Ecommerce Success Checklist

Dependable shopping cart – Check

Keyword research – Check

SEO – Check

Appealing ecommerce template – Check

Products uploaded and in stock – Check

All well and good – but what’s next?

You’ve done everything correct so far – you’ve signed up with a top web site ecommerce hosting shopping cart and you’ve made sure it’s a web hosting shopping cart at that. You done all your keyword and SEO homework, so now it’s time to make small adjustments to the page marketing aspects of your store.

If you take all your cross-selling cues from Amazon, you might not get the same results as them. Amazon bases their cross-selling decisions on a LOT of constantly updated data which is processed by experts – constantly learning and constantly tuning their recommendations. A relatively large number of web shopping cart merchants do not have the resources to try to replicate this. For the rest of us, it’s better to play by a few simple guidelines when it comes to cross-selling.

Below are 4 basic guidelines to assist you make the most out of your cross-selling efforts:

Keep To A Limit

The idea of cross-selling is to suggest products that a customer may be interested in or may not have realized that they need. Suggesting too many products may irritate some customers as well as confuse others. The ideal number of recommended products should be between 3 and 5. Remember, make it easy for the customer to make a decision. Remove all other unnecessary factors that might hinder this.

Keep Them Related

Blindly recommending products might relay a sense of desperation or seem unprofessional. As mentioned earlier, a lot of merchants are not privy to the latest information on buying trends that the big players have so it would be a risk to suggest products that are unrelated. The closer the products are linked the easier it is to sell the “need to have” angle.

Product Credibility

Displaying product ratings by customers and experts can go a long way towards building product credibility. People like to be convinced that they are spending money on something that is worthwhile. Assurances by other people who have already purchased the product can aid here.

Provide Enough Useful Information

People research before they buy nowadays – not just to see if they can get a great bargain but also to find out if the item is best for them. Many merchants have product information in abundance but most of the information is useless. Always keep in mind that any information that you put up must be geared to assist you close a sale. The information that you present should be answers to questions you predict your customers would ask.

For instance, a customer looking for a pair of sports trainers would probably want to know the type of shoe (basketball, running, tennis), what type of gait it suits (neutral, overpronator, supinator), the weight of the shoe, and the expected mileage it allows before it is retired. Be sure to tailor your product information to cater to what you expect your potential customers will want to know.

We’ve been writing a lot of articles lately on techniques to build up sales with the useful tools provided with some of the best ecommerce solution software in the market. We’ve done so because the holidays are just a few months away and we want our merchants get the best of this shopping season. We’ve touched on cross-selling and up-selling in earlier posts and we will take it a step further here.

There are quite a few things that even the best ecommerce solution or free shopping cart software can’t help you do. It’s because there’s a lot of psychology involved in getting a customer to accept a product, let alone buy or spend more than they originally planned to. Sadly, web hosting shopping cart technology hasn’t reached such an advanced state…yet.

Cross-selling and up-selling are always great ways to expose people to more products they might be interested in but had not thought of. Nevertheless,, getting them to actually consider purchasing those products is a whole other matter. The way you go about persuading them is very crucial. Literally to get customers to accept cross-sell and up-sell products, you have to choose your words properly.

Here are a few suggestions:

Add A Personal Touch

Try to personalize your product suggestions as much as possible. Don’t just use “We recommend.” But instead, try engaging “We think you might like this/these.” This gives a much warmer feel. This phrase works great with up-sell items or items which are related (same category).

Establish A Need

Instead of making outright suggestions, why not put it in a different way by actually asking the buyer if he or she needs something. If a person has just bought a digital SLR for instance, you could ask, “Do you need batteries?” or “Would you want this camera bag for your gear?”. This method is good for products with lots of accessories. This is why guys go into DIY stores searching to buy a $5 screwdriver but come out with $200 worth of power tools and equipment which will be borrowed by neighbors and never returned. Mind you, have you noticed how fast food outlets cross-sell? As soon as you order a soda and a burger, you’ll automatically be asked, “Would you like some fries with that?” If you agree, the ever-helpful staff will then try to up-sell the product, “Why don’t you try our large fries? It’s just 20 cents more.” Even if 3 out of 10 customers opt for the fries, regardless of size, that’s already an increase in revenue.

Everyone Wants A Bargain

No one loves to pay retail. If you want someone to purchase something (extra) you need to make it worth their while. You need to express the value of the deal to them. Tell them exactly how much they will be saving and emphasize what a great deal this is. And it pays to select your figures wisely here. For example, given a choice between “Save $1.99″ and “Save 30%”, which do you think would have a bigger impact?

Tell Them The Sky Is Falling

You will be surprise people usually react to urgency. Place some sort of limit or a condition to the items you cross-sell or up-sell. “Available at this price for 15 minutes only” or “Hurry! Last 5 units left” are just some examples of this. Some view cart and checkout pages even employ the use of countdown clocks to emphasize the urgency. This method is excellent for items that are low in stock or end life products.

Curiosity Killed The Cat, But Not The Sale

I read somewhere that you should persuade and not inform when trying to sell. However, Amazon has started using analytic as part of its up-selling function for some of its products. Lets just say you request item A to purchase. Amazon will list that item along with a few more similar items and state the percentage of people who bought them. Basically, you’d discover that most people bought products that cost more than the product you selected. Basically, yours would be the only one not to hit 2 digits percentage-wise. You would then start to have doubts about buying product A and start browsing through all the other costlier alternatives. Genius, huh?

Before you choose to get a web hosting shopping cart merchant account and sign up for a shopping carts service, you must first ascertain what to sell.

But what should you sell? A relatively fast search of best-selling items on the net will distinguish you that airline tickets, books, CDs and DVDs have been some of the great selling items for years. A little more studies will also tell you that there’s no point going down that road as certain prominent names have already got those products completely covered.

Thus, best-selling items aren’t usually the best items to offer. What then are the aspects that one needs to consider before deciding on what to sell?

Demand

Of course, products are easier to sell if there is a demand for them. You should always try to merchandise products that are repeatedly in demand.

Consumables are your best bet. The shorter the lifespan of a product, the more common the purchase. But of course, the products that you choose should have a perfect lifespan. As a matter of fact, selling a product with a better lifespan than the ones your competitors are promoting could give you an edge.

If you already have a store selling sports products, for example, you could jump on the fad bandwagon once a while. You could look into Serena Williams’ latest trendy-looking tennis kicks or the jersey of a famous player who has just switched clubs. Demand for fad products doesn’t last long so you need to have a good eye for them and sell them while they’re still hot. It would not be advisable to only sell fad products on an online store as it isn’t a very viable long-term venture, unless of course you are considering to make a speedy profit.

Product suggestions: Health and Beauty (i.e skincare), weight-loss) products.

Niche

All you need is a proficient storefront shopping cart and a good marketing strategy to get the ball rolling.

Products like line dancing shoes are a niche product with a global demand. And the best thing is that these shoes don’t last forever. The more you utilize them, the faster they wear out. So if your service is wonderful and so is your product, you should be able to get repeat orders.

You don’t have to look far to get inspiration on what to sell. Look around you. If you spot something, ask yourself if you would consider that item yourself. Look at the products that you use. Go to specific places like gyms to find out which products fitness freaks use, wear or consume. Tag along on fishing trips and observe the stuff that avid game fishermen use.

In some cases one particular item can open opportunities to other items and thus, a whole new avenue for revenue. For instance, a person who buys nicotine gum or patches would probably be interested in improving his health and outlook as well. You could cross-sell products example whitening toothpaste specially formulated to get rid of cigarette stains, running shoes and other related exercise gear.

Product suggestions: Hair-fall control cream/shampoo for men and women, non-alcohol based perfumes, ‘green’ toys/puzzles and hypoallergenic products.

Margins

Electronic products like cameras and mp3 players are all the rage. However, the profit margins are pretty low. You would have to move a ton of these products to get a perfect amount of profit.

Again, try exploring at the niche market for a specific kind of product. Let’s take cameras for example. Not all cameras are long-lasting. How about targeting adventurers for this specific product? You could market durable underwater casings, monopods, point-and-shoots, longer-lasting batteries and other camera gear an adventurer would need. Keep in mind, not all who purchase these products are adventurers. A relatively large number of just like the association.

Obviously, do not get carried away by over-charging just to raise margins. Do a bit of competitor studies before you nail down your pricing. Online customers can be very fickle and a difference of just a few dollars could cost you a sale or worse, a customer. Try to market products that have high perceived commercial value.

Product pointers: Weight-loss and beauty products.

Now that you have an idea of how to go about deciding what products to market, you can finally put that storefront shopping cart to good use.

Drop shippers are a useful bunch. There are a lot of positives that come along with using reliable drop shippers. This is especially true for new merchants who lack the space (and money) to store products and the manpower to deal with packing and shipping arrangements. Some more established multi shopping carts names already contribute integration with at least one drop shipper. ecommerce web hosting shopping cart integration is unusual, though. One crucial thing to be aware of though, is that the shopping cart costs is usually abstracted from the fees for the drop shipping service.

There are a few things you should consider before deciding a drop shipper. These concerns should be addressed early in order to steer clear of problems later…

If you are going to think about the services of drop shippers, you have to comprehends that they are the supply chain to your business. You can either source your own drop shipper(s) or opt for one that is integrated with your multi shopping carts provider. Suffice to say, the drop shipper you pick should not only be reliable but competitive and trustworthy as well. Along with these 3 characteristics, here are some aspects that you would do well to consider:

Inventory

A product needs to be in stock in order for you to make a sale. Needless to say, good and consistent inventory levels are crucial. Therefore, stock information needs to be up-to-date (real-time) and exact.

As such, product information included by drop shippers (to be displayed on the product page) should be sufficient and concrete. The reason being you do not have access to the physical products and so will not be privy to any information save that which is provided by the drop shipper. Commonly requested information: availability of alternative colors, material used, dimensions and weight.

Price

A competitive drop ship price (very close to wholesale, preferably) is the key to selling at higher margins. Remember, you need to take into account competitors’ pricing before you can make a decision on your own. You should also factor in possible future discounts into your pricing calculations.

Just like inventory levels, product prices should be constant.

Variety

It sounds cliched but variety is the spice of life. A perfect drop shipper should have a large database of drop ship products. A person may only buy one T-shirt if a variety of sizes are available, but he/she may buy more if the T-shirt comes in multiple colors as well. Frankly speaking, it also aids a buyer decide by doing a quick comparison.

Return Policy

You have to understand that your drop shipper’s return policy automatically becomes your return policy. Have a very closer look at your drop shippers’ return policies and make sure they are reliable before you select to adopt them. If you agree to their policies, make sure you clearly express these return policies to your customers on your Terms & Conditions, Shipping or Return Policy or FAQ pages.

Customer Support

A professional drop shippers get back to you within 1 business day, 2 at the most. In certain cases things do go wrong, even with the best drop shippers, such as an item being delivered in the wrong quantity, or perhaps in the wrong color. When something like this happens, it is essential that the situation be remedied as soon as possible. A quick response time is vital. The faster you hear back from your drop shipper, the relatively fast you can intercommunicate the latest situation to your customer in turn.

Drop shippers are a useful bunch. There are a lot of positives that come along with using reliable drop shippers. This is especially true for new merchants who lack the space (and money) to store products and the manpower to deal with packing and shipping arrangements. Some more established multi vendor shopping carts names already provide integration with at least one drop shipper. ecommerce web hosting shopping cart integration is unusual, though. One major thing to be aware of though, is that the shopping cart costs is usually abstracted from the fees for the drop shipping service.

There are a few things you should think about before deciding a drop shipper. These concerns should be addressed early in order to avoid problems later…

If you are going to think about the services of drop shippers, you have to comprehends that they are the supply chain to your business. You can either source your own drop shipper(s) or opt for one that is integrated with your multi vendor shopping carts provider. Either way, the drop shipper you engage should not only be reliable but competitive and trustworthy as well. Along with these 3 characteristics, here are some aspects that you would do well to think about:

Inventory

A product needs to be in stock in order for you to make a sale. Needless to say, healthy and consistent inventory levels are important. As such, stock information needs to be up-to-date (real-time) and exact.

As such, product information included by drop shippers (to be displayed on the product page) should be sufficient and specific. The reason being you do not have access to the physical products and so will not be privy to any information save that which is provided by the drop shipper. Commonly requested information: availability of alternative colors, material used, dimensions and weight.

Price

A competitive drop ship price (very close to wholesale, preferably) is the key to selling at higher margins. Remember, you need to take into account competitors’ pricing before you can make up your mind on your own. You should also factor in possible future discounts into your pricing calculations.

Just like inventory levels, product prices should be constant.

Variety

It sounds cliched but variety is the spice of life. A good drop shipper should have a significant database of drop ship products. A person may only buy one T-shirt if a variety of sizes are available, but he/she may buy more if the T-shirt comes in various colors as well. Frankly speaking, it also supports a buyer make up their mind by doing a quick comparison.

Return Policy

You have to understand that your drop shipper’s return policy automatically becomes your return policy. Have a very closer look at your drop shippers’ return policies and make sure they are reliable before you choose to adopt them. If you agree to their policies, make sure you clearly express these return policies to your customers on your Terms & Conditions, Shipping or Return Policy or FAQ pages.

Customer Support

An excellent drop shippers get back to you within 1 business day, 2 at the most. In certain cases things do go wrong, even with the best drop shippers, such as an item being delivered in the wrong quantity, or perhaps in the wrong color. When something like this happens, it is essential that the situation be amended as soon as possible. A speedy response time is vital. The faster you hear back from your drop shipper, the relatively fast you can intercommunicate the latest situation to your customer in turn.