Set Now Solutions specializes in online marketing and web-based productivity solutions.

The most important part of your e-commerce strategy is your overall plan. You will need a plan for all of the following:

• Budget
• Website Design and Usability
• Website Content
• E-commerce Technology
• Marketing
• Maintenance
• Security
• Website Hosting
• Customer Support

Budget

• Prioritize your needs
• Determine items that are absolutely necessary for your business
• Price different options and then find a solution that best matches your budget
• Remember to price set up as well as website maintenance and ongoing fees.

Design and Usability

Billions of dollars in potential online revenues are estimated to have been lost due to frustrated customers prematurely leaving sites.

You will need to think about who your customer is and the reasons they are coming to your site. Planning at this stage is critical - poorly planned sites cost more to maintain and are less efficient at selling

• The website design should be simple and unobtrusive
• Customers should be able to easily find what they need
• Customers should be able to order quickly and efficiently
• Interact with your customer and ask your customers what they want from your website
• Promise only what you can deliver
• Strive for the least amounts of clicks to fulfill a need

Content

Determine the goal of your website and tailor your website copy to instill that goal in your customers.

• Identify your customer's need and satisfy their need.
• What sets you apart from your competitors?
• Create customer loyalty and retention programs
• Entice your customers by changing the website frequently
• Offer special incentives for customers to buy from the website

Technology

Be an informed consumer. It's not about the technology; it's about what's right for your website.

There are many buzzwords that you will hear such as

• ASP or ASP.Net programming - a method of getting data from a website into a database.
• Cookies - a method of storing data for a one time order or for repeat orders so that a user may enter information only once.
• Shopping Cart - a program that allows order information to be carried from page to page of a web site through to the completion of an order.
• Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) - An encryption system that allows consumers and merchants to safely enter personal data into a website form, or view data on a web page.

A good website developer will suggest multiple technologies and/or brands to accomplish the same thing and there will be a range of pricing. The object here is to be an informed consumer and know what the technology can do for you not necessarily how to implement it.

Marketing and Sales

If you build it, will they come?

• Fully integrate your e-commerce strategy into your existing marketing plan
• Investigate new Internet marketing options
• Design your website to generate 'meaningful' customer tracking data.
• Track purchasing behavior both online and offline. How many bought a product as a result of :
  • Online ads
  • Magazine ads
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Social media networking
• Mine existing customers. Customer Satisfaction creates Referrals & Positive Publicity

Maintenance

• Who will maintain the content on the website?
• How will your new e-commerce system integrate with your existing business systems?
• What amount of time will be dedicated to updating and maintaining the e-commerce web site?

Security and Website Hosting

There are different levels of security available. The main components are:

• SSL encryption: A technology that allows a user to enter information into a form in a browser, and the information is secured as it is transmitted to the server.
• Firewall: Your web server should be secured with a firewall to protect it from hackers accessing your database of credit card information.
• Database encryption

Many of the automatic payment systems, go beyond the basic protection measures. As a consumer, read about your options and make sure you at least have the basics in place.

Customer Support

Many comanies expect to save money in customer service costs when they move to online customer services. Cost savings are great but it is important to also plan for customer satisfaction. You may have any combination of the following options:

• Phone support
• Real-time online support
• Online searchable frequently asked questions
• Outsource Support to a different company

Be Prepared to Change

Analyze customer behavior to improve your web site, your marketing and your behind the scenes e-business processes.

• Keep in touch with your website visitors to get feedback through online customer surveys.
• Track and examine your website visitor's behavior. From your server log files, you can find out where your visitors came from, what pages they visited, and how long they stayed.

Winning E-commerce Strategy

This 3 part series is a brief overview of some of your e-commerce options. Remember, it's important to evaluate your business model before beginning your e-commerce project and if you are already doing e-commerce online, make sure you often evaluate how you are doing and what you can do to make the experience better for your customers.

Do Your Research + Be Prepared = Success

• Anticipate success
• Implement Your E-commerce Action Plan
• Be an Informed Consumer

Remember it's not about the technology; it's about what's right for your customers.