subject: Designing Your Website As A Storefront [print this page] Designing Your Website As A Storefront Designing Your Website As A Storefront
If your business sells their products and services online, then it is a must that your website be set up for e-commerce so that customers will be able to browse through your site like they would a store, pick the items they want, place it in the shopping cart, then take their items to the check out where they would pay for their purchases.
For e-commerce your website will need to provide prospective customers with a informative information concerning the product such as a brief description, pictures with different views, dimensions, available colors, sizes, and similar product comparisons.
Allow prospective customers the ability to select a product then provide them with precise pricing figure as well as the price of shipping for the product. Once the transaction is complete, provide the customer with an order number, an invoice number, which can also act as the confirmation number through an e-mail along with any additional shipping information.
In regards to shipping methods, provide customers with three or four different methods as well as the pricing for each method. That way they can select their preferred choice of having the item shipped and whether or not they want to pay the additional cost for having the item shipping sooner.
When a customer places an order for a particular item let them know whether or not the item is in stock or if the item will have to be back ordered as well as when the first available ship date will be on that particular item.
If your customers have any question, then it is important to respond to them as soon as possible and in the same way in which they have responded to you whether it be through e-mail or via phone. Some websites will provide twenty-four hour live chat customer service, which is especially helpful for any website that does substantial e-commerce.
Always be sure that there is a section within your website "About Us" where your policies are listed. Within this section you can add any privacy statements, return-back policies, guarantees, or customer satisfaction policies, which will make your customer feel much safer when it comes to doing business with your website. You might also want to add a section for FAQ.
