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Establishing a Successful Online Store - Part Two As discussed in "part one" of Establishing a Successful Online Store, you learned some information pertaining to getting your business online. In this second part, we wanted to continue the discussion specific to shopping carts, payment options, and promotional strategies. Having an online store is a great way to boost income, if done right. Because you will be selling products and/or services on your website, you need to provide customers with a shopping cart. Similar to the cart you would use at your local grocery or retail store, your online shopping cart is a holding place whereby customers can place items they want to buy. Sometimes, people will place a number of products and/or services in the cart but prior to checking out and paying, remove one or more. To have a shopping cart, you need a specific type of software program or if you prefer, you can use professional services. We suggest you go the professional route, saving you time, money, and frustration. Yes, there will be an investment upfront but you will also end up with a flawless system that is easy to navigate for the customer. We also recommend that you choose a shopping cart program that is expandable. That way, as your online store grows in success with a larger customer base, additional options can be added on. Of course, for customers to complete a transaction, they need a way to pay. The best option is to provide your customers with several payment options such as check, credit card, PayPal, etc. The more convenient you can make the buying process the more business you will have. Take time to check out the various choices you have and definitely look at PayPal, which is an electronic funds transfer system, making things easy for you and for the customer. Finally, your online store will need to be promoted. Even if you reach a nice level of success, remember that you are always in competition with other online stores selling the same or similar products and/or services. For this reason, you want to keep the promotion efforts up so you stay in the front of other online businesses. With this, you can use search engine optimization (SEO) strategies, along with banner advertisement, affiliate marketing programs, email marketing, direct mailings, word of mouth, and so on. By creating awareness, not only are you building the online store but your customer trust as well. |