Outsourcing and E-commerce

While your e-commerce business grow over to distant remote places order shipping face problems. It is their
outsourcing comes in as a solution.There are many more fulfillment centers for order shipping,This helps any
online business person to choose one over the other.While selecting order shipping many should have to be
taken into account.
* Warehouse location- Warehouses should be in close proximity to customers where they can access easily.
If warehouse too far from customers business is likely to fail because the cost of shipment will be higher.
* Size of the fulfillment centers- Fulfillment companies range from small to large big sized companies with more staff,branches etc.Suppose orders get piled up for your online business,then selecting one center that
can handle extra work load and ship orders within the agreed time is congenial.
Most fulfilment centers offer variety of shipping options.Fulfilment centers has various approaches for shipping fulfilment.
* Order entry- Entering orders includes various methods-
 (1) Sending individual order to the warehouse
 (2) Entering order in fulfilment center's web based system
 (3) Emailing a spreadsheet containig full of orders received  in a day
The selection of any methods for order entry depends on volume of business,shipment time,cost of shipment.
While the orders are high,the selecting method 1 or 2 will make a tedious job.
* Fulfilment centers should have provision of correcting errors. That  means when order are shipped to
wrong address or a wrong items, there should be process for remedying the situation.

E-commerce web store -some observations

While choosing to create an ecommerce web store there are some points to think out  It is essential to have an ecommerce web store if there occur a online buying under 200 dollars. If product or service cost more than that it would be better to make an ecommerce website well managed by sale team.
Making a webstore is easy for a professional designer imagining that you have very limited back-end products. But anyone who is new comer in the field of online business has to sharpen their knowledge in web designing technologies to stay on because technologies in internet changing very often and to compete with rival competitor dealing in the same product.There are  technology cost associated with an e-commerce
website, in addition to the cost of overheads,marketing and fulfillment.
However, starting an e-commerce store  is generally less expensive than traditional brick and mortar services.The barbone start up costs associated with an e-commerce store is the cost of computer  and Internet service provider. There is contrasting views from this point.

E-commerce web design-some essential points-2

(1)Good content- Retailers normally sells products in which they have developed niche market. It is essential to keep a rapport with customers about the product anyone deals with. And also strong knowlwdge to answer for any queries they come across. This form of marketing develops an online community.
(2) Good navigation- This is one of the essential factor for success  of a website. Pages has to be well organised into categories. The pages must be linked to each other and to home page. Navigation bars must be placed at the top of the web page.If it contains only fews items,say about 5 or 6 items it must be at the top. If it contains numerous different categories it would be better to keep on left side of the page. Use text
links on navigation bars instead of graphic links.And also give accurate  names for listing on bars so that a
visitor can find what he or she want.
(3) Testimonials- Online business website must include a page or a provision for rating or votes for anyone's
business.If customers comments are good, it would appear good to prospective buyers or otherwise the
dropship business owner can improve on their service
(4) Frequently asked questions- It is essential to keep  an FAQ page  to write down answers to commonly
raised doubts or clarifications.There should be page lines for customers to poise questions about any problems.
(5) privacy policy- Order pages or Option box should include privacy policy,their email address or personal
 information will not be given to any 3rd party.
   

E-commerce web design-some essential points

Success of an e-commerce site or any site depends on its designing page Home page or inner pages design.
It should be user friendly,easy to navigate. Website design should focus on customer's perspective.Main page elements for a good sales optimised website are following.
(1) Title- it should reflect the site precisely. Main keywords which are to be included for Search engine optimisation purpose.
(2) Headline- it attract the attention of customers it should be bold or italised It tells visitors the main theme in
the play.What it is about or what it can do? It should be placed right at the center of the page. When internet
surfers visit the site, they spent very few seconds for browsing one's site.Headline capture the attention of surfers and compel them to read on.
(3) Content of the home page- it describes the main benefits of your website Give useful directions to derive
benefits most from your website For eg.tell them why their products are best in the light of their services or
sign up for newsletters to get latest tips and guides on travel market.
(4) Email marketing- It is advantageous to have an option box for entering email address and name. It can
help the site owner to keep the customer or visitor informed about latest product features, discounts,and
details of prices and so on....

Use of e-commerce website

If any one plans to sell  his product or a service online it is essential to keep onc website utilising E-commerce software is one of the most efficient method making sale. Selling a product online means cost of
setting up business very cheap when compared to making a retail shop. E-commerce software is any software which help customers of a site to shop and buy.Internet has been regarded as a platform on which
it work.It is essential that a working website having user friendly, good landing page with high security of online payments.If one is not having this, he will lose customers and money.
Shopping carts- A shopping cart is regarded as an integral component of e-commerce website.Therefore if
e-commerce is selected,one has to select shopping cart software which is best suited to site design of the site
operating system and browser.
Add to cart button- Familiar in any website,when a user clicks on 'Add to cart', they will go to a page
that helps to make purchase of items and they come back to page to continue shopping  and spending more
money.Internet shoppers are offered a good deal by discounts.Product level discounts and order level
discounts.This differs from shop to shop-determined by those who offer for sale.

Toll free numbers-what it can do with e-commerce.

The appearance of toll free numbers '800' or '877' reminds us the image of a phoneoperator that deals with 100 of clients a day. Not having a toll free number for e-commerce business will cost more in the long run.Toll free numbers are not very expensive. Toll free numbers are not the only affordabletelecommuni-
cations. that could be useful to the owner of an e-commerce website. Conference calling,broadband or '+1
internet access are e.g of things that can be got more cost effective through web pages.

Search engine optimisation

Coming in the free or paid search engine and ranking on the top in the searach engines are different things.Search engines like google, Yahoo and MSN comprise nearly 90% of the searches online. Google is by far the most powerful engines for free listings beacause its results are determined by algorithams. Its listings are totally unbiased and pure Other search may contain sponsored listings as well as free listings. Since Google changes its algorithams very frequently one should know rule and regulations to keep the site on the top of search engines.
Search engine optimisation consists of two factors- On page optimisation and off page optimisation.
On page optimisation-involves the manipulation of page components like titles,contents,text links to rank well
for google.(1)Title- Web site title should contain the main keyword.To link two words use _ not use 'and'.
(2) site content- Attractive site contents related to keywords. Most search engine base listing on 'keyword
density'.It is the ratio of number of times that your keyword appear throughout the site to the total number
of words.
When people use search engines to find product they want, or to buy an item online,they are not bothered
about where they get their products than how much they can command.  One different way to get listed
in search engines is pay-per-click campaign. Search engines normally follow mathematical algorithams to
determine which websites will be ranked high.If the specified website in consideration matches criteria
it is ranked high.If one's website is about holiday adventures, a search using this keyword  displays sites
related to this. The % of searches received for this site depends on how many searches are performed in
a month.
(3) Header tags- The header -1 of tags of the site should include main keyword and header-2 tag should
     include secondary keyword.
Off page optimisation- Search engines like Google relay mostly on off page factors.
(1) The number of sites linking to one's site- Link popularity can make powerful impact in search engines.
The more number of sites or links attached to one's site,the more the chance of ranking. Gaining backlinks
is an important measure to understand the imporatance of the site.To gain backlinks site makers send emails
to webmasters or maintain reciprocal link.
(2) Linking based on subject-If the relevant sites are linked using URL or link from other site,it would sometimes help to rank better.That is if one's site is regarding online shopping linking with as many URLs
as possible of the same category.
(3) If one's website is held in high esteem,by the website owner who possess high quality site, one's site
rank may go up.

What is an e-catalog?

An e-catalog is an online product content management solution with powerful user interface which provides
efficient navigation,searching and integration capabilities to organise and publish product information,enable real time handling of business processes related to buying and selling.An e-catalog stores product content in a
single database and orgaganise product information under a certain categorised hierarchy.An e-catalog using
UNSPSC (United national standard products and service code) provides precise and organised classification
of products and services.This categorisation provides an open,multi-industry standards.An catalog following
this provides a normalisation procedure to comply with a uniform product naming system.This makes it easier for buyers to compare products,prices and ensure correct matches for relevant product searches. Depending on the quality of product information available the e-catalog requires rationalising abbreviations,acronyms,
synchronising terminologies,converting units of measurements. The return on investment from this solution can cause incresed revenue and better costomer satisfaction.

Internet business models

Internet business models - B2B,B2C,Web based store fronts these models have revolutionised
the trade,mode of production in the business field. The e-procurement system became famous
owing to automated buying solutions.This is deemed to be capable of reducing maintenence, repair, and operating expenses. Web based storefronts provides a low cost channel for global marketing and sale of goods and services.
The next business model that changed the perception of doing business online was e-market place. An e-market place is an online venue which bring together multiple buyers and sellers
and makes it easier for them to communicate,collaborate and trade as members of large community.
There is another model called enterpriseB2B with supply chain management is capable of strea-
lining procurement and sales processes,cutting overhead costs increasing efficiency. Scope of this
business involve creation,management, and distibution of product content. Accurate and complete product content improves quality and speed of purcasing decision by giving buyers
the vital information. Product content differentiates the products and enable them to participate
in multiple e-market place,e-procurement system .The e-market place and e-procurement
system provide content with value added information such as ratings, reviews,regulatory compliance and service information to attract users and fulfill the needs of diverse buyer and
supplier communities.Creating and displaying high quality content is difficult because different
suppliers use different discription,attribution and parameters to describe the same.Buyers and
sellers have totally different approach and require different functions from a product content
management solution.
Buyers need a comprehensive content management systems which allows them to take conclusive buying decision with a minimum of cost and effort.Suppliers want a system that enable them to manage their branch,control their product discription,pricing and discount
policies.

Niche marketing in e-commerce

Developing a targeted group of people with specific and similar needs or interest .They want the same goods and service.Online business that drop ship their products to their customers would
thrive by focusing on a specific targeted niche market. Most drop ship businesses are able to survive and thrive online by selecting a 'niche' that no major competitor is targeting and directing their marketing efforts to their respective niches.
When a product has strong competitor supplying the product prevailing in the market or product's demand is short, this idea is tends to fall. A prosepective or expected demand for a preferred product is served. This demand could arise from a specific section or group of people.
It is likely to have heavy demand.
Chat rooms,forums,discussion boards, are where the target market congregates online.These
items will decide the evolving needs of the target market.Once the needs of the target market
is accomplished, the next requirement is to publish all available products online.the evolving
of niche market might form the foundation of the online business.

The right choice of an e-commerce program

The right choice of an e-commerce program depends on the type of the product we need to sell.
If the product is physical which require packing and shipping the software that is needed is differed from a digital product selling( A digital product is sold over the internet.) The first item
of physical product required pictures,descriptions and choice of different sizes
the choice of webhosting services must be compatiable with e-commerce program.E-commerce
program that can be assimilated with a payment processor.
Various kinds of E-commerce program are there- open source or paid versions-better with small to medium online shops while paid version offer full technical support.
Search engine friendly- Many new e-commerce software program are search engine friendly.
that means that they create address and e-commerce website that search engine like google,
Yahoo and MSN can see what is in the online store. This increase the chance of being get listed in
the search engines.
Choice of Shopping cart- A shopping cart is an integral part of any e-commerce program since
it gather personal identification details and credit card numbers. There are various types
of shopping carts available. They range from merchant services to fully integrated shopping carts that require custom programming.
Merchant sevices-very suitable for small business. they provide their merchant acount,gateway,hosted shopping cart.
They require set up fee,transaction fee for every transaction. Merchant shopping carts have
an administrator interface which allow us to login into account ,add products,price and shipping options. The shopping cart generates the HTML from the purchase buttons. copy and paste
the html into the web pages. when a customer clicks the purchase buttons he is taken to another
website to enter credit card information.
Hosted shopping cart- It posses same features as merchant services shopping carts. It also
provides to login into to enter product information. They also generate html for purchse buttons
which can be copied and pasted. Hosted shopping cart allow us to customise the shopping cart
so that it looks like the page of your website. Customising the shopping cart requires some
programming languge knowledge.It allows us to use our own merchant account and gateway.
It requires fees for set up and transaction.
Fully intergrated shopping cart- The choice of an integrated shopping cart allow us to use our
merchant account, or a service that allow us to use their merchant account.
Free shopping cart require some programming skills to customise a free shopping cart. There
are more companies specilised in customised fully integrated shopping cart.
One main advatage with this type of shopping cart is that we can have customer reviews,sort
products,prices etc.

The selection of shopping cart system for e-commerce

An e-commerce solution is used for business that sell thing on web. It is a way to define electronic shopping carts. They help the use of credit cards and other forms of payment.E-commerce solution is available for small and large business.Business like Ebay,Amazon use it.
An ecommerce solution can be a company that host websites.Some hosting service offers a free
trial for one month while some other not.Others offer for on monthly basis or annually. These
solutions have customisable solutions and guarantees results with powerful tools and affiliate programs.
Shopping carts sysems like Miva merchants,os commerce are not seo friendly. Most shopping
carts sytems are not even spiderable and require third party add-ons to facilitate even the lowest form of seo friendliness.
The creation of a front-end site with a number of pages might be a solution to this. or otherwise
choose a search engine friendly shopping cart system. It allows the customisation of individual
pages and adding more products.
Shopping cart installing-E-commerce websites are planned to sell products online.So this make
some make view points on developing a virtual shop.
One simple way is to develop a shopping cart in the site. Shopping cart solutions can be paid one
or open source. And again they have some type of customer support and some of them may be
ready to install in the hosting account.

• A domain name is needed for the online store. it has to be hosted at a hosting company .
• If there is no domain , own a domain and host it at a hosting company.One need to choose a hosting company which offers what we need. And also need a database for your store and programming language support.
• which programming language depends on the requirements to install shopping cart of our choice. Some examples of programming languages are ASP,PHP,Perl etc.

There is an alternative way to sell products online. A payment processor to process monetary transactions of buying and selling. e.g-Paypal, where a merchant account opening is not required. Otherwise choose a payment processor that accepts credit cards online where we open a merchant account. e.g- Authorise.net,world pay and Sec pay. Most shopping cart systems comes with the payment processing modules. So we can connect shopping cart with payement processor of our choice.

A different way is to install shopping cart scripts in the domain and configure it using an administrator interface. Here we need to choose layout and establish product categories,s et payment processor informations.

What is an e-commerce merchant account?

A merchant account is like a cashier of a physical store who process payment.But the
individual humans do it off line. E-commerce merchant account do it online.
Any objective of an internet venture depends on the volume of profit. so also an E-commerce merchant account. Many e-commerce merchant accounts can be found on world wide web.
The main thing is that of finding an e-commerce merchant account for our business purpose.
The right choice of E-commerce merchant account depends on several things.

• Applicable fees- All internet merchant account charge fees. Some onetime while others once in a month. The choice of an e-commerce merchant account depends on amount of money one can spent.
• Reliability- The choice of an e-commerce merchant must care about how much we can trust their service.
• Coverage- It means user acceptence. An e-commerce merchant account should be able to process payment by the use of credit cards or alternative online payement schemes like paypal, storm pay,e-gold etc.

On line store fronts on an e-commerce fulfillment service should be able to process payments by the credit cards and other forms of payments electronic check and purchase order. E-commerce fulfillment service is the process of receiving,inventorying,warehousing, record keeping, and customer enquiries.

• Recieving involves acquisition of goods from suppliers.
• Inventorying- the skills of inventory management governs the cost of fulfillment and quality services.
• Warehousing - fulfillment component should have their own warehouse and distribution centers.
• Shipping- goods are delivered to the customers in various shipping methods-ground,air, sea etc. at fulfillment centers.
• return and order enquiry- customer service representatives at fulfillment companies can undertake return and refusal of order for their clients.