I recently ventured into the world of creating digital
information products and selling them via my website. One
of the biggest dilemmas I faced was deciding which shopping
cart provider to go with.
Having worked on various shopping cart systems for clients,
I knew my way around setting these up, but when it came to
my own online shopping cart system I couldn't decide the
best way forward.
Ultimately I ended up making a poor choice by going a
cheaper alternative route, than the service I really
wanted. The reason I made this poor decision was lack of
confidence on my part - I wasn't sure how well my product
would sell and didn't want to invest heavily in a service
that I may not need or use!
The reality of going the cheaper route? I had customers
who weren't able to download their product or make a
payment and I lost revenue because of this!
To save you the same trouble I went through, here are my
top 6 tips for ensuring that you get the right shopping
cart system for YOUR business.
1. Think about your long-term goals. Having a shopping
cart system that grows with your business is crucial to
your long-term goals, particularly if you're planning on
launching more products and services in the future.
You'll want to ensure that the shopping cart system you
choose can easily handle additional products and services.
2. How simple is the shopping cart to set up? Can you
easily do the product setup yourself, or does it require
you to hold a degree in computer programming! You don't
want to be spending huge amounts of your time on the phone
to tech support, or getting frustrated because the shopping
cart isn't easy to set up.
If the shopping cart system provides you with HTML code
that you have to add to your website, consider how
comfortable you feel adding this. You may decide that this
is a service to outsource to your Virtual Assistant.
3. Accepting online payments. If you're going to be
selling products/services online, whether they're digital
or physical products, you will need a system that can
accept online payments. These days customers want instant
gratification, which is why digital products are so
popular, and you need to be able to accept payments
instantly too.
Think about this situation - you go on to a website and in
order to buy a product you have to print off an order form
and fax it in, or call to place an order! That's not easy
for your customer and you will have just lost the sale!
The best solution is to get a merchant account, and ensure
that your merchant provider's services are compatible with
your online shopping cart system.
4. Cost of your Online Shopping Cart System. It can be a
false economy to go the cheaper route, particularly if it
doesn't offer all the features and functionality you want.
Come up with a list of what you would like in an online
shopping cart system, and then find a service that will
meet ALL of your needs.
5. Customer Service. You want to make it as quick and easy
as possible for your customers to purchase from you and get
instant access to their product. An online shopping cart
system that offers digital download of your products will
do this for you.
And if you have a physical product ensure that your
shopping cart service can calculate postage and print
shipping labels too.
Don't make your customers jump through hoops just to make a
purchase from you!
6. Autoresponders and follow-up messages. It's much
easier to sell future products to existing customers -
after all they already know, like and trust you. In order
to do this you need your shopping cart to be able to keep a
database of your customers so that you can follow up with
them. Autoresponders are a great way to do this. You can
follow up with your customer several times after they've
made a purchase and check in with them to see how they're
getting on with your product. And you can do this very
easily and quickly if your shopping cart has an
autoresponder feature.
Keep all of these points in mind when choosing your online
shopping cart system, and you will find the perfect
solution for you!
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Online Business Manager & Virtual Assistant, Tracey Lawton,
teaches professional speakers, coaches, and authors how to
operate an efficient, organized, and profitable business.
Learn how to create an efficient and organized office in 7
EASY steps, and receive free how-to articles at
http://www.OfficeOrganizationSuccess.com
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