Sell
What do you need to do first
Choose the right domain name
Register a domain with a name easy to remember. It should be somehow chic and up-to-date and ideally should include key words related to your e-business. The selected key words in the domain name should be divided by hyphens for good SEO. Also don't forget to register the domain without the hyphens as customers can often forget to use them. If your competition manages to register the non-hyphen name, some of your customers will inadvertently end up shopping on the wrong site.
Domain registration could be ordered as a part of our optional services. Please find more information in pricing.
Set up the shop appearance
Play with the graphic design setting options. Aim for a maximum differentiation. Customers will remember your original shop design. Also make sure that the graphic design somehow corresponds with the offered commodities. You can also entrust an external graphic design company to create graphic components such as logos, banners, collage or you can use the services of our experienced graphic webdesigners (see pricing for more information).
Use a high quality product description
Do not economize on time and energy spent on creating the product and picture descriptions. If there are too many items in your shop, hire an external worker or student and give them specific instructions on how to write correct descriptions.
You have to bear in mind that unlike in a normal stone shop there is no shopping assistant who can win over a customers and get them to buy something they didn't plan buying at first. Your only chance for running a successful e-business is to provide customers with as much information as possible, be open and always play fair.
Don't be satisfied with e-commerce that only allows you to add the code, name, price and a buy button to the product. Customers will chose a competitive shopping cart solution, where they can find generous description options, technical parameters (please see article What you can sell), many pictures, alternative and related products, and also information or links to producers, etc.
It is much better if you gradually increase the amount of your products and make sure that all items are well described. This will give you more credibility and customers will appreciate it.
Build a well-arranged category structure
Categories are the main navigation tool for the shop visitors. Therefore the structute needs to be well-arranged, logical and should quickly guide customers to the searched products. Make sure the structure is not built too deep. Customers tend to get lost in a deep shop structure. Find more about creating categories in our training videos.
Don't act like a "jack of all trades" vendor
When selecting the range of products make sure that those products somehow match and correspond with one another. Do not try to sell socks, airplane models and kitchen appliances. This is not the right way to the top of e-commerce. On the contrary, customers will only think you are desperate to sell anything and they will turn to your competition.
People generally prefer so called "vertical shops" with a focus on one comodity. There is a logical reason behind this. Customers believe, that a specialized store is run by professionals. And you logically can not be a professional if you sell kitchen appliances and airplane models together.
We advise you to create several shops, one for each commodity. This policy is much more efficient.
Show your "stone face" and proficiency
If you also run your business in a "stone world" and you do have your own store, don't forget to clearly state this fact on your shop. You will gain more points from the shoppers. If the commodities you offer are at the same time your hobby, write about it. You win when people start coming to you with their questions.
Provide as much additional information as possible
You probably won't be able to push the prices below your cheapest competition. Selling goods for purchase price or with a very little profit margin is not a solution. Despite this inconvenience you can offer to the customers much more than they expect or, at least, more then your competition, when it comes to quality and services.
Stand out by writing interesting articles on your web, news or shopping guides. Firstly you will satisfy information desiring customers. Secondly you will achieve better SEO results as your articles will contain many relevant keywords that will be indexed by search engines.
Provide excellent customer support
Distinguish yourself by being helpful and pleasant to your customers, react fast and be flexible. Remember that the "word of mouth" is the best marketing tool. Though it is the slowest one, it is also the strongest and the longest lasting.
A 1-800 toll-free customer line is a necessity and the number should appear on every page of your internet shop. Customers will appreciate that you offer something for free and you are not only interested in making a profit. The related momentary financial loss will soon be compensated.
In our own experience, many shops receive dozens of orders by phone every day. These telephone orders are mostly done by less experienced customers, who have the need to speak to someone and to feel that it isn't all just virtual. If a customer can't get through to you or there is an answering machine instead, it's not as bad for the customer as it is for you.
Pick up the phones when customers call. If you are not able to answer due to a high work load, do call back as soon as possible. Accept your own communication standard and stick to it. Reply to e-mails in defined times and preferably within the same day. If you also reply to customers during the weekend, it will move you up the ranks faster.
If you are not able to deliver the ordered products, an automatic e-mail response is not enough. Pick up the phone and explain it to the customer in person. You will be surprised, how many people will be pleased by that and they will order e.g. an alternative product or at least they will remain loyal to you.
Be self-confident
Have you just opened your online store? Honestly, it is not the best information you can pass to a customer. It can raise doubts about your credibility and cause some concerns such as "whether you will still be here next month". Don't mention anything about your fresh start to the customers, if they explicitly don't ask about it. Do not underestimate anything, prepare for customers' possible questions and be self-confident. A good amount of confidence can make your customers trust you. Do not hold back, be flexible and act sovereignly.
Monitor competition
Place your competitors' websites into your favourites, visit them regularly and check their new marketing strategies or their company news. Monitor public statistics such as Google Analytics and evaluate your competition visit rate if you can find it.
Start promoting your shop
Everything is ready and the shop is being launched ceremoniously. The period of time leading to this moment was very busy, but you should not rest yet. You should gather even more energy for the upcoming fight for customers favor. You need to build up your shop's visit rate. You can find useful tips in the article Building up your traffic.
Analyze statistics regularly
Monitor statistics from the day your shop was launched (e.g. Google Analytics). It will bring you a lot of important information and will advise you on more efficient shop management. We believe that the most successful e-businessmen inspect statistics regularly.
Read, read, read
Read specialized articles related to e-commerce. You can learn important information which can help you to progress.
Do not ease up on the gas
There are many among our clients who never expected to grow and generate as big a turnover as they did in the end. The common denominator for all these clients is a strong ambition to move on and to achieve even better results. These people are able to fight for a better market share and are perfectly informed about e-commerce life and their competition.
Don't try to solve everything, you can rely on us to help
After you reading this article you have probably realized that there is a lot to do at the beginning. And little resting time. That is why we are offering a helping hand in the form of extra services. Please find more information in our price list.
