Ecommerce Web Design Blog

One of the biggest factors that people don't take into account when buying shopping cart software is the cost of support . There are many 'free' ecommerce solutions in the marketplace, but when something goes wrong with them, what do you do? You could post in the forums relevant to the free shopping cart you are using, but if you don't get a reply or the solution posted doesn't work, where do you turn?What if you are getting a unique error message?

Unless the problem you are having is to do with the server's configuration, in many cases they will also be unable to help. You will then be left on your own and with the expensive problem of trying to hire paid support from the original  developers of the cart or a third-party developer. Depending on your problem, either option could be very expensive.

Some shopping cart software products charge hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month in addition to the cost of their hosting environment just to give you the right to submit a very limited number of problems to them per year. 

If you are choosing a shopping cart for your business, support matters. Our advice is that you should choose carefully.

If you are choosing a hosted ecommerce solution like ozCart (where you are renting the shopping cart software but own your domain name and products), then support is often included in your monthly payment. It's good to check however what support you get for your monthly payments. For example, ask your shopping cart provider:

• Can you get support after 5pm? If you're working a full time job, you will often be working on your store between 5-8pm so look for a provider who has support during these hours.
  
• Can you get support at weekends?
• What support options do you get? Is there an extensive knowledgebase covering the key problems you may face? Is there an email ticket system to ask questions if you can't get what you want from the knowledgebase? Is there phone support or support live chat?
  
• How many support enquiries do you get for your monthly payment?
• Is proactive website performance management support provided behind-the-scenes?
• Is there a willingness of your provider to maintain a secure environment for your store?

Although ozCart from Osc Works does not offer phone or online chat support, our customers are not disadvantaged by this at all. We are proud to offer oustanding ecommerce support 7 days a week, 365 day email support via our ticket system (with unlimited tickets on all our ecommerce packages), plus a members knowledgebase with answers to questions based on past customer enquiries.  Our support team also provides proactive support where critical bug fixes and security patches can be implemented on stores without a ticket submission even being required if we become aware of them.

Choose an ecommerce software provider who includes support as part of their monthly fee and either provides a generous or unlimited number of ticket support enquiries and reasonable rates for extra work if required.

Something as simple as ensuring you have your correct contact details on your website could help your ecommerce sales soar.

More customers than ever are buying online, but they are wary and savvy too because online they can't see you or your store or physically look at your merchandise before they buy. So they often look for other indicators of credibility. For example, does the website have a secure checkout? Is there a clearly defined returns policy? Are the site's terms and conditions clearly posted and easy to read? Does the website look professional and function easily? Is the site on a fast performing server or is it very, very slow? Online, trust can be a crucial factor to sales success. So what are you doing?

One of the absolute key factors above the ones just listed is whether the website's management is easy to contact. A big customer fear, and a reason why some people shy away from auction sites, is that they fear thy will buy something online, receive it broken and not be able to return it for a replacement. Customer service is absolutely essential in an online world, so if you want to be successful you need to make it easy for customers to contact you and be up front about who you are. So if you're going to publish a telephone number for example, don't make it a mobile phone number. Make it a 1300, 1800 or landline number with an answering system so they can still leave a message and you get back to them if you are not available.

Here are six key tips for your ecommerce website's contact details to help you build consumer confidence and trust:

• Publish your business name and PO Box or address
• Publish your business ABN if you are in Australia or your GST number if you are in New Zealand
• Offer a 1300 or 1800 number instead of a mobile phone number
• Put a link to your terms and conditions clearly on your site. Read them and ensure they do not sound too complex or legalese. You can still write clear, consise and legally binding terms and conditions using sentences with short words and full stops!
• Publish your privacy and returns policy on your website
• Publish your policy about information security - how do you protect customers? Are you PCI DSS compliant? (if you are accepting credit cards this is now mandatory)