Guide to start an online store

In the early 90’s, a young man around 30 launched his own store, right within the premises of his garage. Today, we know the man as Jeff Bezos, the innovative founder of Amazon, the very store he started in his garage, which today generates over $61 billion in revenue & is considered as the flag bearer of the of the world’s largest online retail store.
While this article is not about how Amazon started, nor on Jeff Bezos, it sets the tone as a primer on the how to launch an online store. Currently at its peak, Ecommerce is witnessing an exponential growth, with sales estimated to reach around $434 billion, & these are just the US numbers. Customers are taking to online shopping right from purchasing their smartphones to picking out their household goods, & this trend is only going to grow more. The mantra is that if you want to create an online store, you will need customers & these customers want fresh, innovative products along with a website that hooks them to keep coming for more.
The online world is teeming with what works best or what doesn’t, but while it may not be easy to adapt one & all, here are a few key strategies to help you get the ground running.

Initial Impact:

Create that awesome first impression. If you must make a sell, you will have to keep your users engaged & browsing through. It is a fact that customers take about 50 milliseconds to decide if they like the website or not, so go ahead & get as creative as possible. Your store name & URL, the landing page, the header together will set the tone for what customer gauge about your website.

Navigation Know how:

Another key that need to incorporate is to have a stress-free navigation, letting visitors to easily find what they are looking for. Nothing turns off your customers more than having to navigate through scores of unnecessary pages & links and not finding what they are looking for. A few simple inclusions will prove to be effective. Include a ‘What’s New’ category, a ‘New Product’s tab as well as a ‘New Arrival’s feature. These will allow returning customers to see check out what’s latest rather than browsing through old collections as well as entice new visitors to stay on the site.

How unique are you:

It’s a staggeringly competitive world out there. Getting creative & selling something which people didn’t even know they require is just your starting point. What will really help you stay in the game, is do you have that unique idea, what is your craft or skills. Do a lot of ground work & research, assess what it is that people really desire, understand what generates that buzz & then understand how you can achieve it.

Technology & Software:

While starting is online store or any ecommerce project is ridden with excitement & nerves as well as financial resources, it may all come to nothing if you do not choose the right software or platform to establish your online store. This makes it crucial to scout around for a professional & adaptable software that can expand your profit & help build a trusting relation with your prospective clients. Currently the market is flooded with hordes of developers ready to offer an extensive range of platforms, but can you as an online store owner discern the appropriate software required to meet specific business needs & expectations. A best ecommerce software would boast of a comprehensive content management system which would enable the store owners to create & manage website content. Website owners no longer have to worry about complicated procedures for creating own text & images, uploading a logo & others. Along with this, great ecommerce software is also packed with multiple payment gateways. Nothing is more assuring for customers than understanding that they have an option to transact across various payment methods.
Equally comforting for any customer is to provide them with ample shipping choices. The software you choose must be well provisioned to design a shopping cart which incorporates various shipping methods.
Bring on all these factors on board, and you are all set to start your online store.

{url: https://blog.mart2web.com/2017/09/04/guide-to-start-an-online-store/}

Credit Cards – Better And Safer Mode Of Payment!

Online shopping has made shopping experience so easy and comforting. With demonetization, cash payments have come to a standstill as India is now heading the path of going cashless. Today, all bigwigs and small scale industries are accepting all modes of payment other than cash. Digital wallets have also seen an upward graph thus making life easier and better. eCommerce site builders in India are also designing online store on the same grounds. However, one such payment which was a hit before and even now are – credit cards. Credit cards have a huge fan following and every person holds one, no matter how low his cash limit is!

Many buyers also prefer using a credit card for shopping then debit card or any other payment mode. Credit card tends to provide more security than debit cards. Several credit companies have gone a step further in ensuring utmost security. While making purchases online, if they think that the website is not reliable then they do not let the transaction happen. They always keep a check on minimum security measures while undertaking online transactions, thus helping in keeping a check.

Moreover, credit cards are a boon in case of emergency. You never know, you might run out of cash and credit card definitely comes handy in situations like these. Also, if you have a whopping bill of credit card, and can’t pay the entire amount, then you can always pay off the minimum amount. This system thus helps you in reliving from stress of paying huge bill. Just remember to keep a check on the interest rates because it might reach the peak, if bill not paid on time.

Also, credit award is like a bag of rewards. If used wisely, you can enjoy a gamut of amenities. Have you ever shopped on Flipkart or Amazon or any other online shopping portal? Each one of them have some or the other offer on credit cards and that’s the benefit of using it. Not only this, several credit card companies also offer reward points or offers while shopping online. Moreover, some airline companies also award you with points which can be used to reimburse while booking your next flight.

While travelling abroad too, you can get a lot of discounts and offers if you are using a credit card. However, the most important factor of using a credit card is that you can keep a control on your transactions. Credit cards come with a limit and once you cross that, you can’t use it unless and until you don’t pay off! If the amount is a huge one, then you can convert it into an EMI system, but still that helps in curbing the transaction.

Apart from all this, your credit card is nowhere linked to your bank account so if there is any kind of theft, still your account continues to remain safe. Also, while shopping online via debit card, the money gets deducted from your account and if you’re unhappy with the product, it takes time for the cash to reflect back in your account. Whereas, while shopping on a credit card, the payment can be withheld.

So, while shopping online, try and make use of credit cards for your added advantage and also for added security. Having a safe and secured shopping experience is what makes a buyer happy!

{Source: http://blog.mart2web.com/2017/02/20/credit-cards-better-and-safer-mode-of-payment/}

E-Commerce + Social Media = Revenue Growth

On one side, social media has revolutionized the way people socialize with each other and on the other side e-commerce has established more and more marketplaces on internet. People socialize and also converse about their needs as well as products they prefer, largely to minimize post purchase cognitive dissonance. Therefore, it is impossible to ignore the influence of social media on online markets. We can say that social media is shaping the way business is established online. So just having an Ecommerce website is not enough. It is equally important to have its presence on social media as there is where your customers are! Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram have become ubiquitous in our lives, people use to communicate, socialize, information, buying and selling. Thus social media is no longer a chat room but evolving as an online business platform. Online businesses can directly engage and reach out to potential customers by introducing their products, developing interest by showing the best and pertinent features which places them as unique and turn their ‘likes’, ‘follows’ and ‘pins’ eventually into sales revenue. Sustained presence helps the businesses in shaping their brands and gain mindshare of their target customers. Thus fusion of social media and e-commerce is inevitable.

In India, Social Media and E-commerce are in the developing stage and over the coming years it will unfold humongous opportunities for brands to gain the early footage. So now is the time to get involved. Hence Ecommerce platforms and Businesses can build the base for strong lasting relationship and benefit each other.

Statistics of Internet Usage, Social Media Usage and Social use in India:

Facebook enjoys the dominant status on Social Media!

Source http://wearesocial.net/tag/india/

Ecommerce driven Business cannot ignore the above statistics and findings (given by We Are Social).

It is just not enough for the online business to be on the social media. The businesses need to strategize the methods for their presence to be felt by larger audience. Business leaders need to know if those strategies are working to maximize the wallet share and eventually yield rewarding returns. Let us take an overview of important points for social media presence.

Goals

Study your online business needs and identify how can social media help you.

Targets

Have proper marketing strategies, plans and targets. Targets should be well defined. You can define in a better way S-M-A-R-T approach – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.

Social Media Platform

Select the platform which brings out the best result for your business. It should be the one where will you will have larger customer base and all the marketing efforts should be directed on that particular platform. Use business tactics wisely which is relevant on that social media site. For e.g. on Facebook, invest in paid advertisement and campaigns.

Customers

• Increase Customer eyeballs and keep them Engaged. By the presence on social media, online business can target the potential customers by studying their likes and preferences from their interaction. After study, marketers will be able to segment the customers which will help to optimize promotions and campaigns for their product and achieve targets.
• Social presence helps you to directly interact with your existing and new customers and reduce the response time to their queries. You can even understand their requirements in better way. Help them efficiently and provide the services accordingly.
• Do not expect positive feedback always, be open for critical review of your products. Critical review helps you improve and grow.

Content

First impression is the last impression. So have well designed storefront and put only the necessary requirements of your products and not a long story about it. Always create an impression of your store as a collection of products which the customers are interested in and do not project as to directly sell the products. Use subtleness in your content. Share useful tips for your existing customers, regularly update your content, curate content and use intelligent marketing strategies to stay connected with your customers.

Hashtags

Hashtags are the important tools nowadays for social media posts. They make the posts distinctly unique, increase exposure and organize content. Optimum use of hashtags fetch amazing results!

Conclusion

As the internet technologies are getting revolutionized day by day, it is highly imperative to adapt quickly and introduce smart and highly targeted social marketing strategies. The prudent use of social media will definitely increase the visibility of your e-commerce website and enhance the customer involvement. The internet gives us the chance to experiment and optimize. The latest developments like social analytics and content publishing tools have allowed marketers to measure their social marketing reach. Thus with well-planned strategies aligned with your business goals and targets, social media gives an amazing opportunity to generate leads and pull traffic to your e-commerce website!

Should Ecommerce Businesses Look Beyond Design and Development?

A web presence is a key factor for the success of any Ecommerce business today and most businesses have recognized its significance. However, there are still some businesses, who rely on the traditional marketing methods to make a success of their ecommerce venture.

Just a good design and a development process alone is not enough to have a web presence, there are many other aspects too that you need to consider that will provide you assured results in your ecommerce venture.

Selecting an Ecommerce Software to Best Suit Your Business Needs

Today companies offering ecommerce software have mushroomed, there are so many available. Each shopping cart software have their own advantages and drawbacks, you need to list down your requirements and convey the same to your service provider to help you determine the right combination.

Cataloguing Products

While cataloguing products into the ecommerce software, they need to be done so in a specific manner. Each product is different and hence should be done in a manner befitting their configuration.

Categorization and Sub-categorization

The inability to find what they are looking for generally frustrates the customer. Placing products in adequate categories and sub categories is very important.

Interactive Images and Product Description

Just concentrating on beautiful images is not enough in ecommerce, the images have to make up for the tough and feel effect hence it is important to add interactive images along with good product descriptions, so that customers can relate to the product.

Digital Marketing

Design and development is not enough, in this online world, people need to be aware of you i.e. you need to have an online present. You need to figure in the online searches by customers, you need to be on social media moreover you have to drive your targeted customers to your website and get their attention that is where digital marketing comes in.

So have we convinced you that just design and development is not enough? Look no further and better still outsource it to get the best possible results.

Why Does Your Ecommerce Website Require SSL Certification?

The entire world today is online; the internet has become an indispensable part of our lives. We browse through any number of websites in a day, but we never bother about how secure they are. Trusting an unknown entity is not a comfortable feeling for many people, which is why many of us are still not comfortable sharing our personal details on the internet. Today not many websites are safe, because of which many information leaks happen, leaving people prone to risk from hackers.

One of the best ways to secure and protect a website from hackers is by installing a SSL Certificate. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a cryptographic technique that establishes an encrypted connection between a server and a client by exchanging a symmetric key. It not only protects the sensitive information to be private and confidential as it transfers over the web and keeps data from being stolen by malicious hackers, moreover it gives confidence to customers to share their personal information with the website.

Reason for Using SSL

The main reason for using SSL is to keep sensitive information safe by sending them with an encrypted connection.Whenever shopping on an ecommerce website, you are forewarned to check for their SSL certification. SSL is a widely used feature on a majority of e-commerce websites mainly for data protection. These websites collect private information form visitors and customers. Moreover, these websites also collect information like username, password, credit card and bank details, the information collected could easily encounter identity theft if there are no encryption methods used. It is the responsibility of the online merchant to maintain data confidentiality for its consumers. By using, an SSL certificate, SSL encryption in enabled on the website, your data and personal information is well encrypted and becomes unreadable to anybody except the serve it is meant for.

Importance of SSL

SSL certification provides customers and visitors the stamp to gain their trust.Data security always makes customers nervous, and if online merchant were unable to convince visitors and customers on the security of their website, they would never be able to convince them to buy products.

Technically, SSL ensures transparency when establishing a secure session be it on an e-commerce portal or for online banking. A site that conveys trust is also more likely to be a site that makes more money. Therefore, while shopping ensure that the website has an SSL certification, it will give you the confidence to complete the transaction.

MART2WEB: The Complete Ecommerce Platform

Today, everybody wants to take his or her business online and cash in on the ecommerce boom.  This boom has also led to an increase in the influx of ecommerce programs and applications available on the Web. These programs may vary in price, functions, technology and other specifications.

While deciding the best ecommerce platform for your business, you can review different ecommerce platforms, compare their advantages and disadvantages, and close in on the one that best suits your business. However just finalizing on your ecommerce software will not guarantee success; you would require dedicating a lot of time and effort into this venture.

Rather than going through the above rigmarole, we suggest you visit Mart2Web. We state, with absolute confidence that you will find a wide range of ecommerce solutions designed for building and operating your own online store. They are focused to deliver to you the highest level of productivity and efficiency while ensuring maximum convenience and ease of usage.

All-In-One Ecommerce Software

Mart2web E commerce solution helps structure the product management process. The graphic representation of products contributes to enriching user experience. A totally hassle proof membership management helps configuring and designing your stores seem like child’s play. Order fulfillment a key aspect in ecommerce is fast, efficient and simple to use making processes and operations smoother. Inventory tracking can be done with our simple and straightforward inventory management options. Mart2web offers comprehensive features in term of Franchisee management. Everything related to franchisee from ordering to return is under control.

With discount and coupon codes, social media integration, SEO, newsletters, Mart2web gives you more marketing tools than any other Ecommerce solution.