UK – E-Commerce POC

What does a successful e-commerce website really need

Posted on July 12, 2018 by blogger

There are many different options available when it comes to setting up an E-commerce website, but no matter how you go about it, you will need a full array of options when establishing your website in the beginning.

It goes without saying that before you can even begin to think of the setup and design of the ecommerce website, you need to have a business plan drawn up to cater for your product, your marketing plans, and your outline for future growth. Once you have a suitable product and plan to generate traffic and direct it to your website, you can then outline what you want for a fully functioning ecommerce website.

Of the features available, you will need the following, at the very least:

Hosting

Layout and Design

Logo creation (if you don’t already have a company logo)

CMS (content management system) for your products and listing and pricing

Shopping cart integrated into a payment gateway

Order tracking system / database

System reporting

For any ecommerce website that is selling physical (or non-physical) goods, these are the items which you will need to consider when setting up your site.

For hosting, you can either approach a hosting company directly, or approach a decent web designer. The web designer will be able to handle the logo creating for your company logo, and will integrate this into your layout and design for your website as well. They will, usually, also know where the cheaper options are for hosting, and will be able to direct you to a suitable company for this, often being able to set it up for you. Alternatively, often hosting companies provide the same services (by having an in-house developer and designer) as a package, and you will be able to use one of their website templates for your site.

The shopping cart system can either be done by yourself, or by hiring a developer, or by getting a ready-made shopping cart system integrated into your site (your web designer/developer will be able to do this for you). The cart will generally integrate into a payments processing provider, so you’ll need to discuss with a provider about having credit card payments made on your site, and about having the provider take payments and settle with you directly.

Any decent ecommerce website will keep track of its own stock and orders, and will integrate its own stock and sales reports with those that are returned by the payments processing provider. You will then need to do reconciliations with the provider to make sure that all the orders that are processed were paid for, and that the provider settled all payments to you by the required date. The providers are usually quite strict about you maintaining your own records, so keeping track of your own orders is a good idea.

Overall, it is quite simple to do the entire ecommerce website yourself (or with the help of contracted IT professionals), but there are also alternatives out there, where you can purchase an entire, ready-made package. It’s just a matter of looking, and gauging what works best for your situation.

About Webmama

Webmama.co.uk is a leading provider of ecommerce website and shopping cart website solution in the UK. We have packages that suits every budget, with industry leading client centric service and competitive, honest prices, it’s no wonder 1500+ worldwide customers look to Webmama.co.uk for all their ecommerce solution needs.

Were excited to offer you a completely free 14 day trial to evaluate our software with zero risk (no credit card required). Were sure that once you see what our E-commerce website can do, youll know its the right choice for your business and your online success.

Contact: 44 (0) 845 634 4586

Source: webmama.co.uk

Using Online Services to Sell Your Product Outside the UK

Posted on May 20, 2018 by blogger

Looking to expand your customer base abroad? New clients await worldwide and with the internet and online services that come with it, it’s now easier than ever to connect with these foreign target audiences. Time to branch out your UK based business! The world can become your oyster with a bit of research and investment.

“Ready Made” Online Shops

You don’t necessarily have to invest a lot of money in developing an international ecommerce website. There are existing services or online “marketplaces” which users can sign up for. These are simple and effective ecommerce sites where transactions are managed by the marketplace operator, but products and their descriptions are provided by third party retailers: individuals like yourself.

Sites like Etsy, ASOS and Amazon are available for all to use for a small fee. You can personalise the look of your online shop with informative descriptions, logos and product imagery.

Making Your Shop Stand Out

There are various factors which can affect consumer trust in your shop and product offering. Two of these are visuals and copy so it’s absolutely vital to get these just right.

Make sure your images directly reflect the way the product looks in reality. Take photos from various angles in natural light without any interference from the flash and resulting reflections.

For added professionalism, ensure the background is always the same. If you can, enrol the help of a photographer.

Copy is a very powerful medium with which to attract customers. Shop owners often underestimate the importance of this so don’t make the same mistake.

Be descriptive but creative in your copywriting. Avoid excessive adjectives which lack coherent meaning. Highlight the features of each product.

Postage and Packaging

In the UK, you have the choice of using Royal Mail services or specialist parcel delivery companies such as Parcel Force and Parcel Monkey. Do some research on who does the best deals on worldwide parcel delivery. Some companies may be specialised in European deliveries while others will deliver further afield.

Instead of sending the item wrapped in bubblewrap and stuck into a generic parcel, do a little something more interesting to leave an impression on your customers.

At the very least print your logo on your packaging. If you can afford to, it’s also nice to give customers a little extra to say thanks for their custom. Personally signed thank you cards are a nice gesture and don’t cost a lot. Vintage postcards also work a treat, but pick something that goes well with the product.

Spreading the Word

Although you can expect some traffic to land on your page through users searching for specific products, if you’re looking to really get a name for yourself abroad, you’ll need to do some advertising and public relations.

Use social media to your advantage. This is free after all! Create shop profiles on popular social networks and actively engage with people, and give them reasons to buy from you. Competitions work well online. Give winners a special discount code to enter at checkout, for example.

For more ways of spreading the word, be it through social media or local media in the countries of interest, enlist the help of creative agencies specialising in a range of services from PR Scotland to advertising in China. Knowledge of search engine marketing would also be very beneficial.

Moving Toward Ecommerce Site Design

Posted on December 3, 2017 by blogger

Ecommerce has been a major player in the retail market place for more than a decade now. Initially invented in 1979 by Michael Aldridge, a British entrepreneur, the trend only exploded with the widespread popularity of the internet. Industry statistics this year estimate that 44% of consumers will shop online for holiday gifts this year, and as the market share is ever increasing, a number of companies continue to turn to the world of online shopping almost every day. For most companies looking into this type of website, however, there are a number of different concerns that must be addressed before you can ever begin to build a site that attracts customers and promotes sales.

Industries where Ecommerce May be Useful

Before a company ever starts down the path toward online sales, it may be helpful to take a look at which industries get the most out of the process. The answer is a pretty simple one – almost any industry. Take the city of London, for example. Long a mecca of shopping for people around the world, you couldn’t visit this city’s unique shops without actually visiting the UK. With the popularity of ecommerce, however, everything from famed department stores like Harrods to much smaller venues like Honest Jon’s are finding real success in the online marketplace. Whether you market auto parts to do-it-yourselfers or used books, you’re likely to find a home in the world of ecommerce.

The Site Design

Designing your site is key to the process of online shopping. That, however, is the case with any online venture. Customers must be able to find exactly what they’re looking for. Wandering around the forlorn virtual aisles of your e-store will do little but make them abandon their shopping cart and visit a competitor, leaving you without the online sale that is so essential to your bottom line. Here are just a few of the most important tips necessary to help your customers find the product they want:

Keep the Number of Clicks Required to a Minimum: If your customer has to click eight times to buy a single used book, you have a real problem on your hands. Perhaps one click is the search through the various categories. The next click leads them to a category description. From there, perhaps they have to click on a sub category. The process can get endless and frustrating. The rule of thumb is that more than four clicks to the point where they must provide their personal information is unnecessary and can cause a poor buy rate.

Add to Cart or Buy Buttons Must Be Obvious: It’s the first rule of any website design. Your customers have to understand what they are supposed to do, and nowhere is this more true than in an online shopping experience. Your customers should never have to scroll below the fold to find the right button to push to purchase their item from you.

Show the Price: This one may seem like an obvious marker, but many online retailers require more than one click before the potential buyer can look at the price of any given item. If you don’t show them what the item costs immediately, you risk losing them right away.