by Christina Lee on January 2nd, 2009
A note to all business owners: now is not the time to neglect your online retail store front.
In the latest study by ForeSee Results, an online customer satisfaction research company, price became an increasingly important factor among the top 40 online retailers. Though overall satisfaction remained steady, it also dropped among more than a third of the retailers studied – "a shift that most can hardly afford in this economic climate," the study noted.
In comparison, one-fourth of retailers raised their scores, with Amazon.com being the only of the top five to do so. Amazon.com also tied with Netflix... Read more »
by Carrie Hinkel on March 27th, 2008
As most companies are focused gaining new customers, they tend to neglect the customers they already have. Did you know that it costs between 5 to 8 times as much to bring in a new customer then it does to keep a current one? Another shocking statistic is that 68 percent of customers will stop frequenting a business if they aren’t appreciated. Given that, it shouldn’t surprise you that that’s also the number one reason businesses lose their customers.
The good news is that retaining customers doesn’t take much time or cost a lot of money. It’s the simple things... Read more »
by Veronica Stone on February 22nd, 2008
Zen Cart , which tags itself as "the art of e-commerce," is an open source shopping solution based on PHP that uses a MySQL database. Setting it up is remarkably quick and easy, and it provides you with all the tools necessary to run an online store.
This user-friendly shopping cart features multiple customer, sales, and discount modes, and unlimited category depth. Zen Cart also comes with a fully integrated phpBB forum that can be configured or left out, depending on the needs of the user. Other features include a template system, multiple shipping and payment options, a means of... Read more »
by Leeia Ladipoh on January 30th, 2008
In today’s world of technology and instant gratification, there is no excuse for any business to be without a website. Even if the sale will be completed at a physical location, many people look up the business they are going to work with on the Internet first. That means if you don’t have a website, they will likely find someone else in your area to give their money to.
Just having a website is not enough. It’s important to make sure you have a website that is attractive to customers, helps them find the information they want and need, and... Read more »