Archive for shopping cart
The WePay Surge: Why They May Dethrone PayPal
Posted by: | CommentsWe’ve reminded you here in this column before of one critical and forgotten truth when it comes to online supremacy: all empires crumble. As much as we list the Lycos’s and Compuserve’s of the online world, though, this truth can be hard to remember. That is because it can be hard to see how anyone can make inroads into a well-established internet semi-monopoly.
Oftentimes the reason this is the case is that whoever is #1 is there for a reason. Google offers the most extensive search results; Apache offers the most stable web hosting package, and so forth. Sometimes, though, #1 doesn’t try harder. In those cases, their top ranking is based on little more than momentum, meaning that it’s only a matter of time before a competitor sweeps in, finding that company’s weak spots, and seizes the day.
PayPal: a decadent king
PayPal has been ripe for this seizing for a long time. It is still easily the #1 payment processor online. For years, though, this has been a title rather grudgingly awarded. The complaints about the company have been piling up. Most of these have centered around customer service, which branch out into various subcategories, such as bad decision making on fraud determination and poor customer communication.
These complaints were highlighted by an incident in which PayPal froze the account of the Flux Foundation. The group was planning an historic exhibit at Burning Man, and though PayPal responded to the negative publicity by quickly granting them an exception, the story shined an embarrassing light on the company’s approach to their customer base.
It was from a far smaller incident, though, that a competitor to their services was birthed. In 2008, Rich Aberman, now 25, was attempting to raise money for his brother’s bachelor party. The hassle of trying to get the $4,200 from 14 different people presented the kind of headache that, in the right kind of mind, results in that very special realization otherwise known as, “There has to be a better way”. While PayPal provided, and still does, some small types of group fundraising, it didn’t have a lot of the functionality for this kind of purpose that he required.
WePay steps into the ring
Aberman soon found investors who agreed with both the general complaints about PayPal and the belief regarding that “better way”. They received $17,000 in seed money. That was 2008. Today, their investment capital has hit the 8-figure mark. That’s an amazing increase. What’s even more amazing is the list of people that this comes from, a list which includes PayPal founder Max Levchin. Big names are seeing reasons to bet big on WePay.
It’s not just venture capital that’s increasing. WePay’s revenue, transaction stream, and employee count are all shooting up with the kind of geometric growth that gets a company’s CEO’s grinning picture on the front page of financial magazines. So what is it that makes this company so hot?
The selling points
There are several things that WePay is doing right that could mean PayPal has a serious challenger to contend with here. Some of them are as follows:
- Customer service: Recognizing that this is one of PayPal’s primary weak points, WePay has been putting serious effort into making sure that their customers don’t feel brushed off. 24/7 support by phone, chat or email is available. One subtle sign that they take this seriously is that tech agents and customer service agents are located next to each other. Many in the tech community have experienced the phenomenon wherein a customer service agent wants to communicate an idea to the tech team, and feels like it has to cross a guarded moat to do so.
- WePay Stores: If there’s any idea left in E-Commerce that might make someone smack themselves in the head for not thinking of it first, this could be it. WePay Stores is an E-Commerce solution that handles both the setting up of the storefront and the processing of payments. It’s been so many years that this has been split between different companies that the whole of the internet seems to just have assumed that this must always be the case.
- Having fun: Let’s recognize that this is something that many startups have in the early years, only to lose it in the grumpiness of bloated corporate middle age. We’re interested in the now, though, and right now… well, how can you not at least chuckle a little bit at a company that trolls it’s competitor’s conference with a 600 pound block of ice embedded with money as a symbol of the accounts PayPal has wrongly “frozen”?
Not there yet
These advantages notwithstanding, it’s not all smooth sailing for WePay just yet. While so far they are appealing to a lot of the things that PayPal has dropped the ball on, their Goliath still has upwards of 80 million customers to call on. The daily worry over at WePay is that PayPal will decide to alter their services one day and offer the same group payment architecture that WePay is focused on.
There is also the economic consideration that WePay’s services come at a price. Their 3.5% transaction fee is high for the industry. Scanning the comments that we saw in some of the articles about this company, there are still a lot of customers who are willing to deal with PayPal’s corporate deficiencies if it means saving a few bucks. This is a hard line to walk, and with so much of WePay’s revenue coming from investments, one would not be irrational for being concerned that these guys are being a little too loose in rolling the dice.
As good a chance as any
Then again, when facing off against a behemoth like PayPal, does one have the luxury to not take any chances? While things are riding hard and fast over at WePay headquarters, so far there doesn’t seem any sign that it’s moving faster than they are capable of handling. PayPal is vulnerable, and Aberman and co-founder Bill Clerico just may have struck at the right time in the right way. We can’t predict the future, but we can say that so far from what we’ve seen, it’s possible that we could be in the beginning phases of the passing of a great torch in the world of online payments.
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Budget Web Hosting: Is It Worth the Buck?
Posted by: | CommentsToday there are plenty of companies offering budget web hosting. These are the ones whose rates usually don’t go beyond $6, making them super-affordable especially by small and home-based business owners. The price also makes them extremely attractive too for any Internet user to start his or her own online business.
But then again, no matter how cheap it is, you’re still shelling out moolah, and there’s no money tree growing anywhere in the world. You must then want to know if you’re going to make the most out of every penny with budget web hosting.
It may be worth it because
- You can already run your website for, well, a few bucks.
Sure, business owners can stick with generic domains such as wordpress.com, posterous.com, or blogspot.com. They can also choose to build a fan page in Facebook or sell their wares in Multiply and eBay, but if they want to build credibility and are planning to be doing online marketing forever, they have to learn how to invest.
A domain is often viewed by search engines, which Internet users usually utilize to look for information as well as products and services, as a testament of your commitment, professionalism, relevance, and even to your legitimacy. That’s why domain-hosted sites rank better, especially in Google, than public-hosted ones.
- It’s so easy to set up.
One of the most common attributes of budget hosting options is they’re so convenient to set up. This is because they normally market them to first-time small and home-based business owners. A lot of them are actually very apprehensive to wet their feet into any more complicated than a blog, which is, of course, a full-blown website.
But how easy is easy? It’s not uncommon to across a budget web host you can set up in less than 30 minutes—that fast!
- You don’t end up spending more than you should.
Budget hosting packages have very limited bandwidth. Though it’s way smaller than those offered by these options’ relatives, you really don’t need much when you’re starting out. You cannot consume a lot of storage or even bandwidth during the early days of your website, unless you’re going to pepper the pages with plenty of photos and videos. (This is not highly recommended, though, as these types of files can definitely slow down the loading times of your web pages.)
- You aren’t really short changed with other services and features.
Unless you’ve chosen your web hosting company so badly, you don’t end up getting crappy customer service just because you decide to go for a budget web host. You may even find many of them offering free domain, server monitoring, multiple domain hosting, SSL technology, and even a money-back guarantee up to 3 months.
- They can provide scalability.
This simply means you can expand your website with great ease. You’ll discover that the more you spend time online and sell your products and services, the more your website grows. You add a few more pages, a number of videos and audio, a Contact Us page and other content-specific web pages, as well as a shopping cart.
Not all budget hosting packages have a lot of room for hundreds to thousands of pages, but a number allow you to host several domains, including international ones.
But it’s not the most perfect setup either . . .
- You can expect to share your bandwidth with not just one but several other websites.
If you’re opting for budget web hosting, then you should be very much aware that you’re not going to have any dedicated server. You’ll share one with several others. That would have been fine—if these sites don’t eat up majority of the space and bandwidth. Worse, these may be sites that gain a lot of traffic, which may mean plenty of downtimes for you.
- You may be dealing with an incompetent reseller.
A common reason why there are so many web hosting packages online is the growth of resellers in the industry. In order to generate more income and expand their market, big-time hosting firms offer some of their web hosting products to resellers, who, in turn, sell them to small or home-based business owners. Resellers do manage their clients’ accounts, but they don’t own the equipment themselves.
It becomes a huge hassle and headache for you once these pieces of equipment start to bog down. There are not a lot of things they can do for you, except perhaps to offer you advice once the fix has already been done. But that’s not the worse. The worst thing is your reseller doesn’t do anything at all on your behalf. They don’t pressure the main web hosting company or they don’t inform you of the real problems. They may not even answer your call.
- Their scalability has limits.
Again, they’re budget web hosting packages. As mentioned, thousands of web pages may be close to impossible since you’ll be sharing your space to several other website owners, who may also have a gazillion pages.
But how do you make it worth the buck?
We do believe that a budget web hosting package is an excellent investment, mainly for small and home-based business owners. Their needs are pretty basic, so there’s no need to spend $10 for almost the same features.
But that doesn’t mean all budget web hosting companies are great. They are not created equal. Some of them should be out of business ASAP. So you don’t end up wasting your money, choose those that
- Are reliable
Their uptimes are around 97 to 99 percent. Otherwise, you’re bound to lose a lot of potential clients or customers for your business. It’s not enough they offer contact details. They should be accessible.
- Secure
The last thing you want to happen is for someone to steal all your website information and content, including your customers’.
- Are well reviewed
You can visit Geeks best Budget Hosting page to find out which budget hosting options come highly recommended by users.
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Preventing e-Commerce Shopping Cart Abandonment
Posted by: | CommentsWhile it’s important to direct traffic to your online e-commerce venture in hopes of yielding substantial profits, it’s equally as important to ensure potential customers actually follow through with the online purchase transaction once the selected items placed in a shopping cart are to be processed at the “check out”.
Many online merchants assume that once a potential customer drops an item in a shopping cart that it’s basically a done deal and calculate it prematurely as a finalized transaction. Recent stats among large online retailers, however, reflect a shopping cart abandonment rate of over 70%. Not only are these stats troubling to large online ventures, but small online endeavors also feel the financial wrath of shopping cart abandonment issues.
The Indecisive Shopper
Although shopping cart abandonment is among one of the largest marketing hurdles for online retailers to overcome, there are proactive steps online merchants can take to make the checkout process more user-friendly. Of course there are some influences that are simply beyond their control such as the inevitable event of potential customers changing his or her mind before completing the online transaction. Unfortunately, this is a factor that is entirely dependent on the customer’s needs as well as a strong marketing strategy to sell a product or service.
Real Time, Real Support
Perhaps the greatest way to prevent shopping cart abandonment is by offering real time customer service support. Often many customers encounter technical difficulties during the online transaction process. It’s not only frustrating for customers, but also to online merchants facing the potential of a missed opportunity. Reliable and efficient customer support is an effective solution to walk customers through the online purchasing transaction should issues arise. Ideally, live chat and toll-free phone support are the best options to provide immediate assistance to answer questions in real time during the actual transaction.
No Registration Required
As an online merchant, it’s imperative to cater to customers to allow them a quick and easy transaction without first having to register with a website or signup for a newsletter. While it’s a great way to track visitors and sale leads, for many potential customers it’s an automatic turn-off as they may not have the desire or time required to fill out registration information. Instead, offer customers the option to make an online transaction as a guest. Once the customer has completed the information in the purchase transaction, merchants can easily obtain any required details. Remember time is still an ageless commodity.
Details in the Fine Print
It’s also important to provide visitors with any necessary information clearly visible on the website before customers proceed to check out with their purchase to avoid shopping cart abandonment. Information such as money back guarantees, exchange and refund policies, shipping and handling fees, privacy policies, applicable state taxes, accepted payment methods and customer support contact information. By providing the above information posted in conspicuous sections of a website allows customers to make a more informed buying decision before finalizing the transaction.
Pointing the Way
Finally, as a last attempt to prevent shopping cart abandonment, progress indicators that guide customers through the purchase process from adding items to the shopping cart to the final checkout are helpful. Online merchants should strategically place progress indicators on the top center of checkout pages. Indicators should be numbered in the order of purchase sequence and highlighted as each step is completed. Also, customers appreciate the option of being able to return to the previous page without being required to re-enter information. As a general rule, the entire checkout process shouldn’t exceed three steps to complete the transaction.
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An Expansion of eCommerce Web Hosting in the United Kingdom
Posted by: | CommentsUnited Kingdom-based web hosting provider, Nexcess.net, recently announced that is has expanded its eCommerce hosting line to customers in the U.K. The expansion of services within the country began in April 2011. The announcement was released approximately three months following the launch of its managed cluster solutions line to eCommerce customers.
Partnering with Magento
The press release indicated that Nexcess is hosting provider that specializes in eCommerce hosting. As a result, the company has become an official partner of Magento, an online shopping cart software platform. Unfortunately this addition to its Magento product line is only available to customers in the U.K. For those in other regions, a new set of low-end hosting options featuring the Magento platform will be available.
The SIP-100 and SIP-200 Hosting Packages
Nexcess’ SIP-100 and SIP-200 Magento hosting packages were previously exclusive to United States-based customers. These lines were developed for small Magento stores that do not have the same requirements as large enterprise users. SIP or Secured Isolated Platform is a customizable hosting environment for all eCommerce websites using Magento. All hosting packages are within a PCI compliant environment.
Unfortunately, the SIP-100 and SIP-200 hosting plans do not include CDN access. The cost is $47.95 and $129.95 per month, respectively. All packages are currently powered by Nexcess servers that are located in a Surrey, United Kingdom data center.
Three High-end Magento Hosting Packages
In addition to the lower-end packages, Nexcess is offering three high-end plans that include two dedicated server offerings for those that require more resources. Luckily all plans are cost-effective and customized for eCommerce startup businesses in the United Kingdom. As a result of the recent expansion from the United States, the company has witnessed a positive response. However, one major concern from the European customer base was the lack of service offerings in the United Kingdom.
Data Center Locations
The United States data center location is in Dearborn, Michigan. The next data center will be located in Southfield, Michigan which is planned to open in late 2011. The information technology corporate office is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Magento is a popular shopping cart and eCommerce solution that is growing amongst online retailers. By only offering eCommerce web hosting plans, Nexcess has found a niche with few competitors. The recent expansion to the United Kingdom should make them an industry-leader in the European marketplace.
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Essential Shopping Cart Attributes
Posted by: | CommentsAll online businesses have one thing in common and that is the need for a reliable shopping cart to process all of the e-commerce transactions that come through. In many cases the type of product you are offering will not even be the main factor that determines whether or not people purchase from you. Instead, your marketing strategies and customer service will play a major role in obtaining new business. If your website is equipped with a shopping cart that is user friendly and efficient then your customers will be more inclined to shop with you again. On the other hand, if your shopping cart is not up to par or lacks simplicity then this could actually keep people from returning. Some of the following features are considered essential to having a good shopping cart.
Ability to Up-sell
Anyone who has had even a small amount of experience in the retail or food service industry will already understand the importance of up-selling. When you up-sell you are offering customers something more than what they came for by enticing them to do so. For instance, if a customer comes to your website to purchase a gaming system then a good up-sell would be additional games or optional accessories. A comprehensive shopping cart will include a feature which allows the web master to group different products by category into an easy to use form. This will enable customers to simply check a box for upgrades or additional items. When the customer has reaches the check out point then everything the customer has chosen will be totaled up neatly and payment will be quick and easy. This feature is vital to providing your customers with the service they need but will also help to increase your sales.
Customer Feedback and Reviews
Generally speaking, people are more apt to purchase a product if they are able to read and look over user reviews from your past customers. It is important to remember that above all “word of mouth” is still your best selling tool, even with an online business. If customers can become confident that others have found your product and services satisfactory then they will feel more at ease shopping with you. This is why having a shopping cart feature that allows users; not only to read previous reviews but to leave their own is so important. In addition, user reviews are often indexed giving your site an even higher probability of receiving traffic.
The Importance of SEO
Search engine optimization is absolutely vital to your online business. If people cannot find you then they are not going to shop with you, it is that simple. This is why it is so important to be sure that your site is rich in high quality content with the right keyword density. But it is equally important to be certain that your shopping cart includes a feature that will enable it to automatically generate URLs that use the right keywords in order to index your site properly and bring you to the top of the list when it comes to searches. If you have good SEO with your site and your shopping cart is designed to automate this process then your chances of achieving success are far greater.
Perks and Discounts
Shopping online for most people is a method of purchasing things at the best price possible. There are a wealth of websites on the internet that are specifically designed for the purpose of providing customers with discounts and coupons of a variety of services and products. If you are promoting a product that is featured on other sites then it is imperative that your shopping cart come equipped with a bot that enables coupon and promotion input to be utilized. If people come to your site and are unable to use their coupons then there is a very good chance they will go somewhere else that will allow them to. Remember, as an online business owner you are facing a lot of competition. When you run an online business you are competing with thousands of other vendors that sell the same product as you. Make sure that your shopping cart can keep up.