Archive for November, 2009

What Makes An E-Commerce Shopping Cart Provider Stand Out?

Friday, November 27th, 2009

With more than a hundred e-commerce shopping carts to choose from, selecting one is really a matter of preference with careful product evaluation. But what makes one provider stand out from the rest? See the answer below.

Features

Different shopping cart providers offer similar and unique features that are useful to the consumers and beneficial for you as a merchant. While choosing which features to have may depend on the size of your business, a good shopping cart provider offer a wide range of feature options for different business needs.

Integrated Online Marketing and Promotional Tools

With a right shopping cart, you can increase traffic and increase sales virtually over night. How? Shopping carts affect the costumer’s response to your website. The more useful tools it has, the more it can attract new costumers and persuade existing costumers to buy your products. Through integrated marketing and promotional tools like catalog and product comparison, your costumers are able to make easy and wise decision on which products to buy.

Promos, sale, discounts, free shipping and coupons are powerful marketing strategies that can attract more costumers. Shopping carts offer these features.

Product review is another powerful feature that can increase sales. In a study conducted by CompUSA and iPerceptions, 63% of costumers are more likely to buy for the sites with product ratings and reviews.

User-friendly Interface/Ease of Use

Costumers are very impatient when it comes to purchasing products and services online. The last thing your costumers want to you is figure out how to navigate your shopping cart. A user-friendly website is important to keep potential costumers browsing. A user-friendly shopping cart is crucial if you want to keep your costumers stay and complete the transactions.

Payment Options

Different online costumers prefer to use certain types of payment. While most would like credit cards, many are still hesitant to enter personal information online and choose other alternative modes of payment like Paypal, checks and money orders. A good shopping cart service should cover all these.

Hacker-Safe Ordering Page

Earning your costumers’ confidence is important in any business. That is why you have to make sure that your costumers are properly protected when they enter their credit card information to your website. Wise costumers often look for SSL certificate seal on a merchant’s website. This seal is a guarantee that the site is hacker safe. Make sure that you have one.

Full Order Management System

A good shopping cart guides costumers throughout the process of purchasing, checking out, payment and shipping. These services can be provided fully by a hosting company or are linked from different services. Payments can be through major credit cards, PayPal, money orders and checks. Shipping can be linked to major shipping carriers like UPS, DHL and FedEx.

Costumer Service/Support

One of the best ways to gauge if a particular e-commerce shopping cart provider has a good costumer service is by sending questions though their email address. How fast did they reply? Did you get a template reply? In business, time is money; and personal touch is a plus. Costumer service should reply a personalize message as soon as possible. Another way to test how good the costumer service is is through its technical support. In running an effective e-commerce store, the availability of good documentation is important.

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Making An E-Commerce Shopping Cart User-Friendly

Friday, November 27th, 2009

Setting up an online shop is easy. Marketing the products you sell, while it requires a bit of online skills, can be done. But your job is not finished once you have accomplished these two. You cannot just waiting for traffic and hope that they become potential costumers. You need the right tool that converts traffic in to sales. You need an e-commerce shopping cart. But getting a shopping cart is one thing; maximizing its benefits is another.

While many choose to go online to purchase merchandise, it doesn’t mean that you can get complacent because if they happen to stumble upon your website, they will buy anyway. This is a wrong way of looking at your traffic. You have to please your costumers and please them well. You need to know what they want – not necessarily the things they need to have but the right tools to guide them through the entire online purchasing process. And with tougher competition now, you need to raise the bar and stand out among the rest.

Thus, your online store needs not only to look good, but also to have efficient shopping cart system. Here’s how to maximize your website and shopping cart and convert traffic into buyers:

Use all the tricks in the business. Use large headings and sub-headings to let your costumers know where they are; and breadcrumb navigation to help your costumers know how deep they are on your website.

Use search functions to let costumers find what they are looking for fast and easy, especially if you are holding a large inventory and multi-page site. Place the search function above the fold where costumers can see it.

Give the power to your costumers to narrow down their search options by using search category refinement. Costumers should be able to refine according to size, shape, color etc. Make sure that they can clear this refinement anytime. Utilize sort option that allows your costumer see your product by category.

Let your costumers remove or change items from their cart easily. Help them find product that are related to the items they have chosen. Cross sell!

Place your contact information where costumers can easily see it.

Never allow your costumers to go on a lengthy process of shopping, only to find out that the products they have chosen are out of stock. Show only the products that are on stock or place “out of stock” mark on those what are not in your inventory. Most shopping carts have this feature.

Cart abandonment rates are high simply because many shopping cart services do not allow shopping before registration. What you should do is to let your costumers to add items in their cart before they register for an account. Some vendors have this feature.

Show them every detail of the product they wish to buy including the price, discounts (if there’s any), applicable taxes and added fees. Do not hide any information that the costumers should know.

The key to any online store is usability. Many online shoppers get irritated even on the tiniest hitch on your site. This is the main reason why many abandon their cart even on the last step in purchasing product. Keep your costumers fully satisfied by making everything easy. Use your e-commerce shopping cart properly. Extra efforts may require time but the pay offs are all worth the trouble.

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E-Commerce Shopping Carts Features Costumers Need

Friday, November 27th, 2009

As more and more people cling toward online shopping, they create demands for better and more efficient e-commerce shopping cart. And since they are the reason why you are doing business, giving them what they want should be your top priority. The following is a list of features that costumers may look for:

Payment options

Credit cards are often a preferred payment methods by most costumers. But those who are hesitant to give their personal information online choose alternative payments like checks, money orders, PayPal and Google Checkout. As an online merchant, always make sure to answer different types of costumers by carrying different types of payment systems.

Product Reviews

According to a CompUSA and iPerceptions study, 63% of costumers are more likely to buy from sites with product ratings and reviews. So no matter how well you promote your products online, if your site has no product review and rating, you cannot maximize your sale potential. That said; choose a shopping cart vendor that provides product rating.

Real-Time Inventory

Nothing is more annoying to costumers than going through a lengthy process of placing orders only to find out that the products they want to buy are out of stock. Real-time inventory assures the costumer that the products they see on their screen are available. Also, real-time inventory feature helps you as a merchant to monitor your stock and replenish if necessary.

Website Security

SSL or Secure Socket Layer data encryption assures costumers that their personal data are kept confidential. SSL certificate seal can be seen on the home page of your website.

Special Offers

Many merchants, especially those who have just stared their businesses online do not know that with a right shopping cart feature (coupon codes, order discounts, gift cards and free shipping), they can actually sell their products well.

Merchant who are looking for new costumers or trying to dispose old stocks can benefit from this feature.

Express Checkout

When costumers are ready to buy, make sure that you handle them as fast and as simple as possible. The lengthy process of purchasing items online can be frustrating and can drive customers away if you keep hold of them during checkout. Eliminate the risk of losing sure sales by using shopping cart express checkout option.

Order Tracking

Your responsibility to your costumers does not end when they checked-out and paid you for the products they have purchased. A good indication that you are a good merchant is the personal touch you provide to every costumer. Order tracking automatically sends order confirmation and shipping information via email. Costumers should be able to monitor where their purchased items are by logging into an account created during registration. Order tracking helps your business and your brand build reputation and costumer confidence.

Search and Browse

Costumers do not stay too long on a website if they cannot find the products they are looking for. Your main goal, therefore, is to give them the right tool that will let them search and browse from your list of products fast.

Costumer satisfaction is always the primary goal in any business. Online shopping is no different. Make sure that your costumers are always pleased by the service you provide through the help of these e-commerce shopping cart features.

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E-Commerce Shopping Carts And The Advantages Of Venturing Online

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

It is always safe to presume that you have heard about the so-called e-commerce, right? The main question is, do you really know what it means and what it covers? Simply put, electronic commerce or plainly e-commerce is the purchasing and selling of goods through the World Wide Web. In these modern times, the traditional way of shopping has evolved into a more convenient and easier method and that is with the help of the Internet. Along with this newfound trend come the very important instruments which are known as the e-commerce shopping carts.

The Role of the Virtual Shopping Carts

From the typical physical stores, many entrepreneurs have shifted into a more modern way of selling their goods. It is none other than venturing into an online business. The virtual shopping carts allow the online merchants to display their products so that the potential customers can take a look, choose, put into the cart, and then send in the cash as a form of payment. Through all of this, there must be an obvious reason as to why vendors have chosen to establish their own online portals. Let us uncover the advantages posed by e-commerce that make up for the reason of the unstoppable transition of the conventional businessmen into online marketers.

Uncovering the Advantages of E-commerce

Nowadays is the best chance to grab as the whole world has gone crazy over online shopping. If you know what to do and in which business to focus on, you will definitely have a taste of success in the end. You don’t have to wait for the time when the customers will find you because with e-commerce and the shopping carts, your goods will always have a better marketing package. The following are the main advantages of doing online trading.

As you know, the World Wide Web is such a vast portal. As a merchant, you will have an immense opportunity to market your products to the public. Compared to owning a physical store which restricts your chances of reaching out to the potential buyers, containing your business in an online setting heightens the probability of the customers finding you.

Another cool reason as to why e-commerce is turning out to be advantageous is that of freeing you from the financial burden of having to pay for the utilities and lease, labor, and shipping. Although you will have to ship the purchased goods but you have more chances to reduce the cost. Take for example the eBooks, manuals, and other informational produce. They require no shipping so that eventually give you more savings! Much more, there is no need to pool laborers and pay them with their wages.

One more important factor is the ease and convenience that online shopping provides for the people. Even when the potential customers are at home or anywhere in the world, they can shop anytime they want.

Other Points to Ponder on

There you have the advantages of e-commerce. With the right amount of effort and skill in maneuvering an online business, your venture will surely end up as a huge success. When it comes to the e-commerce shopping carts to utilize, you can either make use of the already available software or create your own. The latter will however require some technical skills on your part.

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E-Commerce Shopping Carts Selection

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

When choosing an e-commerce shopping cart, you need to think both ways: as a merchant and as a costumer. Ask yourself these questions: What are the features you need? How large is your business? Do you have several products and require a closely monitored inventory? Do you sell few products? Do you need simple hosted carts? As a costumer, what kind of cart is good? How do I want to pay for the products I buy? Do I need order tracking? The answers to all these questions matter a lot, so let us discuss them one by one.

Types of shopping carts. Features. Business size.

Let us tackle all these simultaneously since they are interrelated to one another. The types of shopping carts depend on the number of features they offer; the number of features carts offer depends on what type of business they cater; and the type of business these carts cater categorizes the types of shopping carts.

The simplest form of “shopping carts” is not actually a cart but a merchant-generated webpages that contain product description and prices with “Buy now” button. The “Buy now” button transfers the customers to a third party payment provider like PayPal. This type is best for merchants with simple needs and few products but is not suitable for large businesses with several products that require constant monitoring.

If your sell several products that have to be closely monitored, what you need is a shopping cart that is either hosted by a cart provider or hosted by the same server as your website. Most carts work by keeping track of what the costumers select and take them to the checkout page, which is linked to the third party credit card payment provider. This type is often preferred choice by most small- and medium-size merchants as the price is comparatively reasonable with the features it provides.

Fully hosted shopping carts provide everything that the merchant needs: from shopping carts, checkout counter, payment system and even shipping. This product can be integrated with your website and can be customized to adapt at your website’s appearance. If you are handling a wide array of products with complex business rules, this is an ideal choice.

Budget

Since sophistication determines the price of the shopping cart, make sure that you only get the features you really need. Decide on the features that are right for your business. I advice that you make a list of the things you need for a shopping cart and rank it in order of priority. Then, find different shopping cart vendors that offer the features you need. If the price is higher than what you can afford, remove features that are least important.

Costumer Appeal and Ease of Use

A website that looks good may not always matter in terms of sales. But the behavior of the traffic towards a certain feature in your website – in this case a shopping cart – can make or break a sale. You can use the trial and error method but unless you are given a free trial on every shopping cart provider, it may be very costly. The best thing you can do is to review different cart vendors and focus your attention to the ease of use. If you are satisfied, then you can add it to your list of possible items. Do not forget to consider if the vendors are offering popular payment methods such as PayPal and other major credit cards.

Selecting an e-commerce shopping cart is a serious matter; evaluate the products based on the things that are discussed above.

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E-Commerce Shopping Carts And Their Importance

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

There always has to be a backbone for every commercial website. That is, the e-commerce shopping carts. What task does it fulfill? Why is it regarded with an utmost importance?

Technically, this kind of shopping cart is utilized throughout the course of online shopping. This virtual cart functions like the ordinary basket or push cart that is used in the supermarket. As it goes, the shopper can take some time surveying the contents of the stalls. After which, he can pick those which he deems are necessary for his provisions. Later on, he proceeds to the counter to pay for the goods. The same thing occurs with the online shopping cart. The customer can click on the products and place them in the cart which they can later on check and finalize. As soon as everything is thought to be needed, he will hand in the payment. For the payment scheme, it is necessary that the customer’s details are gathered in accordance to the format that has to be completed.

The Types of Shopping Cart Software

If you want to venture into an online business, you must recognize the significance of shopping carts. Many of the online merchants opt to use the software since it has already been programmed and is generally adopted by most existing Internet shopping portals. In line with this, it is proper for you to be familiar with the two kinds of shopping cart software.

The first type is one which has something to do with the administrative functions. In this kind of software, the web administrator has all his hands in adding, editing, or deleting any service or product from the list. Meaning, if you entail this type of software, you have the control over your site.

The second type is the one which is generally meant to serve the customers. It is designed to help them with their purchases.

The catch is that the e-commerce websites are endowed with a personal shopping cart which bears a license. Meanwhile, as the owner of an online shopping website, you can utilize the software by settling the stipulated payment as derived from the sales.

A Point of Emphasis

Did you get the whole picture? Again, it is necessary for you to know that the software plays a vital role in running your online shopping website. As you set your budget, you have to include the payment that has to be incurred by purchasing or leasing the license of the software.

Another thing that you have to keep in mind is to do your level best so that you will be able to spot the finest quotes for every single component that you have to integrate into your e-commerce project. If only you will do your homework, you will soon find a trustworthy and affordable software provider.

The Software Packaging

Typically, the shopping cart software for e-commerce websites is provided through a package. Such package also comprises the hosting service. Therefore, if there is this kind of agreement, the license for its use has to be paid on a monthly basis. The cart is henceforth reworked every time another user takes over. Going for this scheme is a better alternative since it rids you of all the expenses as compared to purchasing the license itself.

In the long run, the e-commerce shopping carts have lots of worthy elements to offer. If you are yet in the quest of finding the efficient software, you may opt for the free trial services as allowed by the providers.

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Multi Level Marketing

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

The idea behind multi-level marketing is straightforward. Picture that you have a product to sell. A common MLM product is some sort of universal solution, such as a vitamin pill. You could do one of two things: either sell it directly to consumers or find others who will buy your product from you and sell it to other people.

MLM systems require that you recruit people not only to buy and sell your product, but who will also recruit other people to buy and sell your product…and then recruit even more people. This may seem unusual since you are recruiting people to compete with you, but MLM will convince you that it is reasonable to recruit competitors because you will get a cut of their profits. This will take your mind off the fact that no matter how big your town or market, it is limited. There will always be a few people in MLM systems who will make money but the majority will fail, just due to the nature of the system.

Multi-level marketing is a system of marketing which puts more importance on the recruiting of people than on the selling of products which is makes for a flawed system. MLM is very attractive to many people though because it sells hope and appears to be outside the typical type of business. It promises wealth and independence but unfortunately MLM is much more likely to result in failure than success. The most successful MLM scheme is Amway which has millions of distributors worldwide with sales going into the billions. In the year 2000, an average Amway distributor earned about $700 a year in sales, but spent about $1,000 a year on products. Remember, that sellers also have other expenses such as transportation, communication, etc.

This type of system is very beneficial to those who own the company or supply the products, but to those lower down on the pyramid, this is nothing but a money eating scheme.

However, there are a few benefits to being an MLM member, such as getting certain tax write-offs, access to special products, the chance to meet new friends and maybe even a few bucks. But, while all of these things can be good, none of them will benefit you’re real financial situation. Other downfalls about being an MLM member is that you can never admit to others if you are doing badly. In order to sell products you always have to keep on a happy face to customers, which often include family and friends. So unless this sounds like a good career move to make, most people would suggest that you steer clear of this opportunity.

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10 Things You Should Be Monitoring On Your Website

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

10 things you should be monitoring on your website
By David Leonhardt

Every business needs to know how it is doing. That’s the idea behind exit surveys, customer feedback forms, suggestion boxes and other devices. Without feedback from the customer, monitoring inventory, expenses, revenue and other benchmarks, a business can take a quick slide down a slippery slope, without the owner ever seeing it coming – or being able to stop the slide.

Webmasters also have things they should be monitoring on their websites. Most of these can be classified as traffic related or server performance related. Here is my top ten list.

Monitoring website traffic

Traffic totals. You want to know how much traffic you are generating. If the line on the graph is heading down, you know you have to find out why.

Referrers. It’s not enough just to know how many visitors you are getting. You need to know where they are coming from. I discovered I was getting a lot of visitors from a Thanksgiving site. They were all being funneled into my Thanksgiving Happiness article. Suddenly I knew I should get more links from other Thanksgiving sites. Valuable information.

Searches. Much to my surprise, my happiness site started getting a ridiculous number of hits from the search for “hairdressers”. It just so happens I wrote a humor column on a hairdresser experience. I was surprised to see it getting so much traffic for such a generic, competitive search term. If that had been a term of a little more relevance for me, this information would have lead me to properly optimize the page and get even more traffic.

Pages viewed per visit. If people visit only one page per visit, you have some work to convince them to visit more pages, like those that make you money.

Pages visited. So you threw up on your site something cool as an add-on. How were you to know that other webmasters would link to it and send a whole bunch of traffic your way? Well, now you know, so add some copy to the page to pull visitors into the rest of your site.

Monitoring website performance

Forms. Are they all functioning? A good website monitoring service can keep tabs on them for you. The last thing you want is to have lost hundreds or thousands of subscribers because a sign-up form stopped functioning

Shopping carts. Slow and complicated shopping carts are responsible for an estimated $25 billion in lost sales. Make sure yours is functioning properly. A good website monitoring service can watch this for you, too.

Download speed. Clear your cache and test your pages. Hmm. Maybe those images are a bit large. Time to compress them, or even remove some. Remember that some people are on a much slower connection than you are. I use a satellite connection sometimes, but when I don’t, my connection speed is 28K.

Server speed. re there problems with server speed? Maybe not where you are, but on the other side of the world. Global website monitoring can alert you to a transatlantic connection problem, so you can take it up with your web hosting service.

Server accessibility. All the web hosts promise 99% accessibility. But is that for real? Who monitors them? By one estimate, 75% of inaccessibility is not on the hosting server, but rather on the Internet’s backbone network and in global routing. A global website monitoring service can help identify the problem, so that you can work with your web hosting company to resolve it before too many sales are lost.

Fun. If you are not having fun, audition for that drummer position in the local band. There is no point spending your life doing something that bores you. Webmastering should be fun.

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Creating A Successful Business Through Planning

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

If you are a business owner, or are contemplating starting your own business, if you don’t have a strategic plan, you are destined to fail. The creation of a effecient and effective business plan can mean the difference between having the need to work 70+ hours a week all year long - only to find out that your business is only just breaking even, or even worse, losing money.. Or being successful.

On the other end of the scale, many successful business owners and entrepreneurs who have created and implemented a business strategy generally work for less hours, and produce a more sizeable income and profit margins. You will also find, that in general, those who are successful with their own business, attribute their success to having a strategic plan.

Ok, we’ve discussed that having a good business strategy plan is essential, but what really is “strategic business management”? In its most basic form, its the process in which the goals and objectives for your business are defined, and an action plan is then created so you may reach your goals and objectives.

You now know what it is. So how do you go about creating a strategic plan for your business?

1) Any business owner should know, and be able to describe in detail, the vision for his or her business. Whats the image that you want your business to have?

2) Any operating business should have clear and concise company values and guiding principles. For instance, what are the reasons you are in business? Serve and protect? Provide quality soap? And how do you do business? Do you treat your customers like trash; or another form of royalty?

3) It would also be a good idea to create a 3 year and 5 year plan. Any business should implement a long-term plan in which the basis is on broad objectives that will assist you in getting your business from where it is today, to where you want your business to be.

4) Thinking not only long-term, but also short-term, will also greatly help your business develop. Each year, you should create, define, and plan specific objectives that when accomplished, will help you on the road to achieving your long-term goals. It is also worth noting, then when setting and planning your annual goals, is pays to be “SMART”. Make sure your planning incorporates the following points:

- Be very specific
- Show measure
- Make the goals realistic and attainable
- Make sure they are time-oriented

Include a list of obstacles and barriers which could holter your success from achieving your goals. In any case, getting to where you want your business to be, you’ll need resources. Create and define a list of resources you’ve already got, and the other resources which you will need to achieve your goals. At this point, you should also create a concise action plan that clearly defines how you will actually achieve the necessary goals. If your business has any employees, it is of great importance to involve them with this part of the business planning process.

5) In your business plan, you should create simple and concise milestones or benchmarks, that will define when you have actually reached a goal or objective. This is an essential part of the planning, as it will enable you to measure your progress as a business.

6) After you have created your strategic business plan, it is of paramount importance that it is shared with anyone who will be involved in the process. Your annual business plan is the roadmap which will lead your business and those involved, to the goals which need to be achieved — but to be effective, everyone must end up at the same goals and objectives, the “destination”, if you will. And to do so, everyone requires the same map.

7) Its no use having a well thought-out and planned strategic business plan, if you don’t put it into action. You now have a means to begin your business journey; its time to start it.

8) Be sure to regularly check and compare the progess of your business, to the benchmarks defined in your business plan.

If something should go wrong with your business, the sooner you figure out what went wrong, or what is -happening- wrong, the sooner you can fix the problem, make the necessary adjustments and get your business back on track.

9) And finally, ensure that each year you follow the exact same cycle to create your strategic business plan. Dream, Plan, Act, Check. Thats all there is to it.

As a final comment, I’ll leave you with this. Creating a business strategy and ensuring that you follow it, is not just about achieving specific goals and objectives. Its purpose is to also make sure that the journey taken to these goals, is a safe and enjoyable journey.

Having a safe trip is just as important as reaching your final destination.

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How To Start Your Online Business With Drop-Shipping

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

By using drop-shipping firms to handle your orders, you could route all your ecommerce site’s orders to wholesalers, and they will drop shipped your order directly to customers. And you as the online retailer can eliminate the expense of carrying inventory and the risk of being stuck with the goods if these goods didn’t sell.

Before you get started, consider these seven steps involved in starting a drop-ship e-business:

Step 1: Decide to sell your products with or without your own website

You can start your drop-shipping e-business either with or without having your own website. If you decide to sell with your own domain name, then you need to get your ecommerce site up. If you do not want the hassle of getting your own ecommerce site, then you could build your online store at eBay. eBay e-store site builder allow you to build your online store easily.

Step 2: Decide products to sell

Then, you need to decide what types of products to sell at your online store. You could identify a group of products such as electronic products, household electrical appliances, cell phones & etc. It is advisable to identify similar products or products under the same category to sell instead of totally different category products such as shoes and CD player. Because, by selecting products within the same category, you can give your customers more choice to choose from, and you can group two or more products in a bundle for promotion or marketing activities and you get more sales on each transaction.

Step 3: Locate suppliers who will drop-ship for you

After identify your products to sell, you need to look for your drop-shipping suppliers. On time delivery is important to ensure the satisfaction of your customers; hence, be sure you check for the drop-shipper performance record before you sign-up an account with them. Discussion forum, message board and blogs are sources for you to find some hints or comment for the drop-shippers. Or you just simply key-in the drop-shipper name on the Google or Yahoo search box; you should get some information of your selected drop-shipper.

Step 4: Set up an account with the drop-shipper

Once you select a drop-shipping company, you need to set up a reseller account with the company. This can often be done online or by phone, but some companies will require that you complete and return a reseller application to open an account. Some may also require a tax ID and a business license. Most drop-shipping company will charge some fee to open their reseller account.

Step 5: Advertise the product for sale online

Many online retailers failed in their drop-shipping e-business because they could drive traffic or visitor to their website and convert these visitors to the actual paying customers. To get traffic to your product page (either your website or your eBay e-store), you need to advertise your products so that your products get exposure on internet and attract targeted traffic to your product page.

There are many ways to advertise your products. You could advertise on eBay, use pay-per-click (PPC) advertisement service such as Google Adword or Yahoo PPC. Or you could go for the cheapest but equally efficient way in driving traffic to your e-store: Article Marketing. You could write a review on your products in an article and put your e-store URL at the end of article or at the author resource box and submit them many article directories for maximum exposure. Many internet visitors will drop-by to your e-store via your URL link at the end of your article if they are interested to know more.

Step 6: The Product Sold & Place Order To Drop-Shipper

Once your have product sold, your customer will pay you on your selling price via your online payment system such as PayPal. And you place the order with your drop-shipper and pay them via their payment system at the agreed price, which is lower than your selling price, so that you could earn the profit.

Step 7: After Sale Follow Up

Many e-business entrepreneurs will miss out after sale follow up portion. Just because your customer has paid you and you have placed the order with the drop-shipper, it does not mean that this is end of the loop. Because if there are problem occur, you are the one who need to responsible in the eyes of your customers. Hence, you should follow up with your drop-shipper either via phone or email to ensure that ship out your order to your customer.

You should proactively follow up with your customer to ensure they have received their order and satisfy with it. Offer yourself as the personal contact for any issues that may arise. This is also a great way to sell customers more products because if your customers are satisfied with your service, they may give you repeat orders.

In Summary

By integrate drop-shipper into your e-business, you can forget about inventory handling issues and find a shipping partner to fulfill orders for you; all will be done by your drop-shipping partners. By following correct steps to set up your drop-shipping e-business, you can save your time and efforts in getting your business started faster.

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