Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Ecommerce Software - What Are The Things To Look Out For?

Ecommerce Software - What Are The Things To Look Out For? Most of the ecommerce vendors had to stop using their software as they found out after some time that it was not having important features and benefits. The feedback which they have given and is stated here will be helpful to those who wish to upgrade or to start their business. Any ecommerce software package which is really good should be careful about all parts of the interactions with the customer in a smooth manner so that your customer thinks it as a pleasure to do business with you. It should be easy to browse the solution and simultaneously it should give you the needful information of his purchases for simple and fast fulfillment of the order. Your customer should be able to navigate your website quickly and zoom in on the products of interest. The pages should give products details and also suggest alternative or complementing products. The customer should be able to sort them in the order of prices or models or features or manufacturers. Registering should be optional but you can provide incentives like a small discount or a freebie to induce him to register. A compulsory registration requirement will put off potential customers. The customer may put his purchases in a cart to take to the checkout using the ecommerce shopping cart software. It should allow more products to be put into the cart or taken out or alter the quantities selected and display his previous purchases or his wish list of items he wants. He should be able to go to the checkout section or continue shopping at any time. It should include options to see manufacturer s warranty, discounts if any, return policy and shipping information. The process of checkout should be a step-by-step process culminating to actual billing. A summary of the customer s order should be displayed indicating the amount charged, the shipping charges and the taxes levied and confirmation should be sought. The interaction thus far should be saved so that he can return to the checkout and continue to the payment section. At the payment section customer should be asked to give his personal details and credit card information. For the convenience of the customer, only the information needed for the transaction should be sought and rest be made optional. According to your customer these are the functions performed by the software package. What should be done regarding the needs and requirements of your business? It is the job of the ecommerce software to take care of them by letting you to have flexible product portfolio. Your business can add or remove different products or you may want to make your customers profile. In order to do this, a database is generally maintained for the software so that you may add, remove or ask details about products, customers, sales, inventory and other data. An ecommerce software can be termed good only if it takes care of all parts of the interaction with the customer in a seamless manner, making the process customer friendly, so that he finds pleasure in transacting business with you. The ecommerce solution should be easily navigable and be able to provide the required information for his purchases for quick order fulfillment. It should also have the ecommerce shopping cart software that helps the customer take his purchases to the checkout section. It should allow more products to be put into the cart or taken out and display his previous purchases or his wish list of items he wants.

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