There are millions of retail websites on the Internet that use online shopping carts to enable customers to order products or services online. If you’ve ever shopped online, however, you know that all online shopping carts are not created equal. Some are confusing to use, don’t allow you to make changes as you progress through the ordering process or are limited in terms of payment options and other features.

Having a shopping cart system that doesn’t work well or is limited in functionality is often a mistake new websites make. They lavish lots of time and money on making the site appealing, showing off their products or services in the best possible light and even adding cool flash add-ons and other extras, but cut corners on the shopping cart because they see it as a mundane, boring feature that is strictly utilitarian. The problem that arises from that attitude is that shoppers can quickly lose their enthusiasm for purchasing a product or products if they become frustrated when going through the online checkout.

Online shopping carts should be customer friendly. People make mistakes; it’s a fact of life. If your website’s online shopping cart system is well-designed, it will allow for errors by having links on each page for going back and making corrections or enabling the shopper to change his mind on one item without losing his entire order in the process.

Internet shopping is only as convenient as the payment options for most people. If a retail website offers wonderful gifts, clothing or furniture but doesn’t accept credit cards, it will lose a hefty proportion of its customers. Conversely, if a variety of options such as major credit cards, PayPal and e-checks are available; shoppers will be more inclined to make purchases.

Shopping carts must also have back end flexibility. Of course, offering lots of different options and services through your online shopping cart system is great for your customers, but if it isn’t easy to use and adapt to your own company’s needs from the back end as well, it won’t help. If you have a flexible, intuitive back end design, however, you’ll find that a more complex shopping cart system can actually make your work easier.

There are many companies today who offer custom designed online shopping carts as well as companies that offer several different software packages that you can tailor to fit your specific needs at a reasonable cost. Using these specialists to help you implement an online shopping cart experience for your website can improve everything from your customer service to your bookkeeping, since you can use these systems for not only placing orders, but for tracking inventory and assessing sales trends.

When researching online shopping cart options for your website, ask some serious questions about what the provider can offer you. Considerations on whether the software package will include the source code so that you can customize your online shopping cart as your needs change should be an option. Find out if there is technical support available if and when you need it. Research what types of payment options can be set up with the shopping cart program. And learn if the system is a dynamic one that can evolve and change, as shopper’s needs change.

Be sure when you’re looking for the right online shopping cart service or package that you really know what you’ll need. Whether you offer customized gifts or require drop-down menus for color, size and style choices, your decision will be based on your needs. Also, find out what the return policies are for the particular product you are interested in. Knowing as much as possible about what you want will ensure that you don’t fall short when you invest in your website’s online shopping cart system.

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Copyright 2007 by My Personal CMO .com. All Rights Reserved.

Website conversion is quite simply the conversion of the incoming traffic to sales. It is the crucial indicator of the success of your business. Your website might be receiving tons of traffic but if you’re not able to convert them into sales, it’s all effort gone to waste. You’d be surprised at how many businesses spends tons of money to divert traffic but do not invest the time and money to convert them into sales.

How to increase conversions? There are many ways you can turn that visitor into not just a customer but a repeat customer. That means he or she will not just love your site but tell others and they tell others about your site. Get the picture? And that’s just one customer we’re talking about. Imagine if you could do that with all the traffic that comes into your site? We’re talking exponential sales!

So now before you scratch your head and start day dreaming about your booming business, let’s get down to the basics. Here are a few simple tips to jumpstart your website conversion rate:

Shopping cart. As obvious as this seems, most people do have a shopping cart. But the thing they overlook is the ‘add’ button next to it. You need to mention something like ‘Ad to shopping cart’ or ‘Add to the shopping basket’ etc. This is also known as the call to action and plays a crucial role in getting your visitor to do what you want them to do – shop!

Be honest. Let’s face it – if you don’t have stock of some product, mention it upfront. Customers will respect you for it for having not wasted their time. That’ll also save them the hassle of digging through the online catalogue and adding it to the shopping cart – only to find it’s not in stock. What a waste!

Easy accessibility. It is essential to get your site visibility on the Internet. I mean, there are hordes of e-commerce sites out there literally waiting to get their customers’ business. What makes you think your website is so special?

- Therefore use appropriate keywords to get traffic to your site.

- Optimize your website to ensure better search ranking.

- Use persuasive articles that get the reader’s attention.

Selling the ‘right’ products. When it comes to selling you want your website to do well, right? Well that’s only going to happen if you sell products that customers want. Also important is ensuring you’re selling to the right audience. Imagine selling mascara to a baby! Unthinkable, right?

Easy payment. Customers today have little patience. And we don’t mean it in a bad sense. It’s only natural they are impatient – there’s loads to do and the Internet is just a speck in their lives. If they wish to purchase something they want it done fast, smooth and hassle free. If you want your website to convert more sales, you’ll need to ensure the payment gateway on your website is fast, secure and reliable. Most importantly there should be no slow pages. This can literally kill any sale. If the customer can’t shop fast and secure on your site he or she will go to some other site.

Search functionality. Our customers are patient too. Contradictory? Not really. Not if you consider that if they do not find what they’re looking for, they’ll try searching for it on your website. But you don’t have search functionality in your website? All hell breaks loose and the customer has vanished from your site in no time! Sounds familiar? It’s time to get a search box included in your website This is basic but still many businesses think they can get away without one. Big mistake!

Customer behavior. Analyzing backend search logs to analyze customer behavior can really pay rich dividends. Do customers visit a particular product only during holiday season or during sales? Make sure to keep enough stock handy during these times. Or do customers try downloading an e-book only to leave it midway? An analysis will tell you if the cause is a broken link or slow internet speeds.

Copyright 2007 by My Personal CMO .com. All Rights Reserved.

That doesn’t mean of course people are going to stop going to Macy’s or Wal-Mart. For many people there is something wonderfully familiar about going inside a store. Whether face to face customer service and support, actually being able to touch the products or just getting out of the house, the reality is ecommerce in many ways will never be able to compete with the traditional retail stores.

But you can create a level of trust and dependability which can rival anything offline by setting up an effective web site marketing strategy. Many apprehensions that people hold about doing business on the internet can be alleviated by the way you implement your web site marketing strategy. There are several things you can do.

1. Put Yourself in their Shoes.

Businesses have come and gone due to the insistence of many store owners that they know what’s best for the customer. Just put a product out there and people will automatically fall in line. Not. To get the most out your internet marketing plan, you need to constantly ask yourself “what do your customers want?” Then give it to them. Is it more variety of products or to have any and all of their concerns addressed before they decide to buy. You may not be able to answer every question or apprehension but putting forth the effort to try can only increase your customer conversion rate.

2. Grabbing their Attention the Right Way

How many times have you walked into a store and something did not sit well with you. Maybe it was the quality of the merchandise or the less than stellar customer support you received. Whatever the reason the old saying, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression” remains a significant part of doing business. This goes double for your web site page. If people don’t like your web site upon first viewing the easiest thing for them to do is click to another site.

If you are for instance selling videos a good web internet marketing you can do yourself and the customer a big favor by having images of your top selling movies with a critique by you or people who have seen these films. If possible go to one of the many file sharing sites and download movie clips onto your web site page. Make your site interactive and encourage people to leave comments on whatever movies they like or dislike. The point is to not only grab their attention and hold it but to let your website become familiar and comfortable to them. Once you do this, the buying a product stage gets easier to people.

3. Availiable for the Ready.

Got a problem at your local department store? Just ask the manager. That might not be conducive to internet web site marketing especially if you have a world wide clientele scattered over the different time zones. That’s why you should consider building a web site page or two which does nothing but answer questions the customer may have. If you can set up online customer support fine but a frequently asked question page should do the trick. Also throw in some useful tips on how they can get the most out of your product.

One thing you definitely want to emphasize in your customer relationship is the safety and security of purchasing a product. Display this prominently and back it up with testimonials from people who have bought from you in the past. If you are just starting make sure the security parameters of purchasing from you are clearly spelled out on your web site page and backed it up with a guarantee.

People are becoming more at ease with buying online but that does not mean you can take this for granted. Many of the concerns people have about shopping offline are magnified a thousand times over when it comes to buying on the internet. Your internet marketing plan should include a good web site design built in such away so that people grow to trust you. Do this first and the revenue will follow.

About the Author

Author Daryl Campbell invites you to get more free tips, video, step by step coaching and up to the minute information to help you grow your business into a long term success at Internet Marketing Guide. Daryl’s original title: “How to Build a Good Customer Relationship with Web Internet Marketing”.