Ecommerce Solutions

Having your own ecommerce solutions platform can be key for your business to succeed and stand out from competitors. Having your own custom ecommerce solutions platform could attract new customers meaning it delivers a satisfactory shopping experience and ultimately offering the best tools to manage efficiently. An ecommerce platform should be built around your own requirements rather than having to work around standard ones that are already built. When having your own custom platform, you should take into consideration the following:

• Are you PCI DSS certified?
• Are you a visa merchant agent?
• Is it really 100% secure?

The above three are just a few important factors for a good framework, however, ecommerce solutions should be easy for providing easy administration. For example, ease of adding items/pages, editing these and deleting them, the ability to capture and retain customer details, a good product catalogue, product search, an efficient WYSIWYG and additional payment gateway solutions along with other important factors all in all making it as easy to use for the customer as possible.

There are various different standard ecommerce solutions that allow companies to sell their products online but they tend to come with standard functionality which might not let you reach the heights you want to get to as a business and can be quite restrictive in what you want to do. Therefore having a bespoke package created for you, it takes out the generic script that you get with the standard ones meaning your flexibility is greater letting you do more. As the internet is such a competitive world, it can be a tough task finding the right company that have the right ecommerce solution for you. For a prospective customer on an ecommerce site it must be attractive and have offers on there as people now are always on the look out for bargains/deals. Security is another important factor when looking for ecommerce solutions. Many customers will only buy from a site that is trusted and is 100% secure meaning that they have to be assured of this whether through logos or a security page on the site that they can read.

So if you are a new online business and you are looking for a custom made platform, then I suggest using Google to search for ecommerce solutions and see what results you get. It is always good to be on the look out for companies that have won awards for their platform as this gives you a clear indication of who is the best one to use and who isn't.

Smartphone Users

There has been a recent survey of European customers that confirms the trend for shopper to use their smartphones to research products in store. The report which was conducted by Tradedoubler actually found that 42% of smartphone users use their device to compare prices in store whilst 13% of the users claim to have changed stores after finding a better offer elsewhere. According to mobile research company mobileSQUARED , there were more than 32 million smartphone users in the UK in 2001 expecting it to double by 2012. Also, it is estimated that more than 17 million people in the UK will go online via mobile in 2012 rising to more than 20 million by 2015.

Mobiles and the Internet is a part of every day life now especially for businesses and the technology that is now available via mobile is ever growing and has paved the way for unique brand experiences when utilised properly and efficiently by companies. In 2011, mobile search, ecommerce and advertising saw a huge increase in traffic and sales due to having mobile optimised websites. Research has shown that 11% of overall website traffic came from mobile devices. Going into 2012, the expectant growth of mobile is set to soar at a quicker rate as many brands now have mobile optimised sites giving the customer a better user experience.

Many people use their smartphones on the go, at work, in restaurants, on public transport, at a social gathering or on the go. With these facts and figures it makes perfect sense for a company to have a mobile commerce website (if you are an ecommerce company!). With the ever increasing popularity of smartphones and even tablet devices, the Government has pledged to expand the UK's internet capabilities which in turn could see an increase in transactions on mobile and tablet devices.

Tradedoubler’s survey also highlights the importance of mobile optimised sites with a quarter of responsdents said that are more likely to purchase frequently if the websites were optimised for mobile hence the further need to have mobile commerce websites. On the other hand some people can be quite hesitant to buying online due to issues with security with their bank details and people that do buy online via mobile, the value of purchase does tend to be a lower amount rather than buying something of high value via mobile.

From a marketing point of view, there is still a significant amount of catch-up to be done for mobile commerce to become as trusted as standard ecommerce. 

Recession Hit UK

As the U.K double-dip recession is deeper than originally feared it is imperative for any surviving business to help increase and improve cash flow.

The latest revised figures show a sharper decline in the U. K’s economic output during the first three months of this year and with many stating that the U. K’s economy is in a recession with two consecutive quarters of negative growth. The corporate sector has come under fire for "sitting on cash" rather than making investments in infrastructure.

However, despite all this, Prime minister David Cameron has announced an £82 million scheme to help young people wanting to start up a business. Initiative like this could lead to 300,00 or more business being created which would help boost the economic growth here in the U.K

If the United Kingdom had the same rate of entrepreneurship as the US then there would be 900,00 more business which would critical in the repair and growth of the economy.

Even with the new government scheme to help young entrepreneurs, loans still have to be paid back after five years and with interest at 3%. Making sure a new business generates profits is paramount to its survival.

Utilisation of an open payment system would help to increase cash flow and therefore maintain a healthy turnover. The Open payment system can be used for any online payment, mobile, payment telephone payment or plug in payment system.

Here are just a few benefits:

Security
1. PCI DSS Compliant - Level 1 certification
2. 3D Secure - Verified by Visa and Mastercard source card
3. Backups - OPS makes live backups of all transactions and date that are stored within it

Online
1. Customers can make a payment from any desktop computer and browser at any place and at any time
2. Customers will be able to pay their invoices on the internet
3. Your bank account will be credited directly with payments.

Mobile
1. Provides real-time reports of cash takings before your staff get back to the office
2. Ideal for sales forces who need to close the deal
3. Field based staff can access customer account history and activity

Telephone
1. Transfers can be transferred from one account to another by making a telephone call
2. Customer does not need an internet connection to make payments
3. This is system is extremely useful for call centres
4. Fully compliant with the disability Discrimination Act

Plug in
1. Transactions can be posted directly to sales ledger via a simple file transfer
2. Full analysis of of refunds, rejections and transactions
3. Accepting payments on account is made easier