Rules for E-Commerce Startups: How to Increase Sales

[mandy]

These days, just about every business -- from the corner store to Wal-Mart-- has a Web presence. While the Internet's vast expanse provides companies with the ability to reach more potential customers, it also pits them against more competitors than ever before. As a result, it has become increasingly difficult for companies to convert site visitors into buying customers. To complicate matters, nine out of every 10 users log off without buying anything, according to some estimates.

While companies cannot arm-wrestle consumers and force them to buy their products, there are steps they can take to make it more likely that a transaction will occur. Following are five tips from e-commerce experts that could entice consumers to purchase your products...

full article: http://ecommercetimes.com/story/YAbjM0Pe...ales.xhtml

[mandy]

part 2 of the article: what not to do

While many companies are focused on their business online, they tend to put up sites that turn off rather than turn on potential customers. Because there are so many potential options, a business needs to be careful about how it designs its e-commerce site. For instance, a visitor can't purchase what he or she can't find, so a company has to make sure that its products are easy to identify...

Search is the No. 1 method used to find products, so companies need to pay attention to the keywords consumers are relying on to reach their sites. Rather than have all clients enter at a company's main page, it is better to show users specific items that would be of the most interest to them. So, a company has to determine where the user is coming from and then build landing pages for various types of users. Also, best sellers, featured products and new release sections help to highlight specific products...

full article: http://ecommercetimes.com/story/PUr0LZh7...o-Do.xhtml