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Serious e-commerce begins with the holidays and getting ready for the holidays begins now. You know what’s at stake. Verisign reported 2007 internet holiday sales were up 25% over 2006. This year your holiday season is even more important. Still ahead are more increases at the gas pump which will ripple through the economy like a cold shiver. So, plenty of shoppers are looking to the internet instead of heading for the malls. How do you get this crucial market shopping with you?

The following guidelines will help you maximize sales.

Get Inside Your Shopper’s Head

Millions of people are just like me. We know the internet is fast, so we procrastinate and shop late.

How can we market
to this type of consumer?

• Hit the pain. Remind them why they’re online. Display a graphic on your homepage that says:

“Avoid the lines and shop with us online! Check out our money-saving holiday specials…”

• List your offers. Make sure your deals connect with your customers.

• Sell their wallets. Consumers don’t want to pay for gas or shipping costs. Whenever possible, offer free shipping.

• Reassure them. Guarantee delivery if offers are made before a certain date. Guarantee delivery with express delivery options.

• Offer Services. Offer free gift wrapping and cards with a personalized message. This saves last minute shoppers some time and is nearly universally embraced by—men.

• Match prices. If there’s a better bargain, match it.

• Use flash. Flash increases consumer confidence and draws attention through movement. Flash allows you to fit more into a small area without crowding.

Merchandise

Start tracking products and trends now. Find out what the big guys in your industry are doing. Feature the hot items prominently on the homepage. Showcase deals in a holiday-themed section.

• Sell suggestively. Feature gifts for Mom, Dad, Him, Her, etc.

Market!

All roads involve search engines.

• Pay-per-click remains the best way to get people from the search engines to your store. You can control when your ads are displayed, what is displayed and where the visitor lands when clicking the ad.

• Comparison Shopping Engines (CSE’s) such as Google Products (formerly Froogle), Nextag, Shopping.com, etc. are increasingly popular. Feed management tools get your products in the engines and provide ROI analytics at a product level. One example is FeedPerfect by Solid Cactus.

• Affiliate programs are typically pay-for-performance; you only pay if they deliver. Arm these programs with holiday graphics and banners showcasing your specials.

• The best customer is a regular customer. Personalize a special coupon code for “preferred customers.” Giving your regulars an exclusive deal goes a long way.

When mass e-mailing, make sure you have the following:

• E-mail programs maximize delivery. Exact Target, Got Campaigner Pro, etc. block spam. Companies trust the e-mail coming from them and more e-mail will reach your intended recipients.

• Use well-designed HTML e-mail, but don’t make it a mirror image of your homepage.

• Personalize. Start the e-mail with “Dear <first name>, as a valued customer of <your store name>…” then go into your offers, showcased items, gift suggestions, etc.

• Call to action. A sign saying “start shopping” or “don’t wait another minute—click here” often work.

• Be consistent. Touch the pain of shopping offline, tell people why they should shop with you, create urgency and have a call to action. Put this message on every page (remember, more people land on the inner pages than the homepage.)

Be Creative on a Shoestring

• Hold a contest. Have visitors submit names, e-mail and mailing addresses for a chance to win a product (make it valuable!) delivered to them, gift-wrapped, before the holidays.

• Use the list that you just created for holiday shoppers. E-mail everyone if they “Shop now for the holidays—Guaranteed delivery if the order is received by 12/xx Midnight.” Show case your offers and don’t forget the call to action.

Inspire Customer Confidence

Offers and pricing won’t matter if people don’t trust you. Dispel their fears up front.

• Identity theft. Install a “click here”
link to explain your site’s security. Yahoo! Store owners should explain why its encryption is important to consumers. Carry your site design and branding through the shopping cart and carry your security messages through checkout.

• Fly-by-night operations. Your “about us” page should eliminate these concerns by including your mission statement, how long you’ve been in business, your location, your customer service goals, a picture of your building and the people who work there. Let customers see who you are.

• State your policies. Shopping cart abandonment often results from the charges at checkout. Explain shipping and tax charges. Explain your exchange and return policies.

• Bad customer service. Make toll-free numbers and contact information prominent on every page of the site and have enough people on those phones. Some online shoppers still need to place orders by phone. Make sure they can.

• Testimonials. A customer’s words speak loudly—showcase glowing reviews on every page.

• Product reviews. Big guys like Amazon are using product reviews for a reason. Amazon praising a product they’re selling won’t be nearly as convincing as a customer saying the same thing.

Prepare the Team

Higher volumes require more people. Most merchants increase customer service and fulfillment staff 25% during the holidays.

• Get your people now so you won’t have to scramble when you need them. A $50 employee bonus for hooking a friend up with a job is a good incentive.

• Train them well. They should know your shipping and tax policies, your values for customer service and answer product questions. Make sure they have cheat sheets for gift ideas, can handle price matching and know your promotions. Sales through in-bound calls will mirror the knowledge of your customer service staff.

Live chat can cut down on customer service calls and allow reps to handle multiple customers with simultaneous chats.

Get Started Now!

Prepare your website, offers, marketing strategy and customer service now for fewer headaches, unexpected problems and potential disappointments.

Solid Cactus, Inc. has designed or redesigned more than 3,000 e-commerce sites. Solid Cactus is an Inc. 500 company and was named one of the "Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania" in 2006 and 2007.

All posts by Solid Cactus | E-Mail the author

Green is a popular color these days. “Going green” is a hot marketing gimmick. Individuals and businesses have made some strides to stop contributing to the environmental mess (that we have all helped to create.) Even though global warming and pollution are worldwide problems, the solution starts with each of us - at home and in the office.

Being an environmentally friendly business is
cost effective. Businesses can cut waste and
costs simultaneously.

Saving money and the Earth:

• Go paperless. Trade paper documents for digital documents. Stop paying for paper, toner and printer servicing. Trading paper mailings for e-mail reduces postage costs. Consider replacing paper catalogs with PDF files. If you send catalogs or print mailings, providing an easy way to opt-out will prevent unwanted waste for your customers and unnecessary costs for you.

• Turn off the power at the end of the work day. Have employees turn off monitors and computers when they leave.

• Strive for a smaller carbon footprint for travel to and from work. Encouraging employees to carpool or ride bikes into work can blunt rising gas prices.

• Reduce breakroom/kitchen waste. Remove disposable products and ask employees to bring their own coffee mugs to work.

• Buy bulk supplies to reduce numbers of individually wrapped products.

The Earth loves efficiency:

• Switching to Energy Star certified appliances allow you to use less energy; additional settings may also help draw minimal power during off hours.

• Motion and/or time sensitive lighting and temperature controls can cut energy use during off hours. Sadly, buying advanced fixtures costs more than having employees simply flip some switches when they leave, but it reduces human error.

• Tankless water heaters reduce the energy required to keep water hot.

• Radiant floor heating reduces extra energy used to heat outside air which may leak into ducts. Water and electric cables are also able to hold more heat than air, making them more efficient heat producers.

• Recycling wasted heat from data centers, waste water, etc., can save real money. Data centers often require energy to cool, while offices in cooler climates (or winter months) are expensive to heat. Filtering cold outside air to cool the data center can reduce your total energy use. Displacing and circulating wasted heat (energy) given off by servers can offset energy use. Routing waste water pipes to preheat water before it reaches the water heater offers additional savings.

Switching to sustainable sources:

• Find a renewable energy supplier that can directly feed your organization or purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs) to reduce your carbon footprint. To find renewable energy sources and RECs see http://www.green-e.org/base/re_products?cust=b

• Buying recycled office supplies means less total landfill waste. Although biodegradable hardware (computer parts, phones, printers, etc) are not really available at this point, you can at least use a buying preference that tends toward companies that use less toxic chemicals in the production of their equipment.

• Check options for supplying your own solar/wind/geothermal energy on-site. For many organizations, on-site power options are not realistic. You’ll save money and external energy consumption and you may even be able to sell excess energy back to the grid.

Running a web-based company obviously requires electricity, not to mention any waste or CO2 produced during packaging and shipping. Here are ways to help offset usage:

• Reuse. Print on both sides of office paper, write on both sides of scratch paper, use refillable pens and pencils.

• RECYCLE. If you are not producing much waste, you may reduce costs by taking bags to your local recycling center. If you are lucky (or convincing), you may even be able to negotiate for cheaper residential pick-up.

• Buy carbon offsets. Carbon offsets exchange your inability to solve the problem locally with a global solution. One versatile non-profit offset provider is http://www.carbonfund.org. I found a comparison of several providers here: http://www.ecobusinesslinks.com/carbon_offset_wind_credits_carbon_reduction.htm

Every positive change helps. Please remember this when you stock your supply shelves, pay your energy bill, remodel a building or finish a bottle of water. Remember each time you leave a room, flipping that switch helps us all.

By Jacob Swartwood
jacobs@ebizinsider.com

Solid Cactus, Inc. has designed or redesigned more than 3,000 e-commerce sites. Solid Cactus is an Inc. 500 company and was named one of the "Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania" in 2006 and 2007.

All posts by Solid Cactus | E-Mail the author

A few dozen recruits. A daily schedule. Hot meals. Yep. All the makings of a
Boot Camp. But this was not a traditional “Give me 50! Now!” style boot camp. Instead, it was a three-day long E-commerce extravaganza.

A few times each year, Solid Cactus
hosts its E-commerce Boot Camp, an event that displays the company’s vested interest in continuing to educate and inform its clients on the latest and greatest in e-commerce.

The Spring E-commerce Boot Camp drew a varied troop of e-commerce folks. Some were total e-commerce newbies, who were looking to launch their first online store. Others were veterans who have had online stores for a decade or more. Still others own brick-and-mortar stores, too. The clients came from across the US and Canada and the industries were also varied– food, vitamins, health and beauty products, clothing, candy, custom gifts, pet supplies, awards and more.

Despite our different locales and perspectives, everyone was at Boot Camp to learn. The clients learn from the Solid Cactus staff. Clients learn from each other. Solid Cactus learns from its clients. Every day is a school day in e-commerce, and Boot Camp is an extension of that.

The Latest and
Greatest in E-commerce

Between 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday to 4:00 p.m. on Friday, there were 17 sessions, from e-commerce basics to what’s hot and new in the industry.

The sessions included:

• Trust-commerce/Creative Value

• Advanced Features that Make the Sale

• Social Media & Viral Marketing

• Personalizing the Web Experience

• How to Plan for a Redesign

• Alternative Marketing Methods to Help You Grow Online

• New Features for Your Store from Solid Cactus

• Strategic Marketing

• Protecting Your Website
• Is it E-mail Marketing or is
it SPAM?

• Blogging for Business

• SEO vs. PPC.

Additionally, there were sessions that unveiled the newest Solid Cactus offering, Cactus on Demand and the ever-popular site deconstruction session.

“This year’s Boot Camp was ideal for both experienced e-commerce store owners, as well as new up and comers,” said Michael Jozaitis, Search Engine Marketing Manager at Solid Cactus. “The mix of sessions ranged from deep focused analytical and technical sessions to introductory and educational ones.”

“It was exciting to talk about social media with everyone there,” said Jean Lloyd, also a SEM manager. “They didn’t have a good hold on why it was important or even how they could leverage Facebook or Twitter for their business. Maybe some of them were still skeptical when we were done, but I could tell they were more receptive and had a clearer idea of how businesses are using these tools effectively. If even one participant gets the courage to sign up for Twitter and start promoting their business, then I’ll feel good.”

Joan Marchand of MMWIEmbroidery.com said she wished she had attended an event like this before she started her e-commerce site. “(Boot Camp) was very informative,” said Joan. “I think if I came to Boot Camp first, I would have learned from square one, what the best things are to have on my website, what makes people buy from my website.”

Andrew DiMino of CarbSmart.com and a Solid Cactus customer since 2003, is currently getting ready to publish his fifth site, BabyontheBrain.com. His four other sites focus on food products for those on lo-carb, sugar-free or gluten-free diets. His new site is completely different. “This is my first non-food venture, so I am looking forward to taking advantage of all these new features that I didn’t use before,” he said.

DiMino paid particular attention to the sessions focusing on new features and redesigns. It took three planes and three layovers to get from Reno to Wilkes-Barre, but he says it was worth it. “First, you get the chance to meet the staff in person and actually sit down and point to the screen. As a planning exercise, it’s fantastic. Second, I get to see what is new and coming up. Third, I get to suggest new ideas. Fourth, I get to learn best practices from other businesses,” he said.

Clarice “Corky” Fairchild from HorseandWildlifeGifts.com/All Things Equine is currently under redesign with Solid Cactus. She is not new to retail, but is somewhat new to e-commerce. “At first I thought coming would be way over my head, but felt if I was able to pick up a few things, it’d be worth it,” she said. “(Boot Camp) helped me understand the back side of things. My head has grown by leaps and bounds.”

Sharon Robson came along with her brother Fred Robson, of Woodstock Enterprises. Sharon is considering following her brother into e-commerce. “It was amazing,” she reported.
“I didn’t know anything coming into this. I’ve come a long way since Wednesday. Learning the difference between SEO and PPC was very interesting to me. It would have taken me months on my own to learn what I learned in three days.”

Face Time with
Your E-commerce Team

“It’s always good meeting people you work with,” said Fred Robson of his main reason for attending his third Solid Cactus Boot Camp. Robson utilizes several Solid Cactus services and met one-on-one with his account manager, his solutions advisor, marketing team, call center rep and the designers and the programmers working on his site.

“The individual attention you get when sitting face to face is great,” said Joan Marchand. “Solutions Advisor Justin Verry could go over things with me while I was right there. He gave me a good idea on where to channel my money, where to focus my efforts.”

While Boot Camp was in session, the magic was still happening at Solid Cactus world headquarters, where attendees were treated to a tour of the new Solid Cactus Technology Center in Shavertown, as well as Solid Cactus Call Center Services, Inc., located in downtown Wilkes-Barre.

E-commerce Camaraderie

Perhaps one of the best aspects of Solid Cactus Boot Camp is meeting other people in e-commerce- where else can you get one-on-one access to some of the most brilliant e-commerce experts in the country? While the daily sessions are an excellent learning experience, the learning continues after the sessions end and the evening activities begin.

Solid Cactus Boot Camp features activities each evening—from Italian dinner and karaoke to a night at the local casino and then a finale dinner where attendees are “graduated” from Boot Camp. During these events, clients and staff can interact over homemade Italian cooking and other catered affairs, sharing war stories, tactics and tales from the trenches.

Fred Robson likes the fact that he can meet other e-commerce business owners who have similar features on their site so they can compare notes. “It is always good to share ideas and make contacts,” he said, explaining that if he knows another Solid Cactus client has a certain feature, he can contact them to see how it is working. “Boot Camp is great to increase your contact network. It’s joining fun with the learning.”

Fairchild agrees with Robson about discussing current e-commerce issues with others.

“I think being able to network with other business owners is great. I can say, ‘I had that issue and this is what I did.’ You can discuss the issues,” she said, using how she asked Solid Cactus Boot Camp three-timer, Pam Marchola from BlairCandy.com about her Live Chat feature as an example.

The Solid Cactus staff also loves meeting clients in person. Lloyd enjoyed talking about SEM with clients over lunch and dinner. What she learned from Boot Camp attendees will help her with her day-to-day duties as an SEM account manager.

“It was awesome to interact directly with clients. I got a better feel for everyone’s level of knowledge on PPC & Internet Marketing in general. It’s going to help me when I send info out to my own clients,” she said.

Vice President of Sales Lou Pagnotti adds that clients learn from each other at Solid Cactus Boot Camps. “It’s more about learning how to maximize your business through interacting with other store owners and learning best practices and seeing innovative solutions from Solid Cactus,” he said.

Ron Miller attended Boot Camp to learn about e-commerce. He’s looking to take his beauty supply business online. “It was great to see people being so passionate about their websites. I am definitely glad I came,” he said.

Miller, who is new to e-commerce, talked quite a bit to DiMino, an e-commerce veteran of sorts. Folks like DiMino certainly can be looked upon as mentors for those new to e-commerce.

“The beauty of (Boot Camp) is that everybody talks to each other and shares best practices. That’s beautiful,” said DiMino of sharing the knowledge with each other.

Marchand says she had a wonderful time at Boot Camp interacting with her peers.

“We did a lot of laughing,” she said. “It was just interesting to talk with other website owners. It was a great experience. The food was great. The entertainment was great. The people were great. Everything was great!”

Solid Cactus Boot Camp is a must-attend event. As Marchand said, she wished there was an event like this before she got her e-commerce feet wet. DiMino has been
in e-commerce nine years, but says he is still learning each day.

Besides, where else can you sing a duet with your programmer?

Senior Account Mananger at Solid Cactus

All posts by Donna Talarico | E-Mail the author

Shipping prices have gone up—but many etailers still offer free shipping at the same threshold. What does this mean to your bottom line? Can you continue to offer free shipping when times are tough? What can you do to still gain the sale?

Free shipping adds value to the online shopping experience. But with gas prices soaring, the cost of other services are following suit—including shipping and delivery fees from the major carriers. This presents a challenge to etailers, who have traditionally offered free shipping as a booster for sales.

At the advice of his developer, Reagan Klohn of Brandsport.com recently increased his site’s free shipping threshold to $100, from $50. He made this increase in April, and reports that this increase had little impact on his steady stream of orders and in fact, helped increase his bottom line. “While I still feel there is some intrinsic value in being able to market our site using the ‘free shipping’ terminology, (I’m) convinced the we can raise the free shipping threshold without hurting our business,” Klohn reported in an e-mail to Solid Cactus.

On BrandSport.com’s homepage, a banner in his header touts the free shipping offer. While higher than his previous threshold, this “Free Shipping Over $100” message still communicates extra value. And, with a higher threshold, average order sizes are encouraged to increase as well.

Online retailers could take a cue from BrandSport.com by looking at their own free shipping promotions. Perhaps it’s time to look at an old issue in a fresh way. If the threshold is at $25, perhaps raise it to $50 or $75. Take a look at average order size and make a decision based on that. Your “free shipping” ad is still accurate and simply sets the bar at a new, higher level. You may decide to cancel free shipping altogether. It is true that some online retailers have successfully removed free shipping altogether and have seen little impact on their sales.

In a previous eBiz Insider article we focused on the value of negotiating better rates with the major carriers. If an e-commerce site has the volume, this could also be an option to look into saving on shipping costs. Think about revisiting your busiest shippers and see what they can do for you in exchange for your continued high volume with them. Finally, with products like Solid Cactus’ Shipping Manager, etailers can set shipping rules down to the item level to ensure that they are not losing on shipping, but are instead saving every penny they can possibly save.

Rising fuel prices is not a new problem plaguing e-commerce. Research for this article uncovered articles in the New York Times, C|Net and other online and print publications covering the jump. On August 19, 2005, CNet.com reported that online retailers were beginning to worry about the rising cost of gas. Back then, it had risen to $67 a barrel. Clearly we are looking at newer, vastly higher numbers.

The good news is that inflated fuel costs will only fuel e-commerce as more would-be shoppers look our way. Clearly, there is much to protect. A survey by Harris Interactive in April found that 57% of surveyed shoppers said it is free shipping that urges them to make an online purchase. This same survey also revealed that 33% of those surveyed are shopping online to save money on gas. Clearly, breaks on shipping will continue to impact consumers’ decisions about where
they buy.

There is no doubt that online sales will continue to soar as people opt for the information super highway rather than the asphalt highway. Online retailers can still be smart and increase sales and revenues by building value in other areas, while not losing on shipping costs.

Senior Account Mananger at Solid Cactus

All posts by Donna Talarico | E-Mail the author

If you’ve grown your business to the point where your employees are packed together like teenagers in a Miley Cyrus concert line, it may be time to move to larger quarters.

Maybe you’ve grown to the point where you’re ready to warehouse your inventory rather than using all drop-shippers. Maybe you’ve stopped outsourcing and are hiring in-house creative and customer service departments. Maybe sales are soaring and you simply need more hands.

Whatever your circumstances, growing pains are certainly “good” problems. Here, we’ll share some tips on how to make your move smooth.

Find the Right Location

Location, location, location! It’s the secret of real estate and a crucial consideration when scouting for new digs. Is the new place close to where the bulk of your workforce resides? Is it close to highways and major routes for your vendors and commuters? If you need warehouse space, is there room for tractor trailers to make deliveries? If it’s a new retail location, what’s the potential for foot traffic? Consider your next growth spurt. How much can
you grow before you outgrow the
new building?

Make note of quality of life issues. How many nice lunch or happy hour places or hot errand spots like banks, post offices, hair salons and the like are nearby? What are local taxes like? Parking is also important. Will employees have to pay for parking? Is there ample free parking?

Use the Move as an Excuse to Upgrade

A new address can function like a “new broom” throughout the rest of your business. You need new stationery anyway, how about a new letterhead? Since you’re calling the printer anyway, why not look into a fresh image?

Aside from stationery, as you get ready to move, take an inventory of computers, copiers, cabinets, storage and furniture. Are they in good shape? How old are they? If things need replacing and updating, use the move to set up new items and start fresh.

What to do with the old office equipment? Schools, community centers, non-profits and shelters are happy with desks and old equipment. Most groups will be happy to haul it away for you as well. Leave the old stuff behind; have the new stuff delivered to the new location.

Strategically Plan Your Move & Orient Employees to the New Location

Every business is different, but the goal is to move with as little downtime as possible. A key is to have your IT infrastructure and technical components in place so that employees can just plug-in when they arrive.

Moving in a phased approach eliminates loss of production. Create a schedule and have each department separately. Having a seating chart ahead of time will help transitioning employees get to their new desk/area with little confusion.

Hold an orientation session in the new building to provide all the “housekeeping” details. Where are the break rooms, bathrooms, meeting rooms, office supplies, emergency exits? Are there any new policies or procedures in place at the new location? Are there new security systems or alarms in place? What about that new office equipment? Setting up a training schedule for new copiers and other equipment would be a good idea and sales reps are usually willing to stop in and train your staff.

Keep Your Customers Informed & Hey, Tell the Media, Too

When Solid Cactus recently moved from downtown Wilkes-Barre to Shavertown, an e-mail went out to all clients informing them about the move.

Make your move a PR event. Contact the local papers and news stations to get coverage on moving day. Send a press release ahead of time and follow up with a day-of Media Advisory. Moving trucks and employees carrying boxes makes for good footage and photo opps. Phase II can be the ribbon cutting, where local public officials can appear and congratulate the company on its growth. Again, the media likes this kind of stuff. Aside from the daily news, also try to target your region’s business or lifestyle magazine.

Keep Growing!

For all the temporary aggravation, growing pains are good pains. Keep growing your business and maybe soon, you’ll get to move all over again.

Senior Account Mananger at Solid Cactus

All posts by Donna Talarico | E-Mail the author