Merchandising via the e-shop route involves getting in touch with companies who will provide you high quality e-commerce answers to help you set up your business in double quick time.

There are two approaches to the setting up of an eshop. One is a custom made one for you specifically and the other is the standard one based on a template that has been tested over time.

The template eshop is software generated one with the database, management of its content and other aesthetics created by the software itself. You have very few options to make changes on it. In contrast, the custom made one can be created before your own eyes incorporating all inputs and is thus far more flexible and distinct when it comes up.

This flexibility obviously will cost more and that is where custom e-shops are more expensive than the template ones. However, where you may need to pay a monthly fee for the maintenance of a template e-shop and also take the trouble to learn the web systems behind the application, custom made e-shops only require you to pay once for the development and you are also trained free by the services provider in managing the web store.

The time taken to set up a template e-shop is much shorter as most of the stuff is already present and only certain supplementary items like images, text and video are required. In a custom e-shop, most of the graphical designing and development will take time and you need to set aside at least a month for the e-shop to come up.

Template e-shops have another disadvantage in that you cannot make any change very quickly and modify according to your dynamic business requirements. A custom e-shop takes far less time to accept such changes and get done and that is a major advantage for entrepreneurs who would not have enough time for such things and would be required to devote more time to business development.

Template e-shops are also difficult for search engines to crawl and optimize as their codes tend to be messy. Custom made e-shop can be made search engine friendly at the outset itself by having the appropriate content inbuilt into it.

With template e-shops, you are restricted by the use of only pay pal or Google check out systems for your billing, whereas the custom e-shops allow you the flexibility to put up the shopping cart of your desire and also add billing systems as per your convenience.

E-shop is a very strong and influencing sales tool and template e-shops can be a great source of advertisement as well if created right. Custom e-shops are good if you are clear about the kind of merchandise you want to sell.

Thanks to these service providers, the internet is a much safer place for online shopping. While companies like Trust Guard also provide business verification and also privacy verification services, all of them provide the basic certified ASV PCI scanning service that is a vital element in offering protection to the consumers and merchants against any threats from hackers. This kind of web verification methodology takes care of the business aspects in terms of physical presence and whether the said business has a privacy document and policy in place that is in consonance with federal laws drawn up for the online business.

A recent survey conducted showed that online customers look specifically for such third party approval evidences to get the comfort feeling within themselves that they are dealing with a secure website. This sort of confidence building tool
is referred to as the trust seals or verification certificates. Essentially, an online shopper has the following questions in mind when he visits an ecommerce website.

1. How secure is the privacy?
2. How secure is the website?
3. Is this business verified and certified by a third party service provider and have they put their
   seal of approval?

To address these concerns, three seals namely, Security seals, Privacy seals and Business Identity seals have come into play.

1. The Security seal takes care of credit card information and other personal data provided at the time of shopping by the customer. They are of two kinds – the Server Verification done by McAfee and Control Scan and the Site Verification which addresses the basic security features of the website.
2. Privacy Seals deal with the protection of sensitive information that is disclosed by the customer and this is provided by TRUSTe, Trust Guard and Better Business Bureau.
3. Business Identity Seals as mentioned addresses the key apprehension of customers regarding whether the said business really exists and has an email, physical location and phone numbers as supports. These are again taken care by Better Business Bureau, Validated Site and Trust Guard.

Merchants into the online business can have the option of any of these three seals based on their business
requirements and set up. These measures will indeed provide a great deal of comfort level to the online customer and help in driving more traffic to such websites.

A comparison of the various services and benefits offered by the different companies in this business
is given below:

Features	Trust Guard (Multi-Seal Pack)	McAfee Secure (Hacker Safe)	Control Scan	Truste	BBB (BBBonline)	VeriSign
Price Range ($)	$497 to $697* (Individual Seals Starting at $159)	$959 to $5,000*	$939 to $1,509*	$1,000 to $14,000*	$355 to $4,000*	$995
PCI Scanning w/ Seal
Security Seal
Privacy Seal
Business Seal
Certified Seal
Video Security Seal
Split Testing (Built In)
Privacy Policy Generator
Customizable Seals
Multiple Colors
Multiple Sizes & Styles
Benefits	Trust Guard (Multi-Seal Pack)	McAfee Secure (Hacker Safe)	Control Scan	Truste	BBB (BBBonline)	VeriSign
Fast, have your seals in 2 business days or less! **
Easy, simplified online forms.
60 Day Double Your Money Back Guarantee!

User Access Types: Scheduling Software

When you are ready to set up your scheduling software, it should be set up with users having different access based on their occupation in your company.  These are predefined access types in the scheduling software and can even be set up for managers in remote locations.  This access would limit them to other locations however; they would be able to make appointments and other administrative functions.  You may choose to set up some of your staff with limited access as with the person who answers the phones.  This person may only need access to cancel, change or set up appointments.  Your technical administrator would probably have the most access because they are the ones who typically take care of reset or change passwords.

This online shopping experience has been boosted with the introduction of search engines that do a price comparison on different products and present the best deal to the customer based on his previous buying habits. All of us loathe going from shop to shop seeking the best deal on a specific item and here you have something presented to you on a platter. These engines have the capability to not only compare products within the same category, but can also do across categories. Moreover, they take into consideration other factors like the reputation of the online merchant and authentic product information gleaned from product reviews, which they present to the customer to enable him to make an informed decision.

It is for these reasons that online merchants can no longer afford to neglect the utility of a shopping search engine. They know that customers shopping online are savvy and it is in their interest to make available authentic and researched information to get the sale from such online customers quickly. The issues of security and customer lack of confidence in making online purchases due to the apprehension of credit card fraud or a particular online merchant not returning money for goods damaged in transit has also been addressed by some of these shopping search engines by enabling customers to post testimonials about their experiences and by having a comprehensive rating system in place for such online merchants.

The question now is what kind of a shopping search engine you should go for?

They are of broadly two types – one which are general and do a comparison with several categories and products and the second which is specific to verticals and concentrate on fewer products.
Let us look at some of the principal search engines specializing in this activity. These are repositories of information gained from comparing millions of items spread across multiple categories and you only need to browse to the right vertical to get the required information.

a) EBay – This engine can boast of providing linkages to many thousands of online stores of all types and get you information on price and features in very quick time to enable you to take a decision on what to purchase. Their other arm Shopping.com also gives shoppers information on various auction listings, thus providing more options for the shoppers.

b) NexTag – This has a convenient feature giving you the net price you need to pay after including the taxes and even shipping costs taking into account your Zip code. You thus know exactly how much a particular product is going to cost you.

c) Google Base – This allows you to place your goods on it and you do not need to have your own website. Through this, you can reach across to your customers and transact.

The above search engines have traditionally relied on direct advertising to draw customers to their sites. Of late however, they have been successful in linking them selves with specific sites stocking a particular product through an “API”, to present the shopper with information on the product he is seeking. The online shopper is blissfully unaware of all this happening in a fraction of a second in the background.

More importantly, meta-shopping sites that can draw information from many such comparison shopping sites is the latest development and all this is extremely good news for the online shopper.

When you have a robust payment processing system in place, you are able to infuse confidence in the merchants and customers using your website leading to enhanced sales going forward.

While many people use credit cards for making payments, you also have to cater to those who may wish to make payments through other means and this will surely enable you to boost sales at your website.

The different alternatives possible as a payment processing system are:

• Processing related to credit and debit cards
• ACH Processing
• ELV
• Wire transfer through bank
• Debit directly to your account

1. Some of the credit card payment processing systems are as mentioned below.

a) One all time favorite credit card processing method is through Pay pal and most users who already have their individual card information registered with Pay pal will be loathe to change and you will do well to have the Pay pal system integrated with your website.

b) The other one is 2Checkout wherein you can set up the system and have it running pretty quickly and your customers will appreciate the facility you are providing them. This is sure to enhance sales of your eBooks. You only need to ensure your backend is well prepared to execute such transactions.

c) If software is one of the products you sell, then you would do well to choose payment systems such as the SWREG as this also helps in adequate protection of your software.

2. ACH Processing

This type of payment processing enables you to conserve both time and money. You can cater to customers who wish to electronically transfer funds and you can pass on benefits relating to the any savings in your cost to your customers helps save time and money. This gives your merchants a consistent and time tested method to manage cash better and you can process payments through a single portal which is safe.

3. ELV

This system is very good for customers not wanting to use their credit or debit cards and since payment is effected through a secure SSL encrypted terminal, it is quick and convenient for both merchant and the customer.

4. Wire transfer through bank

Through this system, merchants can transfer funds online from anywhere in the world and you can also do a seamless transfer of funds from one account to another. This is a secure process and the only thing is it could take some hours to complete one transaction.

5. Debit directly to the account

By far the most convenient and free of any hassles, this system enables you to accept debit payments. It provides merchants to defer their payments due and since it is simple to implement, merchants are more than happy to cooperate.

6. Usage of Cashless ATM Machines

This helps both merchants and customers as the former need not pay any processing costs and the latter can get some cash back on each transaction. The system is secure as there is no cash involved.

Consistent Quality: Survey Software

When you are looking to gain insight and knowledge into the customer feedback for your business, the customer survey software from Vovici offers quality products that deliver great results. It is important that the results you obtain are all accurate and that the survey software is consistent as well. With Vovici you don’t need to worry about quality because all of the software they use is great and offers consistent and accurate results. The best way to make improvements to your business is by administering a survey of some type and Vovici offers the best survey software to make it easy.

As evident from its name, drop shipping means the delivery of purchased items by the provider to the address of the purchaser. They are your logistic service providers who will take care of the pick up, packing, initiating transit of the items and ultimately delivering the purchased items to the ultimate buyer. No online business can survive without the aid of a good drop shipper. They will handle everything for you leaving you free to concentrate on your core business and you need not bother about stocking any items and maintaining an inventory.

Essentially they are of two kinds – those who have their own warehouses and stock items and those who can pick up the items from the supplier of those items. It is not important as to what kind of drop shipper you choose, your endeavor should be to reduce the elements within the supply chain so that you are able to decrease the transportation costs and pass them on to the buyer. That will make your business stand out and you will be considered competitive in the market place.

Some factors to keep in mind prior to selecting a drop shipper are as below:

a) The reputation of the drop shipper

You must ensure that you choose somebody who holds a good reputation in the industry and in the areas they specialize in. It is not necessary that you have to tie up with just one drop shipper for all your needs. You could look at niche players also. For instance, there could be somebody who are very good at handling and distributing computer parts, so you must think of a tie up with such niche players as well.

You must not be swayed by the hefty commissions that some may offer you and though that could be very tempting, it could also be detrimental to your business in the long run if their service does not match up to your expectations.

You must become aware that the drop shipper that you have decided on can impact your business as your customers would want you to deal with only those who have a good reputation and can be relied upon.

You can check the reputation of a certain drop shipping provider by checking out the internet and searching for feedbacks from online sellers like you- they are the best resources in searching for the perfect courier.

b) How quickly can they deliver?

While speed does matter in the online business, reliability and delivery of goods that are intact and without damage is equally important. Any lapse on this count will go against you as the customer would not be concerned with the mistakes made by your drop shipper. You may need to shell out more money who can deliver your goods safely and properly, but it will be well worth the price you pay to build your own reputation.

c) Customer Service and Support

It is important that you as one of the customers of your drop shipper get adequate support and quick responses for any queries you may have regarding the movement of goods. Your drop shipper must have well trained staff that should be able to address any of your concerns in a timely manner so that you do not have to cut a sorry figure with your customers. Your customers should also feel comfortable to get in touch with the drop shipper to check on the status of their purchased items and when can they expect to receive them at their residence.

The drop shipper is a very important element of your business and you need to exercise adequate due diligence in choosing the best one for your needs.

a) Absence of customer service support

It is an accepted fact that anything offered free of cost will usually not have any customer service backing. The free shopping cart is no exception. As they do not have cash flow coming in, the folks behind such applications cannot afford a customer service team and your queries are not likely to be answered and resolved quickly. This could cost you dearly when you need quick help and can even impact your business, as a shopping cart application is one of the most important elements in the successful running of an ecommerce business.

b) Upgrades and update requests may not be entertained

You are aware that all software undergoes modifications and upgrades on a regular basis. That is because software is likely to develop bugs and they need to be tackled immediately with a resolution that will reflect in an upgraded or updated version of the same software. With free products, such upgrades may not happen as the necessary developers required to carry out such modifications cannot be afforded by the distributors of such free products. In fact, the problem can get aggravated if the software is running on a PHP script.

Moreover, your requests for any feature that you want to be added to your shopping cart may also meet with the same fate and there will be nobody to entertain your requests. You will find that the folks are just in no mood to accede to any of your requests having given you a free product in the first place.

c) Inaccurate and poor quality of coding

Though it is not frequent, the chances are that many of these free scripts are written pretty haphazardly and the coding may not always be of the highest quality. This would result in a slow loading period and the software may use up more resources than necessary. Bad coding can also negatively impact any chances of you updating your website on your own in future as it is only the experienced programmers who would know how to get around such glitches and make the necessary adjustments. As somebody relatively new to programming and the ecommerce business, it would be a tough task for you to overcome the problems associated with bad coding. In other words, customization to suit your needs may not be possible and you will have to rely on outside help to get this done.

The above are just some of the problems you could run into with a free shopping cart and you need to take an informed decision on how you want to approach this crucial element for your ecommerce website.

a) Offer a lot of freebies and incentives

You have to face it. As a newbie, there is no better way to grab the attention of the visitors to your website than by offering discounts and freebies. Visitors look forward to such offerings and there is so much that you can do by way of providing them access to resources which are available in the market for free. This will motivate them to visit your site regularly and you will gain handsomely over a period of time. You can sweeten your offers by also providing them some incentives for references and as is well known, a lot of successful business models have relied on word of mouth publicity for their continued success and you can also take full advantage of this very convenient and innovative technique to draw fresh customers to your site. You must remember always that even once you are established and are running attractive offers, there is always room for doling out that extra something which can make a huge difference in the way your customers perceive your site and refer it to others.

b) Pad on bonuses and reward your loyal customers

Having attracted some customers to your site and established their sense of loyalty to your site, it is important to maintain it in order to ensure that you do not lose this valuable database of customers to competition. Very often, complacency and the feeling that a loyal customer will never shift his business have proved to be disastrous for many thriving businesses. You must make sure that your customers are pampered so much through regular gifts, reward points for purchasing from you and other feel good demonstrable offerings of value that they must never think of moving their business away from you. What’s more, your relationship with them should be such that they should refer your site to their peer group with the confidence that you will provide excellent quality and service to them and their friends and they will never have a cause to complain about anything.

c) Develop rapport and a sense of security within the customer

Your customers must be able to place their full trust in you and your website with regards to the quality of the products as well as the protection of critical information associated with credit card and other personal data. This is very important considering the various online frauds that keep happening and unless you can instill that sense of security in your customers that they are in safe hands while shopping at your site, you will not get the exponential thrust in your sales. To achieve this, you may have to make investments in the best of the ecommerce security systems and security seals and though it is going to be a drain initially, it will be well worth the investment.

At times, you may also have to sacrifice some profits to hold on to a potentially long term business relationship and you need to be mentally prepared for that. These are important building blocks for a sustainable business and you must be savvy enough to recognize and act accordingly.

Providing informative and useful articles on your website that is related to the product or service you are selling is another way of enforcing the belief in your customers that you are there for the long haul and care deeply about your business.

An ecommerce design for a website is a bit more expensive than a standard static website, but for an ecommerce business - an internet-based business that conducts financial transactions online - an ecommerce design for the website is fundamental.

When considering your website development needs, you may wonder if there are easy ways around getting an ecommerce design for your website since an ecommerce design is more expensive than getting a site without ecommerce design features, especially if funds are tight starting out.

There are a few alternatives to an ecommerce design that could get you by until you can afford the development expense for an ecommerce design, but if you take your ecommerce business seriously, you really do need an ecommerce design because of its many advantages over other websites.

As an alternative to an ecommerce design, you could use your website as a lead generation tool without actually conducting financial transactions online. If you use your website for lead generation rather than getting an ecommerce design for your website, you will have many manual tasks to accomplish that will be time consuming.

You can use a contact form, email, a fax line, or a phone number to accept orders offering payment options such as sending in a check or money order or providing a credit card number by phone, if you have a merchant account.

This is not a very good option for you or your customers; however, for more than one reason. Your customers may not take your ecommerce business seriously if you do not have an ecommerce design website that accepts payments online. Online shoppers are also generally impulse buyers.

If the process of purchasing something from your company is too cumbersome, many will just surf the net and find another alternative, so your sales potential will be diminished. You will also have to manually process orders and payments and matching the order to the payment can be a complicated task at times, so your order fulfillment process might be inefficient.

That results in poor customer service, angry customers and negativity against the reputation of your business. Really, it is a vicious circle.

A more beneficial alternative to an ecommerce design is the use of PayPal’s automated payment features. PayPal enables you to place “Pay Now” buttons on your website which will enable your customers to make online payments to your PayPal account.

This is certainly a better alternative than having no online payment option on your website; however, a website with an ecommerce design will likely be much more appealing to your website visitors.

The benefits of an ecommerce design are that it enables your customers to place orders quickly and easily, especially if you have a shopping cart feature in your ecommerce design. Multiple products or services can be purchased at one time, the order (including tax and shipping) can be automatically totaled, and the customer can make an online payment for the complete order. Some ecommerce design features may even send the customer an order confirmation and if you have shipping tracking built into your ecommerce design, you can update your database when an order ships and a tracking confirmation will be automatically sent to your customers via email so they can keep tabs on the status of their order.

The main advantages of an ecommerce design is that it automated the sales process, improves customer confidence, increases sales, and saves you loads of time in the order processing and follow-up processes.

An ecommerce design might be a bit more costly than other designs in the website development phase, but over the long run, your ecommerce design will pay for itself ten-fold at least in increased revenues and saved time.