payment options

[hastingsd]

i am getting a few people to my site daily(20) but no-one buying i am wondering if it is because i only accept payments through paypal or by cheque the site only been around for a month.any comments would be appreciatd.good or bad just like to know whats you veiw

[pbresser]

You don't provide full contact details on your site (addresses, phone numbers, company registration etc) only an email and this may be putting off people spending money with you as they will be unsure you are a real business.

Also, at the bottom of the pages is a copyright date of 1999. Some people may view this as the last time the site was updated and therefore assume that it is not current.

[hastingsd]

thanks you probably right about contact info i had wondered about that myself as for the date i had not thought about that these are all things i looking to change cheers for feedback :)

[SillyJokes]

20 people is a start but you are going to need a whole lot more. Most sites convert at around 2% so it's going to be about 1.5 orders a week for you at that rate.

Your shipping is not encouraging. You don't have a free shipping threshold and it just seems to go up and up as you add goods to the basket.

When you are doing well you'll have a courier you can strike a deal with which you may not have now but I think many of your competitors will be offering free shipping over a certain amount.

Perhaps you need to work on your USP - just saying you'll save money probably isn't enough in the market you are in. Plus any money saved is paid back in shipping costs.

Are you offering a competitive deal against what your main competitors offer?

If you only have paypal and cheque payment I think this will be harming you as many people will abandon the cart at that point (even though we also have both these options we also offer an ordinary service)

You are not presenting an impression of permanance with no contact details, a woolly 'about us' and not taking payments properly online.

[Ozzy]

Its is also a legal requirement to have a Privacy Policy, clear T's & C's on your website, a returns policy, and full contact details on your website.
Without these not only are you not enstilling confidence for your customers but you are breaking the law :( Not a lot of people realise that!

[vigo]

Its is also a legal requirement to have a Privacy Policy

Actually Richard, if I could pick a little bone with this; a privacy policy is not required on any UK business website: it has no legal meaning (it's a fuzzy, American thing we brought over), but it is a good idea to have one because most people look for something called "Privacy Policy".

What is required is a data protection statement at the point of collection (and a data protection policy clearly and perminatly linked - usually from the homepage), these are required by the Data Protection Act. The latter of these is what most people mean these days when they say "privacy policy".

Splitting hairs I know, but it's always good to use the precise terms when we're talking about law! Totally correct on T&C's, returns policy and contact details.

As a matter of interest, QuickFormations "privacy policy" is a model example of a good data protection statement. Well done, Richard :)

Nath

[easytrade]

I agree with most of the comments that people have left.

To add to a few, first of if you do not feel like giving your business address on your site then you can register a mail box and provide that as your business address. Additionally if you feel that an e-mail address is sufficient for contact information make sure its more like a contact form then a simple e-mail address.

Secondly paypal by itself as a payment processor in my view is not sufficient. With my business my sales almost doubled when I started using Worldpay. It just gives your customers an added flexibility and many people tend to trust the sites more when they see more than one payment processor.


Hope this helps.

[gary]

To add to a few, first of if you do not feel like giving your business address on your site then you can register a mail box and provide that as your business address. Additionally if you feel that an e-mail address is sufficient for contact information make sure its more like a contact form then a simple e-mail address.

Unfortunately, that's not an option. It's a legal requirement to have your full contact details, including the company name, address and phone number. You should also display your company registration number and VAT number if applicable.

Gary

[Sibs]

The law regarding distance selling can be found here:

http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/ecomm.htm

Cheers
Sarah

[New Age London]

You also get people going to your site an average of 9 times before they buy.

[kyber]

You also get people going to your site an average of 9 times before they buy.Would you mind expanding on that a little bit please? Not sure how you would know how many times people are visiting his site before they buy so I assume you are quoting some sort of generic statistic but as there is so much variation between different countries, customer categories, product ranges, etc. I can not begin to imagine what the basis of the statistic is so it really needs some qualification and context setting to help.

Stuart

[SillyJokes]

That's true Stuart but I think you'd agree that most people don't buy on a first visit and it does require a few (I heard 7 exposures to the company - not necessarily the site) before someone buys.

[kyber]

That's true Stuart but I think you'd agree that most people don't buy on a first visit and it does require a few (I heard 7 exposures to the company - not necessarily the site) before someone buys.What's true? No, I would not agree with your generic statement. That was my point. I see bucket loads of statistics for all sorts of online activities in all sorts of contexts.

Stuart

[SillyJokes]

Stuart - my phrasing was bad.

It's true that a flat statement that it takes 9 exposures is too easy and broad.

But it's also true that it does usually take more than one exposure to achieve a sale, the number of exposures which will vary with the product type and price.

That's why when working with affiliates you have a 30 day cookie so that they get the commission even if the person they pass through does not buy on the first visit. It allows time to visit a few times before purchasing.

[kyber]

You would be shocked then by statics I wish I could share with you showing the number of people that will buy on first online "exposure"... [I really am in full pedant mode today]

... ok, within the context implicit within this thread, for small online only retailers with little or no brand presence, etc. etc [imagine loads of additional caveats and qualifications that I do not have time to type in] then yes, you are right, it will normally take several "exposures" (at least for new customers). If it were 9 though, I would say that there was something pretty fundamental wrong with the proposition.

Stuart

[New Age London]

It was Site pro news or web pro news that my webslave puts my way, I can't remember which, and it was about a year ago I read this.

I do agree about the other factors; they didn't state what other factors were present, so I took it to be an average overall. Does anyone else have more exact results?