eCommerce - More Visitors, More Customers, More Sales

eCommerce

More Visitors!

More Customers!

More Sales!

Presented by

Philip Oakley

Outserve Limited

http://uk.linkedin.com/in/philoakley

http://outserveweb.com

http://facebook.com/outserveweb

http://twitter.com/outserveweb

Agenda

• Distribution, Customer Service & Accounting• Online Payments• Multi-Channel Strategies• SEO and Social Media• Web Analytics

• Coffee Break 11.15

• Wrap up 12.50

Aim

Definition - eCommerce

Commonly known as eCommerce or e-commerce, consists of the

buying and selling of products and services over electronic systems

such as the Internet and other computer networks. 

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_commerce

Examples

• General goods – Books, CD, DVD’s Toys• Food, Perishables• Live Animals• Services - Online• Services - Physical• Digital Products• Mesh Products

Digital Products

• Software/apps• In App Purchases• Music/Audio (Podcasts)• Video/TV/Vidcast• Training Materials• E-books• Stock Photo/Video

Mesh Products

• Do not rely on ownership• Shared Physical/Digital Products• Examples

• LoveFilm

• Spotify

• Streetcar (Zipcar in the US)

• Safari Books online

Selling

• Website eCommerce solution• Proprietary system – Shopify• Open Source – Magento• Open Source CMS plugins WordPress, Drupal, Joomla• Integrated System

• SME - BrightPearl WinWeb

• Enterprise – Oracle, SAP, IBM

eCommerce UK Growth

• 54% of UK consumers buy online today• Forrester predicts that online shoppers will increase from

31m today to 40m in 2014• UK online shoppers outspend EU and USA counterparts

How much is the UK eCommerce Market worth?

YouTube - The Connected Kingdom.mp4

DISTRIBUTIONDistribution, Accounting and Customer Service

Distribution

• Storage• Stock Control• Wrapping/Packing• Delivery

• UK

• Europe

• Rest of the World• Lost and Returned

Shipping - SWOT

• FREE!• International• Options• Make it clear• Threats

• Royal Mail strikes

• Weather

• International issues

Free Postage

• Critical customer decision factors• Build it into costings• Offer FREE ‘low cost’ option• Avoid over charging criticism• ‘Minimum Order Value’ - increase sales• Offer Premium delivery as well• International Postage is cheap• ‘Free Postage’ club – e.g. Amazon Prime• Multiple orders (offer quantity discounts)

Delivery Services

Parcel Point

CUSTOMER SERVICEDistribution, Accounting and Customer Service

Customer Service

• More important not less• User Friendly Site• Clear Polices• Shipping Terms• Good photos (not misleading)• FAQ’s• Shopping Experience

When things go wrong

• Put a Name/Voice/Face to customer service• Speed of response• Apologise/take responsibility• Social Media/Networks• These are your customers

What should be on an eCommerce website

BY LAW RECOMMENDED

7 Customer Service Tips

• Call your customer and Thank Them• Include a hand written ‘Thank You’ note• Upgrade shipping for free• Refund the postage with voucher• Include something free (sample)• Include a printed coupon

ACCOUNTINGDistribution, Accounting and Customer Service

Accounting

• All UK Tax Laws apply to UK businesses• All UK law applies to exports• All relevant laws apply in country of destination• VAT threshold £70,000 12 months• VAT100, EC Sales List, Intrastat• Exports outside of the EU (CN22/23)

Customs declaration completed for all:

• Outside the EU• BFPO (British Forces)• Also

• Channel Islands- Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Herm and

Sark

• Andorra

• Canary Islands

• Gibraltar

• San Marino

• Vatican City State

Under £270 – CN22

Over £270 – CN23

Components of eCommerce

Accounting System Integration

+++

ONLINE PAYMENTS

Online Payments

• Visa/Master Card/Amex• PayPal• Google Checkout• SagePay• RBS WorldPay

• PayPal is not a UK Bank• Headquartered in Luxemburg• Covered by Luxembourg Finance regulations• Frozen accounts are common• Seller protection• Buyer Protection

Tips – online payments

• Know your fees• Know your terms• Understand your customer

What payments do people use?

MULTI-CHANNEL SELLING

Marketplaces you can sell on?

• Launched 1995 (UK 1998)• Launched Market Place 2000 (UK 2002)• Has sites in US, UK, France, Germany, Japan, China

Canada• Sells to even more countries• Amazon A-Z guarantee• Sales 2010 $34B (2009 $25B)• Christmas ¼ increased 36% 2009-2010

• Amazon Marketplace• Manage the whole online purchase process• Including payment• Amazon Fulfilment -Stock, Pick, Pack, Wrap, Deliver• Amazon Fulfilment -Customer service• Feedback system

Amazon Stores

Amazon Fees (December 2010)

• Set Monthly store fee £28.75 • Listings are free• DVDs/Books/CD’s – 17.5% of sale + small fee• Everything else is 8.05%-28.75%• Standard 17.5%• No payment charges

Amazon Seller Central:

https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk

Self Publish on a Kindle

• 70% Royalty – Price £1.49-£6.99• 35% Royalty – Price £0.75-£120.00• Delivery cost 10p per mb• Kindle for :

• Kindle

• iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Mac,

• Blackberry, and Android

Kindle Publishing - https://kdp.amazon.com/

“We seek to be Earth’s most customer-centric company for three primary

customer sets: consumer customers, seller customers and developer

customers.”

• Launched 1995 UK 1999 (Now in 37 countries)• 14 million active users UK• 10 million items for sale• Auctions in decline• eBay re-inventing itself

• Fixed Price

• Outlets

• Attracting business large and small• 20% Growth in Businesses in 2010

eBay fees (+PayPal fees)

• Basic eBay Shop – 14.99 per month• Insertion fee of 20p per item• Up to 49.99 @ 9.99%• £50 – 599.99 @ 5.99%• Over £600 @ 1.9%

• PayPal• 3.4% + £0.20 GBP per transaction

Ebay Business Centre –

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/businesscentre

Amazon vs eBay Fees

• Depends on your products• And business style (e.g. volume)• Amazon can suit better

• high volume / high rotation• eBay can suit better

• high price / low rotation

Marketplaces

• Strategy/ Branding• Offer

• Quick route to market

• Stock Holding + Shipping + Customer Service

• Easy margin calculations

• Integration to back office software

• Massive audience (UK & Worldwide)• Downsides

• Very price competitive

• Race to the bottom

Other Marketplaces

• Overstock• Etsy/Folksy• Play.com• Pixmania• Rakuten• PriceMinsiter• ASOS• Facebook (Marketplace, Etsy, Ebay, Payvment )

And in Summer 2011

Local/Coupons

• Groupon – Local Bulk Deals• Vouchers Codes• Clicks and Mortar• Milo (Not currently in the UK)

SEO- SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION

SEO and Social Media

Own Search Box

43% of visitors to online retail sites

said the very first thing they do is type the product name or product category into the sites search box 

(Source: Marketing Sherpa).

Tips for own search box

• Make the search box stand out• Make it big (enough)• Give a suggestion of how they might search• Auto completion can help• Review your search terms

Search Engine Optimisation - Google

• 90% of UK search• 90% European Searches• 99% Mobile Search• Organic listing• Google Shopping listings• Google Image listings• Ad Words

• Own

• Via eBay/Amazon

Google Results

Google Organic Search

Google Ads

Google Shopping results

Google Shopping

Google Images

Google Shopping results

SOCIAL MEDIASEO and Social Media

Social Media

• Facebook – 573m users (28M UK)• More than 50 million Tweets per day• eCommerce Businesses need a presence• Off Site (Facebook page)• On Site Integration • ‘Social Shopping’• ‘Social CRM’• Advertising on Social Sites

LinkedIn – Product and Services Page

WEB ANALYTICS

What can Web Analytics tell us?

• How many visits your site is getting?• What location visitors are coming from ?• How they got to your site?

• Search engine

• Facebook/Twitter etc

• Direct• What pages do they look at?• Did they BUY anything?

eBay Analytics

eCommerce Analytics

eCommerce Analytics

Web Analytics and Adsense

Customer Tracking

• Did the visitor leave without buying?• Where did the visitor leave?• Why did the customer leave?• Goals• Funnels

Future - Mobile

Actions

• Selling Online?• Multi- Channel Strategy?• On-site search review?• Google search optimisation

• Upload to Shopping

• Google Adwords• Analytics (Google Analytics)