Summer's over and it's time to get back to business! Fall is a good time to take stock of your marketing program and plan for the year ahead.

If you have considered adding e-commerce to your site, now may be the time to do it. Even though there are still problems with online security, online ordering is here to stay.

It's a big step, and you'll want to do your research. There are lots of options out there!

Happy Fall!

Selling Technology Products Online

The Internet is evolving and so are your customer's expectations. It's no longer enough to have the best technology or the best price. Now they want to order online too!

Should you offer online-ordering?

Although you may want to jump on the bandwagon, not all products are conducive to selling online. A general rule of thumb is if you have a standard off-the-shelf product, you should offer it for online purchase. On the other hand, if the buying process is too complicated, online ordering doesn't make sense.

Pricing is also a consideration. People are more likely to buy less expensive products online, but if it's a straightforward purchase and they have all the information need to buy it online, price is not a factor.

For products that are both simple and inexpensive, online ordering is essential. People don't have time to call or fax for a product they can order easily online. If you don't offer it, your competition will. The sooner you can establish online ordering the better.

For most technology companies, it's not that simple. Some products are straightforward and others are complicated. What if your company offers both?

Lead your prospects through the buying process

The ultimate goal is to make it easy for your customers to buy by automating the buying process. Since the sales process is not the same for every product, different products require different online sales strategies.

Many companies dump all their products into a shopping cart whether or not customers will want to buy them online. This isn't the best strategy. If your visitors are shopping for a costly, complicated system that requires a personal consultation, why lead them to the shopping cart? This just complicates the sales process. Better to encourage them to call or submit a quick quote form to get the ball rolling.

Leading your customers to the right place will increase your chances of closing the sale. If the product is simple, lead them to the shopping cart. For more complicated products, lead them to a simple quote form and/or encourage them to call. The primary goal is to capture the lead so you can convert them to a sale.

Building a e-commerce site

There are many different options for e-commerce sites. In essence, a shopping cart is based on a database. Unless your website is a dynamic website with database capabilities, you will have to build a separate site for your shopping cart and integrate with your current site.  Read More...