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A Beginner's Guide To Setting Up A Successful Online Store
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By M. Mukesh
A beginner’s guide to setting up a successful online store
Online selling is by no means a simple task. To sell products online
not only requires making use of high end marketing strategies but
also involves lots of planning. This article is meant for those of
you who intent to start an online store. It is intended to give you
a fair idea of what you would need to do and what you need to avoid
while planning an online selling business.
The following are the various steps that you would need to take in
order to open a successful online store
1.) Designing a website that sells
The first most important aspect of online selling is to have a
professional looking website that is designed to sell. You can go
about creating the website from code up using web designers or
simply go for readymade website templates. If you are purchasing
website templates, be sure to go for templates that are
professionally designed and have the option of shopping carts.
Buying templates from providers who offer allied services like
template customization, web hosting; SEO etc would be even better.
Some template providers like ‘buytemplates.net’ offer allied
services irrespective of where you actually purchased the template
from. To get a rough idea of how your site should be designed you
can take hints from successful discount online stores like http://www.ishopage.com,
‘gap.com’ and ‘bestbuy.com’.
2.) Hosting your store online
There are many factors that you need to take into consideration
before selecting your web host when it comes to online selling. Some
of the major factors are discussed as follows.
a.) Secure servers
Firstly you got to make sure if your web host offers you with SSL
encryption which is very important for secure money transactions
online. Most web hosting companies would offer you with SSL secure
server facilities along with a regular package whereas a few would
charge you an extra amount for the service.
b.) Up time guarantees
Your business is only as good as it remains online. Make sure to go
for web hosting service providers who promise you an uptime
guarantee of 99 %. Also check to see as to how they back up their
data and what kind of back up systems they have in place in case of
emergencies.
c.) Private CGI-BIN
A CGI-BIN directory is a location on your web server where you can
upload your binary scripts or interactive programs. This is very
important for payment processing and shopping cart management. So be
sure that the hosing company gives you a private CGI BIN directory.
d.) Web logs and web statistics
Web logs and statistics are vital for your online business. Studying
the web logs can give you much needed information about your
customers and your sales records. Understanding your customer
behavior can help you retain customers and attract new customers.
e.) Customer support
Get as much information about the hosting company’s support policies
and the type of support they offer. Go for web hosting companies
that offer 24/7 customer support.
f.) References
Most web hosts promise you lots of goodies but may not live up to
it. Make sure to test the web host’s credibility by asking them for
references. The existing customers of the hosting company can give
your first hand information on the service that you can expect to
get.
In addition to this you should also look for services that offer you
Mysql database and PHP scripting, unlimited emails and a minimum
space of 10GB.
3.) Deciding on shopping carts
If you are selling more than a handful of products then having a
shopping cart on your site is a good idea. You have three major
options of getting yourself an online shopping cart. First one is
buying a shopping cart software program; the second is using
services of an ASP and the third is programming it yourself.
Your best option as a beginner would be to go for ASP services.
These services are cheap and come with flexible options. As time
passes and you online business develops, you can hire programmers to
design yourself a customized shopping cart or buy shopping cart
software programs that can be set up in your server. Some good ASP’s
that offer shopping cart services are ‘SecureNetShop’ (SecureNetShop.com)
and ‘GoEmerchant’ (GoEmerchant.com).
Shopping cart software programs are a costly option for beginners
and can cost you anything between $ 150 - $ 800. Some good shopping
cart software programs are ‘shopfactory 6’ (shopfactory.com) and
‘storefront’ (strorefront.net)
One more option as already discussed above is making use of
ecommerce website templates. These ecommerce templates have pre
installed shopping cart systems and can help you set up a store in
minutes. Some of these template providers also offer template
customization services that would allow you to get your ordinary
templates in selling modules.
4.) Deciding on how to accept payments
No matter what the speculation, credit cards are still the best way
to accept payments. So make sure that your online business has
facilities to accept credit cards. There was a time when you had to
have a merchant account from a bank or financial institution to
process credit card payments. But today there are enough options
available that allow you to accept credit card payments even without
a merchant account.
Paypal (paypal.com) is perhaps the best payment gateway and has no
initial joining fees. Their service fees, per-transaction is very
low and they allow you to accept payments from all over the world.
In addition to Paypal some other good payment gateways are
‘2checkout’ (2checkout.com), ‘clickbank’ (clickbank.com) and
‘paysystems’ (paysystems.com).
Payment options other than credit cards
It is by no means necessary that all your customers will have credit
cards. As a matter of fact many of your customers don’t have credit
cards, many don’t like to use credit cards, many have credit card
phobias and the remaining may not wish to share their credit card
information online. Under such a situation it would be best for you
to provide alternate payment options.
Internet checks
Internet checks are as popular as credit cards when it comes to
paying online. Internet checks are comparatively safer and are best
if your customers are from international destinations. This
technique would involve your customer’s to make payments by an
online blank check provided by an internet check service provider.
This information is sent to the service provider for authorization.
The merchant can also print the check on his printer immediately
afterwards. Some good service providers who can offer you internet
check services are paybycheck (paybycheck.com) and cross-check
(cross-check.com).
In addition to internet checks there are some other options of
accepting online payments like money orders and electronic checks.
But these methods are suitable only if your customers are from
nearby locations.
The best way to decide your payment options is analyzing your
customer behaviors. You can also have online check boxes or feedback
forms on your website to collect information about your customer’s
payment preferences and act accordingly.
5.) Promoting your online store
No promotion equals to no sales. You can promote your store using
online marketing strategies like search engine optimization, email
marketing, banner advertisements and affiliate marketing among
others. While promoting your business you got to make sure to stay
clear of any kind of illegal methods like spamming, cloaking etc.
Your promotion activities should create a positive awareness about
your online store that leads to trust building.
6.) Assuring your Customers
The customer is the king and just as in any other type of business
here again you need to give your customer what he wants. To do this
you got to be sure of your customer’s preferences. Basically you
need to address the following doubts that your customers are likely
to have in their mind while buying online
a.) Is my credit information safe?
b.) How will the products be delivered to me and how long will it
take?
c.) Are their any additional costs associated with the item?
d.) What kind of guarantees come with the product?
e.) Are there any discounts if I purchase multiple goods?
f.) What kind of customer service does the online shop have?
g.) What happens in case the goods are damaged or of low quality?
These questions in particular and many more questions in general can
arise in the minds of your customers depending on the type of your
products and your online store reputation. You can address these
issues by providing valuable information in your FAQ section.
Providing an online live chat on your website would be a great way
to deal with your customer queries. There are many services that
offer free online chat software programs; for instance ‘boldchat’ (boldchat.com).
Even after all this is over there is no word like ‘remaining
stagnant’ in online marketing. You got to keep on moving and
adapting yourself to newer technologies and better marketing
techniques to stay ahead and abreast of all those pesky competitors.
http://www.bizbrim.com is an information portal that offers quality
information on topics like outsourcing, mortgage, education, email
marketing, affiliate marketing, hotels and travel.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=M._Mukesh
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