Starting e-shop

[Rachel]

Hi
I previously posted a message asking for suggestions for easy e-shop packages, as an alternative to 1&1. I now have a few possibilities but need a bit more help! As I mentioned I have limited knowledge and am worried that I might over-look something important. I know that SSL is quite crucial, are there any other major things that I need to look for when setting up my small e-shop. Please help!
Thanks.

 

[SillyJokes]

Work on your site's credibilty and usability.
For credibility:

Ensure you have correct terms and conditions, a privacy policy, a good contacts page with a real address or po box.

Make your prices and postage clear,

Do not ask people to register to shop.

An 'about us' page which says more than we supply blah and give good service.

Get a clear returns policy.

All the time think like a customer who doesn't care about you. This is because most people won't care about you and your site, only about what you can do for them and how easy it is for them to achieve this. Make everything as easy as possible for them because you need them more than they need you.

Read what you can about usability and really try to keep things simple and obvious and usercentric.

Usability is very important because it will mean more sales but also a site which works for people often also works for search engine spiders. The easier your site is to use the wider the range of people who can use it, and they all have money to spend. Plus it will be quicker to use and time is money.

 

[Spire]

Hi

Well if u are going to use Pay Pal as a payment provider they will take care of all the SSL stuff, so you will not need to worry about it, and as silly jokes say's concentrate your efforts on designing a user friendly site, check out other peoples there are some auful sites out there,

My pet hate is flash sites and having to wait for the download, then getting your head blown of by music,

 

[mr-e-commerce]

You need to decide on how you will process your payments, an SSL certificate won't do this for you and until you decide how to go about tackling this crucial step I would advise to hold off from buying an SSL cert altogether as you may not need one if you use a payment gateway.

 

[KateCB]

We use Protx as a payment gateway, and HSBC to actually colelct the money - SSL is taken care of by Protx.....For 100 transactions a month Protx charge 23.50 including VAT - so it is ideal for the smaller/new start e trader; commission rates very with the banks and how good you are at negotiating a deal - based on turnover, so have figures to hand when you talk with them!

Kate
Htpp://www.martialdesign.co.uk

 

[SuffolkDesigns]

it is still advisable to use SSL on any pages where you are collecting personal information before sending them to the merchants site for payment processing

 

[Steve2507]

Personally I would not use Pay Pal.

Instead get your own merchant account number and build up your own banking history with one of the big banks. Eventually you will then get better charges (by negotiation).

Steve

 

[elixirwebsolutions]

Hi
I previously posted a message asking for suggestions for easy e-shop packages, as an alternative to 1&1. I now have a few possibilities but need a bit more help! As I mentioned I have limited knowledge and am worried that I might over-look something important. I know that SSL is quite crucial, are there any other major things that I need to look for when setting up my small e-shop. Please help!
Thanks.

Hi Rachel

I represent Elixir websolutions,A web site design and development company. We have developed many e-shops for our valueable customers and are confident that we can set up the same for you as well. We will develop a site where you sell 100's of productscategoriezed in various categories- users can drill down to view the details of the products.

The site will also have admin console to manage the site. From the admin console the administrator will be able to manage the categories, users, orders, inventory, prepare the reports etc,

Please contact us on any of the below mentioned details and we will be glad to provide you the details for the stores that we have developed previously and link to view the admin console of the site

Regards
Elixir Websolutions Team,
Voice UK +44.20.7193.2917
Email: mandeepk at e-lixirweb
AOL Messenger id - mandeepelixir
MSN Messenger id - mandeepelixir at hotmail
Yahoo Messenger id – mandeepelixir
elixirwebsolutions dot