Lily Of The Valley Designs

If online merchants thought free shipping was an excellent strategy during the holiday season of 07; it is now something expected this holiday season.   According to News Blaze “Free shipping is becoming a requirement, and not just a perk, for online shoppers,”  “People expect value and convenience. Especially with the cost of fuel, they want to buy an item online at a reasonable price and have it shipped free to their front door so they don’t have to get in their car and drive.”  Shoppers will be surfing the web for great deals this holiday season and free shipping being number one.

As an up and coming e-commerce consultant I like to stay up to date on the latest e-commerce news. You can take a look at my blogroll and find out what e-commerce blogs I have subscribed to. But my favorite e-commerce blog is Get Elastic.

The reasons are:

• daily content
• great content
• good advice
• and did I say fresh content daily..

Get Elastic is offering a great contest called ‘The Big Ecommerce Conference Contest’ . You can win full conference passes to one of 3 e-commerce events and a book.

I have been to an e-commerce conference and as a small business owner with an-e-commerce site you can really learn a lot to help your business and meet a lot of great people.

All you have to do is subscribe to their blog for the latest e-commerce news delivered to you daily for a chance to win.

How many dropped carts did you receive today? What is chasing customers away once they add an item to cart? Here are a couple of reasons why.

1. Shipping Prices are Too High - Is your shipping prices padded? Is the shipping cost more than the product itself. Take a look at your shipping costs and compare with other sites. Look into other shipping options such as USPS this could be much cheaper for the customer.

2. You are forced to register with company just to purchase - Please don’t make me register just to do business with you. I may just want to try your services out before I become a raging fan. You can try to convince the customer to register with your company by showing the benefits of doing so.

3. Not sure if page is secured - The page looks secure I see the lock symbol but how do I trust you. Are you using a third party to verify checkout is secure. You should if you want to convince me it is ok to give you my valuable information and I just met you.

4. No sign of a 800# - If I get too nervous can I call you? Give your customers a phone order option. Some customers feel more comfortable placing there order with a real live human.

5. Not enough payment methods - Are you still only using PayPal as your payment method? Not everyone feels the same way about Paypal as you do. Give customers more ways to pay. There are many options to choose from: Credit Cards, E-Check, PayPal, Bill Me Later, Googlecheckout….

6. Checkout page too complicated or tedious - How many pages do I have to sit here and fill out before I am done placing this order for a $5.00 book? Is it worth the time and energy.

7. Want to much information- Why do you want my birthday and my Cat’s name? Just take my payment information and shipping info and lets get it over with.

Can You think of any more reasons?