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eCommerce Conversion Optimisation

Taking the in-store experience online

Your ecommerce website content | Merchandising | Marketing | Advice & support | More

Why content is king in ecommerce website design

Here are 2 buzzwords to remember when looking at e-commerce solutions and ecommerce website design for your business: 'Stickability' and 'Returnability'.

'Stickability' is the power of your website to hold a visitor's attention, keep them exploring the website, interacting and getting 'added value' from your content.

'Returnability' is the pull of your website to keep visitors coming back to see what's new, building loyalty and engagement.

Creating fresh, added value content – for increased sales

dotCommerce ecommerce software comes with a powerful Content Management System built-in, called dotEditor.

It empowers you to create and add your own website pages, edit and update content, 'paste in' functionality, RSS feeds, and drop in banners and ads to your ecommerce website. And it's really simple to use.

Now it's easy for anyone in your team to create 'sticky' content, and keep your ecommerce website content fresh & new, pulling visitors back, keeping your returning traffic numbers high and generating more revenue.

All with no expensive intervention of your website provider, web designers or web developers.

This is why the CMS at the heart of dotCommerce makes our e-commerce solutions and ecommerce website design so different. Others in the price range of dotCommerce software simply cannot provide this level of flexibility.

Follow this checklist to ensure you can use content to maximum effect on your ecommerce website

1. Choose an ecommerce software solutions provider that enables you to give users the chance to leave reviews and ratings for your products / services.
2. Ecommerce web design services allowing user generated content should provide you with editorial power of approval before the content is published on your website.
3. Include user forums on your ecommerce website. This technology enables e-commerce solutions to actively reduce demand on your customer care team by enabling users to share Q&As.
4. Remember, your website content drives your SEO as well as user engagement. Choose a provider that understands SEO, could advise you how to maximise your natural search traffic and provides a CMS that makes it easy to edit meta data.
5. Test using microsites to focus on added value content. Our e-commerce software solutions come with a free dotMailer Enterprise licence, including a powerful microsite builder tool.
6. Use 'human interest' stories on your website, like customer and staff profiles, to build a user community. Powerful and flexible CMS will enable you to do this.

From search engine optimisation and ecommerce solutions, to bespoke ecommerce web design and email marketing we can help you drive traffic, drive sales retain customers and and drive growth.

Welcome your customers in through the door of your ecommerce website

Ecommerce software solutions can't provide a face-to-face shop assistant on hand, so customers rely on your ecommerce website content and merchandising to help them feel confident in their purchasing decisions. E-commerce solutions providers and ecommerce website designers who enable you to merchandise your products to maximum effect are those that will help you succeed.

How we help your customers to choose

As standard, our ecommerce solutions, website design, ecommerce website developement and the software include a powerful and flexible search tool in the front end, enabling users to filter and refine their search by any product variations you offer, and find the products they want to buy.

Let your users do the talking

User Generated Content is one of the most powerful merchandising techniques you can employ . But few ecommerce services give clients affordable access to this functionality.

Our ecommerce solutions are different, because we are able to 'plug' pre-built Web2.0 functionality into your website, without costly development charges. Plug in user forums, reviews, product ratings, polls, blogs, social media listings – all invaluable content that will help increase your online sales.

Pictures are worth a thousand words

Good ecommerce solutions and ecommerce software could not only emulate the experience of bricks and mortar shopping - they could radically improve on it.

By standard, your dotCommerce website will include multiple, enlargeable and zoomable images, helping to build customer confidence in purchasing. Provide us with the images and our e-commerce solutions will enable you to show 3D rotatable images too. E-commerce solutions from dotCommerce enable you to embed flash video showing your products or services in action, too.

Follow this checklist to ensure you choose an ecommerce agency that helps you deliver great merchandising

1. Ecommerce software that enable side-by-side product and price comparisons help to deliver higher conversion rates.
2. Choose an ecommerce agency that offers a stock level indicator as standard. Confidence in delivery is essential for customer confidence.
3. Look for multi-currency pricing functionality in the e-commerce solutions you consider, to open your sales up to overseas visitors.
4. Good ecommerce agency enable you to categorise your products/services in a number of ways, so you could make it as easy as possible for customers to search the way they want.
5. Look for e-commerce website design providers who offer 'related product' links as standard. This is the most basic but a highly effective way of offering relevant merchandise to your visitors, to drive cross-sell and up-sell.
6. Make sure your eshop, web store or a webshop can react fast. It's often harder to rearrange the merchandising in most e-commerce software solutions than it is to rearrange an actual shop. Make sure you only consider ecommerce services that are flexible and allow you to switch, change and test merchandising and offers, quickly and easily.
7. Let's just repeat rule number 6. When we say fast, we mean within hours - not weeks or even days. Your e-commerce web design e-commerce web design provider needs to give you a website that you could proactively test marketing and merchandising initiatives on - without any need for IT or development support.

Don't just show... Sell!

When you choose an ecommerce solutions provider, make sure you choose one who understands how important marketing is to the success of your website.

Designed by marketers - for marketers, dotCommerce provide a power-house of marketing features to help you increase conversion rates, cross-sells & up-sells, customer retention and ROI.

Powerful marketing features boost your revenue and retention

Effective e-commerce website design, ecommerce software solutions enable online sellers to employ on-site sales promotions, email-to-website and offline-to-online voucher promotions, create product bundles, and generate 'seasonal sale' pages. dotCommerce lets you do all this and more.

Email marketing turns online shopping into online selling

No other ecommerce agency or ecommerce software solutions can offer you dotMailer - the leading email marketing platform - fully integrated into your ecommerce website. dotCommerce comes complete with a free dotMailer Enterprise user licence plus free monthly email sends worth a total of over £1,000.

It's incredibly easy to use dotMailer to:

Set up automatic triggered emails after a customer has registered on your website, or purchased a product
Automatically send highly targeted up-sell or cross-sell emails based on products a customer buys online
Create customer relationship and retention email campaigns for essential loyalty building
Produce your own dedicated online surveys, landing pages and microsites to link to your campaigns - for maximum conversion

All these ecommerce software features will help you make more money from your ecommerce website design and build stronger, more profitable customer relationships. If that sounds like the solution you need, then contact us.

Guidance for success

Scoping and implementing ecommerce solutions is a skilled project management job.

That's why we provide a fully managed set up for all new dotCommerce clients. This means we handle all the work and technical issues for you.

First we meet with you to learn about your business, your products and your market and to understand your objectives and specific ecommerce software solutions requirements.

Next, we amaze you - in a very good way – with just how flexible dotCommerce is at meeting your business needs.

You'll get a written, costed proposal with advice and suggestions, a detailed spec including wireframes and a project timeline, with a fixed cost - no hidden extras.

Unbeatable ongoing support

Your ecommerce agency should not be there to simply deliver you a new website. At dotCommerce, we are here to be your ongoing digital marketing PARTNER, to help you grow your online sales both now and in the future.

You'll have a Project Manager and an Account Manager to ensure you get the right bespoke ecommerce website, on time.

This is the level of support you should demand from fully bespoke ecommerce solutions provider or ecommerce software.

We can help with your SEO, email, analysis and strategy too, so your bespoke ecommerce website works as a key element in your plans for growth. This is how an e-commerce website becomes the driver for your business.

Checklist for choosing an ecommerce solutions provider

Choosing an ecommerce solutions provider could be a confusing business.

To help direct you to the ecommerce solutions provider that suits your needs, follow this checklist when doing your research.

1. Scalability.
Your ecommerce solutions provider needs to demonstrate to you how they will support the growth and development of your business. Look for a provider who is in it for the long term - not simply to sell you a package and move on. Look for bespoke ecommerce solutions that clearly show how they can grow and change as your business needs change - without the need for costly redevelopment.
2. Integration.
Even if you don't require a lot of integration right now, the chances are your ecommerce website will need it sooner rather than later. Look for ecommerce solutions that offer payment gateway integration as standard, and provide the flexibility to integrate affordably with your back office systems and with email marketing, as and when you require this.
3. Content Management.
Content is king on your ecommerce website. So look for an e commerce solutions provider who lets you manage your website content and web design as much as possible. Solutions that include powerful and flexible CMS should enable you to add pages, content, images, and even features and functions to existing and new pages, as you require.
4. Analytics and reporting.
An area where online retailers often struggle, understanding who is doing what and where on your website and identifying key metrics are all essential for growing your online business. Look for ecommerce solutions providers who can provide advice and guidance on using analytics such as Google Analytics, and could help you with setting up and understanding tracking and reporting, rather than just leaving you to it!
5. Promotions and discounts.
Marketing functions are a key aspect of good e commerce solutions. Look for providers who could enable you to quickly and easily to set up and track price promotions, discount vouchers, bundle offers and indeed any form of promotion you may already run offline.
6. Client support. Critical to helping you grow your online business, seek out e commerce solutions providers who are focussed on supporting their clients on an ongoing basis - whether new or established online businesses. This should include technical support, strategic support and account management.
7. Web2.0 features.
Successful ecommerce websites use Web2.0 to maximise their visitor and customer engagement and loyalty. Look for ecommerce software that build user generated content features into their offerings, such as forums, reviews, ratings, polls, and social media links and feeds.
8. VAT and shipping calculations.
Make sure the ecommerce solutions you are considering calculate shipping and tax costs in the checkout process. Not providing this information could lead to abandoned carts and loss of customer confidence.
9. Multi-currency pricing.
If you can ship there, you should be able to sell there. Multi-currency pricing and billing options for both the seller and the customer should be available in ecommerce solutions worth your attention.
10. Data import.
Remember that getting data into ecommerce solutions is as important as getting website content in. Make sure the providers you consider enable easy import of product and customer data and could advise you on this if you are in doubt.