The Deadly Sins of e-Commerce web merchants
| Category: E-commerce | Date: 2001-09-26 |
The path to successful ecommerce web store is strongly held by proper knowledge. You can avoid costly mistakes that have put many online stores out of business. In this article, I will identify the dealy sins to e-commerce and I offer easy solutions to aid in the survival of your online retail store.
The 1st Deadly Sin is: Jumping to conclusion too fast.
Many business owners were blind by the myths that they can sell any product over the Internet. WRONG! In fact, many products cannot be sold easily over the Internet. Because it requires factors like high shipping fees, product liability issues, most importantly the need for trainned and highly qualify salesmanship. Before you decide to sell any product over the internet ask yourself these questions:
Why would your prospect want to order this product online, if they can just walk down a block or two to a favorite and trusty little retail store and buy it from there.
Will the consumer trust in your online service guarantees?
Will the consumer trust in your secured order methods?
What is your refund policy? The consumer would really like to know how they can refund if they decided not to own it anymore?
Will the consumer have to pay state tax? local tax? ect...
The 2nd Deadly Sin is: Neglecting the Security
If you host your own e-commerce site you need to make network security a top priority concern. Because electronic theft is increasing at an alarming rate. It is unpredictable what Internet hackers will do next to your business. Or what damages it will cause to your business. I personally would recommend you to host it with a reliable ISP source. You may seek network security consultant as well. If you have missed my last article on "A WARNING about the robots.txt file" This is also a great article you should read.
The 3rd Deadly Sin is: Website design issues
Why is website design a dealy sin? It is because most business owners put a lot of graphics on their site, and they think that graphic is the only thing that extracts consumers. It is partial true, but %85 of the time consumers dont go to a certain website because of the graphics.
Many online stores cluttered their web pages with too much graphics that make it difficult for consumer to navigate thru. Or make it difficult for the shopper to know how to place an order. That will cause the online retail store to fail.
I want you to see this picture, lets take Yahoo for an example,
When someone type in their search subject. and Yahoos search results came up with no graphics but text. How will your website easily identify itself to the consumers search subject? Again, it is the description and the title of the site that extracts them. You see, theres no need for you to use any graphic. So, why dont you do the same for your website. Describe your websites contents in your front page as much as possible. Theres really no need for you to use any graphic. Take a look at my site http://www.howtocc.com you will see exactly what I mean.
The 4th Deadly Sin is: Sending out the wrong message
I have visited a lot of online retail websites. They accept paid banner advertisements. Why is it not a good idea to do that? Because their focus should be %30 on their website. and %70 on how to market their website to their targeted audience. You may accept paid banner advertisements only and only if your website is an advertising firm. But if your website is about selling your product it should focused on your product.
The 5th Deadly Sin: Neglecting the TRUST issues
DO NOT assume that a consumer will trust in you. Many consumers are used to the old ordering method. They have seem ads on TV and instructions on how to order with a phone number. All they have to do is call that special number on the screen. And confirm their order with a credit card or by sending a check to the address that is listed on the screen.
But You only want your customers to order from you via the internet. The problem you do not see is that the consumer is afraid to give out their credit card number via the web. You must gain their trust by listing your phone number or your companys address on every page on your website.
Dont worry about your privacy, many of them do not call. About %25 of the consumer will call just to verify that this is your phone number and not just some fake one. But the rest of them will feel save because it is there, in case they need additional service they can just call you up. Most of the time they will place an order right away if they see a way to contact you. Thats how you will close a sale with their trust.
About the Author
Tom Truong
:To contact see details below.
webmaster@howtocc.com
http://www.howtocc.com/
The 1st Deadly Sin is: Jumping to conclusion too fast.
Many business owners were blind by the myths that they can sell any product over the Internet. WRONG! In fact, many products cannot be sold easily over the Internet. Because it requires factors like high shipping fees, product liability issues, most importantly the need for trainned and highly qualify salesmanship. Before you decide to sell any product over the internet ask yourself these questions:
Why would your prospect want to order this product online, if they can just walk down a block or two to a favorite and trusty little retail store and buy it from there.
Will the consumer trust in your online service guarantees?
Will the consumer trust in your secured order methods?
What is your refund policy? The consumer would really like to know how they can refund if they decided not to own it anymore?
Will the consumer have to pay state tax? local tax? ect...
The 2nd Deadly Sin is: Neglecting the Security
If you host your own e-commerce site you need to make network security a top priority concern. Because electronic theft is increasing at an alarming rate. It is unpredictable what Internet hackers will do next to your business. Or what damages it will cause to your business. I personally would recommend you to host it with a reliable ISP source. You may seek network security consultant as well. If you have missed my last article on "A WARNING about the robots.txt file" This is also a great article you should read.
The 3rd Deadly Sin is: Website design issues
Why is website design a dealy sin? It is because most business owners put a lot of graphics on their site, and they think that graphic is the only thing that extracts consumers. It is partial true, but %85 of the time consumers dont go to a certain website because of the graphics.
Many online stores cluttered their web pages with too much graphics that make it difficult for consumer to navigate thru. Or make it difficult for the shopper to know how to place an order. That will cause the online retail store to fail.
I want you to see this picture, lets take Yahoo for an example,
When someone type in their search subject. and Yahoos search results came up with no graphics but text. How will your website easily identify itself to the consumers search subject? Again, it is the description and the title of the site that extracts them. You see, theres no need for you to use any graphic. So, why dont you do the same for your website. Describe your websites contents in your front page as much as possible. Theres really no need for you to use any graphic. Take a look at my site http://www.howtocc.com you will see exactly what I mean.
The 4th Deadly Sin is: Sending out the wrong message
I have visited a lot of online retail websites. They accept paid banner advertisements. Why is it not a good idea to do that? Because their focus should be %30 on their website. and %70 on how to market their website to their targeted audience. You may accept paid banner advertisements only and only if your website is an advertising firm. But if your website is about selling your product it should focused on your product.
The 5th Deadly Sin: Neglecting the TRUST issues
DO NOT assume that a consumer will trust in you. Many consumers are used to the old ordering method. They have seem ads on TV and instructions on how to order with a phone number. All they have to do is call that special number on the screen. And confirm their order with a credit card or by sending a check to the address that is listed on the screen.
But You only want your customers to order from you via the internet. The problem you do not see is that the consumer is afraid to give out their credit card number via the web. You must gain their trust by listing your phone number or your companys address on every page on your website.
Dont worry about your privacy, many of them do not call. About %25 of the consumer will call just to verify that this is your phone number and not just some fake one. But the rest of them will feel save because it is there, in case they need additional service they can just call you up. Most of the time they will place an order right away if they see a way to contact you. Thats how you will close a sale with their trust.
About the Author
Tom Truong
:To contact see details below.
webmaster@howtocc.com
http://www.howtocc.com/
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