Related Links

Featured Links





Recommended Products



 

 
Featured Articles

Is eCommerce Right For Our Business
If your business features products or services for sale, undoubtedly the topic of eCommerce has come up. What is eCommerce? Literally defined as "the conduct of financial transactions by electronic means," it refers to purchases made over the Internet. ...

Microsoft Small Business Manager eCommerce – overview
Microsoft Business Solutions Small Business Manager is scaled down Great Plains Dexterity based version of Microsoft Great Plains or former Great Plains Dynamics/eEnterprise. Small Business Manager first release 7.0 and all the following version was ...

VictoryVisions >> Your one stop to build a successfull ecommerce website
Are you looking for a online presence for your shop? Are you looking for improving your present ecommerce site?Are you bored with your existing site design and layout?Victoryvisions is your one stop place where you can find professionals building your ...


Google
eCommerce Fundamentals
 

eCommerce can be VERY complex. To offer a world class customer experience, retailers must incorporate technologies and functionality that exceeds rising customer expectations.

On the flip side however, site fundamentals still play a very large role in converting visitors into customers. Many retailers surprisingly lose sight of these site basics and leave significant sales on the table. This brief examines 4 quick "fundamentals" every eCommerce manager cannot afford to lose sight of.

Think Fast

Speed has become less of a problem due to the penetration of broadband, but don't forget that a significant number of people still shop by a dialup connection. When creating a site framework, designers and e-commerce teams should ensure that the site is developed with pages loading in less than 9 seconds (over a dial-up connection).

Our recommended page size is within 60-70k in bytes. At that amount, sites will likely load within the maximum wait time of 9 seconds. Online retailers should avoid flash at all costs within their transactional site. Flash's artistic aspects may help you establish a brand presence - but it will likely lose potential customers before they have even searched within your store.

Image is important

Images are a very important aspect of selling online and are often neglected. All product images should be of the highest resolution possible, be much larger than the product


page original, and have

multiple views. Dynamic imaging capabilities can improve the user experience to an even higher level by increasing interactivity (zoom & rotate). At a minimum - retailers should have at least two additional views outside of the product page image to help build emotion.

Be my guest

Shoppers do not like being forced to do anything, especially when they are ready to open their wallets. Forcing a shopper to register on your site before purchasing is a sure way to drive a portion of your traffic to your competitors. Too often, shoppers do not have the time or the inclination to fill out a lengthy form explaining what types of information they desire.

Always offer the ability to checkout as a guest. You will see less customer leakage within the checkout process and can still offer the option to register when the sale is completed.

Make sure it's "above the fold"

Your homepage is the most important page within your eCommerce store. It sets the initial tone for the shopping experience and offers your best promotions and products to your visitors. Users typically visually scan a web page from top to bottom and then from left to right. All critical content and navigation options should be obvious to the shopper without having to scroll down. If you have your best promotions "below the fold" - you can bet that a large percentage of browsers are not scrolling down to see it.





About the author:

http://www.trinityinsight.com

News



MyBinding.com Joins The Ecommerce Mafia
MarketWatch (press release)
Even the most experienced and seasoned ecommerce operators are facing a rapidly evolving and changing environment. Our goal is to create a climate where senior executives can communicate with each other efficiently and candidly.

and more »

Acumium Rebranding Efforts Strengthen eCommerce and Website Offerings
San Francisco Chronicle (press release)
Acumium's Strategic Re-branding of eCommerce, CMS and Email Marketing Platforms will Help Online Businesses Grow Madison, WI (PRWEB) May 23, 2012 Acumium, a solution provider who helps businesses grow online through their content management and ...

and more »

Ecommerce: 5 Things You Need To Know
Huffington Post
The ecommerce barrier to entry continues to get lower as more tools pop up to help even the most tech-aversive entrepreneurs go digital. "Almost anybody can set up an online store," says Mark Hayes, head of marketing and public relations at Shopify, ...


GoECart Announces First Breakthrough 'All-in-One' Ecommerce Suite
San Francisco Chronicle (press release)
'GoECart 360' is the industry's first truly integrated SaaS solution that combines an advanced ecommerce platform with multi-channel order management, inventory management, fulfillment, CR. Bridgeport, CT (PRWEB) May 23, 2012 GoECart® today announced ...

and more »

Ecommerce key to Mothercare transformation plan
InternetRetailing.net
Investment in ecommerce will be at the heart of a three-year transformation plan designed to take Mothercare back to “acceptable levels of profitability,” the nursery retailer's new chief executive said today. The plan, introduced by Simon Calver in ...

and more »