eCommerce
“eCommerce is having a huge impact on the way we do business. It can lead to dramatic growth in trade, increase markets, improve efficiency and effectiveness and can transform business processes.”
The government statistics website.
Do you want to sell on-line ?
If so, do you already have a 'bricks and mortar' shop on the high street?
Is your eBay trade expanding and now you want your own stand alone eCommerce website?
Or maybe you are just fed up with auction site fees and want your own stand alone eCommece site?
Whatever your reasons – you want to set up an on-line shop!
If you are interested in an eCommerce website, you should consider all of the factors involved and choose carefully and wisely. Listed below are just a few of the possible scenarios to consider when considering setting up an eCommerce shop:
Yes, I have a conventional shop..
....but I would also like to sell my products on line.
In this scenario you are already familiar with commercial business and your legal responsibilities. You are probably registered for VAT and I would suspect that you are able to accept payment for goods by taking debit cards or credit cards through your counter-top 'PDQ' machine which processes the payments to your existing business bank account.
You will already have the following in place:
- products to sell.
- An existing customer base to develop.
- A means of processing debit cards and credit cards.
- Space for stock/stock room.
- An area in which to package and despatch goods to customers.
- A business landline telephone number.
- An address to which goods can be returned.
- Local Authority planning and consents for your premises.
To make the initial setting up of your eCommerce shop simple and trouble free you can utilise most of the facilities you have in your current premises.
As an authorised Actinic software re-seller, Minting Design will use Actinic software to design your eCommerce shop. This provides us with an industry standard 'platform' for the functionality of the shopping cart and providing secure and safe eCommerce shopping for your customers. Actinic software is recognised and approved by all the major banks for its easy integration with debit card and credit card facilities. Actinic also provides direct support and training so that you can be confident that your investment in your website design is secure and transferable. This is not always the case when a website designer (who usually quotes a cheap price) uses his or her own shopping cart software and then disappears!
Your new eCommerce shop will have two sections - the 'front of house' sales area where your products are displayed and arranged in a logical and sensible order and also a 'back office' area where payments are processed, emails are sent to keep your customers informed of how their transaction is progressing together with reports and accounts for you (a link to Sage Line 50 and Quick Books is possible), and, of course, where the tea is made!
You will probably want complete control over the ‘stocking the shelves’ and ‘doing the books’ aspects of your eCommerce shop and that’s how it should be but we are always here to help you (should you need it!) and to make any changes to the design and layout of your shop whenever you want so that you can concentrate on what you know best - your business.
Contact Us for further information regarding the possibilities of an eCommerce shop for you.
Yes, I have an eBay shop..
....but I would also like to sell my products directly on line.
Moving from eBay to your own eCommerce shop will be an enlightening experience. You will suddenly be in control of your own business and whatever decisions you make about your shop, you will always have the final say.
Once up and running the monthly costs will remain the same if you have 10 or 1,000 items for sale in your shop. You will no longer have to worry about ‘feedback’. Of course, we all strive hard to keep our customers happy but the worry of auction site feedback can sometimes overtake our lives. There will always be a few customers who delight in posting negative feedback at the slightest hint of a problem and there is nothing that you can do to prevent this! You will still be able to accept PayPal payments and because you are already trading ‘on line’, you will soon be ready to start trading in your new eCommerce shop.
You will probably only need to put in place the following:
- a Domain Name which could be the same as on eBay.
- Website Design.
- Website Hosting.
If you wish to take debit cards and/or credit cards direct from your customers you will also need the following:
- a Merchant Account.
- A Payment Gateway to enable credit card transactions.
- A SSL Certificate (for secure transactions).
You will also be able to run your eBay shop and your eCommerce shop simultaneously. Your existing customer base can be made aware of your new URL (i.e. your eCommerce website address) on your eBay “About Me” page which is completely within the rules of eBay.
Contact us for more information regarding the possibilities of an eCommerce shop for you.
Get your FREE eBook 'Selling Successfully Online: Over 120 top tips for running an ecommerce web site', by Chris Barling and Bruce Townsend of Actinic Software.