E-Commerce Solutions
E-Commerce Solutions
Whether you always envisioned a successful online store or are adapting to the new normal to secure future growth of your business, E-commerce is a great solution.
We specialize in e-commerce solutions in WordPress using WooCommerce. If you have an existing website we can integrate e-commerce into your site while maintaining branding and look.
Why do we work in WooCommerce? After much research and practical use, we feel WooCommerce offers the best option for customization and support. It offers full ownership of the site and coding with no monthly fees (other that your regular hosting). The expansion options are incredible. You have control of your payment processor without extra fees. You can move your website/ store to another provider should the need arise.
We work with you to discuss:
1. Concept
2. Mechanism
3. Marketing
4. Metrics
Key to any e-commerce website is to determine what you need to make your business successful BEFORE you decide what E-commerce solution to use. Don’t get Sold!
There are many e-commerce options on the market; WooCommerce, Etsy, Shopify or Local Line (for farm food). Some of these are proprietary solutions that do not provide ownership.
We will discuss the options and find the best solution for your business.
Things to Consider Before you Start.
What do you want to monetize/ sell?
▸Product
▸Service
▸Virtual download (lessons/ training)
How many pricing levels will you need?
▸ Retail price and/or Wholesale Prices
Does what you sell have special attributes?
Size, Colour, Design, Flavour
Customization options like Name, birthdate, image upload…
Additional information required from customers at checkout.
Where will your sell ?
- Canada
- US
- Wordwide
Taxation
- Will you include HST or add at checkout
- US Tax rates (Nexus in a state)
- Tax exempt for all or some products
Payment methods
What credit cards do you want to accept?
*rates for online payment processing differ greatly from Point of sale systems. There is more risk in online sales so the costs tend to be higher. Expect 2.9% of sales and .30 / transaction. This is standard for 3rd party payment processors like Paypal, Square, Stripe etc.
E-transfer, cheque, PO, COD
Shipping Costs- *
- Free
- Table Based
- Flat rate
- % Based
- Actual- integrated cost
*How will you cover your shipping cost without causing cart abandonment?
Do you need tracking? Especially if you sell higher priced goods.
Pricing Structure *
- Your base price (Cost of goods)
- transaction fees
- portion of overhead (web cost)
- off setting shipping cost
- drop shipping/ warehousing
* key to conversion, consider pricing psychology and research competitors
Inventory Management
- Is it necessary to have inventory management on a per product basis?
- Does it need to integrate with your POS?
Coupons
Do you need the ability to add coupons?
If so how complex will your coupon structure be. (most platforms accommodate % based or flat rate coupons- more complex combination ie. Buy one get 50% are extra)
Policies
Develop policies on security, shipping, returns, privacy, terms and conditions (do customers need to agree?), defective products, spoilage and any disclaimers. Tell customers what to expect and be honest about the process.
With some planning done you are off to a great start to create a successful store.
Flow
Another consideration is if a specific flow is required. For instance, with virtual downloads or when purchasing a membership; we plan out the flow of where the user is taken after successful completion of the sale. In one custom website, after purchasing a membership the user was redirected to a profile page to complete their listing.
If someone purchases a virtual download, the user is sent to a thank you page with specific instruction on how the unique download code can be accessed.
If you purchase an online course you get redirected to the start page and begin learning. Learning Management Systems also have dashboards to access multiple courses upon payment.
Key Metrics
Web traffic is essential to your online store.
Average conversion rates are 1-3% so it will take a 1000 visitors to make 20 sales.
Don’t ignore these numbers!
If you have an established client base and are converting to online, this number will be far higher and it is in fact the preferred way to incorporate e-commerce.
We saw one new online business launched during Covid 19 show conversion rates of 11% due to the timeliness of their product. It was a PPE equipment.
If you have a sales team that is driving traffic to the website, you will find the conversion rate much higher. The sales team has warmed up the potental client with introductions, education and awareness of the product so when they do go to the website, conversion rates should be excellent.
How do you know your conversion rate? Make sure Google analytics is installed and use the actual # sales divided by the # of visitors for that same time frame. That will give you a percentage.
Marketing
Especially for a retail product, you need to drive traffic to the website. To be blunt, too many people get sold a website, add their product and wait for sales. This is a surefire way to fail. It is not a build it and they will come situation. Build an effective Marketing Plan to get constant exposure.
Ideas to get people to your site to buy your product or service:
- Leverage existing clients via email, newsletter and social and let them know your are selling online.
- Use social media to showcase product and links to purchase
- Use video to inspire “need” in viewers for the product or service
- Use paid social media ads (video is best) and target your local area first
- Explainer video on how the product benefits
- PPC and retargeting work well if you have a larger budget but click through rates are low .5%
- If a product, get reviews and send to industry influencers for review.
- Always set up Goggle My Business
- Use great product photos from several angles
- Work on SEO with a professional-Blog
- Enhance product description enough so the consumer has enough information to make a buying decision.