ProductCart Tips and Tricks: Issue 1

Red Leaf Development wants to help your business increase sales, reach new customers and drive more traffic to your site. We are constantly trying to keep you up-to-date with changes to the eCommerce landscape. That is no easy task lately! Here are some industry trends that we have been following this year.

ProductCart already has some of these features built in while some of the additions require a minor customization; and still some require more advanced development. As always, contact Red Leaf to determine which will be easy, moderate or difficult to add to your site.

Personalize your site
Each shopper is unique, and several of the Internet Retailer Hot 100 e-Retailers tailor their sites to the individual. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Add cross-selling. Red Leaf has developed an "Automated" cross selling add on that links the product a customer is viewing to other products that customers have purchased. This functions exactly like the "Customers who bought this product also bought…" feature on Amazon.
• Add recommendations. Add a spot on your site where a group of recommended products can be displayed that is based on a customer's browsing history.
• Send targeted emails. When done well these campaigns are perceived as good service; customers accept and value these approaches. When delivered through email, recommendations, suggestions and relevant content gets very high open rates, and low unsubscribe rates. Add a coupon code to encourage a click-through and measure your results.

Facilitate buzz
More than eight in ten people say that their personal networks are among the two to three best sources for new information. "Social networking is ingrained in our corporate culture because it is ingrained in the lives of our customers," says Eric McCoy, founder and CEO of shoe e-Retailer Heels.com. The goal is to connect with your customer and get them to like and trust you. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Setup a Facebook page for your company (be sure to link to it from your website).
• Enable product ratings and reviews and be sure to feature a best seller list on your site.
• Add the "Share This!" or the Facebook "Like" button to your product pages.
• A blog allows you to engage your customers and listen to their feedback. It also will help boost your natural search engine rankings.

Convert and remarket
Let's face it - you can't call a site visitor a customer until they purchase from your site. Step back and look at your site, ask yourself "What would compel someone to buy from you?" The goal is to convert your visitors into customers and follow up with excellent customer service, every time. Ideally your customers will come back again and again to buy from you! Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Offer a simple email sign up on your homepage.
• Feature a 1-800 number prominently on your homepage.
• Offer more than one payment option - enable PayPal for example.
• Use the emails you have collected whenever possible - send targeted email based on browsing behavior or prior purchase information, for example, "As someone who has shown interest in you might also like..."
• Keep it simple and favor your existing customers by making it exceptionally easy for a returning customer to make purchases.
• Use tools to track drop-offs, conversions and ROI.

For a free consultation and quote, please contact our Sales Department today at 1-603-319-1922 x103 or at Sales@RedLeafDevelopment.com. For more information about our Social Commerce offerings, visit us online at www.redleafdevelopment.com/social_tools.

Leverage Your Website to Survive in a Slowing Economy

Your Ecommerce site serves your business in many ways. During tough times business owners must cut costs, look for new opportunities, and provide excellent customer service just to name a few things. Making improvements in the way you conduct online business is essential to surviving in this economy.

Let's look at a few concrete examples that will illustrate how your business can implement new strategies in order to streamline, expand and increase revenue for your business.

1. Cut Costs: If you already have a website, consider what your return on that investment has been. Maybe you are already selling online and making a decent profit, but you spend too much time processing credit cards, shipping orders and tracking inventory. Consider an automated payment gateway, printing your shipping labels right from your ecommerce administration area, or synching your inventory control system to your website.

Maybe you don't have an ecommerce website. That doesn't mean that your website isn't generating money for your business. Every visitor to your site is a potential customer, so your website is a marketing tool for your company. Have you engaged in a web marketing campaign in the last year? A web marketing campaign can be a third of the cost of a traditional print campaign and a quarter of the cost of a tv or radio campaign. When your customers need a product or a service they go to a search engine to find what they are looking for. Web marketing is one way to make sure that they find you first.

2. Look for new opportunities: Now is the time to think about what direction you are taking in regards to the technology you have implemented. If you offer a product and you aren't selling online then you may be losing potential customers. Your first assignment is to get your product online. Make sure that you also allow your customers to purchase gift certificates as these can represent substantial revenue for your business.

If you are selling online already then you have a customer base. Create a new opportunity for your business by marketing to your customer base. If you have a list of customers that have bought from you before then send an e-newsletter with an offer or a coupon. Make it a habit to send one of these out every month.

If you are not selling online it doesn't mean that you can't start collecting customer information and sending a monthly update. Keeping your customers informed about industry news and providing them with your expertise is a great way to keep your company (and the service you provide) fresh in their mind. It is a wonderful value add and the return on this investment can be huge.

3. Provide incredible customer service: We have already discussed the value an e-newsletter when it comes to customer service. If you have an online store consider using that e-newsletter to send discounts and offers. Customers that have established a relationship with a business will likely continue that relationship if they are being offered a great product at a great price.

Another sure fire way to please your return customers is to offer a rewards points system. This will help increase the rate of return which helps to increase revenue.

Potential customers coming to your site are looking for a great price - but they are also looking for a great product. Consider implementing customer reviews, these are reviews written by your customers about the products that you are selling. These are an important tool in converting a potential sale into an actual sale.

Again, just because you don't offer a product for sale you must still keep current customers happy. We already discussed offering a monthly e-newsletter to share your expertise and recent industry news. If you are not sure how your customers are responding to your business why not create an online survey to help identify areas that you may need to improve.

Your website is a marketing tool for your business. It has the potential to be a major source of revenue as well. If you leverage this peice of technology in the correct way you can save money, grow your customer base and survive in this financial downturn.