Steps to take before setting up shop on the internet
Last updated 13:04, Thursday, 10 April 2008
Keith McMean on setting up shop online
YOU have your sales figures and your goods or services are ready to go online. So what’s the best way of going about it?
If you are a small business just getting into selling online or a large established company re-designing or adding to your existing website, the strategy can in most cases be the same.
Selling your services online requires a clear layout and structure of what potential customers can expect to get from you – it’s no good hiding everything from them by making it difficult to find or using too much technical jargon that only confuses them even more. Potential customers want to know what, where and when in the shortest possible time.
Have everything at hand so they can make a decision quickly and don’t forget to make it easy for them to contact you at the key stages.
A few months ago I spoke about design and layout and its importance. When selling online this can be even more important – lots of sites tell you how great they are without explaining what it is they are offering you. Everyone has a problem: just make sure that you are the solution to that problem or they will go elsewhere to find it. This is where layout and design come into their own when selling services, as more often than not it has to be explained in detail. As I said earlier keep technical jargon to a minimum or you will turn your visitor off and you have lost them.
So what about ecommerce and selling physical goods? Well there are two methods of selling online, goods that you yourself stock and something else termed ‘drop shipping’ – this is when your supplier distributes the goods on your behalf. There are pluses and minuses for both. Obviously if you have the goods yourself firstly you have to keep all stock up to date and make sure that what is for sale online you actually have: if not an ‘out of stock’ label should be used. With drop shipping you are only as good as your supplier so make sure they are up to it and that you have an excellent relationship with them before committing to selling online as invariably something is bound to go wrong.
If an order doesn’t make it to the customer, it won’t be your supplier they’re calling to complain, it will be you.
The payment gateway is another consideration and most people now are used to seeing the likes of PayPal, WorldPay and other payment collection providers. It’s really up to you and your design company to talk it through and come to a decision on who best to use but do not underestimate the power of the payment gateway as statistics show that most customers will fill the basket and proceed to the checkout only to decide not to continue because they are not confident of the payment method.
So to sum up don’t forget the importance of design and layout when building an ecommerce site as navigating around it and being able to see what is available and purchase it in easy-to-follow and understand steps is vitally important. Do not skimp on your payment gateway as this is false economy as visitors will not purchase anything from you.
Keep your stock levels up and make sure your distribution is up to it whether you do it yourself or leave it to your supplier.
Also, be aware of your legal obligations under Distance Selling Regulations. Check with the Office of Fair Trading website (ww.oft.gov.uk) if unsure.
Follow these few simple rules and you are well on your way to successfully selling your services and goods online.
If you would like any further information on this or any other online subject please email Keith at enquiries@keithmcmean.co.uk
