Blog Entries

Help - my website is being copied! What can I do?

sales@oscworks.com.au — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Just like major clothing brands are often subject to cheap manufacturers producing look-alike copies of their products complete with logos, there are a number of people who are determined to copy the most successful businesses online without any respect for their intellectual property.

Don't let this put you off opening an online shop. You have plenty of options when it comes to dealing with competitors trying to steal your products, website content and images. Here are just some o [...]

How to hire a good copywriter for your website

sales@oscworks.com.au — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Writing for your website is not the same as writing for a print publication. Online you have very limited time to make an impression on your audience. Only writing that is clear, interesting and easy-to-read will get the attention of your potential customers. You also have to be mindful of search engines - you need to ensure that you have the right density of keywords otherwise your page will appear either unimportant or spam to Google. Getting the mix just right is essential.

So how do [...]

Making more from your shopping cart software

sales@oscworks.com.au — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

How can you get a competitive edge for your shopping cart website?

If you have a shopping cart website, you are already taking advantage of the hundreds of thousands of Australians and New Zealanders who use the Internet to search for products and services to buy. How can you get more from your shopping cart so you really stand out from your competitors? Competition is tough and studies show you have about 8 seconds from when a customer clicks on your site to make a lasting impression on [...]

Happy 50th birthday credit cards

sales@oscworks.com.au — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

This week, the credit card turned 50 years old. Credit cards are an invaluable part of everyday life and for many owners of online shops, essential.

The worldwide credit card network was started by American Express in 1958. Bank of America followed quickly with their BankAmericard. The Bank launched the card in a novel way, sending out 60,000 cards to consumers in the area. At first, few had any idea what to do with the cards but they learned the benefits of credit cards quickly a [...]

How to have a free shopping cart with Osc Works

sales@oscworks.com.au — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

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

Osc Works offer shopping cart software packages from between $26.95 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 [...]

The best shopping cart for your business

sales@oscworks.com.au — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

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 c [...]

Ecommerce Setup Costs: Don't pay too much

sales@oscworks.com.au — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

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 [...]

Ecommerce for Dummies: Helping you get started

sales@oscworks.com.au — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

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.

He [...]

Buy a shopping cart that will grow with you

sales@oscworks.com.au — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

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 wi [...]

Does your shopping cart provider have a secure checkout?

sales@oscworks.com.au — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

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 [...]

What's wrong with auction websites?

sales@oscworks.com.au — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

If you're selling on auction websites, one benefit is that the auction sites spend a lot of money promoting themselves to get traffic to your site. Traffic is essential to sales, but auction sites can have some huge downsides: in whatever category you sell in, you are always right beside your competitors. This can severely limit your chances to build customer loyalty because every time you sell there is always pressure on you to drop your prices to compete. Auction site [...]

Websites: Eye Candy vs Features

sales@oscworks.com.au — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

When you are creating a new website, which is more important: a beautiful design or many powerful features? The answer to this question is that both are important and getting the balance right can make the difference between a successful and unsuccessful online shopping website.

Finding balance is important, as you will probably have seen many sites that are either too far in one direction of the other: sites either overloaded with flashy graphics or cluttered with hard-to-read or confu [...]

Looking for lower setup prices? Try our low setup special

sales@oscworks.com.au — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Osc Works understands the costs of setting up a new business, so for a limited time only we are offering a special discount on the setup price of ozCart. Buy any ozCart ecommerce package before 18 October 2008, and you'll pay no more than $149 setup cost no matter what package you buy.

On the Platinum package this means you'll save hundreds of dollars on the setup cost of the package.

This offer can't last and won't be extended so get in quick. After this date our [...]

Handling customer complaints

sales@oscworks.com.au — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Sooner or later, all businesses face some type of customer complaint. The way you deal with a complaint and resolve the situation when it arises is often what makes the difference between a successful and unsuccessful business. You need the attitude: if they have a problem, you're going to fix it.

Here are some strategies for dealing with customer complaints.

Take customer complaints seriously. When a customer complains don't brush off their concerns and ignore them even if [...]

What are the costs of setting up an online store?-

sales@oscworks.com.au — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

What costs do you need to consider when opening an online store? What should a shopping cart website cost? We often get asked this question, so here is a quick guide.

Determining the overall cost: hosting yourself or a hosted solution

When you are setting up an online store you will usually have to balance up-front costs, the ongoing costs and most importantly the costs of your time. Plus your regular business expenses.

One factor that will significantly influence what your o [...]

Is today doomsday? Or will online shops still be open for business tomorrow?

sales@oscworks.com.au — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Today the eye of the world is firmly fixed on Europe's CERN particle-physics lab in France, where at 5pm today Australian Eastern Standard Time the world's largest scientific experiment will begin: a giant destruction derby for particles in a giant underground facility called the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

You would think that building easy-to-use shopping cart and information websites for Australian businesses is about as far away from atomic physics as you can imagine, [...]

How to make money from affiliate programmes

sales@oscworks.com.au — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Running your own affiliate programme can gain you qualified customers by taking advantage of one of the most powerful forms of marketing: referrals.

Affiliate programmes work by paying out commissions to registered affiliates who place banners on their websites that generate click-throughs to your website and subsequent sales. They are an easy way for both you and your affiliates to make money.

These programmes are big business, and there are a number of well-known affiliate prov [...]

Shopping carts with wish lists: what are the benefits?

sales@oscworks.com.au — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Offering your customers wish lists as part of your shopping cart is a fantastic way of building loyalty and increasing turnover through your online store. And just in time for Christmas, Osc Works has added wish lists as a standard feature in all ozCart ecommerce packages purchased from 1 September 2008 onwards. Existing customers can also purchase this facility through our add-ons shop.

So what are wish lists and why are they so useful?

Sometimes it is really hard to know [...]

Google Chrome Review: This new web browser is fast

sales@oscworks.com.au — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

If you have a need for speed, the new Chrome web browser from Google is definitely worth downloading.

Performance

From the very first time we used it, Chrome delivered blistering speed when viewing HTML pages, using sites with Javascript, watching streaming videos and moving through PDF files. Even viewing our own business website at OscWorks.com.au showcased Chrome as providing superior speed compared to both Firefox and Internet Explorer 7.

User inter [...]

How to start an online store: What is possible with an ecommerce cart?

sales@oscworks.com.au — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

In this second part in our introduction to ecommerce overview, we answer some common questions about what is possible with an ecommerce shopping cart.

How many products can I sell online?

While auction websites charge you for every product you list, an ecommerce website is your own - you can list as many products as your shopping cart software allows. Most ecommerce providers put limits on the number of products you can list. OzCart from Osc Works offers unlimited product [...]