Ecommerce Uncovered

Daniel McLean

23 April 2007

IntroductionIntroduction

Who Am I?

Who are you?

My Aim

Interruptions?

What will I be talking about today?What will I be talking about today?

The requirements of an Ecommerce website

Different Types of Ecommerce websites

Questions to ask Ecommerce Vendors

To eBay or not to eBay

Maintaining your Ecommerce website

How to make your Ecommerce website a success

EcommerceEcommerce Requirements Requirements An Idea

Domain name and hosting

Design and logo

A shopping cart

Payment Processor

Merchant Account

Your IdeaYour Idea

Target audience

Goals of your website

Do lots of research

Domain Name and Web HostingDomain Name and Web Hosting

What makes a good domain name?

Where to get domain names from

How much web space do I need

How much does all this cost?

Website Design and LogoWebsite Design and Logo

Can I do this myself?

Colour scheme

Usability

Introduction screens

The Shopping CartThe Shopping Cart

Piece of software that mimics a real one

Needs to be easy to use

Customer able to add and remove products

Display current total

Payment Processor or GatewayPayment Processor or Gateway

Link between purchase and merchant account

External company on secure server

Monthly fee

Security checks run in real time

Merchant AccountMerchant Account

Account with credit card processing company

Receives authorisation instruction from website

Collects and deposits money from customer

Sends confirmation back to website

Any Burning Questions?

Different types of Ecommerce websitesDifferent types of Ecommerce websites

Application Service Provider

Package Ecommerce websites

Bespoke Ecommerce websites

Dedicated Pay Monthly Ecommerce websites

Application Service ProviderApplication Service Provider

All parts separate

Specialists in their fields

Monthly fee

Sometimes needs coding experience

Package Ecommerce WebsitesPackage Ecommerce Websites

Everything is done for you

Setup fee and yearly hosting

Easy to use and complete with tools

Good for starting off

Bespoke Ecommerce WebsiteBespoke Ecommerce Website

Do research to find reputable company

Ask About Search Engine Optimisation

Make a wish list

More expensive but offers complete solution

The Complete SolutionThe Complete Solution

Inventory for all platforms

Supplier stock lists and prices

Payroll integration

Best seller reports

Marketing budget monitoring

Sales forecasting

Dedicated Pay MonthlyDedicated Pay Monthly

No work needed on your part

Experts in SEO and Ecommerce

High Return on investment

High monthly fees

Question to ask Ecommerce VendorQuestion to ask Ecommerce Vendor

How will orders be received?

Is order processed automatically?

Are customer records retained by system?

Does the system provide order tracking

How easy is the system to implement

How secure is the system and customer data

More Question to ask VendorMore Question to ask Vendor

How easy is it to give customer refunds?

what fees are incurred by chargebacks?

What is the fee structure?

What is the contract length?

Is the system scaleable and transferable?

Are there any uptime guarantees?

To eBay or not to eBayTo eBay or not to eBay

Advantages of eBay

High Traffic

Ease of Use

Unique items marketplace

Commodity items marketplace

To eBay or not to eBayTo eBay or not to eBay

Disadvantages of eBay

Huge Selling competition and bargain hunters

Creating a company branding

Can be expensive

Pressure on customer service

eBay rulings

Maintaining your websiteMaintaining your website

Learn HTML

Buy Software

CMS websites

Web Contract

How to make your website a successHow to make your website a success

Spend time choosing the right domain name

Make it look professional and usable

Allow people to find it

Give something away for free

Keep ‘em coming back!

How will my website be found?How will my website be found?

Search Engine Optimisation

Pay Per Click Advertising

Paid Website advertising

Newspaper advertising

TV Advertising

Search Engine OptimisationSearch Engine Optimisation

Its hard graft not rocket science!

Get links to your website

Use your specialist knowledge

Find the right Keywords and use them!

Join forums and discuss your joys and frustrations!

Do’s and Don'tsDo’s and Don'ts

Take a look at other Websites out there

Design a Website that you like…???

Give away secrets!

Fall for top of the search engine guarantees

Have too much content!

Forget about your Website

Key Points of a successful WebsiteKey Points of a successful Website

Have a clear goal in mind

Let people know its there

Make sure its usable

Invest some time into it

Before you dash off…..Before you dash off…..

An Idea

Domain name and hosting

Design and logo

A shopping cart

Payment Processor

Merchant Account

What Next?What Next?

Any Questions?

A gift for listening to me