Category: Morse Data News and Events
Avoid These 7 Dreaded Mistakes in Your eCommerce Store
Online shoppers expect certain features. It’s easy to find web stores that provide everything they’re looking for, so you have to make sure you provide it too. Shoppers expect reviews, detailed information, fast results, and quick and easy checkout. And they want it wherever they happen to be and using whatever device they happen to pick up. Don’t make these mistakes in your eCommerce store.
Not asking for reviews – Shoppers expect reviews and like the reassurance they provide about the items they’re considering. If your eCommerce store doesn’t have them, you could be missing out on sales. Questions and answers are also common, and if your customers have questions of their own, they’ll check those too. If they can find the information on your website, they might order the item from another web store that has the answers they’re looking for.
Not having a good search function– Shoppers spend just seconds deciding whether to make a purchase. If they cannot quickly zero in on what they are looking for on your website, you may as well not sell it. When shoppers search for something specific, it means they know what they want, and they don’t want to work hard to find it.
No responsive design – If your site is not compatible with all devices, you could be turning your back on sales! Shoppers use a variety of devices to shop – mobile phones, tablets, and desktop computers. If they can’t easily navigate your site with whatever they happen to be using, they’ll leave. Welcome all shoppers into your web store by making sure it uses Google’s recommended Responsive Design plan, which automatically adjust to the sizes of all devices customers are using to provide optimal presentation without requiring multiple websites.
No communications – When shoppers leave items in their carts, messages with links to the carts can remind them or help guide them to checkout. A series of 2-3 messages at specific intervals provides subtle reminders that keep you in mind. A promotion code provides extra incentive to return and perhaps add a few more items to the cart before checkout.
No improvements – Make sure you stay on top of your eCommerce site. Give customers quality product, unique items, and keep your store fresh.
Slow page load times – Really, who wants to wait for any website to load? This is as important as getting quick search results, so make sure your website loads quickly.
Checkout is too complicated – If the checkout process requires customers to create an account, or if there are unexpected fees or high shipping amounts, shoppers might not complete the checkout process. Keep the checkout process simple and quick. Reveal all fees up front and show your shoppers the checkout flow to let them know what to expect. Keep it efficient with as few steps as possible. Giving customers an up-front shipping estimate, or the option to bypass registration (when appropriate) can eliminate some of the breakdown at checkout.
InOrder helps you avoid all of these mistakes, and more. Call us for a free demo to see what InOrder can do for your eCommerce business.
What Shoppers Want – and Benefits for You
Today’s shoppers expect the best, and if you don’t provide what they expect, they’ll find another eCommerce site that will. Here are four things shoppers demand, and how they benefit your business by providing them.
Contact us for a free demo of how InOrder can help you provide what shoppers want.
Security Process, Backup Plan, and Incident Response Plan are Key to Detecting Threats
What would you do if you had a payment glitch or a security breach? What if that glitch happened during a busy shopping season? Would your employees know what to do? If you have a response plan, good for you! Be sure to practice it. Having an incident response plan is essential to detecting and deterring threats. If you don’t have a response plan or backup plan, use this chart to begin planning one.Keep up with your PCI DSS requirements, have a security process and an incident response plan, and train your employees on them.
PCI Launches New Online Evaluation Resource for Small Merchants
It can be complicated for any business to keep up with all the cyberattacks and payment fraud going on around us. It’s particularly tough for small merchants that are vulnerable to attacks. The PCI Small Merchant Task Force, launched in 2015, helps by providing educational materials to small merchants to address these threats. The PCI Small Merchant Taskforce has recently updated their “PCI Data Security Essential Resources for Small Merchants.” These resources include information to help protect customer payment data that can be downloaded, videos, easy to understand infographics, and recommended training. It also includes answers to frequently asked questions and access to additional resources, such as the PCI DSS 3.2 Quick Reference Guide and the PCI Blog.
In addition, another important resource for small merchants has recently been launched – an online tool to help evaluate how they address critical security risks. This tool helps small merchants see where they stand regarding safe payments.
PCI Security Standards are intended to increase payment data security, but they can be intimidating for a small merchant with limited resources. These resources can be helpful. Complete details are provided in the PCI SSC press release.
Helpful and Interesting Articles
Make it personal and fun – This article discusses using personalization and gamification to stand out from your competitors.
This article from F. Curtis Barry & Company provides considerations for adding space to your DC.
What can you do to protect yourself from malware and phone scams? Check out these details from SANS.org.
FedEx Corp. recently published changes to its Additional Handling Surcharges and Fuel Surcharge Tables. Click here for details.
Shoppers like loyalty programs. They help generate income for your business, show appreciation for your customers, encourage them to return, and improve customer engagement. Read this article for details on their benefits.
What Makes You Successful?
It’s important to recognize your employees as a valuable team. Of course every company wants to be successful and have a “winning team.” But what exactly are the components of a winning team?
Tips for Selecting the Perfect ERP System
Once you make your selection, think about implementation. For help with this, download our white paper Ten Tips for a Successful ERP Implementation.
4 Helpful Articles for Your Business
If your business is concerned about PCI-DSS Compliance, read this article from the PCI Security Council, discussing the future of PCI-DSS.
If you sell products online that may be subject to California’s amendments to Prop 65 safety warnings, read this article, by F. Curtiss Barry & Company, with information on the amendments.
E-commerce sales tax – what’s next? Avalara provides details about the supreme court’s recent decision about sales taxes for online purchases, including reasons for the decision and what to possibly expect in the future.
This article examines how eCommerce is changing logistics.
5 Reasons Your Warehouse Needs an ERP System
Your products, your services, your location, your tools, and of course, your employees. All of these help your business succeed. If they’re not working together efficiently, it will impact your customer satisfaction and your bottom line. Here are five ways your ERP system can help.
If your ERP system doesn’t provide these functions to
improve your warehouse efficiency (and more),
contact us for a demo of InOrder.
Clear Communication Between Departments Can Avoid Problems with Your ERP System
Have you ever read the stories about implementations gone wrong, or how a company upgraded an existing system without A) checking with anyone beforehand or B) telling everyone afterward?
One example is that an upgrade is completed without informing everyone in the office until the next morning, when something isn’t working properly. Another example would be someone from a Marketing Department advertising that they’re running a promotion for a product, but perhaps the promotion wasn’t added to the ERP system, resulting in an emergency fire to put out. With clear communication, marketing would send messages to to the appropriate personnel to help prevent unplanned work and avoid unhappy customers.
Communication can even help you avoid security problems, such as these. One process that might help is to appoint a team that reviews and approves any changes before they are made. This team discusses the change, its implications, and any other aspects of the business to prepare for or delay it. Another helpful tool is IT monitoring software, which alerts critical personnel, whether internal staff or an external IT service, when there is a concern.
When planning a significant system change, it’s also important that you work hand-in-hand with your vendor’s Implementation Team (if applicable) to keep those lines of communication open to help ensure success. Our white paper, 10 Steps to a Successful Implementation, has great advice for clearly communicating change to everyone involved, as well as everyone who will be affected by the change. This advice can easily be tailored to large projects or small.
Remember to notify everyone of the change, and provide training and technical support as appropriate. This will help make sure the system is in the hands of qualified users.
Change doesn’t have to be painful, especially when it’s needed to help improve your system. Keeping sight of priorities, staying organized, and clear communication are key elements for successfully growing your business. We’d enjoy hearing any additional suggestions that you’ve found to be successful. Please leave your comments below.