Let's Go Shopping
The world is gaining confidence in the latest way to go shopping.
The Internet and anyone with a successful presence on it stand
to gain the most. For those of us without huge marketing and
site budgets available it's a question of working our client
base through the Internet, by offering them an online shopping
facility that works.
Don't expect the order inbox to be full the morning after your
site is published. It usually takes time to build up your site's
visibility and hence start to reach your new customer base and
to encourage your existing one across. It's a big leap to your
first e-commerce site, and it needs to instill confidence if
your visitors are going to return. We can design a database
driven solution for you, either as a bespoke package or using
one of the numerous off-the-shelf solutions.
Presentation
The more information your site can present to the purchaser
about a product the more likely they'll buy it from you. If
every product has a useful description, part number, specification,
price etc. and the online storefront is friendly to use then
you've opened the door to online business. Good product information
will take time to prepare, so if your product range is very
large you may want to test the water first. Choose some of your
core products to start with, and use the confidence from these
sales to build the site over time. The key to a successful storefront
is the database behind it.
Secure the Transaction
The actual risks of your submitted details being intercepted
in transit is low, a greater risk usually exists in the way
this information is handled and stored at the destination. Nethertheless
there is a risk and for peace of mind transactions online should
be secured. Most commonly this is done by using a secure server
for handling your order form, the encrypted contents are sent
to your site's server and deciphered to arrive to you as e-mail.
Unless these e-mail's are themselves encrypted before sending,
then a security hole exists. Some get around it by holding all
the orders on their server, and then downloading them in the
morning. This is more secure, but still the file exists on the
server, unencrypted, and is therefore an increased risk. There
are effectively different levels of security available.
When possible getting the visitor to complete their own transaction
will be a great time saver for your order handling, but what
if something is out of stock, or there are questions that stop
the transaction from happening. In these circumstances you need
to secure the payment details, but the transaction will be carried
out by your staff.
Delivering The Goods
Treat your online customers as if they're standing in front
of you. |
