Copyright  Todd  Jamieson  2004  Todd  Jamieson,  EnvisionOnline.ca (www.envisiononline.ca)

In my conversations with hundreds of business owners I have met over the years, the same questions seems to pop-up over and over again. Can you build me a site that gives me a steady flow of sales? We are bombarded daily with get-rich quick schemes. Most of these statements have no basis in reality.

So are web site owners making real sales off their web site? Absolutely. But what I have found through my experience that making your site successful takes a lot of hard work – not unlike running a business in the “real world”. What these successful web merchants learned early, is that running a web site takes a lot of energy, dedication and planning. Yes … planning – all engineered by you with real goals and objectives. Lets first try to draw parallels between a typical retail store transaction and a web site transaction.

A Retail Transaction At Widgets R Us

Imagine our friend Joe enters a store Widgets R Us in the local mall. Joe first finds the store by looking at the mall directory and then walks in the door. The second he walks in the door, he sees other people in the store. He catches a fresh scent of potpourri and notices the beautiful displays. He looks down the aisle and sees a clear sign at the end of the aisle listing the type of Widgets he is looking for. He travels down the aisle and seems interested in a large Widget that usually sells for $100 but is on sale for $80. Next to the widget is a flyer listing all the features and benefits of the widget. Just then, a sales associate approaches him. By reading his body language, she knows right away he is interested. She asks him a few questions to pre-qualify him. He asks a few questions back, and within a matter of minutes he has the Widget in hand at the checkout. Clearly written at the checkout counter is the store’s return policy. The cashier asks him, how would you like to pay for this – Cash, Visa or MasterCard? Just before the cashier rings the order in, she asks “Would you like our extra warranty protection?” Joe, agrees. The cashier then completes the sale and provides a receipt to Joe and circles their return policy written on the receipt.

Sounds like a pretty normal transaction doesn’t it? So why is it the most e-commerce web sites do not even apply half of these basic principles?

Here is a list of 7 things you can add to your site to get the e-commerce sales flowing.

1.CATALOG – Make sure that your product categories in your catalog are clear and concise and most importantly a user can jump back and forth between categories.

2.SPECIALS – Your e-commerce system should allow you to add specials and highlight special deals on your site.

3.VISUALS – Nice clean, crisp and professional photos are a must. Because they can’t see the real thing – a clean, enlargeable photo is extremely important.

4.FEATURES AND BENEFITS – Make sure you clearly list the features and benefits of your product and if possible link off to “studies” or articles that support your claim (with links back as well.)

5.CUSTOMER SERVICE – Because you can’t have a live sales person there to answer every question, a well laid out FAQs section with more than 5 questions is extremely important.

6.CHECKOUT – Make sure your checkout process works, and that you provide multiple payment methods – by cheque, credit card or even provide the option to fax in the order.

7.RESPONSE TIMES –Most major e-commerce stores reply in 3-4 hours or less. This is extremely important – if you take longer than a day – you will frustrate your prospects and they will become your competitor’s customer!

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