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Promote yourself inexpensively and effectively on the web

sploonker — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:38:33 CDT

Online advertising is not a new syndrome. It’s been there for a quite long now. However, many companies/individual often complain that they are not able to reap the returns on the online investment (advertising related). Moreover, we all know the potential of internet but still the online marketing space hasn’t been able to magnetize investments up to the tune of other mediums like – TV, newspapers, and so on. When it comes to big companies, the fortune 500 companies and the top corporate czars of each and every nation, the situation is very dilapidated w.r.t to the use of online advertising by them. The online ad-spend/promotions and so forth still constitute for a small chunk as compared to the total ad-spend. It’s not even 10% as compared to the total ad-spend. However, it is growing steadily but it’s no way near to mediums like TV and so on. Moreover, the revenue fetched by selling an ad-space on internet is much lower than in contrast to other mediums, raison d'être for the same?

· Only a small amount of marketing gurus are betting on online advertisements seriously. The internet marketing space is at very embryonic stage and is in misery from the ‘also’ kind of attitude (Okay let have a presence on the internet also)

· Being treated as a neglected child by many big corporations – it attracts only e-commerce players and small players who cannot afford other mediums. This results in to generally low revenues / ad space.

· According to lot of ad gurus – clients think that the money spent on online advertising goes completely in to the bin. They still need to be taken in confidence about the potential of the web.

However, one cannot doubt the potential of the online marketing space in the view of the following beyond belief facts –

· Via online advertising one can cater to the global target audience. Impossible to do via other mediums or if one try to do so, he would end up in spending atleast ten times more than the proposed ad-spend

· The industry is growing slowly and steadily, currently it accounts for 5-8% of total global ad-spend and stands well above $5 billion level.

Therefore, there’s no question on the potential of the industry and the results it can achieve for you. Thus, merry-making for small and mid-sized players since they can use the service of online advertising as it hasn’t been able to generate interest in a big way amongst the elephants – this means relatively low online advertising rates. However, a word of caution – choose your ad-spot wisely and the one that caters to your target audience. Don’t become excited and jump in the wrong boot. Make most of the time till it is conquered by the big companies.

PPA - the new mantra of Google for Advertisers

sploonker — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:38:02 CDT

PPA - Pay Per Action is the new mantra of online advertising that is being preached by Google. It does sound interesting and more bang for your money. But is it really or not? Well compared to banner ads and ad impressions, PPC - Pay Per Click turned out to be far better. Same way PPA is definitely better than PPC. Just like we thought PPC will give us the desired results and then we found there are people who would love to do PPC fraud and cheat you of your hard earned advertising dollars. I fear the same is going to happen with PPA where some smarties out there will come up with another way of frauding you of your customer referral fees. There will be some advertiser willing to pay more than the cost of the product to sign up customers through PPA and there you go. The whole world will buy his product, make some additional money then they actually spent and they turn around and resell the same product for actual cost or lower thereby recovering their entire spending. May be in this case, the advertiser will actually be still left with a paying customer. This can still be beneficial if the product has a recurring revenue stream for the seller.

There are very few players in PPA market currently. Google has only launched Beta for PPA and has already closed taking in more Beta users for PPA. What is different about PPA is that MSN, Yahoo, Ask and others are yet to get on this bandwagon. They are watching it closely but not sure if they should enter this space. They had hard enough time getting their PPC right. Although Yahoo made some attempts recently to improvise its PPC by paying back its advertisers for PPC fraud.

So what is this PPA? PPA as the name suggests is where you pay the search engine or the portal/affiliate/website a hefty fees when you actually make revenues from the customer who clicks on your ad, comes to your site and completes a purchase. Although you pay fewer times, each time you pay, you pay big commissions. PPA is more like affiliate or resellership rather than PPC which is still referral advertising at the most. Example: EasyStoreHosting is an ecommerce solution provider whose solution costs $300 per year. EasyStoreHosting.com is ready to pay its entire annual fees of $300 as commission or PPA fees for each sale that search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, HotBot, Ask, Acoona, DogPile and other can bring to its kitty. Of course, each of these search engines will have to show 100s of thousands of ESH's ad impressions on its site and hope a few thousand will click on it and a few tens of them who actually click will finally make a purchase for search engines to make some good revenues.

Jury is still out on PPA. Will it succeed? It is a great thing for Sellers. Question is will search engines, portals, websites, content networks etc embrace Pay Per Action like they embraced Adsense and Adwords. That remains to be seen and time as always will tell its story. This time around it is something in favour of Advertisers and Sellers. For their sake, we hope it does succeed.

Surya Prakash Loonker

Affiliate selling

sploonker — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:37:27 CDT

Dog-tired of selling old-world’s or run of the mill products like cosmetics, hardware and other commodities on the internet? Moreover, the factors like - the increasing seller’s crowd in the space and the fact that even after deploying excellent promotional and SEO tactics, you earn commission which is only next to peanuts, making you go barmy? Well, your diagnoses shows that you suffering from a phobia of being an ordinary or mediocre seller and the remedy is to pack your bags or search for something new which is at the growth stage of its product lifecycle, has a promising future, competition is less and most importantly which yields you high commissions and that too in a transparent manner. Now packing bags is definitely not a good idea. So the search for the ideal category begins.

Well, one such category is store hosting services (selling e-commerce store hosting service similar to ebay and so on). Now one may be wondering that when players like ebay and all are already there, there’s a big question mark on the future of the category. Well, the segment is yet to pick up and is light years away from being called as a matured or a declining category (for whom the demand has become stable, there’s hardly any growth or are declining). Take a look at this - the 20th century belonged to web-hosting services and now the 21st century belongs to the store-hosting services. This quote addresses all the worries in your mind w.r.t the category. Now, after identifying the category, finding a genuine and an efficient provider is the next big daunting task since the space is relatively new and one might come across fraudulent providers – over promising and delivering less.

After scanning large number of providers, an ideal provider is on the lines of - Easy Store Hosting (www.easystorehosting.com). Currently, they are looking for dynamic people to sell their cutting-edge product but not just as sellers but as partners - partners in growth and ultimately partners in success. Their motto is ‘together we rise and together we rise and only rise’. Their highly differentiated offering backed by highly competitive prices and the fact that ebay and yahoo seller’s can integrate their product portfolio with their store at EasyStoreHosting, gives their customers a quantum edge in contrast to others in the business. So why not become a part of this revolutionary concept and make most of the time. Currently, the provider offers two types of affiliation schemes – 1) Business opportunity - Earn high commissions by becoming sales agent 2) Earn oodles of money by becoming a reseller.

The schemes are highly flexible in the sense you can sell the hosting products under your ebay id or by any other mean such as through your website or by phone and so on. On every sale you get $25 without any ado as one might have experienced with other manufacturers. Moreover, if you become a reseller – read below in order to know what treasures are going to hit you.

How about 50% commission on sales? EasyStoreHosting reseller program is the best solution for web designers and developers. Join now and get:

1) Fully-featured e-commerce hosting accounts at 50% discount.
2) Resell them at any price you like.
3) Activate them at anytime without loosing pre-paid money.

Well, the offer certainly looks tempting but before joining just check whether you have the right skills to perform the job? Rights skills…well what are they? Don’t worry… you need to be passionate…that’s all. So catch the bus before its too late.

How to Advertise effectively at a cheaper price?

sploonker — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:36:44 CDT

Bruce Willis and flying cars, want to take a guess? Yes that was “Fifth Element”, a world where extreme imagination was just an everyday thing. Imagination is what has brought human and technology together. The marriage of technology with the basic needs of human beings has been happy so far. Sometimes it can be devastating, though. Innovations today are simpler and more useful than they were a decade ago. Communication and information have been two very important pillars of this age. From search engines to cloning, life has become so interspersed with technology that everything we do is either a result or a cause of technology. Take for example, advertising. It has grown from simple print form to large displays to high tech commercials. Today we see large billboards at crowded locations. They come in many sizes and forms. Some are plain painted boards; some add value by fitting some lights and some are displayed on big TV screens. These billboards are very expensive as compared to a simple print ad. They are billed monthly or quarterly. Often the companies that can afford these ads are large corporations. What about the small companies who want to advertise and get as much attention as big companies? Will they ever be able to compete with these large corporations when it comes to spending? I guess the answer is NO! Then what is the solution? What if these ads were run for a smaller duration with less hassle? What if technology could make things much simpler than now? Imagine yourself as an owner of a small business. You would want to run your ad at 5pm in the evening for an hour when people are leaving for home or you want your ad to be displayed for 2 days continuously before your shop’s opening ceremony. Would that be possible with the ongoing billboard rates and current technology? Again the answer is a straight NO. Well, then what should be done? There’s always a solution to everything! What if the ads were broken down in hour slots or day slots or week slots, as the need be? What if technologically the billboards were connected directly to a website where the client needs to fill in the details of an ad- image, text, a video, etc and the ad gets displayed in seconds? The client is charged as per his needs-hourly, daily, weekly or even monthly. Here the company can charge a slightly higher fee for smaller slots and the client would not say no to that as far as his need is fulfilled. This is just one way to resolve this issue. There can be several other techniques to tackle issues like these because technology is advancing at an accelerating speed and competition at an alarming rate. Imagine what would happen to flying cars when meteorites from sky would fall in numbers?

Boost Sales with Google SEO Tools

sploonker — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:36:12 CDT

Newly organized content submission tools for ecommerce merchants

Author: Jeff Muendel
Publish Date: September 25, 2008
Category: Search Engine Optimization
Tags: google, seo
As search engines have gotten better at discovering web content in many forms, manually submitting to them has become less of a focus. But content and distribution platforms continue to expand, and as they do so, the need for manual search engine submission remains an important, if changing, option. Of course, Google is still the king of search engines (some would even say the whole game, but I’m not one of them), and making sure that the search king sees all the attributes of an ecommerce website is important. To that end, it's a good idea for ecommerce web masters and website owners to understand—and hopefully take advantage of—the changes Google recently made to its content submission webpage. Google already offered many submission options, some more easy to understand than others—the specific purpose of each tool wasn’t always clear. Now Google has decided to reorganize those submission interfaces. Not only does this make it easier to understand these submission processes, for many it may also bring to light Google submission services that were previously undiscovered. A review of what the updated Google site submission page offers now may be helpful. As represented by the graphic above, the new organization offers four entry options into Google; web, local, media, and items for sale. Let’s review each of them: Web—This contains two of the basic tools every ecommerce site should be using to “increase your visibility by submitting and optimizing your website for Google search." These are "Add Your URL," which is the most basic submission tools, and Webmaster Tools, which is itself a set of extremely useful tools, including traffic and search optimization aids. I occasionally get new clients who are not aware of Google Webmaster Tools, and on day one, I focus on getting them to sign up and start using it. You won’t feel like you wasted time. Local—If your ecommerce site has brick-and-mortar entities associated with it, the Local Business Center and Mapplet will be helpful in submitting information for local results in Google. Results in Google maps are more important than ever with the advent of blended search results (results that include, among other things, map results). Media—If your ecommerce site has videos, these links will help you to "grow your audience by promoting and distributing your media to millions of Google users around the world." The YouTube link is especially useful. Items For Sale—You are selling stuff online. These links will assist you in increasing traffic to your online store with Google Product Search and product reviews. While only the last group of links references selling things online, all of them offer tools that can augment the sales for an ecommerce site. There are, of course, other links on the "Submit Your Content" page, too. Of particular interest is the Online Commerce section, offering tools to “distribute your product listings through Google and build your brand so that customers can buy from you early and often.” If you’re looking for further insight on using the services offered on the "Submit Your Content" page, check out Google's Content Central Blog. It has more details on the tools and the most current information on any changes or updates to them. While not every tool will apply to a given situation or website focus, there are sure to be a few that can help to augment your website visibility in Google, and hopefully increase sales.

Increase sales online

sploonker — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:35:52 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

EasyStoreHosting Customer

sploonker — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 10:57:40 CDT

Ecommerce Hosting & Shopping Cart Software FAQs

Shopping Cart Software for Ecommerce solutions allows you to build an online store without any prior php knowledge requirement. Ecommerce hosting shopping carts offers additional products and third party integrations you can use to enhance your online e-commerce shopping cart software.We provide you the best easily customisable shopping cart software solutions for your online business. With our e-commerce shopping cart software, it's easy to display your catalog if items for sale on your web site with very good navigation capabilities. Now you can own your professional Ecommerce Shopping Cart Software for Building and managing your online store for a very little price.

Read our shopping cart software faqs which would help you get an insight of its features.

(General):

How soon can I get my own online store up and running?
The very first step is to purchase the online store space. After that you get to choose any domain name which in turn will be registered with us. You can expect your ecommerce shopping cart software store to be up within a span of 2 to 3 business days. The site will be named in the following format: www.domainnameofchoice.com
Is it mandatory to purchase a domain name and is the choice of domain name prior to or after purchase?
The purchase of the domain name is our responsibility and we require three preferences from you regarding the choice of the domain name.
What is the procedure for modifying details on products or categories? I want to append information on shipping policy and details of my company. How do I proceed?
You will be receiving a unique login ID and password using which you may modify or add content at any time. To administer your site you will need to navigate to the 'admin' option on the site. You can then edit content under various sections like 'Contact Us', 'About Us' or even about shipping details or products and category lists.
Am I allowed to modify product listings?
By logging into the 'admin' option of your site you can simply enter all products through a backend database. It is similar to the procedure eBay uses for its shopping cart listings.
Will this eStore be secure enough for my customers?
Our system and eStores are 100% secure. We offer PayPal, Google Checkout, QuickBooks Merchant Services (QBMS), Authorize.net and others which are thawte and verisign secured. So no security issues. Security is guaranteed.
What are the payment modes you provide?
We offer a wide variety of payment options like internet banking, credit card, PayPal as well as demand draft or even checks.
Which payment gateways is your site compatible with?
You can choose any payment gateway that is of convenience to you and we will then proceed to integrate it with our interfaces. Currently we provide the following payment gateways: Google Checkout, ABC Payments, Authorize.net, PayPal, WorldPay, as well as UTI. There will be a one-time integration fee starting from 250 dollars (or Rs. 10000) onwards.
How do payments get credited to my account?
In case of gateways like PayPal, applicable fees are deducted and the remaining amount is automatically credited to your account. You can get detailed information on PayPal's applicable fee structure on their site at: www.paypal.com. In case of the use of Indian payment gateways an 8% charge will be deducted which is also inclusive of a 12.24% tax. We wish to also inform that PaisaPay which belongs to eBay India is not included in our payment gateways.
What is the frequency of payouts?
After your product has been shipped to the buyer, you are required to enter relevant shipping details in the database. Subsequently payment will be released once in every 15 days. A fund amount of at least $125 (or Rs. 5,000) needs to be present before the 15th of each month, failing which payment will be released only on 30th or 31st of the month.
Does being an eBay Power Seller entail a free 3 month access to eStore?
During signing up you will need to pay $600. Once this amount is paid, you can leverage usage for 15 months out of which three months are completely free of cost. Billing is on an annual basis.
Once I open an eStore can I link it to my eBay account (for things like feedback or Final Value Fees or FVFs for products listed on eStore)?
Your eStore will be completely independent of your eBay account. Reviews and feedback on your eStore can be provided by customers through the 'Write a Review' or 'Important Links->Testimonials' options provided. Since the eStore and your eBay accounts are separate, eBay cannot levy any FVFs for sales made on the eStore.
Is my eStore unique or is it a forwarding to eBay?
The eStore provided is totally unique and is not forwarded to eBay.
I wish to append my company logo in my eStore. How do I do it?
Simply email us at: support@easystorehosting.com providing your logo in a JPG or GIF format as well as your domain name. Subsequently it will be uploaded on your eStore.
How do I get more traffic to my site?
There are many internet marketing tools available to divert traffic to your site such as: SEO, viral marketing methods, banner and newspaper ads, email marketing campaigns, link building and backlinks, billboards and hoardings, submitting articles to directories as well as improving page ranks on popular search engines.

How to use the eBay tool:We have introduced a new feature in our zen cart shopping cart known as the eBay tool. Through this eBay tool you can now add your listings on eBay into your eStore. You can access the eBay tool from the following menu: 'Catalog->eBay Tool'. Here we outline the steps to start using your eBay tool.

Generating an eBay token: One of the very first things you will need to do is to generate a new eBay token. To do this you need to select the 'Get eBay Token' option provided under the eBay tool. On selecting this option, you will be redirected to the eBay site where you need to key in your eBay user ID and password. After this the eBay API token or t Token is generated through which you can start importing listings into your eStore from your eBay account. It's to be noted that for security reasons your eBay user ID and password and never stored in our database. Only the token number is stored for easy import of listings. The entire procedure is a one-time process only.
Importing listings: After you have generated the eBay token, you will see all the listings displayed in your eBay account. You will then need to select the listings you want to import and then click on the 'Confirm' button. This will initiate the import process and may take a few minutes to be completed, especially if there are thousands of listings to be imported.
Refreshing listings: There maybe times when you do not wish to retain existing listings in your eStore. In such cases you can delete all current listings and retrieve fresh listings from your eBay account. To do this, you need to login to your admin account and then select the 'Tools-> Delete All Products' option. This will not only delete all existing listings but will also remove any new medications you might have made to these products.
Reflecting eBay modifications in eStore: Since your eStore and eBay accounts are separate, any modifications made on eBay will not automatically reflect in your eStore. However you may wish to highlight these changes into your eStore. To do this you need to select the 'Sync with EBay' option under the following option 'Catalog-> EBay Tool'.

Procedure to setup my eStore:You can easily modify any changes to your eStore via the admin tool available in your site.

Removing default settings: As soon as you get your store space, the default admin settings will need to be deleted by you. For this you need to visit the Admin Home -> Tools -> Admin Settings option. Replace default administrator ID with your own individual email ID etc.
" Password modifications: Resetting your password is very easy. All you need to do is to go to the 'Admin Home -> Tools -> Admin Settings -> Reset Pwd' option. It will prompt you for your old and new passwords. Changes in password are reflected immediately.
Setup of payment module: Once you login to your admin account you can initiate the setup of the payment module in simple, easy steps. Just click on the Configuration option, followed by the 'Modules -> Payment' option. Initially it is recommended to setup only the demand draft or check payment module. Any unused module or one with a sort order of 0 might result in problems while using the payment module. Therefore remove any such module and do not use sort order numbers that are duplicate.
Setup of shipping module: To initiate the setup of the shipping module you will need to go to the 'Modules -> Shipping' option located under the Configuration section. On this page you need to deselect all modules except the 'Table Rate' shipping option. This is because not configuring the remaining modules appropriately can cause unexpected errors.
Setting up tax module: By visiting the 'Modules -> Locations Taxes' option you can easily initiate setup of the tax module. To get a more detailed picture of applicable taxes you can contact your local tax agency and subsequently select options provided in the page.
" Countries provided: This option provides a comprehensive list of all countries currently available. One word of caution: do not by any means edit the code of your country.
Shipping and Tax zones: In the tax zone you will define the areas where local taxes and VAT is applicable. In the shipping zone you will identify which countries or areas you can ship your products to.
Setup of Tax classes: In certain cases all items you're selling maybe taxable. In such cases there is no need to define the tax classes. However some categories may have items that are non-taxable, or those which are taxable hard goods or even services. You need to define the respective classes as appropriate.
Tax classes in shipping/payment modules: In some cases you may want customers of a certain area to pay taxes as applicable. You can do so in the shipping module under the product edit option. In some other situations you may want to provide free shipping to only people of your local neighborhood. However taxes will be applicable on the goods shipped. To set these criteria you will need to set up a free shipping module and define the tax zone to taxable goods. This way you restrict the customers you want buying your goods.
Rate of tax: You can define the rate of tax applicable depending on the geographical area and then define the tax classes as appropriate.
Local settings: You can define the default language and currency settings for your eStore. To define the default currency/s you need to go to the 'Localization' option. From the list of currencies available, you can delete the ones you don't need by selecting and then hitting the 'delete' button. If you intend on using multiple currency sets, you can define a default currency by selecting the 'Edit' option and then checking the 'Set as default' option. Then click on the 'Update' button. This sets the default currency. After this you can update the other currencies you plan on using by clicking on the 'Update currencies' button. This will fetch applicable current rates of conversion. It is recommended to do this regularly - this way your conversion rates will always be up-to-date.
Testing your eStore: Before you begin real-time transactions on your store, it is imperative to conduct tests. You can use already loaded test products to perform a 'mock' buying process. Incase the test products were not already loaded with your existing code base you might need to manually add products on your own. Once you are satisfied with the test purchases you can start the designing of your store by choosing from our four pre-defined templates. After this you can start setting up the store with product information.

Miscellaneous:

Is there a third-party independent eBay like feedback system that i can use on my eStore for customers to leave feedback and propsective buyers to check my rating and credibility?
Yes. You can use RapLeaf.
What about backups of my database and other data/content?
We provide backup services for a fee. One-time backup restore: $50, Unlimited backup restores: $100 per year.
How do I close down my site temporarily in case of emergency situations?
You can shut down your site at anytime for maintenance by going to the following option: 'Admin Console -> Configuration -> Site Maintenance -> Down for Maintenance'. By choosing this option any visitors to your site will see the 'Under Maintenance' sign on your site. You can also contact us for help by emailing us at: support@easystorehosting.com
How can I modify meta tag and title tag information for my store?
You need to login to your Admin console and select the Configuration option. Then go to 'My Store' option and select 'Store Metatag Title' for editing meta tag information and 'Store Metatag keyword' for the same.
I want to have more currencies in my existing list
You can easily append more currencies as per your choice by simply clicking on the 'Localization -> Currencies' option. However before you add more currencies you need to set the default currency value to numerical value 1. You also need to set parameters like the number of places after the decimal point etc.
Can I upload many products into my store at one time?
Yes you can. All you need to do is go to the 'Tools -> Easy Populate' option under the Admin console.
How do I add attributes to my products in zen cart?
You can set specific attributes for any product, such as Color, Size etc. by following instructions given at http://tutorials.zen-cart.com/index.php?article=57. First, you will need to specify the name of the attribute like Color, Size etc. Then you need to set the exact value of the attribute such as 'Red', 'Blue' etc for Color. Finally, you need to specify for which product you want these attributes to show up in front-end.
How can I have more than one image for my products?
You can easily add multiple images to a single product by following the instructions here.
I would like to use PayPal as a payment gateway. How do I do this?
You can activate PayPal as your preferred payment gateway by following these steps. You need to first go to the option 'Modules -> Payment' and then select the 'PayPal IPN' option provided. Similarly you can modify other payment gateway details too.
How to display product count beside categories?
In a particular category you may have several hundreds of products listed. To display the count you need to select the following option: 'Configuration -> My Store -> Show Category Counts'. However one word of caution - having too many products averaging several thousands can slow down the speed of your site.
How to change the design of the category box?
Design elements cannot be changed unless you opt for another template. However, extra integration and template charges will be applicable over and above the existing cost.
Can customer feedback provided on my eBay account be reflected on my eStore?
This is not possible since your eStore and eBay accounts are independent of each other.
I wish to import listings from my multiple eBay accounts. How do I proceed?
For importing listings from more than one eBay account, you need to use the same eBay token you had. First import the listings from one eBay ID to your own eStore. Then modify the eBay token to cater to the next eBay ID and again import the listings from this second account. Proceed in this fashion till all listings have been imported from all eBay IDs.
What if I want all e-mails for <anything>@mydomain.com to go to a particular e-mail address (e.g. myname@gmail.com)?
Let us know the domain name and the e-mail address, and we will link them.
What if I want multiple, separate, independent e-mail boxes within my domain e.g. Peter@mydomain.com, Chadli@mydomain.com, John@mydomain.com)?
You will have to use third-party services such as http://www.google.com/a/smallbiz/ (google service is FREE). The setup maybe slightly technically involved. Most people are able to figure out themselves. But if u need, we can provide a web meeting for $25 on “How to do the setup?”. Alternatively, the company with which the domain is registered also provides these services to setup individual email boxes.
Can I use one PayPal account with multiple ESH stores? How do I use my single PayPal account with multiple ESH stores?
Yes, you can use same PayPal account for all your ESH stores in case you have multiple stores with us. Please see the setup procedure at http://www.zen-cart.com/wiki/index.php/PayPal.
How do i change the looks of buttons in my hosted shopping cart?
Goto Zencart Button Generator, design new buttons and then e-mail us the download zip to implement the buttons.

eBay Tool FAQ

sploonker — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 10:14:52 CDT

How do I access the eBay Import Tool?
You can login to the admin console and click on the 'Catalog -> eBay Tool' option.

What's an eBay token?
An eBay token is the first requirement in order to import your product listings from eBay to your eStore.

How do I generate an eBay token?
It's very easy to generate an eBay token for yourself. All you need to do is login to the admin console, go to the 'Catalog -> eBay Tool' option and select the 'Get eBay token' option provided there. You will then be directed to the eBay site, where you are required to login with your eBay user ID and password. By doing this the system will generate a new eBay API token which is also known as an eBay t token. At this juncture, please note that at no point is your eBay user ID or password stored in our database. The site is completely secure and only the new eBay token generated is stored in our database, to facilitate easy import of product listings. Also note that the token generation procedure is a one-time process only.

How do I start importing listings?
Once the eBay token has been generated, you can see the various product listings in your eBay account. Simply select the product or products which you wish to import and then click on 'Confirm'. This will automatically initiate the import of these listings into your own eStore. If you happen to have listings running into a few thousands, the process may take up to a few minutes - so we advise you to please be patient.

I want to retrieve fresh listings from my eBay account
It's easy to get fresh content from your eBay account into your eStore. Simply delete all existing entries in your eStore by logging into the admin console and selecting the 'Tools -> Delete All Products' option. Then you can import all new listings as explained earlier. Please note that if you had made any updates or edits to the old listings, these will also get deleted on hitting the 'Delete All products' option.

I've made a few changes to product listings on my eBay account. How can I reflect it on my eStore?
When you make changes to listings on your eBay account, it will not be automatically reflected in your eStore. However you can manually initiate these changes in your eStore by logging into your admin account and choosing the 'Catalog -> eBay Tool -> Sync with eBay' option.

• What is drop shipping and who is drop shipper?

sploonker — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:28:57 CDT

Its a company that handles the warehousing and distribution of products you sell for you. For more information, check out the entry on WikiPedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drop-shipper

With a dropshipper, you do all the selling and pass on the order for them to fulfill/deliver. So basically, you don’t need to have any stock.

Most dropshippers sell tat and trinckets, so unlikely to be the foundation of a great ecommerce site. If there did exist a great dropshipper who supplied fantastic products, you can bet his identity would be kept a closely guarded secret - 'where can I find a great dropshipper' is one of the most frequently asked and ignored questions on the ecommerce forum here.

Purchasing stock on demand is okay if you can find a supplier who can deliver next day, but in the end, you'll get much better prices if you buy in bulk and store the stock yourself. Eventually, you will be given net 30 on stock purchases.

Basically, there's no magic solution to running an ecommerce site - yes, it's easy enough to build the thing, but getting stock (and finance) is probably the biggest hurdle - without stock, you're just another chancer with his 'estimated' 10 day delivery times and constant stock issues.

Get networking and negotiating with suppliers is my advise. Also check out,Dropshipping Business

Drop shipping on the net

sploonker — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:19:56 CDT

There is much discussion throughout usenet, chatrooms and forums about drop shippers, and I have sat through many heated threads and discussions saying that "drop shipping is a scam!", "it don't work!", and "you'll never make any money"...

But I know these things just not to be true, as I have talked with those doing it, work with those who do, and am the webmaster of the site belonging to someone who manufactures and drop ships his products. I have also used this method in the past.

First of all, using drop shippers is not a get rich scheme, or is the answer to all of your problems, and, like any home based business, requires some research and some work, but done correctly, can be very profitable.

Let me explain the proccess in a nutshell.

First you decide, what you are going to sell online. You then find a drop shipper that carries the product. You place the images and descriptions on your website or auction. When you make a sale, you send the order on to your drop shipper, who in turn sends the product to your customer. The profit that you make is the difference in the price that you charge.

That is the process in a nutshell, but it is a bit more complicated than that. Let me explain...

Deciding what to sell is one of the most important decisions that you will make, and this is where many trying to get into the business fail. You must take the time to research the market. This research involves finding out these things...

1) Pretend for a moment that you have decided to sell remote controlled coffee makers (I am using this as an example, as one of these sounded real good yesterday morning. Pardon me if I sound like your Junior Achievement teacher in high school.) and are there a lot of people selling these handy little devices? If there is, this just might not be a good thing, as an oversaturation of a product makes it difficult, or impossible market to compete in. You can find this out by going to eBay, or to search engines and looking at what others are doing. An over saturated market such as home electronics is just about impossible to compete in, without cutting prices, and cutting right square into your profits. This is why someone selling rolling pins or dog shampoo might just make a killing, while the guy selling car stereo systems is not selling anything but a pretty cool website.

2) Are there people actually buying Remote Controlled Coffee Makers? One way to find out, is by going to eBay and looking at how many bids and clicks that those who are selling these coffee makers are getting. Of course, there are many other ways to research this, such as market research software, and I will get into these in a later article.

There must be a market to sell your products to, or you are just chasing your tail. This part is called "demand". Demand for the product that you are selling. This is why those home based businesses that are involved in "niche markets" seem to thrive. Before you should start selling these jumped up java makers, you should find out if there is a market of people who will buy them from you.

3) Where can you get these coffee makers. are you getting them from the manufacturer or authorized wholesale distributor? If you don't know you might be getting ripped off. Research your Sources!

Do they drop ship? If not, then you will have to stock your inventory. You can save a bit of money by doing this, if you have the room to do this. Buying in bulk can save you money, if the shipping fees (do the research first!) don't eat all of your profits. If you are just starting out on a shoestring budget, then drop shipping might be your better bet.

4) Do the math!!! Figure in all of your costs! After you have decided what to sell, you must figure what you are going to sell it for. Once you have added in selling fees (if you are using auctions to sell), you must consider shipping fees (if you are not using drop shippers), taxes, and any overhead that you might have. License fees and hosting fees, if you own your own site.

(I hope these things that I have mentioned here do not discourage you, because these are the same things that you need to run any business. If these things do overwhelm you, you might want to consider affiliate programs for your first internet venture, as they cost nothing).

With all this considered, you should still be able to make a profit with the product that you choose to sell. If the math don't add up to profit for you, then you should find a different product to sell.

I have only touched on the basics here, but I hope that this article has helped you understand how drop shipping works.

Troy Breitmeyer

How I left employment and started an Online Store

sploonker — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:01:17 CDT

An essay on how I left employment as a java programmer and started building my online empire. I will tell you what I have learned on opening an online store.

I have been in the business for over 4 years now. But before, I worked as a computer programmer working to 5 different companies. The reasons I job hop is because I couldn't find a very stable software company. A software company that has been running for over 5 years is definitely a good place to stay. The companies I worked for are start-ups and that is only where they are at the "start". My last employment is a java based software development firm. They pay around $3.2 an hour which is fairy good around here. I left 2 months after.

That's because I finally realized that i don't want to code all my life. I want to be the one who will be the client of software companies. If only I had the money to start.

In a party I had a long talk to my neighbour. Ramesh, who is from India has established an exporting company for almost 10 years. I talked to him about how he started his business. He told a very long story. However, at the end of it I told him, "I want to start an online business. But I'll start doing it next year.". He asked "Why?", I said "I don't have the capital". Chuckling, he quickly replied. "When I started my business, I also didn't have capital."

That's what really moved me into this business. I do not need capital because everyone starts small. From then on I studied how people doing business on the internet I found out that a decent number of small websites are blogs. If I could only write as good as these writers I would start one. but i am not a good blogger.

Then I found out about EasyStoreHosting. EasyStoreHosting.com is a dropshipping concept. You basically open up a store and then you pay them $50 a month. Dropshipping has been around already but the concept is online retailers promote the products of the wholesaler and when they get orders they call the warehouse and immediately ships them to the buyer. The retailers then earns through the markup they put on the product. EasyStoreHosting offers legitimate dropshippers. Try their concept, they have freetrial, so try it for yourself.

Now I have a fair amount of experience on e-commerce. Hence, the biggest lesson I learned is that in the online world rules also apply the same on the offline world. "People buy from the store they only trust". I would ask myself, why would I buy a $200 cellphone to www.your-never-heard-of-store.com and not from Amazon? Why would I risk my credit card information? What if the retailer failed to deliver the order? Will I get a refund?

So I didn't pursue the ecommerce store but I'm not done yet. There are still many ways to build my online empire. One that I will try next is opening my very first affiliate store. I also opened my own web directory. I truly believe that in this information age and globalization, websites are the future properties. Websites make money so anything that makes money with little or no supervision is considered an asset.
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Safeguarding eBay account through restricted access to employees

mahekrishnan — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 21:26:52 CDT

E-commerce is an expanding area. 'eBay' is the buzz word for sellers and buyers alike. Many small businesses start out with eBay. Once on eBay, the tide can take a small business to a million dollar business.

One of the major assets of a successful eBay seller is their eBay account. Through the eBay user ID, a seller establishes a reputation. For online communications in eBay, your account with user ID establishes who you are. Once an account is misused by a third person, it is hard to detect and prove who the initial owner of the account was. Account theft has also become an issue in eBay for which many new schemes have been introduced. Using secure websites, smart passwords, and being aware of site impersonations can help you prevent account theft by a third party.

Expanding businesses using eBay have to consider another issue regarding account theft. Most business men start out with an eBay account to sell products. As their business grows, they realize they have to expand their staff and include employees to handle the huge volume of selling and buying through their account. Business owners then have to provide access to their employees to their eBay account to manage their business. What if account theft happens right under their nose? Once an employee has gained the knowledge of the username and password, there is no guarantee that this information will not be misused.

There are a few smart ways, in which an owner and seller in eBay can safeguard their account. One way is to use the ‘remember password’ feature in most browsers. This can be used during office hours when the employees use the owner’s machine to access and work on the eBay accounts. This ensures that the person working on certain machines have access to the eBay accounts but have no knowledge of the password. The passwords are saved locally in the computer and hence facilitates logging in to specified accounts though a web browser.

Although ‘remember password’ may work in some cases, there is also a need to set up another kind of restricted access. Using ‘remember password’, may prove to be unsecure as anybody who has access to the computer has visibility into the eBay account. An innovative work around to this problem may be to obtain a fingerprint reader for this purpose.

A fingerprint reader/scanner is a device that uses a person’s fingerprint as identity. Hence in addition to the password or in lieu of it, one can use their fingerprint to gain access to a computer or any website. In the past, fingerprint readers and scanners were used in government and high security projects. In the recent years, these techniques are made available for home use and office use. A personal USB fingerprint scanner is available for less than $100 and biometrics can be used as a password to gain access. A fingerprint scanner can be a good solution for providing the easy access that employees seek and the security the employers prefer.

A fingerprint reader can be used in offices to map an employee’s fingerprint with the owner’s password. The owner’s machine can then be configured to use this fingerprint reader to provide access to the employee to the owner’s eBay account. With the help the fingerprint reader, the employee can then enter the account in the place of the owner to manage his/her account and store. The fingerprint reader and the machine would be necessary for the person to be able to access the eBay account. Both of these being at the disposal of the owner, account security is ensured in the office.

Selling on eBay - Get a Trading Assistant

sploonker — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 15:59:52 CDT

This is specifically for online sellers, businesses wanting to sell online, someone wanting help with online business strategy, persons requiring assistance with selling on eBay.

EasyStoreHosting.com comes out with another great offer.Will you be interested in selling your products on eBay, USA? We will do the listing work for you on eBay, USA. So we will actas trading assistant to you. The listing related fees will have to be paid by you. eBay transaction fees and PayPal fees on successful salewill be paid by you. You pay us only 2.5% of product sale price excluding shipping and handling chargesfor doing the work of listing, making sure listing is presentable and inviting for buyers, relisting it regularly, using eBay tricks to make sales happen. You pay us nothing if sales does not happen. For signing up, please e-mail sales@easystorehosting.com or call us at+1-201-984-7465, +91-11-40533711. For more details about us, please visit http://www.easystorehosting.com

eBay Fees : This will help you estimate what will be your listing fees cost.
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html

eBay id under which items will be listed has a 100% positive rating of 227. Buyers trust the seller’s with high ratings which is necessary for high value items.
http://myworld.ebay.com/faircreativedealer

Another id under which items can be listed is
http://myworld.ebay.in/induscraft7/ This is a powerseller id.

If you know anybody else who would be interested in this model, feel free to forward the offer to them.

What can be more challenging than “Customer Satisfaction”?

keerthibiz — Mon, 19 May 2008 21:02:55 CDT

“I promise I will never visit that website again. I will never buy anything online from now on. What do they think? They can do anything with my money? And I am not getting any good deal from them for that matter. It’s all a bluff. They deceive people by luring them with special gifts. I wish I could sue them.” Mr. Gonzoz was so very angry with gifts4lovedones.com. After his purchase of a gift for his wife on Valentine’s Day the online company charged him twice for the gift saying some kind of membership fees etc without his knowledge. Now looking at his bank statement Mr. Gonzoz is frowning about the extra transaction which he never did. He is not more into computers and online shopping. This was his first online purchase and now he thinks all online companies are bogus. They are here to make money and not for service. There are several online customers who think akin. All this seems very true, otherwise there would be no disputes filed against merchants. One dissatisfied customer means losing a whole group of people. There are millions of people who shop online today and fewer than more have grievances. Everything boils down to one point “customer”, whether online or not, a customer is always a customer. Once lost he will never be back. What should be done to retain customers? What are the ways customers can be made happy? No doubt every company today has customer service twenty four hours with 1-800 numbers but the question is- Do we have a company which has 100% or even 98% customer satisfaction rating? All certifications, accreditations, affiliations and other credentials of a company are of no use if the customers of that company are not satisfied. Technology has given way to numerous feedback formulae and methods so that customer satisfaction can be gauged. Millions of surveys today make web a whole lot confusing than ever. Reviews written everyday about products/ services seem to be of less use to a customer who wants a basic functional product at a good price. For instance, eBay, what kind of customers visit the site? What kind of feedback do they give? Are they really satisfied? All the math and formulae; methods and modules that eBay may change or improve on, the million dollar question is- Will all this bring back the customers who have switched to other sites? Customers like Mr. Gonzoz who are indifferent about trying something online are a far catch!

Payment Gateway

mahekrishnan — Mon, 05 May 2008 14:57:50 CDT

Payment Gateways are services that help you route the financial transactions from your online store to your business checking account in a secure manner. When you own an online business where customers visit your online store, you need to provide a means to make payments via credit cards, bank account or other financial accounts the customer may have. In addition to that, you need an internet merchant account, where you can deposit the amounts that come from your online store.

For an online business, you have set up a website with all the products that you can provide. The customer browses through the products, chooses some items in the shopping cart and is ready to pay. You have a form to collect all the billing data from the customer including credit card numbers or such. What happens next when the customer submits all the data? This is where the payment gateways and the internet merchant accounts come in.

Most local banks or financial institutions that people used in the past did not provide a direct and easy means to deposit through the net. Dealing with transactions through the net involves a whole new set of issues different from regular transactions that took place outside. There are many services available that provide an online merchant account. Along with an account, you also need an interface that securely collects and transmits payment information to the correct destination. This interface is called a payment gateway.

The data regarding a payment (Credit card number, type, expiration date, amount etc) that is entered in a website is encrypted and sent via a secure connection (SSL) to the payment gateway. The data has to be in the format specified by the gateway. The gateway then routes the information securely to a processor that verifies and processes the transactions. For a credit card payment, this process involves contacting the credit card issuer to verify and acquire the amount specified. The results of the transaction are then received by the gateway and an appropriate response is relayed to the merchant and/or the customer. If the payment processing was successful, this message is relayed to the merchant. The merchant can now ship the products to the customer.

The customer needs to have no knowledge of what is going on with the payment processing. The information regarding a payment is entered by the customer into the website created for this purpose. The gateway then interacts with this website through a software interface. Setting up this interface is called integration with the gateway.

It becomes important to choose the right payment gateway and/or internet merchant accounts for your shopping site. Some gateways have fraud detection systems that may be helpful. An Address Verification System (AVS) is also an optional service that verifies the billing address provided by the customer by contacting the card issuer.

About expanding to an online store.

mahekrishnan — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 08:53:11 CDT

You have a flourishing business and you are looking to expand through the internet. What do you do next? If you are internet-savvy, you have visited many other online businesses. They offer a product, sell it online and get payments through credit cards or PayPal or ACH. How is it done?
First you need a website where you can display the products or services you have to offer. You need to get an account with a hosting site. A few popular sites are Go Daddy, Host Monster, Host Gator, Blue Host, Lunar Pages, and Vista Pages. With monthly/yearly payments you have a website address dedicated to you. www.myonlinebussiness.com or whatever name you choose will be the website people go to for buying what you have to sell.

The next step is to create or design a web page that displays the products you have. You then have a custom made web page running at the web address you chose. The web page has to have a form where your customers can enter their contact information and payment information, shipping address etc. after they chose the product to buy. You may also want to set up a separate business checking account, where you deposit the income from your online store.

Now, your website has to be integrated with a payment gateway that can process the payments with all the billing information you give them. There are many services available these days that process the payments and make it available to you in the checking account you specify. All you need is a merchant account with one of them. You then give them information as to where you want the payments to go. You probably have a separate account for your online business.

You can create an account with a payment gateway provider like Authorize.net, PayPal or goMerchant . There are many who provide services to merchants for accepting payments through credit card, bank accounts, and e-check. If you are a developer, you can attempt the integration with the help of sample codes and instructions you can get at their website. If you are not a developer, you can look for one or use a service for this purpose. Once your website is integrated to their gateway, you are all set.

After this, a customer enters your online store on the net, chooses the products, and enters payment information and shipping information. The money goes into your bank and you get notified. You send the specified products to the shipping address that the customer provided.

Once you have the basic infrastructure and good software at the back, you have the business running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

User guide

sploonker — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 13:18:05 CST

StoreOwnerUserGuide

General Info

Your temporary url for the front end will be www.easystorehosting.com/<mystorename>. However once you own domain www.mystorename.com is registered that will setup so that your customers can access your store using www.mystorename.com
Your "admin site" can be accessed via www.easystorehosting.com/<mystorename>/admin/ . Please note that you might get some warning from you browser regarding the certificate verification for this https site but you can ignore those. We are working on getting new certificates which will get rid of these warnings.

eBay Tool

Ebay Tool is the key enhancement to the shopping cart that we have done. This tool allows you to integrate your shop with your ebay business. This tool can be accessed from

Admin site -> Catalog -> Ebay Tool

Upon providing the Start Date and End Date of the products you want to retrieve from eBay click on continue and the tool will fetch your ebay products between those dates. If you are retrieving your products for the first time it will ask you take you to you ebay site where you can provide your ebay id and password. Your ebay id and password are not stored in the database instead the eBay API token which is a means of programmatically accessing your account is stored. This ensures the safety of your ebay account.
If you want to delete all products and get fresh data from eBay use the following.

"Admin site" -> Tools -> Delete All Products

Send your logo as logo.gif to us on support@easystorehosting.com along with your storename and we will upload it to your store.
We will soon be adding a feature to delete "Powered by ebay turbo lister", "Auctiva", messages when we get the listings. If you want your listings(product description) to change while transferring into your easystore talk to us at support (at) easystorehosting (dot) com We might be able to help.

Basic Store Setup

After getting your store create a new administrator with your own email address in the Administrators section of the admin site and delete the default administrator id provided.
Changing the password
- Once you have logged in, go to Administrator>Update account then click the edit button under the information, you will be asked to enter your password. Here you will be able to change your password to a new password of your choice.
Basic payment module setup
- For testing purposes you will only need to activate the money order payment module.

Log into you admin and click on configuration, if you have not done so already. The click on Modules>Payment this will bring you to the main payment module screen. For initial setup and testing its a good Idea to only have the Check/Money order payment module installed. Problems may occur if any payment module has a sort order of 0 and is not used remove it. Do not use duplicate sort order number.

Basic shipping module setup
- Activating certain shipping modules with out properly setting them up and will cause code errors. So it is a good Idea to deactivate all modules but Table shipping:.
Basic Tax zone setup

You must understand how taxes are applied to items you will be selling in your store. Contact your local taxing agency for more information.

Countries – This is a list of all the countries available.

Warning: What ever you do here leave your country code as it is. Other wise you won't like the results.

Zones - This is where you define your tax zones or special shipping zones.
- Tax Zones - Here you will set up your local tax zones, and VAT tax areas.
Tax Classes
- If all items in your store are taxable you only need one class, if you have more the one type of item that can be taxed you will need to set up the classes here, Some areas can have a number of classes like taxable hard good, services, and no-taxable items.
Setting the tax class in payment and shipping modules.

Example: Lets say you are in California USA, On the products that you want to have CA residents pay tax on you must set the tax class in the product edit screen for each product that is required to be taxed. The tax class such as "taxable goods" would be set up in the localization/taxes.
When you assign a tax class to other parts of the cart such as a payment module you only allow those customer the qualify for the tax class to use that function of module. Now lets assume that you want to offer free shipping to only Ca residents, you would set up the free shipping module and set its tax zone to taxable goods. Since only CA residents will be paying tax, they are the only group of customers that will be eligible for free shipping. Generally this is the only type of situation where you would set tax class in a payment or shipping module.

Tax Rates

Here's where you will define your tax rates for the geographic zones and tax classes.

Localization - Here we are going to set up your language and currency default for the your store.
- Currency:
  - In your admin click on localization in your side menu. This will bring up the currencies that are pre_loaded into the store. If you plan to have only on currency then delete the rest by clicking on the currency the click on the delete button.
  - If you are using more then one currency set your default by clicking on the currency that will be your default then the edit button. Then in the right side edit box click on the check box Set as default (requires a manual update of currency values). Its towards the bottom, then click on update. Once the default is set then click on the update currencies button. This will go and get the current conversions rates for you. If you have multiple currencies for your store you might want to make a habit of doing this.
You now should have a basic store setup.
- You should now test the work you have done by making several test purchases of the preloaded products. If your store was set up with a code base that does not have preloaded test product then you will need to add some and make several test purchases.
- After doing several test purchases and creating a test user, you can now move on to advance setup, designing and adapting one of the four basic templates, and inputting you product and category information.

FAQ

Q. URGENT. PANIC. I have a problem with my site and it can be very embarrasing in front of my client.
A. Admin console->Configuration->Site Maintenance->Down for Maintenance. Turn this own so that your shop visitors will see that your shop is down for maintenance. Contact us at support (at) easystorehosting (dot) com

Q. Where do i change the title and meta tags of my store?
A. Admin console->Configuration->My Store->Store Metatag Title and Store Metatag keyword

Q. How do i add more currencies in my currency list?
A. Admin console->Localization->Currencies. Value is with reference to the default currency( value=1). Remember to specify decimal point and number of decimal places.

Q. How do i enable count of products next to each category?
A. Admin console->Configuration->My Store->Show Category counts. If you have too deep categories and over 2000 products this may slow down your website performance.

Q. I don't like the categories box.
A. You cannot change looks of category boxes on your own. To change the looks, you have to buy a new template. Template charges and integration charges are additional.

Q. How do i bulk upload products into my shop?
A. Admin console->Tools->Easy Populate

Q. How to create sub-options for a product/item? (e.g. Size and Colour for a readymade garment)
A. First you have to log in to Admin console->Catalog->Products attributes.

a) First insert a “product option” (size/color). You can pick the type radio button, check box, text box and the press insert. b) Then insert “option values” for the product option added above (Size: M, L, XL etc) (Colour: Red, blue green etc) for each size and colour you have to create a filed and insert only one value like size 28. c) In the Products Attributes pick the product in which you want these options available and add the product option to it at the bottom of the same screen.

Q. Will my feedback from eBay get imported to my eBay2eStore?
A. NO

Q. Can I import listings from my multiple eBay Ids into one eStore?
A. Yes. First import from one eBay Id. Then go to eBay token and change the token to second eBay Id and import the products again.

Q. How do i attract customers to my website?
A. http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions/building/article.php/3609791 http://www.skipmcgrath.com/website/

Detailed user guide

Main Page Tutorials

Home

cploonker — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:43:28 CST

The Holy Bible of E-Commerce

Want to conquer the e-commerce’s galaxy before any one else does it??? If yes, then let us be your guiding ‘pole’ star…

We whole heartedly welcome you aboard on the spacecraft –‘Apollo’ info@Easy Store Hosting, successfully cruising towards the mission worth zillion dollars – “E-commerce”. Conversely, the fact that makes this mission different from others run of the mill information available on the internet is - we are not going to only load you with basic, traditional and theoretical information about the e-commerce’s landscape but also with the cutting-edge, innovative information about the vast expanse of the e-commerce world.

An insight to the future trends that will be observed in the times to come, along with the past and the current trends is something what you can expect from us and that too frequently, precisely and most importantly in an unbiased manner. Understanding the meaning of e-commerce is not enough. To be successful in this segment, it requires agony of lot of more information, experience and ability to understand the current and the future trends. Therefore, allow us to be your partner in making this entire chain a lot simpler – ‘together we stand’

On this junction, all your queries will be addressed. Apart from this, various tips/suggestions, critical for one’s successful expedition is a regular feature of our spacecraft. Moreover, these tips won’t be stale and the refrigerated ones. In fact they will be farm-fresh and straight from the hearts of the experienced campaigners. Moreover, a unique section dedicated to your specific query, wherein you can ask what ever you wish and/or something not addressed effectively or we completely missed out. We will be glad to address your query at the earliest.

So let us be the captain ‘Jack Sparrow’ of this e-commerce based space craft and you sit back, enjoy the ride and scroll mouse over various sections of the world’s first ever effort to take a trip to the galaxy of ecommerce, unquestionably in a true and a genuine sense.

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Ten worst mistakes ecommerce sites can make!

cploonker — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:36:22 CST

Don’t let this happen to you – we did warn you after all!

There are the good, classy e-commerce sites and then there are the downright bad ones. The ones that make you wish you’d never seen an e-commerce site in the first place! Don’t want this to happen to your site? Then follow our tips given here.

10 hugest blunders of an e-commerce site
Here are the top 10 picks of all time:

Not editing images: Large images take up the precious time of your customers. By not editing and optimizing pictures in an image editing software, you increase load times and reduce sales conversion rates. The next time you’re uploading product images, be sure to optimize them.
Being confused on your USP: Your USP or unique selling proposition is what sets you apart from the crowd of e-commerce sites. Therefore not knowing who your target segment is can literally kill your business. Know what differentiates your company and your products from others – and then sell.
Not having a privacy/Return policy: Your customers need to know what action they can take if they happen to receive a damaged product. They also have the right to know how their information collected is going to be used, and for what purpose. Not including a privacy policy or a return policy can mean reduced traffic volumes. After all, no one wants to deal with a site that doesn’t offer privacy of information.
Using excess Flash images: Flash can be great if used in the right places – definitely not on the home page! Many sites do this but it can really slow down loading time and jeopardize optimization efforts. It’s because search engines do not recognize images – just text. Use flash as an optional feature – let’s say for viewing a product in 3D etc.
Using the by default shopping cart: There’s a reason customized design studios exist. Having the same old same old shopping cart just shows your lack of interest in good presentation. It also shows you’re not bothered about a good design and layout on your site. It makes sense in shelling out a little extra for a good design on your site.
Complicating checkout: It’s surprising how many e-commerce sites complicate a process as simple as buying. They’ll have pages of forms to fill out – before a customer can even get to the buying stage! Make it simple. Don’t ask for information you don’t need.
Not having an SSL certificate: An SSL certificate assures your customer that it is safe to shop on your site. Not having it can actually scare customers away because they might be suspicious on shopping on your site! It costs just 50 dollars – definitely worth it – especially if not having SSL means losing out on sales!
Not including product details: Many sites just have a picture of the product and maybe just a few words on the product. Customers need to know everything they can about your products – after all they never get to see the real thing, right? So make sure to include details like dimensions, features etc.
Not having thumbnail images: Many sites have high-resolution images which just amount to slow pages and bad optimization. Not having good quality thumbnail images can make customers think you don’t have good quality products!
Not posting contact details: Customers need to know how they can contact you either in case of a feedback, suggestion or even a complaint. Not having contact details on your website is a big turnoff as far as shopping experience is concerned. Besides, it makes you look like you’re hiding something from customers!

Sponsored by : Ecommerce store for Business people

5 super ways to enrich user experience on your ecommerce site

amycool2 — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 06:17:05 CST

Provide adequate product information

One of the best ways to get customers to really appreciate and like your site is to have sufficient information regarding each product online. Unlike offline modes of purchase where the buyer has ample choice to browse and ‘test’ the product before purchase, with a website there is no way of understanding the product features. Therefore to make the experience better for customers online, you need to include all product specifications, features, stock availability, options regarding the product, as well as the overall cost. In addition to the textual information you also need to have superior product images preferably 3 dimensional.

Make the search box accessible

Most users online prefer to use the search box right away instead of browsing through scores of products on your site. Never make the mistake of keeping the search box hidden from view. Although there is no plausible reason why any ecommerce site would do that – surprisingly many sites do it! While the search box ideally should be placed on the top right hand corner (going by the user behavior patterns online, the top right hand corner is the most accessed portion on a site). Try and use robust backend databases to enable easy retrieval of information to the front end.

Disclose shipping costs

It is surprising but many ecommerce sites charge exorbitant amounts as far as shipping costs are concerned. This is a real downer for most customers who are used to receiving free shipping for most items. By overpricing shipping costs you are essentially pushing customers away from your website. Many times it may so happen that your customer has placed an order in bulk only to leave the site just before the sale. Why? Shipping charges are the culprit again! If you really have to charge for shipping make sure to disclose it upfront rather than have the customer go through the entire purchase process and then abandon it later!

Address cultural/global issues

Its funny how many ecommerce websites make this fundamental mistake. They lay claims to cater to global customers but still indirectly discourage shopping from other countries. Silly reasons like address formats, or ignoring cultural aspects etc. can damage any brand for good, especially if you consider the global context of things. Fundamental things like language compatibility or providing internationalization into the website are missing in such websites.

Categorize products

When you have categories of your products and services you help your customers understand your offerings much better. It also helps customers perceive your ecommerce website as being more organized and structured. While each category needs to describe the various products you are offering, it also needs to be concise as far as information is concerned. Too much information can make the structure look lopsided while too little makes you look suspicious.