ProStores eCommerce Blog

From Wholesale to Retail

2012-01-20T11:34:55-08:00

With the economy such as it is, many merchants have had to reinvent their sales models to take advantage of new and changing markets. Most of them say that opening an eCommerce storefront was what gave them that edge to prosper in a challenging environment.

Tuxedo T-shirts Online and Dog is Good do most of their business wholesale. Todd Walbridge of Tuxedo T-Shirts Online has a screen printing business. Jon and Gila Kurtz and J. Nichole Smith of Dog is Good sell humorous products that celebrate the dog-human relationship. In the late 2000s, each business opened their first eCommerce storefront. Since then, the move has helped them improve their profits despite a Recession.

“I’m thankful we did it,” says Todd. “After the downturn, our business dropped off 30 percent because we were dealing mostly with businesses. Now that we’re going directly to consumers, I picked up that 30 percent again.”

Dog is Good’s eCommerce storefront now accounts for more than 10 percent of the company’s revenue. "Our web store may be a small percentage of our business, but it brings us a good-sized profit margin,” explains Jon. “For something that costs us, say, $5.50 to make, we can sell it wholesale for $10 and retail it for $20.”

Once businesses open an eCommerce storefront, their multi-channel selling possibilities open up even more, as markets today increasingly incorporate mobile platform selling, sales on social media sites, and other sophisticated online eCommerce tools.

Sell One Thing and Sell it Well

2012-01-18T12:24:02-08:00

ProStores merchant Todd Walbridge has a screen printing business and sells humorous T-shirts online. He carries tuxedo T-shirts, security T-shirts and T-shirts that raise money to fight multiple sclerosis, but instead of selling them all on one web store, he has three separate sites--Tux-Tees.com, security-tshirts.com and MSTshirts.com.

Todd learned from experience. “In the beginning, I was trying to be a mini-Amazon. I thought I’d appeal to a lot of people with a lot of different products. Then I realized that I was never going to be Amazon, and I started focusing on niches.”

Having niche products on discrete web stores allows Todd to avoid having to compete with superstores. He can instead focus on specific SEO keywords, attracting shoppers further along in their buying process. “Because you’re so niche, you get more searches,” explains Todd. “That’s what the Internet is about."

You might recall that the same thing happened to Dealzer owner Albert Farajian. He opened his online store with 25,000 products. When in the the first month he sold just two products, one being a hydroponic gardening system, he realized that he was better off focusing his inventory.

“The best thing to do is start with a niche web storefront," he says. "If it gets popular, then you can start expanding.”

eCommerce Marketing in 2012

2012-01-10T16:23:37-08:00

Now that 2012 is upon us, many eCommerce merchants are using the New Year to revamp their online marketing. With the Internet continually evolving, they know that last year's techniques may not always work in the new selling environment. The marketing trends this year point towards mobile devices, video content, and social media sites.

Practical eCommerce has listed five great tips for the New Year in a recent post. Read the blog's 5 Effective Online Marketing Tactics for 2012 and you'll learn more about using:

1. Text Marketing

2. Mobile Optimized Merchandising

3. Subscriptions

4. Trigger Emails

5. Video Content

Happy Selling in 2012!

SEO: Title-Tag Optimization for Ecommerce Sites

2011-12-29T11:44:29-08:00

From time to time, we'll re-surface best practices for optimizating your webstore because we strongly feel the importance of engaging in those practices. SEO is one of those practices you should continually improve upon to drive traffic to your store. Practical Ecommerce has a great article on SEO, specifically related to page title tags.

Go to article

How To Advertise Your Store Online and Increase Your Sales

2011-12-27T15:08:16-08:00

How does a small business owner get results from online advertising without wasting time or money? One popular option for ProStores merchants and other online ecommerce merchants is to advertise online with Google AdWords. As a ProStores merchant, you’ve got 2 main options:

Managing Google AdWords Yourself
or
Putting Your Advertising on Autopilot with Lexity

_____________________________________________________________________________

Managing Google AdWords Yourself

Want to handle it all yourself? Here are some guidelines on how to get started:

Writing Your Ads
Be sure to read through Google’s guidelines for writing ads before writing your first ads to ensure none of your ads will be blocked for bad practices.
Choosing Your Keywords
You’ll want to start with 30-50 keywords. Make sure the keywords you pick are relevant to your store, so your ads show to the people most likely to be interested in your ad. Be aware that the more popular a keyword, the more expensive it will be to bid on (because there will be more competition for it). This means generic keywords are typically more expensive. However, fewer people will search for keywords that are too specific.
Tracking and Optimizing Performance
Going forward, you’ll need to track performance and adjust your budget regularly, ideally daily. Keep checking in on which ads and keyword are leading to sales, so you can move your money away from what isn’t performing well and spend it on what is. Don’t forget that if you add or remove products from your store, you should add and remove the corresponding advertisements as well to avoid wasting money.

Rather not do it all yourself?

Putting Your Advertising On Autopilot with Lexity

Lexity is a ProStores add-on tool that automates online advertising for your store. Lexity can automatically take care of ads, keywords, bids, and more for you:

-          Generate and manage keywords
-          Generate and manage ads
-          Optimize keyword bids
-          Synchronize your ads with your store inventory
-          Submit all your products to shopping feeds like Google Shopping
-          Retarget past visitors who haven’t yet bought

In addition, you’ll receive:

- Free real-time customer tracking via Lexity Live View for all ProStores users
- No fees for the first 3 months

What ProStores Users Are Saying About Lexity

"Of all the online advertising programs I've tried - Lexity is the best - and their customer support has been the most helpful. I've been using print advertising for 30 years and in Lexity I see the future with online advertising." –Tom Seay, Arrowtruckparts.net

"Lexity Live View is just fascinating. I check it a couple of times a day...I love seeing on Live View what visitors are looking for and how long they stay in the store. It's always gratifying when you see someone go to the checkout!" –Cheryl Rowland, Creative Merchandise Store

Using Lexity, some users have achieved a 27% year over year increase in sales revenue, 42% increase in visits, and 54% increase in pageviews, and cited a decrease in time spent managing advertising from 5 to 7 hours per week to “10 to 20 minutes per week at most.”

You can learn more at lexity.com, find Lexity in the ProStores add-on tools directory, contact them, or find them online on Twitter and Facebook. There are no fees for the first 3 months, and Lexity Live View is free for all ProStores users upon creating an account—no purchase required. Lexity supports multiple store platforms, including eBay ProStores.

Increase December Profits with Post-Holiday Promotions

2011-12-25T15:06:58-08:00

Christmas and Hannukah are finally here, the orders are out, and it’s time to take a deep breath and relax, right? Well, enjoy that well-deserved break, but once the weekend's over, it’s time to get your post-holiday sales going.

Many shoppers like to cash in on deals after the holidays, so take advantage of those potential profits with the following tips:

1. Run post-holiday promotions as soon as possible. On Black Friday, featured merchant Dog is Good ran four different specials starting as soon as midnight. "We offered a special and then changed it at 6am, and continued this throughout the day, just as department stores do," says owner Jon Kurtz. "At times, we just lowered the cost of a product and kept that price up all day."

2. Use email and social media marketing to advertise sales and hot clearance items. For instance, Dog is Good posted their promotions on Facebook and Constant Contact, which drove a considerable amount of traffic that day.

3. A lot of retail and web stores hold post-holiday sales, so you may have some competition. Offer free shipping to make sure customers shop with you.

4. Offer a flexible post-holiday return policy so customers and gift recipients feel confident doing business with you again. You won’t lose any of your holiday profit if you offer exchanges and store credit.

5. Many people look for deals on accessories for top-selling products, electronics, and other big-ticket items they received as gifts, so keep up with post-holiday sales trends.

6. Be savvy about hot products. Put popular, hard-to-get gift products on sale to attract people who may have not gotten the top items on their wish list but received cash gifts. Inform shoppers who wanted to buy out-of-stock items before the holidays when you’ve replenished your inventory. Get rid of your low inventory items by displaying an inventory count, like “only three left in stock,” so people feel they need to purchase right away to get the discount.

7. Give deep discounts for products that you don’t think will sell into the New Year.

8. Whenever you hold a sale or promotion, always display the regular price and the sale price so people see that they’re getting a good deal. Shoppers are more likely to purchase when they know they’re saving money.

9. Track shoppers with abandoned shopping carts and offer them a special offer, like free shipping or a certain percentage discount, to entice them to purchase their items after the holidays.

10. Fine-tune your post-holiday SEO. Use keywords like “post holiday sale,” “half off” or “after holiday discount” so bargain shoppers can find you.

Happy New Year and Happy Selling!

Last-Minute Holiday Sales Tips

2011-12-19T15:44:38-08:00

Extend your returns window. Consider accepting returns until at least the end of January so that gift recipients can return gifts easily. For instance, if your window is usually two weeks, you may want to give customers a few more weeks to account for the holidays.

Promote your gift cards more than ever. And allow for later shipping deadlines on those items. Gift cards are a last-minute shopper’s saving grace. It’s quick and easy, and if they can still buy one on December 23 for a Christmas Eve arrival, it may be their last chance and an extra sale for you.

Offer a deep last-minute discount. Holiday shoppers don’t expect to find deals, specials, or discounts during the holidays. If you offer one, it’s sure to attract last-minute shoppers eager to buy, and they’ll remember you for next year. Offer a percent of discount, create a two-for-one promotion, or give a special gift with purchase. It will also help you move holiday inventory.

Cross-sell and up-sell. When people look for gifts, they often find items that are not quite right. Make it easy for them by showing them similar products, complementary items or a more premium model. It may just give them the push they need to buy that perfect gift.

Be a holiday hero. A favor done for a panicking holiday shopper could bring you a customer for life. As those shipping deadlines loom and inventory decreases, ask customers who call with unusual requests how you can help them solve their gift-giving problems. If you go the extra mile, shoppers will remember that holiday spirit.

Have a backup plan. Holiday sales are still at their height, and things can go wrong – a snowstorm disrupts your shipping schedule, an employee calls in sick, or you run out of inventory. Troubleshoot those possibilities before they happen so that you have a game plan to keep up with your shoppers.

5 Tips to Increase Holiday Sales

2011-12-12T13:09:50-08:00

Become the One-Stop Shop
Turn your web storefront into a one-stop shopping destination. Hold a sale and drive multiple purchases by cross-promoting. Create gift baskets of complementary products and create a category for them. Make gift buying easy by offering Wish Lists and e-Gift Cards. Make sure they're clearly displayed on your home page. Offer gift wrapping.

Be Available Everywhere
Have a mobile store, as well as a shop on Facebook. Mobile shopping is increasingly on the rise--CNBC.com recently reported that 27% of 18- to 34-year-olds have purchased something on their smartphones. And according to a recent analysis by Booz and Company, sales of physical goods through online social networks will grow by 93 percent per year in the U.S., reaching $14 billion by 2015. ShopTab (30 day free trial for ProStores mechants with code "ProStores30") and DudaMobile can help you quickly set up Facebook and mobile stores, respectively.

Don’t Make Your Shoppers Guess What’s in the Box
Let your shoppers know exactly what they’re getting. Write clear descriptions. Have a streamlined checkout and clear shipping and return policies. Be specific about when you ship; state, for example, “We ship your item within 24 hours.”

Don't Make Them Ask Twice
Respond quickly to customer questions. It’ll help you close a sale faster and increase conversion, since shoppers who get their questions answered quickly are more likely to purchase. During the holidays, customers often want to get their shopping done as fast as possible. If you wait too long, you might lose the sale. Buyers may also be testing your response time as an indicator of what it would be like to do business with you. You can save time by creating a library of simple email replies for your most common answers and creating a page of frequently asked questions.

Make it Easy to Return
A good return policy, money-back guarantee, or warranty service can make buyers feel more confident, especially when they’re purchasing a gift for someone else. eBay Consumer Research has found that 21% of nonbuyers cite "lack of return policy" as the reason they buy elsewhere. That same research shows that even with a liberal policy, actual returns are usually few.

Happy Selling!

Get Live Chat for Your Site - it's FREE!

2011-12-08T11:19:34-08:00

Provider a better site experience for your cusotmers and visitors with live chat for your site. Plus, instantly connecting with your visitors gives you an opportunity to close more sales. Try Olark for ProStores - it's FREE.

Why Olark?

Get real-time visitor activity to help you understand their site behavior.
Customized chat box - choose different themes, colors, and multiple language strings.
Easy to setup - just takes a simple snippet code to add to your web pages.
Powerful reporting - Track ROI, operator performance, and more.
Great for teams - team members can log into different chat clients from multiple locations at once.

TRY IT NOW!

Holiday Shipping: Time and Money Savers

2011-12-05T16:02:36-08:00

With the holiday shopping rush, it’s important to ship as cheaply and efficiently as possible to please your customers and increase your bottom line. Here are a few seasonal tips:

Stock up on Supplies
Make sure you have everything you need – boxes, mailers, tape, bubble wrap, postage. If you run out, you could waste a lot of time and money trying to locate more.

Save Time and Money: Ship Online
Save up to 15 percent on postage when you use the U.S. Postal Service’s online services. Not only do you save money, but you also save time. Just order free Priority Mail and Express Mail supplies from USPS.com, and they’ll be delivered right to your door. (USPS suggests you order them by December 5 so that they’ll arrive in time for the holidays.) You can create labels, pay postage by credit card, and even purchase insurance online. Then let the USPS know your packages are ready, and your mail carrier will pick them up for free. Afterwards you can easily view your shipment status.

Be Smart about Packaging
To save money on shipments, use the smallest box you can, without damaging the products. Remember that USPS Priority Mail ships at a flat rate, so no matter how heavy your items, you can ship whatever can fit in one box for one price.

Print Once with PayPal Multiorder Shipping
Print up to 50 domestic USPS shipping labels at one time, complete with postage, right from your PayPal account. You pay postage costs, but the service is free. If you also use the USPS SCAN form, postal employees can scan the bar codes for every package in your shipment at once. You and your customers are then able to use USPS' Track & Confirm tool to verify that a package was actually sent.

Reassess Your Shipping Providers
If you offer multiple shipping providers, determine which ones your customers are using the most. If few shoppers are using a certain service, removing it might save you some money.

ProStores eCommerce Blog

From Wholesale to Retail

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Sell One Thing and Sell it Well

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SEO: Title-Tag Optimization for Ecommerce Sites

How To Advertise Your Store Online and Increase Your Sales

Managing Google AdWords Yourself
or
Putting Your Advertising on Autopilot with Lexity

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What ProStores Users Are Saying About Lexity

Increase December Profits with Post-Holiday Promotions

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ProStores eCommerce Blog

From Wholesale to Retail

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eCommerce Marketing in 2012

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SEO: Title-Tag Optimization for Ecommerce Sites

How To Advertise Your Store Online and Increase Your Sales

Managing Google AdWords Yourself or Putting Your Advertising on Autopilot with Lexity

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Increase December Profits with Post-Holiday Promotions

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Last-Minute Holiday Sales Tips

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5 Tips to Increase Holiday Sales

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Get Live Chat for Your Site - it's FREE!

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Managing Google AdWords Yourself
or
Putting Your Advertising on Autopilot with Lexity