Excellence in Service: What's in Your Shopping Cart?

Statements of fact:

1. Businesses that have a store front and sell products and/or services should know their competition is online.
2. Business that educate such as conducting class either online or in a physical location should have a professional online appearance.
3. Businesses traveling from one show to another should have an online storefront so that the person who visited their booth last week can purchase that cool necklace this week.
4. The merchant who thinks they can do without an eCommerce site is loosing to their competition.

What do all of the above have in common? They provide credibility and promote definite of purpose! Even if one isn’t planning to sell anything online, they should still have a well-crafted site; but for this edition of Excellence in Service we will focus on businesses that are selling a product or service.

All four of the above facts should be obvious however some may think why an eCommerce site for #2. What better and less expensive way is there to process registration and collect fees for classes or online courses than through a virtual registration secretary? There are three essential reasons for an eCommerce site:

1. Increase Sales: Reach a larger number of potential customers through virtual channels
2. Lower Costs: Using word-of-mouth marketing strategies greatly reduces conventional marketing costs; can replace costly promotional materials and events with virtual material and videos; online order processing not only is done 24/7 but can help reduce distribution costs; rather than handling customer calls for frequently asked questions, the information is provided by the web site; if products are already ordered and shipped to store front locations, eCommerce reduces inventories by simply forwarding the order to the supplier and have them directly ship (drop ship) to the customer.
3. Increase Profits: The magic behind all successful businesses is to increase profits which is accomplished by increasing sales volume; a quality eCommerce site greatly increases sales volume.

Here are 5 basics for a quality eCommerce site:

1. eCommerce Tools: All quality eCommerce web sites should provide access to all of the components necessary to help make money online:
1. Merchant account access
2. Fully customizable product catalog
3. A virtual shopping cart
4. Advanced pricing features
5. Shipping, handling and tax rules
6. Payment options
7. Order processing features.
2. Product Catalog Management: A quality eCommerce site should include a user friendly or intuitive Product Catalog Management tool which:
1. Provides an intuitive eCommerce Dashboard
2. Can Import/Export Products
3. Provide Product Inventory Management
4. Provide Google Base Integration
5. Includes an Invoice and Packing Slip Tool
6. Provides Product Tags
7. Includes Multiple Billing Option
3. Enhanced Customer Experience: Never forget customers. The easier and more enjoyable the shopping experience, the better the odds are they will make the purchase. A quality eCommerce site should be able to:
1. Pan and Zoom Product Images
2. Provide Wish Lists
3. Compare Products
4. Include Customer Reviews
5. Provide Easy Re-order Features
6. Provide Configurable Products
7. Purchase Virtual & Downloadable Products -- MP3s, eBooks, PDFs
8. Include Customer and Shopping Cart Discount Options
4. Multiple Billing Options: A quality eCommerce system should be versatile and designed to give a variety of online order processing options. It should be able to:
1. Process credit cards online in real time
2. Have orders automatically sent to you by e-mail
3. Provide safe and secure transactions through an SSL-encrypted network
5. Dedicated and Extraordinary Support: There is nothing more frustrating than technical support that is not sensitive to a business owners needs… and one that understands the English language. Not to be insensitive here to other countries or cultures, but in this case technical support for someone who is not tech savvy requires a bit more understanding and be more understanding. Steer away from companies that export their technical support offshore. The reason technical support is used is to resolve an issue you have… this is not the time to have to explain something several times to someone who doesn’t understand our culture. Anyone can speak English, but to understand what was meant when spoken to doesn’t always or easily translate.

Here are a couple examples of fully featured eCommerce Dashboard found in the back-end of a quality eCommerce site.

One of many Dashboard Displays

Menu Items which should be Available 

Always ask lots of questions when evaluating a company to provide a “business” eCommerce site solution.