How to: Create the Perfect Upsell

A complete shopping cart software review can be almost as critical to the success of your online business as the business you choose. Think of online shopping cart software as the "location, location, location" aspect of an offline business. Choose the wrong location and your offline business is doomed. Choose the wrong shopping cart software and you're likely to suffer a similar fate.


The reality is that you're about to make a business decision that extends well beyond your current business, it literally dictates how big your business can grow and how profitable your ecommerce business will become. The average online shopping cart software package will typically focus on "transactions". In other words, the ecommerce software focuses its attention on getting the customer to process the purchase transaction as quickly as possible. And many rookie online marketers will think they've accomplished a great deal when they get their customer through the checkout process before they change their mind.

This is a huge mistake, but a common ailment.

It's almost as if the online merchant is so insecure in their product offering that getting a customer to actually complete the purchase is a monumental achievement. But compare this to how top offline marketers do it. Think of retail stores like Target and you'll quickly discover a different model. When you shop at Target and place a shirt in your cart, you would find it quite strange to have a clerk approach and guide you to the checkout counter.

Target wants you to linger, they want you to look around awhile and place more items in your cart. And even when you're waiting to pay, they surround you with more items to buy i.e. candy, magazines, trinkets etc. Target wants to sell you every last item you'll possibly buy, going so far as to sell you something more on the receipt from the original purchase. This is smart marketing and a sales model you should strive to emulate!

When you review your shopping cart software, forget about looking at how quickly you can push your customer out the door with one item. Look for the ecommerce system that helps you sell more, helps you earn more revenue per customer and helps you easily establish a full sales and "up sell" process..

This one aspect of online marketing can mark the difference between a profit and a loss. Sell to the end, sell in the middle, sell as they're leaving...but never push your customer out the proverbial door and never base your shopping cart software solution on how fast it can stop your customer from buying more from you.

Best Wishes,

Wendy

Read my eCommerce Reviews at:
http://www.ScamDetective.com

1ShoppingCart Down... Again!

Is it just me, or is having an eCommerce Shopping Cart with impeccable Up-time of grave importance? It is impossible to run your business adequately, or at all really, without your eCommerce host Servers being Up and running. Yet again, 1ShoppingCart is down, and is leaving many businesses without the tools and information critical to run their business. This seems to happen way too often with 1SC!


Here is the message when visiting 1ShoppingCart:

Database Error: Unable to connect to your database. Your database appears to be turned off or the database connection settings in your config file are not correct. Please contact your hosting provider if the problem persists.

Best Wishes,

Wendy

Read my eCommerce Reviews at:
http://www.ScamDetective.com

The Importance of PCI Compliance and Your Shopping Cart Solution

When looking into building an eCommerce website along with an eCommerce Shopping Cart solution, it is extremely important you take in account PCI Compliance. PCI Compliance is Government Regulations/Laws for Credit Card Processing on the internet to ensure Security for your Customers who are buying products/services from your website. In some states these regulations are mandated, and if they are not followed, you can be penalized up to $10,000 for every occurrence of identity theft/fraud which happens as a result of not following specific PCI Compliance laws. To ensure your site is in fact PCI Compliant, make sure you check with your current eCommerce Shopping Cart Solution, and ask if they are up to the current PCI Compliance Regulations.


When speaking to the Company who is hosting the back-end to your site it is also important to bring up the PCI Compliance Standards which are scheduled to change July 1, 2010. If your Shopping Cart Provider is unaware of the changes which are happening on this date, it probably means they do not plan on staying up with the new regulations that have been set forth. If this is the case, this means the same as if you are not PCI Compliant whatsoever, and you once again are liable up to $10,000 per fraudulent charge.

Now, I don’t know about you, but $10,000 to me is A LOT of money. If you are a small-to-medium sized business this can be crippling to your business, especially if there are several identity thefts from your website. On the bright side, if you are fully PCI Compliant then the government, or Credit Card Company, is now responsible for the charges, and you have absolutely zilch to be worried about. Having Peace-of-Mind when selling online is crucial to keeping your sanity in this insane eCommerce world. Not having to worry about losing your business to identity theft can be a very large burden off of your shoulders, and can help you focus on your sales (which we all know is the real key to success when selling any sort of product/service (online or offline).

One last thing to take into account when having your eCommerce website built… make sure you go with a Professional Shopping Cart Solution. Many people these days are having their shopping carts built by their webmaster which can end in a horrific fashion. Not only are you not going to be up-to-speed with current Security Standards, but you’re losing out on the Marketing Features as well. Selling online is more than just getting a customer through your site as quickly as possible to gain 1 sale. It is about gaining the most revenue possible for that sale, and this can be done with Upsells/Crosssells/Downsells, Autoresponders, etc. Why not sell as much to a customer as you possibly can?

All in all, look for a Professional Shopping Cart Provider which best suits your needs. One that will have the most up-to-date PCI Compliance and Security for your eCommerce website, and also one that will gain you as much revenue per customer as possible.

Read my eCommerce Reviews at:
http://www.ScamDetective.com