PROS: Phone calls make great sales if you have great customer service.
CONS: Without strategic inbound selling this can be a waste of time.

Chris Finken of Orange Soda Inc. recommends that if you use Google Adwords at all, make sure you include a toll-free number. Not very difficult, eh? But a lot of ecommerce advertising people are not aware of this. I would agree that just as any strategy to maximize the potential of ecommerce advertising, even inserting phone numbers in your Google ads isn’t a bad idea.

But before you jump into this technique, did you already check if your lines are going to be efficient for you? You know that if more people can call you up, you will need more customer-service oriented people to answer it, right? And you know also that if the people who answer your phone are not informed on how to do some “inbound selling”, these phone calls can go to waste, right?

Not so many people have time to check your website, hunt for your phone number or e-mail address or even click your ads. Make it easy for your business and your potential customers to reach you. Ads with phone numbers and calls handled efficiently can boost your sales.

When I wrote about mobile ecommerce, I mentioned the possibilities it can bring to ecommerce merchants. Now, let’s look at the side of the consumers who will eventually be able to use internet-enabled phones and other devices in virtually all places — including plane flights and cruise ships. Yes folks, if you haven’t heard of JetBlue (and other high-tech airlines) offering internet access and mobile services usage to travelers, then you’re probably napping too much!

Ok, back to main subject. Now that mobile ecommerce endeavors can seep in through in-flight trips, will consumers actually care? Will internet-enabled phones and devices be a curse instead of a blessing?

Consider: The proximity of seats in planes can irritate the person next to you when you make calls or your phone has “funny” ring tones.

Just as there are restaurants, offices, or stores that prohibit smoking, so eventually there will be restrictions on the use of mobile phones in flights.

But looking at the increase in exposure of ecommerce ads to mobile phone users, would you rather put up with these restrictions than no exposure at all?

Why do ecommerce merchants use opt-in email marketing as a highly profitable ecommerce solution? Why am I even asking this question?

In the world of business, whether you are doing it offline or online, nothing is more valuable than customer data. Sure, you got the best equipment or software in the world, the most enviable marketing plan, and the most ambitious financial goals for your company. But heck, if you do not know your target market, you might as well go back to school and learn what makes the wheels turn! Many a patent has gone to the dogs because the inventor has created something no one wants to buy. Why not? Because he was too focused on creating products that he forgot why he was creating them in the first place. Have you heard of Thomas Edison’s Electrographic Vote Recorder? But hey, since Edison is the greatest American inventor, we’ll let that slip.

The moral of the story is simple: Through mobile ecommerce marketing, you can gather as much information about consumers which you can use for future advertising. Isn’t this what email marketers do as an ecommerce solution? But marketing on mobile devices gives you oodles of advantages compared to emails.

(Hint: Read my other articles to know why!)

 Mobile Ecommerce Solution 4: Best Ways to Earn off a Text Message

I’ve never clicked a popup ad in my life. Of course, it’s likely to my benefit if I do click on a popup ad that is relevant to my online purchases but most of them are not. So I click on the Close button instead. What does this mean for online merchants who consider so-called “popups” a common element of their ecommerce website design? Wake up and do something useful instead.

The really big online stores are guilty of using too many popups to advertise their products or services as part of their ecommerce website design. Same goes for newsletters and other materials that are likely to attract people’s attention. To me, they’re just nuisance one way or another. Maybe I’m lying or forgot that I’ve clicked a popup ad before, at least even once. But heaven knows I may have done it by accident, otherwise, all popup ads simply are a waste of my time.

How does this happen? Because I like to surf a lot, I tend to read according to how I want information to come to me. I “choose” what I want to see online. Popup ads are like rude neighbors — they are unwanted, they barge in without permission, and they try to get your attention or ask you to do something when you’re busy browsing. Some people spend a limited time online and popup ads sometimes take away those precious seconds. So the most everyone can do is install programs that prevent these popups from appearing without your permission.

You can compare popup ads to spam. People do everything they could to get rid of spam. If you’re any smarter, you should also deliberate on using popup ads to advertise to your visitors. If it doesn’t any help you earn more sales, just make this ecommerce world a happier place to live in by getting rid of them.

You don’t have to be a farmer to know a John Deere equipment. Just look into someone’s backyard or lawn and you might find a snow thrower or a lawnmower. Check the logo and it may likely be John Deere’s.

John Deere’s success traces its roots back in the 1800s, when the barely settled American pioneers are creating a livelihood on the harsh Midwestern prairie. Despite poverty, Deere is adroit in his own way, creating what could then be state-of-the-art farming plows out of any good steel he can find.

There are three awe-inspiring things that staked John Deere’s legacy on America’s agricultural progress. First, he personally hammered as many high quality farming equipment as he could. It was a craft that required careful study; the plows that existed weren’t good enough to farm the Midwestern soil. Second, he sold pre-made plows when the custom was to create them on demand. Third, even without competitors, he built farming tools as though a hundred other blacksmiths were trying to beat his craftsmanship. Asked by his fellow businessman why, he said “if we don’t build excellent tools, someone else will make better ones and we will lose our trade.“

Today, John Deere is a worldwide brand of farming, gardening, construction, military, forestry and even golf equipment. The harsh conditions of his time, his poverty, and lack of opportunity did not stop him from plowing his way towards making his company a universal name for quality tools. From the very beginning, Deere had sworn he would only make tools that reflected his best. Sure enough, those words still endure even after they were uttered more than a century and a half ago.

Because most of us have grown accustomed to high quality watches, jewelry and knives being made in Switzerland, we would think Hans Wilsdorf was Swiss and a watchmaker. He wasn’t. He was merely a businessman who had goals of creating luxury watches with his cousin Alfred Davis. They were both Germans. Their Rolex story began from merely reassembling quality watch materials from a clockwork manufacturer (Hermann Aegler) and high class case makers. Then they rebranded it with their own initials W&D.

But Rolex won’t be the century old luxury watch line that it is today if it weren’t for two things: trend setting and devotion to engineering art and quality. In the early days, people used to wear pocket watches and wrist watches are mostly worn by women. The Rolex guys didn’t get fazed by the trend — instead they set their own.

Rolex has been worn by James Bond in the movies (Ian Fleming), by extreme sports enthusiasts, high flying pilots, deep sea divers, Everest mountain climbers, and submarine expeditioners, just to name a few. That makes it a thousand times more successful and coveted than any other watch brand in the world. In fact, the sucess of Rolex has spawned several imitation brands such as Trolex or Folex, to the dismay or delight of many.

Will Rolex’s success continue to tick as we move into the new ecommerce era? With an ecommerce store as impressive looking as the watch itself, time will definitely tell.

If it’s not socially networked, it’s nothing.

Whether we like it or not, a business is not a business if it doesn’t involve people. And in business, if you don’t know people, your business is doomed to die. We always hear the cliche that it’s not always what we know that matters, but who we know. Can anyone disagree with this ecommerce strategy? Al Ries and Jack Trout put it so cunningly in their book “Horse Sense: The Key to Success is Finding a Horse to Ride“. Have you been to the library lately?

I say if your business is not socially networked, it’s nothing. A lot of people think social networking as an ecommerce strategy is easy. But in fact, it does involve a certain amount of work because you will be your own PR officer. The difference with social networking and traditional advertising is that since you know your business first hand, you will be the one to introduce them to people and let them know what you have to offer.

Another great thing about socially networking your business is that it’s not a hit and miss project. Unlike mailing lists, you don’t have to wait for a response or be accused of spamming. As a unique ecommerce strategy, it’s also an excellent way to build your online reputation.

Why No to P.O. Boxes?

Trying to guess a customer’s identity after it’s already been confirmed by the anti-fraud detection tools that it is a legitimate buyer is a pain in the neck, not to mention insomnia-inducing. But when you finally give in and tell yourself that the security tools work, will you sit back and fall asleep with peace of mind?

I bet the paranoid among you won’t.

But just because you are doing your best to make all transactions secure and legitimate doesn’t mean you need psychiatric help. For business involving credit card transactions, especially with products considered “high risk”, take the final step towards security using the following shipping checklist:

1. Make sure the billing and shipping addresses match.
2. Ask for a complete street address for delivery instead of a P.O. box.
3. Have the addressee sign the paper with corresponding I.D. upon accepting the package.

Your customers should be aware of your shipping policies as soon as they click on the buy button on your shopping cart system. That will back you up in case of disputes and claims. Now you can lay back and sleep like a baby!

Ecommerce Merchant Account Tip – How a Telephone Can Save Your Neck

Does size matter online? I’m talking about ecommerce stores! It’s a common idea that people would rather shop in big supermarkets than drop by at the mom and pop stores. One, because big supermarkets have more and various products to sell. Two, big supermarkets have a bigger reputation at stake and therefore will inevitably provide better customer service. Three, because big supermarkets have bigger budgets, they have more customer incentives to offer.

Right? Wrong! Smaller ecommerce stores can offer the same goodies, and even more. Because they are smaller, they take a more personal approach to customer service. Their products are likely more unique and specialized for their target (niche) market. And because they are likely upstarts, they are careful about their ecommerce store’s reputation as much as bigger retailers are.

Size does make a difference when it comes to product catalog or variety of choices. When it comes to ecommerce stores, nothing is more true. But big stores are sometimes guilty of assembly line treatment, while smaller ecommerce stores handle customers the most personal way they can.

Having trouble measuring up to competition? Selling electronic devices online does entail a lot of creativity for an ecommerce merchant. As an ecommerce strategy, online sellers try to satisfy customer demands as much as they can.

If you’re selling tangible products online, your best ecommerce strategy is provide incentives to your customers. You can offer free or discounted shipping, bulk discounts,  fair exchange/return policies, or membership or repeat customer incentives. Unless you’re a big budgeted retailer, you would have to face unpredictable profit because you’re competing with giant online merchants.

But that’s why this facet of ecommerce requires a bit more innovation and extra entrepreneurial efforts on your part. For example, if you’re selling GPS devices, which have pretty limited number of brands, you can take a different approach by selling complementing products such as map software. A lot of people can’t use even the most sophisticated GPS device because it doesn’t cover the area where they live (e.g. New York subway). But with a little bit of technical creativity as part of your ecommerce strategy, you can make money in this niche. Also, because they’re digital files, you can have continuous stream of income from repeat downloads. You can also sell copyrights.