ECOMMERCE
Any web firm can build you a website; PurpleFishes can build you an online business.
PurpleFishes started in 2001 when our director Steve Winn started an ecommerce business selling t-shirts. Since then we have learnt the hard way what it takes to sell online, exactly what effect on sales certain actions will have and how to grow a successful site with a loyal customer base. We still have our original online business, now joined by 4 others, and it is still profitably trading with no paid marketing. This makes us unique amongst web service firms. We use our own software and we genuinely understand how to run an online business. All of the recommendations we make to clients are based on experience and we have the figures to back up our claims.
Working together we can ensure you miss the common pitfalls, and ensure you get it right from the start.
Marketing to the world
It’s your shop, it’s your business, it talks to your customers and it carries your company’s reputation around the world – around the clock. Your ecommerce site has to work all the time, be silkily efficient and easy for customers to use whilst being reliable and robust for you to operate. Bad ecommerce can lose you customers but great ecommerce can open new markets and add to your bottom line even while your competitors sleep.
Because ecommerce is so important to the future of your business we make sure that we get it right. Each member of our design and development team is fully experienced in running successful and highly ranked ecommerce websites. We don’t use templates because we want you to have the site you need – not just what’s available. We build with accessibility in mind as well as the current legislation and never lose sight of the fact that customers have to point, click and buy or they’ll go somewhere else.
Many ecommerce websites that we produce are based on our core ecommerce system, PurpleShopping, using our administration tool, PurpleAdmin for the back-end. This ecommerce solution is tried, tested and used live by our ecommerce clients in the real world and by us for our own eshops. PurpleAdmin is constantly updated and enhanced and updates are automatically released to clients to ensure that they benefit from the ongoing development. However, every online business is different. We take the time to learn about your business and its needs and if these aren’t the best solutions for you, we won’t try to convince you they are.
Getting the sale
Before instructing an ecommerce company have a think about the sales process for your particular product or service. Nothing changes on the web: you still must know your target market, have a product that appeals to them, get attention and interest from your market, explain the benefits of your offering and convert the sale. Afterwards you need to ensure your customers are happy and that they keep coming back.
We will ask you how your visitors will flow through the buying process and then design a site to facilitate this. We can guide your visitors through the path you define, leading a greater proportion to the ordering screens. Think about what the first things your visitors will want to see when they land on your site and what they will have likely searched for to find you.
We are happy to help you during this planning and discovery process and give you the benefit of our years of experience selling online. Why not give us a call to discuss your plans?
Considerations for ecommerce
We are happy to advise you at any stage, as well as recommend a choice of service providers. Below are a couple of things you should be thinking about now:
If you would like to take payment by cards on your website, which is a necessity if you are going to be taken seriously on the web, then you need to contact your bank and apply for online card processing. Inform your bank that you will be taking orders and payments on the Internet and they will issue you with an ‘Internet merchant ID’.
Receiving merchant numbers often involves a lot of waiting, typically 3-4 weeks, depending on your bank’s policy. Many providers now require a site visit as well. At the end of the process you will be given a number that you will need to forward to your payment service provider.
Typical costs
Setup: £100
Ongoing: 2.31% of transactions processed
A payment service provider acts like a virtual card machine and is connected to your website and your bank (using the merchant numbers), bridging the two. You must have merchant numbers before you can apply to most of these, but the application process typically only takes 4 days.
Once you have been accepted, the PSP will give you access to a unique ID number that you will need to supply to your web developer.
Typical costs
Set-up: £0-200
Ongoing: Between 5p per transaction and 1%, minimum £20 charge per month
Data protection registration
Due to the ‘data processing’ that takes place, you will probably be a ‘data processor’ and must register as such with the data protection officer.
Follow the link below for information regarding the data protection act, and the registration procedure:
http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
Fees (paid directly to government)
Set-up: £0
Ongoing: £35 per year
This is the name that visitors type into their browser to access your website. This is key to the success of your website and will need to be catchy and not too long. You also need to decide whether you will be a “.com” or “.co.uk” (or possibly both) business. When you have decided on a name, we can arrange the purchase for you without you doing anything.
Typical cost: £25 every 2 years
There are many different types of hosting - the housing of a web site, email or a domain, all of which support different features; therefore we recommend you consult your web designer before purchasing any.
For clients we provide hosting services as a courtesy, on our servers in a world-class data centre.
Typical charges:
£30 per month
Websites can be optimised to convert the highest possible percentage of visitors into customers; but getting free visitors remains a considerable challenge. Most free traffic comes from search engines, and to a lesser extent, links. Typically it will take a year to achieve a large number of targeted visitors to the site from free sources.
From the outset, plan to promote your website on everything featuring your company name, and consider that even if initial market is offline sales, you must plan in advance for web-sales.
Your web designer can do it for you. Bear in mind that this is labour intensive work and that all attempts to get high search engine rankings come with an element of risk. No-one can offer a guarantee that any given search engine will list your site at all.
There are an increasing number of laws and regulations that regulate e-trading. You should be familiar with the Data Protection Act, Distance Selling Regulations, Disability Discrimination Act, Trade descriptions Act and the Sale of Goods Act, as they relate to ecommerce. Your local business link or Office of Fair Trading will be able to supply booklets explaining each of these. Alternatively, follow the link below to view the business link website:
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk
Your web developer can build you a website that complies with all current legislation, but remember that ultimately the responsibility for compliance lies with you.