Save money shopping online

One of the great benefits of shopping online is the ability to do comparative shopping at the click of a mouse. Instead of driving around from store to store, scouring the weekend paper for specials, or asking everyone you know, you can easily go online and do all the research you want, anytime, anywhere.

As such you can find exactly what you are looking for at the best possible price. Oh, how I love the internet.

And now, I just read another twist. You save even more money by not getting in your gas guzzler, a.k.a. car, to go shopping. You are saving money by the sheer virtue of staying at home. This is according to a Harris Interactive Study.

This trend to shop from home to save gas money, apparently, is mostly in regards to big ticket items.

While I certainly agree that gas is (frightfully) expensive, I’m not sure if I would go so far as to say that’s why I shop online. There are at least a half dozen benefits before that, which already had me convinced.

Maybe the quest to save gas is more prevalent amongst people who live in more remote places?

There are a lot of factors at play here. And like all good studies, this one opens the door to so many more questions and areas of research.

Meeting Customers at Internet Retailer

Here you can see Celebros VP Sales North America, Melody King, with Nancy Miller, VP Internet & Technology for our much valued client Woodcraft Supply at Internet Retailer, in Chicago.

With over 3,200 attendants and 1,600 exhibitors, Internet Retailer’s a huge affair in the world of ecommerce and etailing.

Have you heard? Word-of-mouth is all the rage

Web 2.0 is all about socializing.  And socializing is all about sharing.

There are countless articles and research studies about the power of Web 2.0, social networking and how to make a buck in the process.  Online word-of-mouth marketing has become a domain of its own.

According to Dave Friedman, President Central Region for award winning digital marketing firm Avenue A/Razorfish, in a recent Internet Retailer article, “78% of respondents to a recent survey say word-of-mouth is the top source of information in their product decisions, 84% of consumers with annual incomes of more than $150,000 use product reviews when making purchases, and 91% of mothers say the recommendations of other moms are key factors in their buying decisions”.

In other words, if you’re an online retailer, you probably want to start spreading the word.

Where to start? According to Friedman, you should be marketing via social sites such as Facebook and MySpace, writing and responding on blogs, and incorporating product ratings and reviews on your ecommerce site.

People are not mind readers

An important lesson in both personal and business relations: people are not mind readers. You need to say what you mean.

In response to a comment made by a reader on my previous post, I’d have to say rule #2 for Ecommerce sites is make sure your site is relevant (as in obvious), especially if you’re just starting out or don’t have an easily recognizable brand.

After almost any and every form of correspondence, I look up the person and his or her website, to garner a better impression of the person and his/her business. I am surprised by how often it is difficult to understand what exactly is for sale, i.e., the purpose of the site.

You have to make sure your homepage gives the right impression. Answer the questions who am I? What am I going to do for you?

This article offers some nice tips to consider when designing your homepage. Besides the general content, note the emphasis on clear categorization and accessible search & navigation capabilities.

Rule #1 for Ecommerce Sites

Make sure your site is up and running.

Simple as that.

It is estimated that amazon.com lost $1.8 million when the website was down for somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half last week. Amazon, of course, is an Ecommerce giant and it’s possible that the only real effect the crash had was to get people talking about the very fact that the site did indeed crash.

But most online retailers cannot absorb that kind of down time.

If you’re site is not accessible, or crashes on a regular basis, it is very likely shoppers will not return. If they do not return, you cannot make a sale.

Therefore, #1 priority, make sure to take all measures to prevent downtime, especially when you know potential shoppers are (always) online.