E-Commerce 101

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As a small to medium sized business owner, you may not understand all the parts of an online store. It can seem intimidating but it really isn’t.

The E-commerce Process

  • You need an online shopping cart program.
  • You need to secure everything from the time customers enter your site through your “Thank you for your order” acknowledgement and receipt.
  • You need a way to accept payments from a credit card.
  • You need to know what you sold, when you sold it, to whom you sold it, for how much (including taxes and shipping) and how that relates to inventory.
  • You need to have a reliable and efficient mechanism for handling returns and customer complaints.
  • You should always declare what information you gather and what you do with it as well as how you protect it.
  • And you need to have a way to ensure and measure customer satisfaction with your service and product. Believe it or not – the service is THE MOST IMPORTANT aspect to a successful online business.

Do everything you can to make sure the customer has the means to:

  • Navigate quickly – both to your products and to their cart
  • Buy the products – an Add to Basket button right next to the product is important, and a way to quickly indicate quantity
  • Check status – that Basket Contents button is all important. Customers should be able to review what they’ve selected at any time. Sub-totals, with or without taxes and shipping, are important as well.
  • Secure Check out – so customers can finish the purchase securely. And always, always, always, make sure they can finish the purchase whenever they want to. In other words, put a Checkout button on every page!
  • Select shipping – make sure that when customers do check out they can select the shipping method and tell them clearly what it will cost.

How the cart actually works and the process for checkout is what makes the customer’s experience positive or negative. The most successful online transactions are those that allow the customer to easily choose what they want, pay for it in a quick and efficient manner, and insures that the transaction is secure – and, is indeed, secure.

It may sound overwhelming but with a little planning Secure Site Commerce can implement a shopping cart for you that’s functional, quick, efficient, secure, and leaves your customers happy because they got in, found what they were after, bought it, and felt it was secure, fair and fast.

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Serving Wisconsin Businesses In Milwaukee And Waukesha Counties :

Milwaukee County communities: Bayside, Brown Deer. Cudahy, Fox Point, Franklin, Glendale, Greendale, Greenfield, Hales Corners, Milwaukee, Oak Creek, River Hills, Shorewood, South Milwaukee, St. Francis, Wauwatosa, West Allis, West Milwaukee and Whitefish Bay.  ~   Waukesha County communities: Bethesda, Big Bend, Brookfield, Buena Vista, Butler, Camp Whitcomb, Chenequa, North Anthony Pharmacy ,Colgate, Delafield, Dousman, Eagle, Eagleville, Elm Grove, Genesee, Genesee Depot, Guthrie, Hartland, Jericho, Lac La Belle, Lake Five, Lannon, Lisbon, Mapleton, Menomonee Falls, Merton, Monches, Monterey, Mukwonago, Muskego, Nashotah, New Berlin, North Lake, North Prairie, Oconomowoc„ Oconomowoc Lake, Okauchee Lake, Ottawa, Pewaukee, Saylesville, Stone Bank, Summit, Summit Center, Summit Corners, Sussex, Vernon, Wales and Waukesha. We serve businesses in many Wisconsin communities outside of the Greater Milwaukee area too:: Appleton, Baraboo, Beloit, Black River Falls, Burlington, Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Fond du Lac, Janesvile, Kenosha, La Crosse, Madison, Menasha, Merrill, Neenah, Oshkosh, Racine, Sheboygan, Sturgeon Bay, Waupaca, Wausau, West Bend, and Wisconsin Dells.