None of them require technical knowledge

The Golden Triangle of Ecommerce
by max - September 5th, 2006 2:25 pm
I speak to many people each day interested in Ecommerce. Some have existing businesses with supplier relationships. Some have only dreams. I tell each of them the same thing. There is no magic in the Internet. If your idea does not make sense in the real world it won’t make sense on the Internet. You must identify a need and a customer who is willing to pay for it. The Internet can extend your reach and Ecommerce can provide the tools to support and grow your enterprise. Make sure you extend something that people want in the way they want it.Ecommerce is a very specific subset of the Internet business. There are three things you must do well to succeed at Ecommerce. None of them require technical knowledge and all are readily accessible to a any business owner. Any person thinking of undertaking an Ecommerce venture needs to understand these ideas. If you’re having a conversation with an Ecommerce provider and they can not explain their concepts in simple non technical business terms, Run not walk to the door.
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
The first leg of the triangle is getting the customer to know you exist. There any number of traditional marketing routes to reach users. In Ecommerce, we are interested in reaching users who are online. We need to identify people who want to buy what we sell. We need to make them aware of “who we are” and we need to deliver them to our virtual doorstep. We need to do this at the least possible cost per customer.In Ecommerce we call this Search Engine Optimization. Search Engine Optimization is making sure you are the top listing when a customer looks for a product or service online. Google and Yahoo have changed the way we look and find things on the Internet. They have developed sophisticated measuring devices to rate the relative merits of providers of information, services and products. Understanding what search terms (Key Words) represent a desire on behalf of the consumer for your product and establishing yourself in the first few natural* listing on the search engines is the difference between success and failure in Ecommerce. We provide this service by managing two crucial elements.
Physical transparency
We build technology that is transparent to the search engines. Transparencies mean we format the physical structure and the information in ways that allow the search engine to understand precisely what our site is about. If your site is not built using correct technologies in correct implementation the search engines will not understand “who you are” and will not rank you appropriately. We are often called upon to replace entire implementations that perform all of the required functions, because the search engines cannot see them. This is expensive and unnecessary. So build your site with the search engines in mind.
External Reference
The second area of SEO is external sites and their direct or indirect reference to your site. If you sell toasters than Google and Yahoo want all the news about toasters to reference you. If a major toaster manufacturer has a list of affiliates your site should be on it. We employ a team of folks who spend their day’s working as publicists for toasters (or your product). It sounds funny but if the Internet is not aware of you from many different point sources you will never achieve a top ranking. So getting the word out on related sites directly influences your ranking in the search engines.Once you have customers arrive at your doorstep you need to provide two crucial services.
MAKE PURCHASING EASY
The second leg of the golden triangle is about the site itself. The early providers of Internet commerce created an expectation level in consumers. Sites such as Amazon.com and E-bay have defined the way in which customers expect to find products, place orders and follow up on their transactions.Do Not Re-Invent the Wheel it is important that you meet base criteria for web transactions. Customers should be able to easily and quickly navigate your products. They should have multiple paths to the same end that fit their individual styles. They should at no point in the process have to deal with a structural surprise. In short, one very important element to establishing credibility is to provide uniform interface capability to your site. No matter how unique your product or service is, your methodology for finding it, getting it into the cart and checking out should not be. People don’t read The web is a visual medium. Vast tracks of written detail about your product are worthless. Your presentation must be intuitive and obvious in the first few moments a customer views it. If a five year old cannot navigate your site with ease and procure your service do it over. The end result is that your product needs to be presented in a professional way. Your images need to be high quality. The details of the design need to be clear and concise. Your process needs to be intuitive and obvious and your technology needs to be time tested and solid.
CREATE A RELATIONSHIP
The final leg of the triangle is about everything that happens after the sale. The easiest customer to sell to is one that you already have. The Internet provides a superb low cost method of communicating with your user base. Once a customer buys from you they have already given you several built in options for communications. Registering them to check on their product will bring them back to the site. Collecting their contact details to make them aware of new offerings is key. Managing and sending those offerings in a way that is going to be perceived as adding value is a complex art that takes time and attention. Having the tools to manage the financial, shipping, and customer follow up are key to making sure your customer has nothing but pleasant thoughts about their interaction with your company. Pleasant thoughts go a huge distance toward return purchases. Without exception successful ECommerce offerings have a high percentage of return customers.