online retail sales grew 25 percent at the end of 2006, the biggest jumpin fourth-quarter sales since 2002? With more than 650,000 sole proprietorships selling $13 billion of merchandise, small retailers are playing a key role in the growth of e-commerce, accord- ing to Forrester Research, Inc. Whether you are selling products for the first time or expanding your existing brick-and-mortar store to the Internet, getting started in e-commerce has never been easier or more profitable. Here are five tips for getting your online storefront off to a good start: Choose product names to help search engines. Selecting the popular keywords will help search engines give higher ranks to your product pages when customers perform relevant searches. For example, if you are selling a line of dining tables called “Belleville” that has a “Cherry”finish, be sure to select a search engine-friendly name such as “Belleville Dining Table—Cherry.” Free shippingsells! In a recent ForeSee Results survey, 41 percent of the consumers surveyed cited free ship- ping as the primary factor in their holiday purchase decisions. Seventy-nine percent said free shipping influenced them to choose one site over another. Free shipping is becoming very popular among online stores, so you may be at a disadvantage if you do not offer free shipping. Site policies increase customer confidence. Making potential buyers more comfortable on your Web site is one of the best ways to increase sales. There is a lot of focus right now on improving site security with important tools such as security certificates that protect and encrypt consumer information on online storefronts. However, don’t overlook the basics. Clearly state your policies for returns, ex- changes, shipping and privacy. A 100 percent satisfaction guarantee is a great way to show that you stand behind your products. Offer multiple payment options. Customers like choice when it comes to purchasing online, so give it to them. Credit cards are the most popular method, but other forms of payment such as PayPal, Google Checkout, checks and money orders are also widely used. Retailers offering three or more payment options experienced an average increase of 14 percent in their online sales, according to a Cybersource survey. Make sure the shopping cart in your e-commerce package supports multiple forms of payment to provide this convenience to your customers. Make it easy to navigate yoursite. Customers can’t buy your products if they can’t find them. You can help your customers by providing well-designed site navigation and sitewide search functionality. Design your Web site so that shoppers can browse by product category, price and manufacturer or search for these in a search box that is easy to find. Avoid presenting too many choices in the navigation hierarchy—a good rule of thumb is five to eight itemsfor each level. Follow these tips to join the ranks of successful small businesses online. For more informa- tion on e-commercesoftware, visit http://www.networksolutions.com/ e-commerce.
