eCommerce is a growing sector of the Internet. It is growing around 10% per year and increasing each year. eCommerce is our fastest growing segment for the past two years with our clients. Many clients are either doing two websites or they are doing solely eCommerce. Part of this is due to our own push on eCommerce where we are reducing the credit card percent, transaction fees, and monthly fees with our credit card providers. The other is businesses want revenue from their internet marketing presence. We have clients on nopCommerce, Etsy, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and Shopify.
When looking at eCommerce solutions often people tend to forget some key areas and I feel it is important to list them so that you can make certain you get a great start to selling online.
- PCI compliant / Security (first and foremost to protect your customers) - this includes the green padlock (SSL/TLS certificate)
- eCommerce web hosting
- Daily system backup
- System monitoring
- Security monitoring
- Complete mobile interface
- Links to the manufacturer's website and information about the manufacturer. People love information and it helps on your search engine optimization as well
- Easy-to-use shopping cart with a simple checkout
- Cart abandonment emails
- Instant Payment splits - pay vendors, affiliates, salespeople, and others instantly
- Support paying via multiple methods on the same transaction
- Support for recurring payments
- Unlimited products with unlimited attributes/options and variations
- Product weights and measurements can be entered for automatic shipping calculations
- Integrated the eCommerce site into social media and allow direct purchasing through social media
- Automatic Tax or VAT Rates
- Customizable Shipping Modules (Table Rates, FedEx, UPS, USPS, In-Store Pickup)
- Sell products online directly from manufacturer (drop shipping)
- Geo-location - customers can search for closest product then purchase from that dealer
- Ability to customize the product page, attach video and documents
- Display an unlimited number of images with image zoom to see high-quality details
- Related, cross-sell, up-sell, and recommended products
- Invoices emailed to customer, dealer, distributor, salesperson, or any other user with permission
- Inventory tracking and management (this is becoming more important for many of our clients)
- Instant deals and discount coupons
- Complete metrics and printable reports
- Add products to a "wish list" for purchase later
- Product comparisons
- Unlimited multiple pricing levels
- Ability to rent products for a predefined time period
- Warranty activation
- Downloadable products
- Automatic dealer search and Locator Dealer Delivery System
- Full search engine optimization options
- All Products are geo-located, regionalized, and support multiple languages
- Import and export options
- Customer service and return management options
- Marketing and re-marketing options to keep in contact with your loyal customers
- Product reviews, ratings, and testimonials
- Newsletter and mailing lists
- Customer polls
- Image optimization
- Custom email messages
- Reward and loyalty programs
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Google Site Map
- Localization
- 100% search engine friendly
- Affiliation program to reward those that are promoting and sending you paying customers
- Customizable and ability to develop against for those special needs (e.g. integrating with backend systems, third-party systems, automation systems, or integrating with analytical products)
You want your online marketing to pay for itself. No one blames you. I know we want it to pay for itself as well. This is by far not a complete list that you need for an effective eCommerce solution but should be considered your minimum so that you know the system will grow with you as you need it to. I recommend that this should be considered the minimum requirements to be effective and support growth and should not add to your setup cost.
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