Ecommerce Web Design Blog
Ecommerce for Dummies: Helping you get started
Published in website design, web design, shopping carts, shopping cart, seo, graphic design, google, ecommerce websites, ecommerce cart, ecommerce, business by oscworks |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.
Buy a shopping cart that will grow with you
Published in shopping carts, shopping cart, ozcart, marketing, ecommerce websites, ecommerce cart by oscworks |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.
How to make money from affiliate programmes
Published in shopping carts, shopping cart, ozcart, marketing, ecommerce websites, ecommerce cart, ecommerce, advertising by oscworks |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 providers operating in Australia and throughout the world. Some of the more well known ones include clixGalore, iDev Affiliate and Commission Junction.
One big benefit to these programmes is independence - merchants cannot under-report or fail to pay commissions. But there is a big disadvantage too: fees. Many well-known affiliate programmes charge considerable fees to the merchants that belong to them, sometimes even taking a cut of the sales they make (on top of the commission payments those merchants are paying their affiliates). This means that running your own affiliate progamme without using a third party provider could cut back on your spending considerably, while providing all of the traffic generating benefits. The bottom line: more money into your pocket.
As we have received so many requests to offer a built-in affiliate programme in our ozCart shopping cart software (that does not use any third party affiliate providers), we have just launched one. We expect this to be very popular as in less than a day we have already been swamped with enquiries about it. Osc Works will also provide code-integration options for the iDev Affiliate programme for ozCart customers who request it.
Shopping carts with wish lists: what are the benefits?
Published in shopping cart, ozcart, marketing, ecommerce websites, ecommerce by oscworks |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 what to buy someone else if they are someone who seems to have everything or just someone very particular about their likes. If you are looking to buy something for them, an online shop which provides wish lists can help. Here's how.
- That person can go to the shop, create a wish list and put on to it all of the things in the store that they would be happy to receive
- They can also mark those products they would definitely not want to receive
- Once they make their wish list public, anyone with an account in your store can search for their wish list, browse through it and add items from that list to their own cart.
No matter what the occasion - weddings, birthdays or Christmas - searchable wish lists are a must-have addition to your online store.
Having a wish list in your store can also encourage customers to come back and buy later. When you see something you like in a shopping mall window, you may say 'I must remember to come back and buy that', but in many cases you never do. If you wrote the item down on a wish list and stuck it on your fridge, you would have a constant reminder of that product and be more likely to go back to the mall and buy it. The same can apply in your store. Having a wish list gives customers the opportunity to mark products they are interested in an come back to them later.
As a store owner you get a list of the active wish lists in the admin section of your store and may be able to run promotions to customers who have added items to wish lists and not come back to buy them yet. You could offer them a discount code for example to move them from dreamer to buyer.
Google Chrome Review: This new web browser is fast
Published in web design, shopping carts, shopping cart, google, ecommerce websites, ecommerce by oscworks |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 interface and Features - Chrome is clean and clear
The user interface is very simple but also very appealing. It includes features like tabbed browsing and the ability to create desktop shortcuts directly from your browser.
As Google is first and foremost a search engine company, it is no surprise that the Chrome browser comes with some superior search features. Like the ability to search browser history titles (and view thumbnails of your browser history in search results). A system like the 'speed dial' option in Opera gives you quick access to your most frequently used sites, although overall we found using and managing bookmarks overall more difficult in Chrome than in Firefox or IE.
Reporting was a nice touch, giving you an indication of how resource hungry your pages are to help you diagnose problems - by providing information about how processor intensive and memory hungry an individual page is.
The Downside: Chrome lacks add-ons and stability
Chrome is still 'beta' (pre-release) software, so it is lacking in some key areas that are well developed in Firefox and IE - especially third party add-ons.
We were also surprised not to find other features available in IE and Firefox that are considered commonplace today, like an email-a-page features. We found Chrome more prone to crashing on Windows Vista machines and we couldn't even get it to install on one of our office machines.
Our overall verdict is that Chrome is an excellent browser and if speed is your primary requirement, it is highly recommended.
How to start an online store: What is possible with an ecommerce cart?
Published in website design, ozcart, online business, ecommerce websites, ecommerce cart, ecommerce, business by oscworks |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 products in all its package options.
Can I sell products that can be downloaded (e.g. music)?
Yes - with ozCart from Osc Works, the process is automated. This means that when payment goes through from your customers they can automatically download your product. If your store offers music, ozCart also has the ability to offer short media clips so you can offer previews to customers before they buy.
What is the minimum time commitment for running an ecommerce site?
There's no minimum time commitment - the amount of time you put into it depends on the number of products you want to sell, how much effort you want to put in adding your site to directories and search engines and other marketing activity. The more time you put in, the faster your site will start to earn its potential.
Can I add an online store to an existing website?
In many cases, yes. If you have an existing website, you can create an ecommerce website based on the colours and style of that design and link to it from your existing site. Just ask us how.
What are my options for accepting payments? How can I accept credit cards through my site?
Accepting online payments through your ecommerce website can be a huge advantage over offering a booking form, or asking customers to email their credit card details for you. Besides the security advantages, its more convenient for your customers (because they'll get a real time confirmation that their payment was processed), and ts more convenient for you too – you don't have to manually process payments when they are received. There are a number of payment choices that you have as a customer, from prepaid debit systems like Paypal through to real-time credit card processing. (More information about payment gateways)
Osc Works offers standard access to the following key payment methods in Australia nd New Zealand:
- Bank transfers through Australian and New Zealand bank
- Credit card processing via Camtech, ANZ eGate, Paystation, DPS, DirectOne or Eway as applicable (and more)
- Paypal
- Paymex
- Paymate
- e-path
- and more..
If the payment method you wish to use is not in the list, Osc Works may still be able to support it. Talk to us about your needs.
What is a merchant account?
Before you can accept credit card payments through your website, you need:
- A merchant account and business banking account through your bank
- A payment processing service on the Internet (also called a payment gateway)
- A secure ecommerce website that can accept credit card details and securelypass them to the payment gateway for processing.
The software built into ecommerce websites from Osc Works provide access to major Australian and New Zealand payment gateways such as Eway, Camtech, DirectOne Paystation and DPS.
Customers still need to set up their own merchant account with their bank, and an account with the gateway provider so they can process transactions. If customers already have a merchant account then this can be used with an Osc Works online store.
Can I see what people are searching for on my store?
Yes - the basic web statistics provided through your store provide information about the most commonly visited pages, and products listed. The reports are generated automatically on a periodic basis, but you can purchase more frequent reports from Osc Works if you wish.
What kind of reports are available for my online store?
Some of the reports you can choose from are:
- Products viewed
- Products most purchased
- Low stock reports
- Coupon codes redeemed
- Orders by customer
- Gift certificates sent
- Order status
- Customer login and activity
- Specials and their status
- and more...
Can I see a demo?
Yes, a demo of ozCart is available at shop.oscworks.com.au (admin demo username demo, password demo12 view admin demo )
Can I change the sort order of products and categories?
Yes, you can do this through the administration section of your site.
What support do you offer?
With Osc Works ecommerce solutions, monthly administrative support is included in your monthly payment. This includes help for your administration settings, setup of email accounts and three statistic reports per month on request. It does not include custom script changes, add-on modules or testing of your website. Should you require additional services or products fees will apply.
What if I require a customised solution?
Many of our customers have particular non-standard needs - for example, they may require a way to import their products into their shopping cart in bulk using an Excel spreadsheet, or to have a custom-module installed. We would love to help if we can and are happy to provide quotes for customised components before starting work on them. If we can't help with a request, we'll try to suggest another way you could try to achieve the result you want.
Can anyone use an ecommerce solution?
You don't need to be a computer expert to use an ecommerce website. The administration section of your site is easy-to-learn and use and provides considerable flexibility in adding products, updating their prices offering specials - and advanced special features like gift vouchers, wishlists, reviews and affiliate programmes.
What can I do in the administration section of my site?
There is plenty of flexibility in the administration of your site. With an Osc Works ecommerce site you can:
- Configure how customers can enter their details
- Define how images are displayed
- Set up the payment methods and types of credit cards (if applicable) that your store will accept
- Manage dropship suppliers (ozCart 2.0 only)
- Turn your store on and off (if you just want to have a product catalogue)
- Add or remove product categories, the products within them and define featured products.Set minimum or maximum order quantities, and whether shipping applies
- Change the sort order of your product
- Create gift vouchers
- Administration notes can be attached to orders for special cases (e.g. a special wholesaler)
- Offer specials and more...
Osc works customises your store to the needs of Australian and New Zealand customers efore you receive it, so things like GST and shipping zones are already set up for you - but you can customise these further if you wish.
Can I send newsletters from the administration section of the site?
Yes. The newsletter function is very popular with our customers who wish to send their customers news, updates, loyalty programme information and offers.
For more information about ozCart ecommerce shopping carts from Osc Works, please visit our ecommerce packages pages.
