quote I want to offer my products or services for sale online, so where do I start? quote

Can I use my existing merchant account? What if I don't have a merchant account? How much does it cost? Is it secure? I sell services, so must I have a shopping cart on my web site?

We provide secure, online payment solutions for small businesses. Contact us to find out more.

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HOW TO
SELL STUFF THROUGH YOUR WEB SITE

E-COMMERCE SOLUTIONS
FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

In January 2007, The Times reported that UK shoppers spent £7.6 billion over the internet during the 10 weeks running up to Christmas. This was more than double the amount spent online in 2004 and brought total online spending for the year to £30 billion. That is expected to grow by a staggering 40% in 2007.

In the UK in particular, online sales are being driven by the ready availability of cheap broadband and a growing confidence amongst consumers in the security of online shopping.

At the same time, the take up of e-commerce by small businesses in the UK is sluggish. According to the Federation of Small Businesses*, only 18% of small businesses in the UK are capable of selling their products and services online.

If you want to start selling online, here's how we can help.

E-COMMERCE SOLUTIONS

First, we can integrate a secure, online payments service into your web site. Depending on what you want to sell, we can provide one of the following payment models:

  • The ubiquitous shopping cart model, suitable for businesses selling a range of products that can be recorded in an online catalogue;
  • An order / application form model, suitable for businesses selling services, courses, events, single products etc., where the shopping cart model is less appropriate.

Payments are handled using a commercial payment gateway service, such as PayPal or PROTX. This provides you with added security, as you will not have to handle any aspect of the debit / credit card transaction yourself. You can use these services whether or not you have a merchant account. Pricing structures vary from one service provider to the next, but you can expect to pay a monthly subscription plus a small percentage of each transaction.

SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING AND CAMPAIGN REPORTING

To get the most from your e-commerce web site, you will need to put into place an effective internet marketing strategy. Our internet marketing strategies typically use a combination of search engine optimisation (seo) and pay per click advertising (ppc) to generate sales.

When combined with our campaign reporting services, our e-commerce solutions allow you to track and report the revenue being generated through your web site. But not only are we able to measure headline revenue figures, we can also attribute revenue to specific countries, campaigns and keywords. For example, you can:

  • Compare the revenue generated from pay per click campaigns, natural search, e-mail campaigns etc.;
  • Find out which keyword searches are the most valuable in terms of driving conversions and generating revenue;
  • Compare revenues received form different countries or regions.

FURTHER INFORMATION

RELATED ARTICLES

* Federation of Small Businesses. Report: Lifting the Barriers to Growth in UK Small Businesses 2006.