Do you have products that you sell at a physical store? Do you want to expand your customer base to be all over the country or the world through the internet? There are many successful store-owners that are interested in moving into the website business, but unclear about which shopping cart features to offer or simply don’t know where to start. There are many important aspects of an eCommerce website and how to integrate online shopping with your current business. Let’s take a look at them!
Ease of use:
Have you been to a website that lose track of what you’ve put into a shopping cart? What about those options at the check out process that are confusing and too many to choose from? You want to provide ease of use when it comes to the functionality of your shopping cart design. Making sure that you can get to the shopping cart from anywhere within your site, see the up-to-date cart information right away, and be able to get to the processing page are some of the basic features that will help your customers coming back again and again.
Rating and reviews:
Many customers love to share their feedback about products they buy. Let them have a voice on your website through rating and review features. Through the comments, review, and rating features, the products that are popular can be put on the home page as featured products or highlight them in some way for other customers to find them easily. It’s a great way to find out what your customers think and want. After all, you want them to be repeating customers to your online business.
Incentives:
Speaking of repeating customers, setting up an incentive or special offers specifically targeted to your internet customers can bring in more traffic and business to your eCommerce website. If you decide to collect more personal information such as their birthdays, you can email your customer a birthday discount code through the email campaign. Sometimes a personal touch goes a long way. You may have other great ideas or incentives that you offer at your physical store that can keep your repeating customers happy over and over again.
Sharing with others:
The customers who purchase an item on your online shopping website may be interested in sharing the item with their friends or family. Providing a way to share the information about the product will give you the referral opportunity. Often people say that the word of mouth marketing is the best promotion! Take advantage of features like referral program and affiliate program to expand the list of visitors to your online shopping website.
Keeping track of your stock:
There’s nothing more disappointing than to purchase an item online and find out that they are out of stock. You end up waiting for the product to be available and to be delivered long after you’ve put an order. Using the stock information features, you can keep track of your stock in your warehouse or in your store. Letting your customers know that they can pre-order the product might be a great way to keep the customer’s interest in your products.
Related products:
Your customer has an event coming up and she want to get a new dress. She find the perfect dress on your website, but now she has to find a pair of shoes, earrings, and a necklace. If you offer these items as related products, the customers will love the simplicity and efficiency of shopping at your online store. All they have to do is look at the related products and see where the shopping takes them. As another example, you might really enjoy pairing wine with cheeses and other foods. Well, let your customers know that you’re good at pairing and show the related products right on your product page! If you go to a physical store to shop for items like clothing or wine, they usually recommend other products that will go perfectly together. Why not offer the same service on your online eCommerce store and have fun with it!
Your customers:
Ultimately, it’s your customers that matter most. Keep in contact with them through newsletter or product specials without making them feel like they’re being bombarded with offers. Keep the information concise and special to the targeted customers. When in doubt, think about receiving the same emails in your inbox and how you might feel receiving them.
In his book Building Findable Website, Aarron Walter states “Treating your audience respectfully will help you stand out from the crowd every time. It will bring your audience back to your website as well as create evangelists who will pass on your message for you.”
Keeping the mission of your physical store and business aligned with your online store will help you with deciding the features and services you want to offer on your online store business.
Contact us to find out about our shopping cart features and how we can help you launch your online business successfully and strategically.
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