick in the sale of mobile phones. Smartphone sales have increased by 270% in 2010 between the April-June quarter and the July-September quarter. This is paving the way for growth in the emerging mobile commerce, or m-commerce, channel of shopping by cell phone with Internet capabilities.

The software and web development application platforms used to build online businesses and the ability to utilize secure payment methods has expanded the dimensions of e-commerce and the developing of e-commerce sites has become much easier and more cost-effective. However, online businesses need to focus attention on customer satisfaction, goodwill, credible reputation building, and profitability that “brick and mortar” establishments strive for. Issuing refunds, settling payments, fulfilling orders, and integrating accounts apply to businesses in the cyber world of e-commerce as much as to businesses in “real space.”

Once an e-business has meticulously implemented all of these things, an e-entrepreneur has a global platform with a wider, faster, and more far-reaching potential customer base that spans 24 standard time zones across the world—you can literally do business while you sleep.

The e-commerce explosion is generating new job and business opportunities—not only for people who are skilled at online marketing, but also for web application developers. One such example is the growing demand for Ruby programmers and the implementation of web applications using Ruby as the programming language with Rails as the platform. The ability to collaborate online for completing projects, hosting events, and the ability to coordinate online with potential customers and offer customer support plus the emerging demand for people skilled at trouble-shooting such e-commerce infrastructures are just a few of the growing opportunities.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services, social media networks and coordination, political trending, secure online payment handling with currency conversion, and integrating online accounts are just a few of the major services that will continue to be in demand and drive the the growing e-commerce and m-commerce trend. E-commerce is here to stay.

More people in the US alone have (or are buying) Smartphones and/or computers than television sets. A bulletin from the Nielsen ratings service showed that television ownership has fallen by two points—a phenomenon that has not happened for the last 20 years. A lot of people who don’t have television sets are young, wealthy and well-educated. Nielsen’s Pat McDonough believes that this is due to more people using the Internet connection and computers and Smartphones as a substitute for a cable or satellite dish television subscription. The growth in online entertainment businesses such as Netflix and Hulu and the PC gaming industry seems to support this. This trend appears to be following suit in Western Europe and Great Britain as well.

With buyers becoming more Internet savvy, the outlook for e-commerce and m-commerce is a very positive one. Online businesses are becoming the new normal. And sharp entrepreneurs know that this means more than having a website; it also means being able to deliver what customers want and expect.

Read More

Surfers to Buyers…Bored to Happy Shopper

Image Source : Click here

Surfers ride surfboards and surf the sea of information in cyberspace. Pick up a magic wand and turn that board into a shopping cart. Fortunately, throwing the product into the cart doesn't need magic. develop a remarkable eCommerce website that can generate sales without lifting a wand and casting a spell. 

PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS

This is the part when pitching is done. Write a brief yet compelling product description that gives description and convinces the client that the product/service is a necessity. Follow the example of shopping channels, the customers don’t really need what they are selling but they present it in a way that it’s a to-die-for item. Make sure that it’s not spammy but informative.

IMAGES

Cameras and phones are everywhere. Please take a decent picture with proper lighting. No need to rent fancy lights, natural light is totally OK. Hire a model or get yourself a mannequin to wear the outfits or accessories if that’s what you’re promoting. Don’t be flat like if you’re selling a jacket, don’t just take a picture of that, add a shirt and a necklace to pump up the image. Be creative so the photos look interesting in your site and the viewers can imagine how your product looks or functions. Take multiple snapshots of different angles. Phones or any gadgets can be compared with another object so the potential customers can determine its size by just looking at the images.

BROWSING EXPERIENCE

Clicks should be minimized as much as possible. The visitors close the page when there are tons of menus, drop-down windows, sidebars, and a lot more confusing links. Keep your webpage clean, simple and easy to navigate from one page to another. There should be a buy button and only a few clicks away to reach the checkout page. 

PRICE TRANSPARENCY

It’s like a scam when there are hidden charges. Shipping, packaging, taxes, gift wrapping, insurance, etc. should be indicated for the viewers to add these to the price of the merchandise he wants to purchase. If these charges are out of sight, the entrepreneur’s reputation will be affected and maybe labeled as dishonest. Transparency is vital for the company’s name and loyalty of customers.

FAST CHECK OUT

Checkout page should be straightforward. Some buyers abandon the carts because of complicated forms. This is one of the most crucial parts of eCommerce business that some web owners overlook, it makes or breaks the sale. If this happens, there is a solution, save the cookies of the visitors so you can mail and ask them to finish filling out the form.

PAYMENT MODES

Options should be as many options as possible. Credit card is the most common in this line of industry. However, other options such as money transfers, checks, debit cards and cash on delivery should be made available, too. Installments can be a lure for the visitors to purchase right away when they don’t have enough money. 

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Be open to answer inquiries before and after the sale. Make the reply snappy. Some clients lose interest when the reply on the merchant’s end is slow. Live chats can be setup, it’s faster than mailing and the questions can be answered in real time. It’s easier than before since there is an avatar system. The customer service people just click the correct question for or reply to the probable buyer and pray that he checks out the shopping cart. If you haven’t gathered the dialogue for the avatar yet, go back to hiring developer that can actually talk or chat online or on the phone.

RETURN POLICIES

Make a separate or downloadable page for the return policy. Returns are inevitable because of damages during deliveries, or innocent mistakes sending wrong items. Specify underlying reason why returns are not accepted. Ensure the fairness of such rationale if products can be accepted or rejected.

Read More

Surfers to Buyers…Bored to Happy Shopper

Image Source : Click here

Surfers ride surfboards and surf the sea of information in cyberspace. Pick up a magic wand and turn that board into a shopping cart. Fortunately, throwing the product into the cart doesn't need magic. develop a remarkable eCommerce website that can generate sales without lifting a wand and casting a spell. 

PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS

This is the part when pitching is done. Write a brief yet compelling product description that gives description and convinces the client that the product/service is a necessity. Follow the example of shopping channels, the customers don’t really need what they are selling but they present it in a way that it’s a to-die-for item. Make sure that it’s not spammy but informative.

IMAGES

Cameras and phones are everywhere. Please take a decent picture with proper lighting. No need to rent fancy lights, natural light is totally OK. Hire a model or get yourself a mannequin to wear the outfits or accessories if that’s what you’re promoting. Don’t be flat like if you’re selling a jacket, don’t just take a picture of that, add a shirt and a necklace to pump up the image. Be creative so the photos look interesting in your site and the viewers can imagine how your product looks or functions. Take multiple snapshots of different angles. Phones or any gadgets can be compared with another object so the potential customers can determine its size by just looking at the images.

BROWSING EXPERIENCE

Clicks should be minimized as much as possible. The visitors close the page when there are tons of menus, drop-down windows, sidebars, and a lot more confusing links. Keep your webpage clean, simple and easy to navigate from one page to another. There should be a buy button and only a few clicks away to reach the checkout page. 

PRICE TRANSPARENCY

It’s like a scam when there are hidden charges. Shipping, packaging, taxes, gift wrapping, insurance, etc. should be indicated for the viewers to add these to the price of the merchandise he wants to purchase. If these charges are out of sight, the entrepreneur’s reputation will be affected and maybe labeled as dishonest. Transparency is vital for the company’s name and loyalty of customers.

FAST CHECK OUT

Checkout page should be straightforward. Some buyers abandon the carts because of complicated forms. This is one of the most crucial parts of eCommerce business that some web owners overlook, it makes or breaks the sale. If this happens, there is a solution, save the cookies of the visitors so you can mail and ask them to finish filling out the form.

PAYMENT MODES

Options should be as many options as possible. Credit card is the most common in this line of industry. However, other options such as money transfers, checks, debit cards and cash on delivery should be made available, too. Installments can be a lure for the visitors to purchase right away when they don’t have enough money. 

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Be open to answer inquiries before and after the sale. Make the reply snappy. Some clients lose interest when the reply on the merchant’s end is slow. Live chats can be setup, it’s faster than mailing and the questions can be answered in real time. It’s easier than before since there is an avatar system. The customer service people just click the correct question for or reply to the probable buyer and pray that he checks out the shopping cart. If you haven’t gathered the dialogue for the avatar yet, go back to hiring developer that can actually talk or chat online or on the phone.

RETURN POLICIES

Make a separate or downloadable page for the return policy. Returns are inevitable because of damages during deliveries, or innocent mistakes sending wrong items. Specify underlying reason why returns are not accepted. Ensure the fairness of such rationale if products can be accepted or rejected.

Read More

How to Sell Things on eBay

Here are some fantastic tips on how to sell on eBay and how to sell well. But, let us start with the most obvious tip that cannot be overlooked. EBay is a marketing platform, where you are given a place to advertise your stuff and sell it. That means that there is no set formula for success. Do not buy the PDF E-books online that claim they have the secret to success, because they don’t. Hop onto a sharing site and download them for free, print them off, read them, and feed them to pigs, because pigs swill is all they are good for.

Marketing on eBay is about getting your sales process correct. It means running advertisements, seeing what sells, and then learning from that to make better ads next time. If you really want to develop e-commerce store or make money on eBay, then test new advertising ideas, and learn from your old ones. Ask yourself why your item didn’t sell and yet your competitor’s did.

Check out the “completed listings” function

You can run a search on eBay to see which listings have sold and which have not sold in the last few days. This is very good for seeing the prices your items may sell at and to see what sort of adverts sell. The selling prices that eBay give are only an average, whereas you can see what sold and what did not sell just the week before.

Trail, error, improve, trial, error, improve…

This is the only way you are going to make money on eBay consistently. The people who run ads, then re-run the same adverts are wasting money and time. Every time a listing sells, you need to analyze why it sold. You need to take things from your listings that sold and add them to your newer adverts. Try different things and see what sells, and then learn from what you have done. Make big and small changes to listing texts and see if it makes a difference. The moment you stop trying to improve, is the moment you start losing money.

Big, large, bright, attractive pictures will make your sale

Pictures are the biggest sellers on eBay. Even items that have their own picture on eBay (such as DVDs), should have their own pictures taken by you. The dark pictures never sell the item because the thumbnail images look terrible. Take good photos so that the items do not look dull or unattractive. Don’t take a photo of your shoes on the floor. Put them on a stand in the sunlight and a pretty background. Do not take a photo of a coat on a hanger. Take a bright and stunning photo of you modeling it, and then cut of the head and legs so that only the coat is visible on the picture.

Do not write big chunks of text

Nobody reads them…ever! You probably haven’t even read all of this post; you are probably skim reading this. So why do you think people are going to read big advertising texts. Just include the main points, and separate the sentences to make them easy to read. Put your titles and sub titles in bold and bigger text.

Do not give your full terms and conditions

Nobody is going to read them, and frankly, if people send your items back it is because you are unlucky or because you are doing something wrong. Writing 500 words of terms and conditions will make no difference as to who sends what back, who claims you didn’t send something, and who gives you unfair negative feedback.

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How to Sell Things on eBay

Here are some fantastic tips on how to sell on eBay and how to sell well. But, let us start with the most obvious tip that cannot be overlooked. EBay is a marketing platform, where you are given a place to advertise your stuff and sell it. That means that there is no set formula for success. Do not buy the PDF E-books online that claim they have the secret to success, because they don’t. Hop onto a sharing site and download them for free, print them off, read them, and feed them to pigs, because pigs swill is all they are good for.

Marketing on eBay is about getting your sales process correct. It means running advertisements, seeing what sells, and then learning from that to make better ads next time. If you really want to develop e-commerce store or make money on eBay, then test new advertising ideas, and learn from your old ones. Ask yourself why your item didn’t sell and yet your competitor’s did.

Check out the “completed listings” function

You can run a search on eBay to see which listings have sold and which have not sold in the last few days. This is very good for seeing the prices your items may sell at and to see what sort of adverts sell. The selling prices that eBay give are only an average, whereas you can see what sold and what did not sell just the week before.

Trail, error, improve, trial, error, improve…

This is the only way you are going to make money on eBay consistently. The people who run ads, then re-run the same adverts are wasting money and time. Every time a listing sells, you need to analyze why it sold. You need to take things from your listings that sold and add them to your newer adverts. Try different things and see what sells, and then learn from what you have done. Make big and small changes to listing texts and see if it makes a difference. The moment you stop trying to improve, is the moment you start losing money.

Big, large, bright, attractive pictures will make your sale

Pictures are the biggest sellers on eBay. Even items that have their own picture on eBay (such as DVDs), should have their own pictures taken by you. The dark pictures never sell the item because the thumbnail images look terrible. Take good photos so that the items do not look dull or unattractive. Don’t take a photo of your shoes on the floor. Put them on a stand in the sunlight and a pretty background. Do not take a photo of a coat on a hanger. Take a bright and stunning photo of you modeling it, and then cut of the head and legs so that only the coat is visible on the picture.

Do not write big chunks of text

Nobody reads them…ever! You probably haven’t even read all of this post; you are probably skim reading this. So why do you think people are going to read big advertising texts. Just include the main points, and separate the sentences to make them easy to read. Put your titles and sub titles in bold and bigger text.

Do not give your full terms and conditions

Nobody is going to read them, and frankly, if people send your items back it is because you are unlucky or because you are doing something wrong. Writing 500 words of terms and conditions will make no difference as to who sends what back, who claims you didn’t send something, and who gives you unfair negative feedback.

Read More