After a frustrating couple of days looking for stuff and checking out web sites I thought I would impart some suggestions to current and prospective online vendors.
About Us - This is the tab where you names names and give physical addresses and phone numbers. Giving all this info gives the site credibility. Just putting something like the "Best Vape Shop in the World" doesn't cut it. People want to know they are buying from people!
Contact Us - Just giving us a form to fill in isn't enough. Email addresses and phone numbers are required here.
Payment Gateways - Use a system like PayFast where you don't have to go grab your wallet to get the credit card out every time. The reason for this is two fold... first it a pain in the ring... and second your wife will see you going to fetch your wallet and ask what you are buying now?
Courier Companies - http://www.ecigssa.co.za/threads/couriers-for-vape-mail.2221/
Up-to-date - Make sure your web site is up to date and functional. If it isn't you lose a sale right there and then.
Stock Levels - Is there anything more frustrating than getting to a web site and clicking links and getting to the item you want and pressing the BUY button only to be told it's out of stock! Tip... have a system here where people can enter their email address so when the item comes into stock you let them know.
Email and Forum posts of specials and new stock - If you do it then make sure your web site knows about it too!
Speed - This may seem obvious but based on research over the last few days the speeds vary greatly. Make sure you host with a decent ISP.
Information on Products - Make sure you have enough info to satisfy a customer looking to buy a product and don't make them go off and Google the info... they will get waylaid and may not come back... or worse still find another vendor who has the info and they order there.
Facebook - Don't underestimate the power of Facebook in your marketing effort! It's really easy to set up and you are not hamstrung by waiting for your web designer to make changes to the web site... you can pretty much do everything yourself.
Graphics size - May again seem obvious but based on the research it would appear not so much. Watch the size of your artwork.
Spelling - OMG! In this day and age of spell checkers there is no reason why there should be a spelling mistake on your web site. I can't really spell but my spell checker fix's that... but to have spelling mistakes on a web site is a marketing fail of note.
Answering emails - This is critical. There is nothing more off putting than sending an email to a vendor and not getting a reply or a reply a day or so later.
What's New - This is a critical button or option to have on your web site. It's where the customer will go first just about every time. Don't make them click through pages and pages of products looking for the new stuff.
Mailing List - You have very valuable info stored on your web site so use it for your marketing effort but don't abuse it. Send emails to your customers with new items and specials! Never ever give the email addresses to any other company.
About Us - This is the tab where you names names and give physical addresses and phone numbers. Giving all this info gives the site credibility. Just putting something like the "Best Vape Shop in the World" doesn't cut it. People want to know they are buying from people!
Contact Us - Just giving us a form to fill in isn't enough. Email addresses and phone numbers are required here.
Payment Gateways - Use a system like PayFast where you don't have to go grab your wallet to get the credit card out every time. The reason for this is two fold... first it a pain in the ring... and second your wife will see you going to fetch your wallet and ask what you are buying now?
Courier Companies - http://www.ecigssa.co.za/threads/couriers-for-vape-mail.2221/
Up-to-date - Make sure your web site is up to date and functional. If it isn't you lose a sale right there and then.
Stock Levels - Is there anything more frustrating than getting to a web site and clicking links and getting to the item you want and pressing the BUY button only to be told it's out of stock! Tip... have a system here where people can enter their email address so when the item comes into stock you let them know.
Email and Forum posts of specials and new stock - If you do it then make sure your web site knows about it too!
Speed - This may seem obvious but based on research over the last few days the speeds vary greatly. Make sure you host with a decent ISP.
Information on Products - Make sure you have enough info to satisfy a customer looking to buy a product and don't make them go off and Google the info... they will get waylaid and may not come back... or worse still find another vendor who has the info and they order there.
Facebook - Don't underestimate the power of Facebook in your marketing effort! It's really easy to set up and you are not hamstrung by waiting for your web designer to make changes to the web site... you can pretty much do everything yourself.
Graphics size - May again seem obvious but based on the research it would appear not so much. Watch the size of your artwork.
Spelling - OMG! In this day and age of spell checkers there is no reason why there should be a spelling mistake on your web site. I can't really spell but my spell checker fix's that... but to have spelling mistakes on a web site is a marketing fail of note.
Answering emails - This is critical. There is nothing more off putting than sending an email to a vendor and not getting a reply or a reply a day or so later.
What's New - This is a critical button or option to have on your web site. It's where the customer will go first just about every time. Don't make them click through pages and pages of products looking for the new stuff.
Mailing List - You have very valuable info stored on your web site so use it for your marketing effort but don't abuse it. Send emails to your customers with new items and specials! Never ever give the email addresses to any other company.
