The Advantages Of E-Commerce From The Online Trader's Point Of View

Much has been written about the advantages of e-commerce from the customer's point of view, but it is just as advantageous from the business person or merchants point of view.

With e-commerce, suppliers can reduce costs to manage their inventory or stock because there are many very good web based management systems on the market that make automating the task easy. That is of course if you decide to hold stock. Many online businesses use a drop ship type business whereby the e-commerce business does not have to hold stock at all.

E-commerce expands the marketplace from a local or national business into an international one overnight. The ramifications of this are considerable indeed for the online retailer. Admittedly if the website owner is selling perishables it will be hard to do business outside a certain geographic area, but otherwise there is considerable scope for.

Online retailing is "tailor made" for monitoring customers buying habits. You can track the interests and preferences of customers and what is very important and rarely appreciated enough, is the fact that you can suggest follow up products and services to existing customers.

The next advantage from the online retailer's point of view is that you do not need physical premises to trade from. In fact many "bricks and mortar" retailers have taken the (often very emotional) decision to close their premises and go completely online. We recently saw an item on television about a lady in a nearby town who shut her millinery business, so saving about £1,500 per month in costs and expenses related to having a premises in the high street. Her turnover dropped by about 15% to 20%, but she was immediately a lot more profitable and her cash flow improved overnight!

Finally when you start your online business you very quickly realise that there are many many opportunities to use the flexibility of the business model in a number of ways. As an example you can start to outsource mundane tasks as much as possible. However this means sitting down and taking a very hard look at all your working practices. It is very easy to fall into the habit of chasing every customer as much as possible and trying to do as much as possible yourself. But remember that eighty percent of your time must be spent on marketing your online business and that means you have to study and learn the techniques to do this. The main thing is to find a company that takes you through every step of setting up an online business and train and help you to begin to make sales online.

Peter Robson is an accountant with over 30 years experience in the small company sector. With his business partner, Debbie Crossley he runs a company helping people set up and run e-commerce businesses. For more information go to http://www.yournichebusiness.co.uk/

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Small Business Ecommerce Solutions - Helping With New Business Start Ups

Every day there are numerous new business start up ideas by people from around the world. And with the Internet available with so much information, all you need to do is to get online to see what's available and to put your ideas together. Or those who wish to start their own online business but do not seem to know where to start other than getting on eBay or Amazon (provided the country you are living in offers these), you could consider checking out the available small business ecommerce solutions.

Start Building Small

No single building every appeared magically in one week. So don't expect to get your online business up and running within a week unless you had already taken the time to do your research and come up with a solid business plan. Many new business owners start up by trying different types of ecommerce software. And they learned by trial and error. Most business owners may have a bit of Internet knowledge on how to get things set up so the popular shopping cart software providers have taken a lot of time and effort to make their solution as simple and easy to use as possible. This is to help new merchants start off steadily by providing them plenty of ropes and guidance to show them how things are done.

All The Tools In One Place

If you have never built your own website or online store before, you would not want to waste a lot of time, effort and energy looking for the tools that you will need to get it done. That's why these ecommerce solution providers offer everything under one roof for faster and easier access. Most of the features and tools that you need to build an online store would be available in the admin panel categorized properly. And even if you didn't know how to use them, there are plenty of short videos and easy description to teach you which you do not have to pay extra for.

Affordable And Versatile

While many ecommerce software out there may be affordable, it is also important that new business start ups choose those that are versatile. Not only do you need a business plan but you will also need to prepare a list of questions to ask the service provider. Things like how customizable if the cart and whether they allow for expandability as your business grows.

Summary

So if you're planning to start your own business, be encouraged that you can get plenty of help by accessing the Internet and looking for these small business ecommerce solutions. Don't be afraid to try them out.

Harry Goldberg is a retired ecommerce entrepreneur who has built and sold over 100 online stores. He now encourages people who wish to start up their own new business to check out the range of small business ecommerce solutions which they can find easily online. He also encourages them to use an ecommerce software that is affordable, powerful and versatile and to think long term for their business.

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How To Select Affordable Ecommerce Solutions For Small Business Ventures

Though I have built and sold over 100 online stores, the first store I ever operated was a brick and mortar store. I took over the reigns when my dad retired and my family still runs that little sports shoe store.

When I decided to expand the business, I wanted to do it in a way which would not require the business to take a loan even though it would have no problem securing financing for such a venture.

The only way to I could think of was to expand through the internet via a virtual store. But there were so many ecommerce solutions for small business available. Here is how I made my choice.

Free Or Paid Solution
Naturally, I looked at the free solutions first. That would be the obvious move. Why pay for something which you can get for free?

I joined a few forums and looked at the pros and cons of free ecommerce solutions. I found out that free ecommerce software would be more suited to those who have a bit of programming knowledge and have more time to spend tweaking the software to suit their needs.

Unfortunately, I did not fit that bracket so I had to choose from a number of paid solutions. Of course, if you are more tech savvy, give free ecommerce solutions a try. If it works for you, you would end up saving about $60 a month in subscription fees.

Value For Money
Most of the top ecommerce companies offer about the same features to their merchants. Since I was starting out small, I was more interested in what I could get from their plans for beginners. There are a few ecommerce solutions providers which offer quite a lot of the features even with their entry-level plans. You would be surprised at what you can get for around $40 to $60 a month.

For the price you pay, you not only get fantastic features like a Facebook app which would allow you to sell on Facebook, you also get free updates. Take note that some ecommerce solutions charge for updates after a year so read the fine print before you subscribe.

Be sure to also test their support system. Most offer email, live chat, phone call and support tickets. I prefer the support ticket system because everything is documented and my messages will never end up in the spam folder. Also, tickets are usually answered within 24 hours of a normal business day.

Ease Of Use
This one is down to the individual. One solution might be the bees knees to one person but a thorn in the side to another. I would highly recommend that you shortlist and try out the solution which interests you. After all, that is what the Free Trial period is for.

Most ecommerce solutions offer a 30-day free trial period which was more than enough time for me to fiddle with the vast amount of tools and features on offer. I spent about an hour a day for a week and a half before I made my decision.

I found out that if you need an extension, they would be more than happy to add-on a week for you. After all, it is of no lost to them if you end up subscribing to their solution.

Harry Goldberg is a retired ecommerce entrepreneur who has built and sold over 100 online stores. He now shares his ideas and tips on how to make full use of affordable ecommerce solutions for small business ventures.

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Using Ecommerce Design to Enhance Online Businesses

Given today's trend of doing just about everything online, the field of competition makes ecommerce design extremely important. Success primarily depends on a strong web presence that is easy to find and access. Another important feature is to establish a good business reputation with clientele. Finally, stay on top of what is on the site so it is not outdated or incorrect. Many tools and rules of thumb discuss online business site methods. Some of the most common ones steer you in the right direction. Others are mistakes that can drive a business right into the ground, whether it is a brick-and-mortar or online company.

Few things are lonelier than a website with no visitors. The most important thing to do is make sure that people know it exists. Never denounce or doubt the honor of word of mouth advertising, but do accept that there are billions of people around the world. Internet businesses require something more to catch a hit from someone searching the web. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a remarkable tool for promoting websites. Google, Bing, and Yahoo are among the top search engines available, with more trying to beat at least one of them to the top. The more engines the business is associated with, the more likely it is to receive hits.

Give viewers a reason to come back once they find your business. Whether they arrived through SEO or a direct URL target, it is necessary to keep page content fresh. Ecommerce web design should bolster business rather than stagnate through lack of follow through. When people go to a website, they want to see new items and information. Mix up the display and provide the options that the public wants. Rather than specializing in a few items, have a wider variety to increase interest.

Keep your web page user-friendly because negotiating difficult to impossible sites causes customers to leave and shop elsewhere. Make the site easy to navigate so customers will return often. Have several people test the site before it goes live. Check to be sure it is presentable and that all the features are operational. Above all, make sure that hyperlinks work and take the person to the right area. Find the balance between clutter and boring, as either situation will discourage customers from shopping and send them somewhere else.

Make the font large and clear enough so directions are easy to find and follow. It is vital that visitors know which buttons to click and what it takes to order something from your site. Make payment options visible so they have the right information handy when placing their order. Various online services offer linked payment sites and make ordering convenient. Graphics and pictures, including logos that show which cards are accepted, should relate to your site and be relevant to clientele.

One of the most important steps is confirming that your ecommerce design makes it easy for site visitors to know how to contact your company. Phone numbers, addresses, or an online help support tool is a great way to do this. Make your presence known and keep customer satisfaction a top priority.

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What Can New Sellers Gain From Using An Ecommerce Solution?

It is advisable for those who wish to try out a new experience of selling stuff online to use an ecommerce solution. However, these new sellers may be skeptical about whether they could trust these different service providers with their new business or not. Here are some of the positive points that these new sellers could gain from using a small business ecommerce software.

Truly Affordable Pricing

These days, new merchants can start up their own online store by paying less than $20 a month in subscription fee to any popular web-hosted shopping cart service provider. Not only do they benefit by paying a low fee every month but this would at least give them a chance to try out the process of setting up their own business by having their own hands on approach.

Free Valuable Advice

Many of the popular shopping cart software providers would have their own blogs to provide free valuable advice to their customers. This is the place to look for as you could literally find out how to set up your business the right way by leveraging on the experience of these solution providers. For instance, new sellers could read up more about SEO, product marketing and the most recent news in the technology world which will benefit them tremendously. And the best part is that they do not have to pay a lot of money to consultants but on the other hand could build a completely successful business by taking into account all the free advice and tips offered by these seasoned providers.

Easy To Use Powerful Features

Not only do these ecommerce solution providers offer powerful yet easy to use features, the more customer-friendly ones will even show how to use them or how to set up stuff on short videos. This saves time for new merchants as they could just have a look at these short videos or simple steps to start the building and updating process for their stores. And in case they need to talk to someone, help is just a live chat or email away. For more urgent cases, merchants could call in to talk to a customer service representative at no extra charge.

Summary

With all that, it's not surprising why so many people would like to have a try at starting their own business online. Not only is the process easy, fast and convenient but new sellers have better access to more help and information than before to help them get their business off the ground.

Harry Goldberg is a retired ecommerce entrepreneur who has built and sold over 100 online stores. He shares what new sellers or merchants stand to benefit from using an ecommerce solution to start up their new online business. He mentions that the features and services offered by small business ecommerce software providers is more than enough to help guide new merchants if they will make use of these information.

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