As COVID-19 continues to dominate the headlines, many business owners are looking for ways to make sales without interacting with their customers in-person. Enter ecommerce, which allows business owners to sell their products and services entirely online. If you’ve never sold products this way before, however, ecommerce can seem downright mystifying. Let’s look at the various components of a typical ecommerce transaction.
Your Website
First and foremost, your customers will visit your website to see what you have to offer. Make sure your site is up to the task! Depending on your hosting package and the way your site is built, you may have to make some modifications to ensure a smooth customer experience. Remember that customers who don’t have a positive experience while shopping on your site may abandon their carts and never return. Ensure that your site is technically able to handle the load of an ecommerce platform and make any changes that are necessary before you go live.
Your Shopping Cart
After your customers have browsed your site and found exactly what they’re looking for, they’re still going to need a way to check out. A virtual shopping cart facilitates this process and allows the customer to actually place their transaction. A shopping cart is critical – without it, there’s no ecommerce happening at all! Fortunately, there are lots of different options out there. Do your research and choose one that fits your needs and budget, keeping in mind that the customer experience should be as seamless as possible to prevent customers from getting frustrated.
Your Payment Processor
You can’t have an online shopping cart without a payment processor! Once the customer checks out and makes their payment using the shopping cart, the payment processor steps in to make sure that you actually get paid. Choosing a payment processor is an important decision. Price is important, but so is service, reliability, and accessibility in case something goes wrong. Make sure you’re choosing the processor that’s right for you.
Your Shipping Strategy
Once your customer makes their purchase, they’re going to be eagerly waiting to receive their items. We live in a world where fast, accurate shipping is expected – and your ecommerce solution isn’t complete until you’ve figured out how to deliver this to your customers. Plan out how you’re going to store, organize, package, and ship your products so that customers receive them in a timely fashion without breaking the bank.
Ecommerce Doesn’t Have to be Complicated
Don’t let this article scare you off of setting up an ecommerce store! You just need to find a few key partners who will help you make sense of everything. One of those will be your payment processor – and we know just the one. 360 Payments can help you set up and manage your ecommerce solution, and we’ll be there every step of the way to guide you through the process. Ready to get started? Call us at 1-855-360-0360 or drop us a line on our website!
PS – Need more contactless payments solutions? Check this out.
PPS – You CAN run a business with both online and offline elements. Here’s how.