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| | | | Introduction to Ecommerce | |
The overall eCommerce transaction process involves:
- Attracting prospects to a web site
- Encourage visitors to browse (as opposed to leave)
- Leads the visitor to a completed transaction by offering products easily and without undue complexity
- Addresses concerns/perceived risks that can scare off the potential buyer if left unanswered.
Behind the scenes you need to have two key products.
- The first is a properly configured Shopping Cart to collect transactions to initiate communications with your merchant account bank
- the second is the merchant account itself (a holding account that clears transactions with the credit card companies).
The merchant account actually comes with either data input equipment or Virtual Terminal software to act as the data input device.
The Shopping Cart software will interface directly to the Virtual Terminal.
The merchant account eventually receives the transaction, clears the funds, and then transfers the money into your business account.
Determining the overall business cost of this sales tool is complicated by the many shopping cart products on the market (some are very expensive), and the different rates charged by the merchant account bank on the transactions (not all banks are equal).
The most important issue will be the sales cycle. If you sell an item that is purchased on impulse, then you MUST accept credit cards.
The impulse must be acted on right then.
If you commonly need to discuss a purchased item with a prospect before the sale (as in the case of our services where they need to be tailored to the needs of our clients) or you must ask a buyer to take action over the next 24 hours, then it is not an impulse sale.
If you sell an impulse item and your payment process is not able to be online, then you are already losing half of your potential clients.
In this case, offering a credit card payment option will help you keep consumers that you have already attracted to your site from leaving before they purchase.
In this case, credit cards don't double your business as much as let you close the business that walks away because you don't offer credit card payments.
If you do not sell an impulse item, and you find that you need to go through a process before you can close a sale, then offering credit cards may not have the impact on sales that you would expect.
It is important to consider some aspects of the sales process: web-based commerce with a human touch is very effective in most cases, especially with 60% to 70% of all shopping carts being abandoned before purchase.
Do not design to avoid human contact if human contact increases the ability to sell your products.
Factor it into your design.
While this may be against the Amazon.com hands-off model, some firms like FaceTime Communications are integrating AOL Instant Messager with their web site eCommerce applications to answer last minute questions.
Reports are that six times as many visitors will buy if questions are answered.
Customer Service is evolving, and it is alive and well on the web.
Another issue is risk.
The security the client gets by knowing that if the vendor does not deliver the product that the consumer can file a complaint and have the credit card company intervene decreases the risk for the consumer and eases their mind, facilitating the sale.
Couple this with the perception that the merchant has some financial stability and that the business is not fly-by-night, and you have further decreased the risk felt by the consumer.
As such, it is far easier to overcome the "cold feet" portion of the process and to help close the sale.
Studies have shown conclusively that having a merchant account
can increase your online sales by 1000%, and direct
marketing professionals know that credit buyers
purchase 2.5 times more products per visit than cash buyers.
If you do not have a merchant account, get one now.
A merchant account is needed in order to move collected money from the Shopping Cart product, clear it with the credit card firms, and to transfer it to your bank.
Merchant accounts are available thru most banks, but the rates are typically not optimal and it takes (seemingly) forever.
Another approach is to utilize merchant account agents.
Much like insurance agents, they are charged with providing competitive rates and offering superior service.
When picking an agent, look for nationwide coverage with regional offices, many years of experience (more than five), support for all major credit cards and electronic checks, an efficient processing structure (allows for 7 day application to implementation schedules), and a high approval rate.
The merchant account agent that is recommended is E-COMMERCE EXCHANGE. They deliver on their commitment and they are the ONLY firm that we recommend. They will process your entire e-commerce merchant account application and setup faster and better than most firms, and can arrange for Shopping Cart software that matches. At present, we have arranged for the application fee to be waived and for you to apply for free thru an online form. Another benefit is that their Virtual Terminal software "Quick Commerce" directly supports HTML forms entry as well as online (from your office) keyed entry of credit card transactions and check payments from any computer with internet access.
Top 11 Reasons YOU Need to Accept Secure Credit Card and Check Payments over the Internet
- Increased Sales
Turn your website from an electronic brochure into a money-making virtual storefront
- Impulse Buying
Make it easy for customers to buy from you online-when impulse strikes!
- Make Money While You Sleep!
With your commerce-enabled website you can sell around the clock, every day of the week, automatically, without hiring a clerk to run the store!
- Instant Gratification
Online shoppers want to buy it now. If they can’t order from you online, most will keep looking for a site where they can.
- Level Playing Field
On the Internet no one knows you’re a small business. Look like and compete with the big guys!
- Customer Convenience
Make it easy for people to buy from you online. The convenience of shopping any time, from home or office, is the major reason consumers buy online.
- Increased Market Size
Your commerce-enabled website gives you access to credit card users across the country and around the world. Take advantage of selling on the "World Wide Web!"
- Customer Loyalty
Research shows that online buyers tend to return to sites where they have bought before. For example, web mall pioneer America Online had over $1.2 Billion in sales during the last 6 weeks of 1998 alone!
- Competitive Weapon
Online consumers will choose the Internet merchant who accepts secure payments over one who does not.
- Enhanced Advertising
Accepting credit cards online increases the credibility of your business. When was the last time you saw an honest offer that did not give the option to pay by credit card?
- Security
Protect sensitive payment information with our secure encryption technology.
You work hard to make the sale. Make it easy to get paid.
But can you afford it? The cost is typically under $50 per month for the Shopping Cart software, under $50 per month for the Virtual Terminal, and the merchant account is usually $10 per month plus $0.30 per transaction plus 2.5 percent fee on all transaction.
To see if you can afford it, take your sales for the month and plug them into this formula.
This is what it would cost you to process credit cards today.
Now cost your business with a 50% increase in sales volume.
Can you still make money? Do you make a lot more money? Can you afford NOT to do it?
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| | | | Obtaining a Shopping Cart | |
Shopping Carts are programmed into your web site.
You will need to have it installed by your web designers, and you will need some directories added to your domain on the server.
The major issue in a Shopping Cart product is speed.
If it is too slow, then the user clicks stop and goes to another store.
The site obviously must be able to process requests in a timely manner and make the sales process straight forward.
Another significant issue is feature set. It should provide basic capabilities such as:
- Typical transaction confirmation with merchant Virtual Terminal response time in under 8 seconds.
- Real time online and offline processing capabilities.
- Address Verification Service (AVS) compliant.
- Online reporting capabilities.
- Daily AUTOMATIC settlement of transactions.
- Electronic Check support.
- In some cases the Shopping Cart product offers significant look and feel capabilities. Note that these products sometimes require FRAMES. Note that FRAMES are discouraged by Search Engines, so you should avoid these products where possible.
You have gotten a great ratio of purchases to visitors, with 40% of all visitors actually completing a purchase.
Now you need to focus on increasing your visitor count.
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