Ecommerce Web Design Blog

Want to turn a paid shopping cart into a free one?

Osc Works offer shopping cart software packages from between $34.95 to $109.95 per month, but with some smart lateral thinking, you could have an ozCart shopping cart website for free. So can you get your own free shopping cart website?

The answer is to take advantage of the Osc Works affiliate programme, that all ozCart and Information Website customers are entitled to join.  Just purchase an ecommerce website from us and put a special banner or link to  Osc Works on it. If your website visitors click-through and then buy their own ozCart shopping cart website within 30 days, then you can earn cash for every sale!

This makes it really easy for you to take advantage of the many new businesses getting online  or expanding from 'brochureware' to online shops.

If you were to refer just two customers to us per month, then you have paid for your own starter shopping cart website, with credits left over to buy ozCart add-ons.  Three customers pays for an Advanced site (allowing you to accept credit cards).  For just five new customers buying sites from us a month and you could have your own Platinum shopping cart with all the Platinum Privileges that come with it! For free!

Take the Osc Works affiliate challenge today and you could be on your way to your own ozCart shopping cart website for free.

UPDATE 16-Jan-2009: With our new payout rates you can reach these goals even faster! We now pay up to a massive $100 per sale for referrals to our Platinum shopping cart.

How do you find the best shopping cart for your business?

Shopping cart providers sometimes overwhelm potential cutomers with jargon  about ecommerce, payment gateways, layered navigation, merchant accounts, localisation, 128 bit SSL, PCI DSS compliance, the list goes on. With so many terms to get your head around, it would be easy for a business owner to be deterred from starting a shop. It need not be so difficult. There are a number of ways that at Osc Works we would like to help you choose the best shopping cart for you and your business.

Some tips include:

1. Decide how you want to accept payments first. Will you or won't you accept credit cards?  To answer that question try to put yourself in the shoes of your customers. How would they like to pay? What are your competitor's sites doing? If you are going to accept credit cards, then you have two basic choices - keep customers on your site and pass the collected credit card information to a third-party payment gateway for processing, or redirect customers to a specialist payment website like Paypal or Paymate for processing.
   
   Redirecting customers to another site has the disadvantage that you lose control - if they click away in the payment process you may not know about the order details. The disadvantage with some shopping cart providers is that you need to ensure your site has encryption of data that goes through the checkout process and meets Visa and MasterCard's strict PCI DSS compliance requirements. ozCart shopping cart software websites take the worry away from this aspect of your planning, because our servers are already PCI DSS compliant. You just need to make sure your business processes are compliant too and you will meet the standards required.
   
   Osc Works ozCart shopping cart software supports a number of Australian, NZ and international payment gateways as well as Paymate or Paypal. You choose.
2. Think about your postage/shipping options. There are a huge number of options for selecting your postage or shipping options for an online store.  If you are a wholesaler for example, you may wish to allow your customer's main office purchase from you online and then have their order shipped to each of their stores. Multiple shipping addresses is an option in only a few shopping carts so if that is an important feature for you, choose carefully. Other considerations include whether you want to include a live Australia Post calculator, have flat rates or offer different options for customers in different state. With ozCart these are all possible, but not every shopping cart is so flexible - especially ones derived or directly licensed from American distributors.
3. Think about your customers. Having a nice easy to use managment system will save you time so this is absolutely essential. But equally important is the experience for your customers. How easy is it for customers to add a product to their cart and buy from you? Does your shopping cart offer a progress bar telling customers how much further they have to go? Try the ecommerce demo of the shopping cart you are planning to buy and ask yourself if your customers would find that process easy.
   
4. Make sure you will get great support. Whatever you are thinking of doing, ask your potential shopping cart provider if you have any questions. How they answer questions will give you an idea of what type of support you will get. See if they have a knowledgebase, if they have a ticket system and whether they seem willing to answer your questions promptly or not. Do they confuse you or make it easy for you?
5. Do they have an online ordering system as well as phone orders? If you are buying an online shopping cart from a provider that doesn't have an online ordering system themselves, isn't that a bit strange? Don't they have confidence in what they do? 

Choosing an ecommerce shopping cart that is well suited to you and your business will put you on the way to making money from your ecommerce website. Tap into the thousands of Australians looking to buy online today - especially with Christmas coming up.

When shopping for ecommerce software to start your own online shop, features and the monthly costs are important factors to consider.  But even if the monthly payments are affordable for your business, what about the setup cost? Small businesses need every cent they can save when they set up given the costs of business registrations, phone and Internet connections, business cards, stationery, suppliers and buying stock.  So why spend too much for your ecommerce store setup?

What does setting up your website involve? At most of the top shopping cart providers you will be paying for their specialist technicans to install the ecommerce cart into the website and pre-configuring it for Australian business conditions. At many, the customisation of the graphics and colours to suit your business will also be included.  Setup also covers the level of features you get in the shopping cart software and being entered into the cart provider's billing system to make your ongoing payments.

There is a lot of variation in the setup costs of hosted shopping cart software providers in Australia so it can pay to shop around.  For example, some providers charge $800-$1,000+ to get an ecommerce website set up whereas others charge between $100-$400 setup for a similar level of customisation and as many features.

Ask also whether the price of gst is included or excluded. Even if you can claim back the gst against your tax, paying the gst initially is still a cash flow expense that you must meet. For a small business setting up, this could be significant for you. It pays to check.

If you are unsure about what you are paying for, just ask your potential shopping cart software provider exactly what their setup costs cover.  We think a competitive price in today's market is between $100 - $400 including gst depending on the level of features you are receiving, but what you are prepared to pay will depend on the value you feel you are getting from that shopping cart provider.  

One important point to note is that ensuring you don't pay too much does not mean that the cheapest ecommerce website is necessarily the best shopping cart.  You still need to consider how many ecommerce features the site has, how much flexibility you have with payment and shipping options, the ability to import and export products and customers, and how images will be displayed. Most importantly how will your customers experience your shopping cart? If it is not easy for them, it doesn't matter how easy it is to manage.

Expanding your business to open an online shop or starting an online store from scratch need not be a difficult, confusing or overwhelming process. There is a lot more help at hand than you may think to get you through the considerable ecommerce jargon.

At Osc Works, our shopping cart packages are designed to be as easy to undertand as possible, and help you through ecommerce jargon. We both have the same objective: get your online store up and running as quickly as possible.

Here is a quick introduction to ecommerce for the beginner. At the end of this ecommerce guide we also list some other resources at Osc Works that could be helpful to you.

What is ecommerce?

Ecommerce is simply trading online. Instead of putting up a physical shop and waiting for customers to call, mail or walk into your store, you add the capability to a website to allow customer to visit, view your catalog and buy things from you without leaving the comfort of their own home.

A shopping cart is the web-based software that allows your product catalog to be displayed online, for your customers to view your products and product-images, read your product descriptions and add them to their basket. Just like in a physical store when they have finished browing your store, the customer can go through checkout and purchase those products securely online from you. You can accept credit cards, bank transfers, cash on delivery or a number of payment options and offer customers a variety of shipping methods each with their own charges. You can add extras to their total order, automatically (like a rush fee for weekend delivery or shipping insurance) and then the order is processed.

The best shopping carts have an order management system built in, integrate with a formal electronic inventory/accounting system or allow you to export orders to a spreadsheet for importing into an accounting package. They also allow customers to add products to a wishlist for later purchasing or for others to create gift registries for others to buy from.

Is ecommerce in Australia any different from other places in the world?

More than ever Australians are getting online, using the Internet to browse products before they buy them and compare providers.  In many cases, if you do not have an online shop, you will not even be considered. Some customers will visit physical shops to browse products and then look online for the cheapest place to buy them. Having an online shop can be crucial to your business success in some industries. 

Due to some issues in provisioning of broadband across Australia, we have been typically slower than other parts of the world getting online, but the rate of take up has definitely increased. As more and more customers get online, so too will many more businesses.  Does your business web presence include an online store or is it just 'brochureware'?

What is involved in getting started with ecommerce?

Getting started with ecommerce doesn't need to be difficult.  Look for a shopping cart provider that has an easy to use store front that has been proven to stand up to heavy sales. Make sure it helps store owners as much as possible to get indexed in search engines. Ensure also that it has many powerful ecommerce features so that you can grow your online shop as your business grows. Try out the store front by performing a demo purchase. Is it easy for your customers to use?

If you are unsure about anything - like what payment options to choose or how to go about choosing them, how you will manage your store or promote it, then talk to your potential shopping cart provider before you buy.  Do they make it easy for you to understand? Do they treat you like a number or are they willing to treat you like a partner and work with you with your success in mind? Are they just a hosting company that is trying to cash in on ecommerce or a real ecommerce specialist? Do they care about your business? What kind of support will you get? These are all important questions to ask. 

Ecommerce shopping carts and security

Fear of credit card fraud is a major reason that still prevents many Australians from shopping online. But given the strict controls that banks and ecommerce cart providers put on online purchasing, we are convinced that online purchasing is just as safe and secure (if not more) than in a physical shop.

There are a number of high security measures in place by the top shopping carts today: like encryption of credit card details (using a technology called SSL), compliance with business process and technical security measures mandated by Visa and MasterCard (known as PCI DSS compliance) and third party vulnerability testing of shops and all electronic websites (like the McAfee Secure trust mark verification we use at Osc Works).

Moving from an auction website like eBay to your own online shop

If you have bought or sold items on eBay, you have already participated in ecommerce. Many sellers on auction sites eventually get tired of auction listing fees, success fees and  having their products listed right next to their competitors products all the time. They opt for their own online store. Many successful movers use both eBay and their own online store together to get he best of both worlds. Auction sites like eBay have the benefit of 'instant traffic' due to the large number of sellers who already know to look there for things to buy. But the disadvantage is that control is limited on auction sites and competition can be fierce. Setting up your own online store can encourage the people who already buy from you on an auction site to visit you directly next time for a better browsing experience (and maybe a financial enticement depending on your business strategy). 

The importance of web design

Online you have  an extremely limited period to make an impact on your customers - studies suggest this is 8 seconds or less! This means that an easy to use cart is only part of the formula for success. It has to look superb too. That's why at Osc Works we take the time to get the web design for your ecommerce storefront just right. You choose a base layout from our collection and nominate some colours and the types of images you would like to see. We then provide you with a draft web design concept to review based on that information and one of them is then used to build your store. The process is fast, efficient, keeps you involved and ensures that you are totally satisfied with the way your site looks when it is completed. Have a look at our sample portfolio for a brief glimpse at some of the ecommerce designs our team have put together.

Where can I find out more?

 Osc Works wants to help you understand the ins and outs of ecommerce and get your business online as quickly as possible. We have put together an ecommerce glossary which we would encourage you to bookmark and search for terms if you need to know anything. We would also be happy to answer any questions you have about ecommerce. Just contact us directly and we would be happy to help.

Businesses that create their shopping cart websites themselves or without a view towards the future can run into trouble if the market shifts or a competitor enters with considerably more online shopping features and an easier-to-use buying experience for customers.

To prevent this situation happening for you, it is important to consider the future when you buy your shopping cart software to begin with. Even if you don't need all the features offered, choosing an ecommerce cart with the ability to grow can help future proof your online business.

ozCart has been designed with the future in mind by including the following:

• Features that you can turn on and off as you require. Want to use Paypal today and eWay at a later stage? No problems with ozCart. The payment and postage options you choose today can be changed tomorrow if you wish. You can even set different features for different regions.
• We are continually reviewing and improving our product - listening to customer feedback and looking for ways to improve our software and your ability to rank in search engines. We understand business and the costs of business, and care about your success.
  
• We include an add-ons shop where our customers can buy additional plug-ins (for example data feeds) for their store and upgrades offered in newer packages.

Don't buy a shopping cart that will lock you into features you can never expand or won't provide you with support for your business growth.

If your business is going to be running an online shop, then you'll want to be absolutely assured that the technology powering your business is secure, powerful and easy for your customers. 

One indicator of how easy and safe your shopping cart website will be is to look at the secure ordering system of the shopping cart provider you will be buying from. Do they have their own secure ordering system? How easy is it to use?

You would expect that a business who is selling shopping carts would have their own shopping cart purchasing sytem that is robust, secure and easy to use. After all, isn't it their business to know how to set one up?

At Osc Works we recognise the importance of having our own ordering process as friendly and secure as possible which is why our staff have injected as much time, care and attention into testing and improving our whole ordering and support system . The result is a friendly checkout that is easy for our customers to use, but highly secure too.

Some of the security features we use are:

• We encrypt all credit card details collected using a 256 bit SSL Certificate provided by GeoTrust via RapidSSL.
•  We have our servers hacker-tested and checked on a daily basis for over 11,000 vulnerabities - this testing is performed by the industry-leader security auditor, McAfee Secure (formerly called Hacker Safe). They have a reputation for being amongst the very toughest testers in the business. That's one of the reasons why we chose them.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We ensure our servers are maintained in a PCI DSS compliant state. This means our servers would pass a PCI DSS compliance scan for any of the shopping cart websites on it. Our customers the confidence of knowing that if they are accepting credit cards for their customers, their site meets the technical security standards set by Visa and MasterCard. (You can purchase your own PCI compliancy certificate and quarterly scan report from us if you need this to show to your bank)

Whether you plan to buy online or over the phone, be way of a shopping cart provider who doesn't offer their own easy-to-use secure ordering system. Do they have confidence in their own product?  Have  they not met the PCI DSS security standards of Visa and MasterCard? It makes you wonder..