SuncoastGlobal.com » online sales

Shopping Carts & E-commerce

J.L. — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:59:35 +0000

Another requirement for efficiently running your online store is a virtual shopping cart. This actually is an electronic order form that serves as the first step in the fulfillment process. Its purposes are to:

Originally Posted under: Small Business Marketing on SuncoastGlobal.com

Email Marketing

J.L. — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:16:47 +0000

If done correctly, e-mail marketing can deepen customer relationships and add a personal touch to the sales process. Carried out improperly, an e-mail campaign can turn a customer off to your business forever. E-mail newsletters for customers who “opt in” (request or otherwise sign up for them) are a terrific marketing tool for online businesses. [...]

Originally Posted under: Small Business Marketing on SuncoastGlobal.com

Attracting New Customers Online

J.L. — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:03:02 +0000

With hundreds or thousands of competitors, how can a business get its product upfront in online search engines? Gaining a listing in the first page or two of a search engine’s results is often considered the “Holy Grail” of e-commerce. So, how do you get to the front of search results? There are two approaches [...]

Originally Posted under: Small Business Marketing on SuncoastGlobal.com

Domain Names & Staking Your Claim

J.L. — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:28:51 +0000

Now that you’ve gotten this far and you have a business plan and a strategy for your online store, what do you need to build it? Just as with a brick-and-mortar store, the first two lines on the checklist are a name and a location. In cyberspace, they’re usually the same thing. The address of [...]

Originally Posted under: Small Business Marketing on SuncoastGlobal.com

10 Web Design Tips

J.L. — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:46:13 +0000

Good websites begin with a good design that is simple to use. The graphic design and content on the homepage should grab the consumer’s attention, and the interior pages should be easy to navigate. Information must be easily found and should be expressed in the “language” of the customer, rather than the company’s internal lingo. [...]

Originally Posted under: Small Business Marketing on SuncoastGlobal.com

Who Pays the Shipping?

J.L. — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:41:33 +0000

What about shipping charges? Online shopping breaks down most often over shipping charges. Imagine this: A customer sees a great price for just the product she’s been searching for. After entering the information on the electronic order form, she is startled to see a huge shipping fee tacked onto the price. The result? By barely [...]

Originally Posted under: Small Business Marketing on SuncoastGlobal.com

Customer Service Policies

J.L. — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:49:53 +0000

What will the elements of your customer service policy be? Because customers expect to be able to contact a company with questions, special requests or problems related to ordering, online businesses should offer an e-mail address or phone number for customer service inquiries. Not only is customer service a great way to build loyalty, but [...]

Originally Posted under: Small Business Marketing on SuncoastGlobal.com

Product Marketing “Must Do’s”

J.L. — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:50:01 +0000

The most important step merchants can take to sell almost any product online is to include a lot of photos. Online shoppers expect to see what a product looks like, especially since they can’t pick it up and examine it before making their purchases. Merchants should use photos showing their items from a variety of [...]

Originally Posted under: Small Business Marketing on SuncoastGlobal.com

DIY or Outsource?

J.L. — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:02:32 +0000

You’ve read the first two articles in my “Online Business” series and you’ve done the preliminaries. Now the first major choice you’ll have to make. Will you do all the work yourself or will you outsource it? The doors of an online business never close. By not running a 24/7 operation, online business owners may [...]

Originally Posted under: Small Business Marketing on SuncoastGlobal.com