So I'm thinking about putting up an online store, in addition to my Amazon store, and I thought I'd ask..
When you shop online, what attributes of an online store make you comfortable buying there?
Full Version: Buying Online
price, want/need, trustworthy, quality
Reasonable shipping...I know totally FS is almost impossible to offer these days, but trying to make a profit from it is tacky...
Website needs to look professional, it needs to have aspects of customer support. I think its all about presentation. Its like taking the aspects of a retail store and transplanting them online.
When I hit a website I've never purchased from before there are a few things I look for.
1 - Contact Information
If it's hard to find contact information with a phone number and real address I absolutely will not consider buying from them. Sometimes I'll even look up Whois info on the domain and if ownership is masked I may avoid purchasing from them.
2 - Clear pricing competitive with other online resellers and current stock info.
When I see the price or stock info listed as "Call", I don't. I move on to somewhere else. If I make a purchase and the item is not in stock I'll probably never purchase from them again. That happened to me with Buy.com and I avoided purchasing from them for years.
3 - Accurate descriptions of items for sale including pictures & model numbers.
4 - Clear shipping charges & carrier information.
I hate when they make you log in and complete the billing & shipping form before showing shipping charges. I like shipping to be calculated in the cart by entering zip code. Also, it's important for me to know the carrier (USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.). There are a couple of shipping companies, FedEx Ground and DHL, that I hate dealing with and try to avoid buying from companies that use these carriers.
5 - It's nice to know where the item is being shipped from. I live in FL and try to purchase from sellers on in the Southeast states or major cities on the east coast. If the item is being shipped UPS ground from Washington state I know I have a long wait in front of me.
6 - Online tracking, order status and order history is very nice and very much appreciated by me.
7 - If the seller has built a reputation I like to see links - like to BBB, resellerratings, ebay store, amazon store, etc. so I can see some sort of feedback.
1 - Contact Information
If it's hard to find contact information with a phone number and real address I absolutely will not consider buying from them. Sometimes I'll even look up Whois info on the domain and if ownership is masked I may avoid purchasing from them.
2 - Clear pricing competitive with other online resellers and current stock info.
When I see the price or stock info listed as "Call", I don't. I move on to somewhere else. If I make a purchase and the item is not in stock I'll probably never purchase from them again. That happened to me with Buy.com and I avoided purchasing from them for years.
3 - Accurate descriptions of items for sale including pictures & model numbers.
4 - Clear shipping charges & carrier information.
I hate when they make you log in and complete the billing & shipping form before showing shipping charges. I like shipping to be calculated in the cart by entering zip code. Also, it's important for me to know the carrier (USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.). There are a couple of shipping companies, FedEx Ground and DHL, that I hate dealing with and try to avoid buying from companies that use these carriers.
5 - It's nice to know where the item is being shipped from. I live in FL and try to purchase from sellers on in the Southeast states or major cities on the east coast. If the item is being shipped UPS ground from Washington state I know I have a long wait in front of me.
6 - Online tracking, order status and order history is very nice and very much appreciated by me.
7 - If the seller has built a reputation I like to see links - like to BBB, resellerratings, ebay store, amazon store, etc. so I can see some sort of feedback.
A bit off topic 
take a look at http://www.oscommerce.com/ - you can set up a store in less than 4 hours.
Just google around - and you will see a lot of companies using them.
can be integrated with any shipping/creditcard/paypal vendors
take a look at http://www.oscommerce.com/ - you can set up a store in less than 4 hours.
Just google around - and you will see a lot of companies using them.
can be integrated with any shipping/creditcard/paypal vendors
QUOTE (dealHarry @ 6-23-08, 10:03pm) 
A bit off topic
take a look at http://www.oscommerce.com/ - you can set up a store in less than 4 hours.
Just google around - and you will see a lot of companies using them.
can be integrated with any shipping/creditcard/paypal vendors
take a look at http://www.oscommerce.com/ - you can set up a store in less than 4 hours.
Just google around - and you will see a lot of companies using them.
can be integrated with any shipping/creditcard/paypal vendors
From a web development firm side of things, osCommerce takes a good many more than 4 hours to look "decent". It comes with incredibly cheesy cartoon graphics that will scare aware potential buyers. It's definitely a good open source system (and we've used it successfully for projects), but it's not something a novice should jump into. Yahoo Stores is a bit tacky, but much easier to get started.
Regarding the OP's question, in addition to Alan's fine reply, one thing that turns me away is a requirement to register before seeing your cart or before getting the shipping price. I've jumped ship many times when I didn't want to register to find out my total cost.
Regarding positive features, the availibility of coupons or promo codes is something that attracts me as a buyer. Of course, that's probably true for everyone on B$.
QUOTE (dealHarry @ 6-23-08, 10:03pm)
A bit off topic
take a look at http://www.oscommerce.com/ - you can set up a store in less than 4 hours.
Just google around - and you will see a lot of companies using them.
can be integrated with any shipping/creditcard/paypal vendors
take a look at http://www.oscommerce.com/ - you can set up a store in less than 4 hours.
Just google around - and you will see a lot of companies using them.
can be integrated with any shipping/creditcard/paypal vendors
From a web development firm side of things, osCommerce takes a good many more than 4 hours to look "decent". It comes with incredibly cheesy cartoon graphics that will scare aware potential buyers. It's definitely a good open source system (and we've used it successfully for projects), but it's not something a novice should jump into. Yahoo Stores is a bit tacky, but much easier to get started.
Regarding the OP's question, in addition to Alan's fine reply, one thing that turns me away is a requirement to register before seeing your cart or before getting the shipping price. I've jumped ship many times when I didn't want to register to find out my total cost.
Regarding positive features, the availibility of coupons or promo codes is something that attracts me as a buyer. Of course, that's probably true for everyone on B$.
QUOTE (Superman @ 6-23-08, 10:02pm)
Regarding the OP's question, in addition to Alan's fine reply, one thing that turns me away is a requirement to register before seeing your cart or before getting the shipping price. I've jumped ship many times when I didn't want to register to find out my total cost.
Yeah, having to register or go through checkout to see shipping is a good way to get me to leave a site, fast.
QUOTE (dealHarry)
A bit off topic
Nah, it's a finance question :-)
Good points, Alan!
I think Alan nailed it with these points.
QUOTE (Alan @ 6-23-08, 5:33pm)
When I hit a website I've never purchased from before there are a few things I look for.
1 - Contact Information
If it's hard to find contact information with a phone number and real address I absolutely will not consider buying from them. Sometimes I'll even look up Whois info on the domain and if ownership is masked I may avoid purchasing from them.
2 - Clear pricing competitive with other online resellers and current stock info.
When I see the price or stock info listed as "Call", I don't. I move on to somewhere else. If I make a purchase and the item is not in stock I'll probably never purchase from them again. That happened to me with Buy.com and I avoided purchasing from them for years.
3 - Accurate descriptions of items for sale including pictures & model numbers.
4 - Clear shipping charges & carrier information.
I hate when they make you log in and complete the billing & shipping form before showing shipping charges. I like shipping to be calculated in the cart by entering zip code. Also, it's important for me to know the carrier (USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.). There are a couple of shipping companies, FedEx Ground and DHL, that I hate dealing with and try to avoid buying from companies that use these carriers.
5 - It's nice to know where the item is being shipped from. I live in FL and try to purchase from sellers on in the Southeast states or major cities on the east coast. If the item is being shipped UPS ground from Washington state I know I have a long wait in front of me.
6 - Online tracking, order status and order history is very nice and very much appreciated by me.
7 - If the seller has built a reputation I like to see links - like to BBB, resellerratings, ebay store, amazon store, etc. so I can see some sort of feedback.
1 - Contact Information
If it's hard to find contact information with a phone number and real address I absolutely will not consider buying from them. Sometimes I'll even look up Whois info on the domain and if ownership is masked I may avoid purchasing from them.
2 - Clear pricing competitive with other online resellers and current stock info.
When I see the price or stock info listed as "Call", I don't. I move on to somewhere else. If I make a purchase and the item is not in stock I'll probably never purchase from them again. That happened to me with Buy.com and I avoided purchasing from them for years.
3 - Accurate descriptions of items for sale including pictures & model numbers.
4 - Clear shipping charges & carrier information.
I hate when they make you log in and complete the billing & shipping form before showing shipping charges. I like shipping to be calculated in the cart by entering zip code. Also, it's important for me to know the carrier (USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.). There are a couple of shipping companies, FedEx Ground and DHL, that I hate dealing with and try to avoid buying from companies that use these carriers.
5 - It's nice to know where the item is being shipped from. I live in FL and try to purchase from sellers on in the Southeast states or major cities on the east coast. If the item is being shipped UPS ground from Washington state I know I have a long wait in front of me.
6 - Online tracking, order status and order history is very nice and very much appreciated by me.
7 - If the seller has built a reputation I like to see links - like to BBB, resellerratings, ebay store, amazon store, etc. so I can see some sort of feedback.
Alan's list is very good, and I'm not sure how much I could add to that as far as the store itself.
In addition to the store itself, customers have to be able to find it. It needs to come up in the popular search engine results, by store name, but more importantly when people search for an item that your store carries. Also, price search engines are important. Froogle (now known as Google Product Search), PriceGrabber, etc. are used by many customers to find good prices on items, and if your store is not listed in those places, you will loose a lot of those customers.
In addition to the store itself, customers have to be able to find it. It needs to come up in the popular search engine results, by store name, but more importantly when people search for an item that your store carries. Also, price search engines are important. Froogle (now known as Google Product Search), PriceGrabber, etc. are used by many customers to find good prices on items, and if your store is not listed in those places, you will loose a lot of those customers.
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