Frequently Asked Questions

ABOUT SELLING ONLINE

1. How can you take credit card payments across the net?

There are several ways that merchants can take credit card details securely across the net.

The first is by capturing card details, encrypting them securely, transmitting them to your desktop and processing them through a normal credit card facility. This option costs the least and minimises change and hassle for an existing business. It can only be used if the ecommerce software has the appropriate security and the method is bank approved.

The second option is to process card payments in real time on the Internet. Providers offering this service include WorldPay, Authorize.Net and many others. You pay an upfront fee and a transaction fee, but they do everything for you. This is generally more cost effective than a bureau service (see below), but requires you to have a merchant account with a bank, which is hard to get when you are a start-up. This method is the most suitable for medium and high volume sites.

Then, some of the payment service providers can provide a 'bureau' type service. If you are unable to acquire your own merchant account, they will transact the funds on your behalf – a useful service for some, but not cheap, and they usually hold onto your money for several weeks. This is often the service which new start-ups must settle for.

A final way to take payments is PayPal, which is very easy to set up. Your buyers must have a PayPal account and while many do, many don't. That's why it's usually best to have PayPal as an alternative rather than the only method.

2. How should people promote their online webstore?

There are lots of ways that this can be done, but for any business there are two no-brainers. The first is to promote the site to all existing customers. If existing customers don’t know about the ability to buy online from you, they will go elsewhere. If they like it, they will probably tell their friends. So ‘Order online at’ and the web address should be on every piece of literature and advertising that a company produces.

The second is to register with search engines. It may take a little time, but it’s free and can produce good results. If you plan to do this yourself, make sure you choose an ecommerce solution that will enable you to ‘optimise’ your pages for the search engines without needing a lot of technical knowledge. There is more information about this later on.

3. What are the key things to turn browsers into buyers?

In short, remove the reasons why people might not buy. Make your web site oriented towards sales rather than marketing. When prospects are at the site, the marketing process is complete. So, show them the products immediately - don’t hide them behind acres of marketing copy. Provide full terms and conditions - it looks more professional, and it protects you. Give your contact details, including a telephone number. Explain your guarantee and returns policy - a rock solid guarantee goes a long way to persuading people to buy. Finally, explain your security and your privacy policy. Again, all of this is expanded later in the document.

4. What one thing can impress buyers?

Make the site fast. Use graphics effectively, not for the sake of it. Make sure customers can find what they are looking for with a minimum of mouse clicks. Make the checkout process as easy as possible. Remember you’re building a site for shoppers, not art lovers. The key is a professional site where visitors can easily find what they’re looking for.

5. Do I need a bespoke design, or can I use an out of the box solution?

Boxed ecommerce solutions are surprisingly powerful and flexible, and offer significant advantages over bespoke - lower cost, quicker site development, more features and greater long-term security. It is worth finding a web designer who can develop a professional design based around a boxed solution. A completely custom-built site is only a good investment if you have special requirements that an out-of-the-box solution cannot fulfil.

6. Can I compete with the big boys?

The beauty of the internet is that small businesses can compete effectively - nobody knows the size of your company from a URL. Ensure your site is attractive and professional looking. Make sure that you can fulfil orders very promptly - people expect delivery within a day or two. And look for a niche with plenty of customers but not too much competition.

7. What security risk does transacting online involve?

Less than people think. In fact, the security risks run by web merchants are similar to those of mail-order companies. Just like them, it is sensible for merchants to put anti-fraud policies in place such as phoning to confirm orders that are a particularly high value or that come from parts of the world more prone to fraud.

8. How much will it cost to set up a site for selling on the net

The answer varies according to the sophistication and volume of the site. Professional ecommerce software is available for under £500 (or around $800), and you can rent web space capable of running such software for under £100 (or around $150) per annum. Professional site design will increase your costs, but you can still expect to pay around £2,000–£3,000 (or about $4,000–$6,000) for an average site. Of course more advanced sites, and sites with multi-user capability for high volume order processing, will cost more. Just make sure you leave enough in your budget for marketing your site. No visitors = no sales.

9. Should merchants maintain their own sites?

A few companies supplying solutions for selling online still keep all maintenance of ecommerce sites under their direct control. This means that if you want to change a price, you have to go through the supplier, potentially delaying your site updates. While this provides the service provider with a revenue stream, it isn’t best for the merchant. The best way is to have a means of directly updating your site. Also, it’s always worth asking what protection you have if your supplier goes out of business.

10. Is ecommerce profitable?

Absolutely yes! Selling online can be done on a small or large budget equally successfully and there are hundreds of thousands of successful users to prove it. As with all business expansion, do your research, get advice from trusted sources, decide what you can afford to spend to test the waters, and then jump!