Ecommerce Webstore
Useful Information

  • You can easily enhance the marketing & selling benefits that come from having Online Webstore by using a variety of marketing campaigns such as Google Adwords.
  • Double your customer queries within 3 months!

Why choose us:

EASY

All you have to do is... More

QUICK & EFFICIENT

As quick as 5 working days, cheaper... More

NO RISK

Minimum deposit required, no payment... More

E-commerce Webstore

ECOMMERCE WEBSTORE IS...

  • Your showroom online
  • 24 hour selling power
  • Hundreds of your products online

ADVANTAGES

  • Google-friendly
  • Content Management System included
  • Support for up to 20,000 products with product images
  • Create unlimited number of product sections and subsections
  • Define unlimited product variations such as size and colour
  • Includes Product Search function
  • Includes customer response function
  • Add additional images in a pop-up window
  • Add additional text or images in a supplementary page, or a pop-up window
  • Set up different shipping zones with different tariffs
  • Export / Import product and section data
  • Show product choices as radio buttons, drop downs or button grids
  • Accurately calculates shipping, handling and taxation costs
  • Product prices can be both entered and displayed exclusive or inclusive of tax
  • Display prices in two currencies simultaneously, using a fixed exchange rate
  • Print invoices
  • Print packing lists and address labels
  • Monitors stock levels during order processing, with alerts for low stock levels
  • Create Best Sellers list for publication to the web site
  • Create Related Product lists to encourage additional purchases
  • Automatically generate a New Products list and publish to web site
  • Create Also Bought lists to show products other shoppers have purchased
  • Apply discounts based on order value and display in the shopping cart
  • Apply discounts based on quantity or specific products ordered
  • Apply merchandising discounts such as 'buy one get one free', date-expiring discounts and multiple use coupons
  • Automatic email confirmation of order
  • Remember me' option for returning visitors
  • Search by product variants such as colour and size
  • Fully integrated with all the leading online Payment Service Providers
  • Support for secure offline payment processing

DETAILED FEATURES


Asterisk * indicates features incremental to Actinic Business


Steps for setting up an online webstore

1. First, get informed

The more you know, the better decisions you will make. So look out for articles about ecommerce in the press, attend a trade show or two, and talk to people who are selling online already. Search on Google for related themes such as ‘ecommerce’ and ‘shopping carts’, find some informative web sites, and read up about the subject.

2. Make sure that ecommerce is right for you

If you are selling goods that customers do not need to touch, taste or smell before buying, at a fixed price, then the web is the place to be - especially if your products are hard for customers to find by conventional means. The web can offer your customers the convenience of being able to shop when it suits them, without having to travel or queue. And it offers a level of automation that can help drive down your costs, so you can offer keen prices into the bargain. You can check out the competition by looking on Google for some of the products that you plan to sell.

3. Get your offering right

Think about why people would want to buy from you. You need to provide them with something which they believe offers more value than the amount they pay, and which you can supply for less than you charge. It’s as simple (and difficult) as that.

4. Keep control of the cost

The less you spend on technology, the more you can afford to spend on promoting your site and bringing in customers. So look ideally for a solution that is low cost and can do what you want to begin with, but offers an upgrade path for the future.

5. Use technology that already works

Use technology that works, not stuff that’s a masterpiece in progress. Why bother debugging software from some start-up, when you could be using an application that is already working on thousands of online stores?

6. Find a reliable host

Your online store will be able to take orders 24 hours a day - but only so long as it is accessible. You will need a third party to provide the internet space for it. This can be your internet service provider, your ecommerce provider, or a specialized hosting company. Either way, choose one that is reliable. Get a personal recommendation from someone you know, check out one of the regular magazine reviews, or talk to your ecommerce provider.

7. Make sure you have ownership of your site

Solutions that are rented from a third party and hosted on their server can seem attractive for their low start-up cost and simplicity of use. But they leave you a hostage to the supplier. If the supplier does not provide good service - or worse, goes bust - you will be left high and dry. So choose a solution that covers these eventualities. For instance, you should end up with a full backup on your own PC, which allows you to move your site elsewhere if necessary. Alternatively, your supplier might have a backup partner who can take over in case of problems.

8. Make security a priority

Both you and your customers need to feel confident that you have adequate protection against hacking and fraud. Choose an ecommerce solution that provides full Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCIDSS) compliance. There's more advice on this later.

9. Choose an appropriate payment solution

In virtually every market, it's vital to be able to take card payments. In order to do this, you normally need a merchant account which is granted by a “credit card acquirer”. All the major banks provide this service. You also need a payment service from someone like WorldPay or Actinic, which will securely handle the transfer of funds from the customer's bank account to your own. However, if you are a start up business it's hard to get your own merchant account, so you may be better off using a service like Paypal. Your shopping cart should be able to support these and a full range of other payment options.

10. Do it yourself - or not?

The decision whether to go it alone or bring in a professional will depend on a variety of issues. These include your budget; your level of technical knowledge and familiarity with the internet; the amount of customisation you require; the amount of time you have available; and whether you enjoy playing with computers. An ecommerce package can enable you to deploy a good-looking, fully functional site quickly, and at low cost. A web designer will add a professional finish and enhanced features that can generate confidence and boost sales. Either way, make sure the finished site is easy to use for both you and your customers.

11. Don’t forget the marketing

It is all very well opening your shop on the internet, but you need to think about how customers are going to find you. This is probably the most crucial point so we devote a couple of sections of tips to the whole subject.