[su_dropcap style=”flat”]B[/su_dropcap]UILDING AN online store is incredibly easy because so many sites now offer help for site owners. Sites like eBay and Etsy let you put up photographs of your items, write short product descriptions and start selling items in minutes. Those sites even let you print off shipping labels from home and accept payments from credit cards and debit cards. The problem with those sites is that each one charges a fee to list items and takes a cut from each item sold, which cuts into your profits. When you want to make more money and appeal to more customers, you need a customized site that includes some great features.
Valid Domain Name
The first thing you need is a valid domain name. Customers don’t want to spend a lot of time typing your company name into a search box or trying to remember your URL to find their way to the site. Try to keep things as simple as possible. Use a domain name that includes the name of your online shop. If someone already has the name you want, use an alternate name that is similar but won’t infringe on the trademark of another store.
Shipping Options
Amazon watched its profits soar after introducing Amazon Prime, which lets shoppers pay one fee and get free shipping on all orders as well as other perks. The site also offers free standard shipping for those who spend $25 or more on a single order. If you want to compete with other online retail destinations, you need to offer multiple shipping methods. Give your shoppers the option of standard shipping, which makes longer, and expedited or even overnight shipping. You can run promotions too that give customers codes for free standard shipping.
Secure Payment
After the security breaches experienced by Target and Walmart, it’s not surprising that so many customers are a little nervous about shopping online. Using online shopping carts and secure payment options can increase the confidence they have in you and your site. Secure payment methods should include encryption software that keeps hackers from accessing your confidential information and feature other products or elements that keep the email and shipping addresses of your customers safe. A virtual shopping cart builds confidence too because it lets customers keep an eye on all the items they add to that cart from the site.
Detailed Listings
A common reason why some retail sites fail is because those sites use limited information. Whether you want to buy a new cell phone, shirt or book, you want to see what the item looks like and read a description too. Give your customers information like videos and photos of the product, a short description of what it does and the dimensions of that item. You can even let customers write and post reviews on each product page. Using all these elements on your online retail site helps you build a site that shoppers will really love.
