Effective selling on the web - Online Stores

Summary: Are you looking at selling your products on the web? Do you need more than just a shopping cart and a product catalog? Secure online payments, order management, inventory management and shipping goods are some of the features that we build online stores with. In addition, we also help promote and market your webstore. Read on... Key Points How does an e-store work Do's and don'ts Online store packages Package I - Storeonline Package II - Inventory online

Cyber space is filled with all types of buyers and bargain hunters. Those who seek to connect with other online shoppers and discuss products from the comforts of their home. A new breed of shopping where armchair shoppers are the primary customers is fast becoming popular today.

A website that offers products for sale is not just a simple electronic version of a catalog. These virtual storefronts apart from presenting a visual impression of the products that they sell also, provide a shopping cart to select and buy products online, help promote these products through advertisements, track order status, ship goods and manage inventories. What they are is a perfect foil to a brick and mortar presence!

But is it easy to sell on the web? Making an online store a success is an ongoing process and we can help you achieve it. You have to make a start somewhere and building the online store is the first step.

How does an online/virtual store work?
A prospective customer gets on to an online store and views the product catalog on display there. He then proceeds to check out the features of these products, maybe even read reviews of these products and then makes a selection and adds them to a shopping cart. Checking out the items he selected and getting a confirmation on his order then follows. Payment terms can vary - from online credit card payments to alternative payment methods like Paypal.

In the case of a store that stocks products in a ware house, the option of checking whether the product in question is available and then, if necessary, informing the warehouse of the unavailability of the product and ordering for more then follows. Once the product is purchased the cyber store ships the product. The store usually has signed up with a shipping service provider who does the actual shipping. Order status can be tracked online and this ensures that the customer can actually travel virtually with his product until it reaches its final destination.

Let's take a look at a variety of web business models and see where these e-commerce options fit in.
A business model is a way or method that a company does business and generates revenue. Internet commerce has given rise to different kinds of new models. Not just that, the web also has the capability to reinvent tried and tested models. For example, the web has popularized auctions and broadened the model's applicability to a wide array of goods and services.

We have described our e-commerce services keeping in mind the business model that matches with it. These are solutions that would help most businesses, but we also specialize in customized solutions that are extensions of a simple e-store.

In addition to features like shopping cart, online payment options and product catalogs, what do customers look for in an e-store? First, let's take a look at what makes an online store a success.

Studies have proven that some of the important do's and don'ts when offering online sale of products are:

• Keep the shopping process from shopping cart to the submit button fairly simple. Limit the number of steps involved in the checkout process. In order to avoid abandoned shopping carts and incomplete sales and unhappy customers it is imperative that a customer finds it easy to select and buy products online. A good breadcrumb trail from the shopping cart to the checkout like Amazon's will help take out the mystery that tends to exist within the checkout process online.
  
• Include tax and shipping costs in the shopping cart: Use the shopping cart to include the cost of the product and additional costs like the taxes involved.
  
• Add gifting ideas like wrapping paper options before the checkout. When customers are addressing their purchase options on the product page, they can be asked questions like what color paper to use to wrap the gift, key in their gift card message and then move to the submit button and checkout.
  
• Put policy information and other rules and guidelines in pop-ups. Eg: Nordstrom.com.
  
• Don't force registration. Allow customers a chance to fill in their shopping cart with goodies and then register.
  
• Offer online order tracking features, online customer help and multiple shipping options.

Online store options from VietSmall
Our online store packages can help you create the solution of your choice. We can deliver more than a first-rated web site, and help your business succeed with back-end business know-how and streamline order processing and fulfillment.

Take a look at the online store options that are on offer here…

Package I - Storeonline For whom is this option good for? For a small retail store with upto100 products to sell online Scenario: If you are a store that manufactures and sells products like apparel or jewelry and requires an online presence, you will need an online catalog of the items that you intend selling, allow visitors to search the catalog and then add items to a shopping cart, order and pay online, then this is the e-store package that will suit your needs. Getting these products shipped to the destination if necessary and delivering the goods on time is prime and you don't want your store to lag behind when it comes to customer service. This option also allows further customization and can deliver a solution that is completely suited to specific needs. What do you need Signing with Shipping Agencies: DHL, FedEx Hosting: You need e-commerce hosting which supports Microsoft .NET database support like MS SQL Server 2000. List of Features: This is one of the most basic options that help establish a framework of an e-store. With a simple shopping cart, catalog creation facility, a custom storefront appearance and online payment facilities it helps your e-store take off… to efficient sales online. Features Product catalog that allows you to create a catalog of all the products that you want to sell and display online. A shopping cart that allows customers to select the products of their choice and check them out at the online counter. A search facility to search for products Customer accounts: Personalized areas where members can login, register, add and delete and edit product information or any other relevant information. A web master would be in control and edit the information before publishing the information. An online payment facility that will help users pay online in a secure manner. Payment Options compatible with leading payment gateways (enter just merchant account details) to process payments online; Secure online credit cards/e-checks payments through SSL protocol and encryption of sensitive data. Add on Features Shipping This feature will help you integrate shipping/courier options with leading shipping service providers.

Package II - Inventory online For whom is this option good for? For a store with more than 1000 product and facility to stock products be it retail or wholesale. Scenario: If you plan to sell a host of items ranging from books, apparel, sports items, cassettes or even baby products you can benefit from an online presence in many ways. Apart from making your products visible through the net, you can manage stocks in a more efficient manner. For example, if your customer orders for 100 Wilson badminton rackets, your e-store software will check if 100 rackets are available at that point of time in the warehouse and then if necessary make an order to the concerned manufacturers to replenish stocks and also ensure that they arrive on time before making a commitment regarding the delivery of these goods. Once the customer confirms an order online, the package checks that the order can be validated and the stocks are very much in the warehouse and only then is the order confirmed. While the order is being shipped the customer can check the status of his online order anytime during that period. This makes it possible for the customer to virtually travel with the package until it reaches him. This scenario actually can be worked on to other business models that can benefit from this package. In other words, this model is that of e-bay or Amazon or any other similar store. What you need Signing with Shipping Agencies: DHL, FedEx. Hosting: You need e-commerce hosting which supports ASP and MS SQL Server 7.0/2000. List of Features: Inventory management, catalog & import/export: Packing slips (fax/email delivery) for each order Bulk updates (amount/percentage) of products inventory Inventory update (CSV spreadsheet file) Option to disable sales of unavailable/out-of-stock Products reports (new arrivals, RMA, on order, in stock & backordered) Batch printing of mailing labels & returns forms Catalog with unlimited products and categories Common product structure/definition Ability to sell hard goods and electronic products Web-based file/image manager to upload files online Ability to set min/max quantity per order Unlimited attributes: images, options, files, and features Product reviews and custom (user defined) fields Different price implication for combination of options Easy-to-use wizard to import products/customers (CSV file Export customers, products & invoices into QuickBooks Shopping cart, customer account & order processing: Cart (sales coupon, gift note and saving for later purchase) Account (orders, subscriptions, payments history Automatic sales receipts (#, billing/shipping info & taxes) Invoices with payment type/delivery, discounts, etc Merchant sales follow-up notifications Ability to track orders status online Ability to review of outstanding/completed orders Sales receipts to customers & merchant Email alerts when new orders are submitted Taxes: Wizard to configure regional sales models Easy tracking of taxes (sales, GST, PST, VAT/multiple) Ability to levy tax rates to product groups Tax (include/exclude options) & delivery service Automatic tax calculation for geographic regions Tax implication (state/province, country Tax-free (exempt) items Payment & shipping options: Pre-integration with leading payment processors Secure online credit cards/e-checks payments Payments by check, credit/debit card, money order, COD Ability to process credit cards online Creation a new credit card entry with custom fields Multi-currency support (settlement into basic currency) Dynamic shipping calculation (flat, linear/table) within regions National/global shipping options Optional pre-integration with leading real-time shipping carriers (UPS, USPS, FedEx) Custom storefront appearance: Custom storefront appearance: add logo, header/footer, etc Variety of pre-integrated pages Ability to create new custom pages Full customization of presentation layer Pure ASP/HTML scripts & style sheets Any regional language (UNICODE support) System settings & services: Settings (general, currency, language, etc) Workability with the back office on the Internet Web services interface to manipulate all data queries Fully scalable package to add any new rules Full 1 year subscription to upgrades/updates Sales management & promotions: Sales journal (order & refund documents) and secure download option Ability to accept payments online (secure transactions Tracking of orders received: Web, phone, fax, mail, and email Catalog sales with ability to create customer's account Advanced search by documents, customers, suppliers & products Intelligent search by time period (day, week, month) and transactions Printing/emailing of invoices and packing slips in bulk/per-order Management reports: sales revenues, taxes, profits & payments Price lists for customers and membership Free shipping based on amount, weight and quantity Coupons (products range, departments/categories), rebates & vouchers Bulk mailing campaigns to email newsletters, special offers, etc.