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BASICS OF ECOMMERCE AND MERCHANDIZING ON
THE INTERNET
There are no shelves to display your
products in your virtual shops like you
do in the real shops. Therefore, your
customers will not be able to touch and
feel the real goods that are displayed.
This is the reason why the traditional
method of merchandizing will not work in
the virtual shop. You should find new
and innovative ways to produce the same
effect.
All that the potential buyer can do is
to see the merchandize on the site and
read about its features. The primary
goal of merchandizing on the internet,
is building up of a convenient logical
set of data which will motivate him
towards buying your product.
Like in the real stores where a
representative may explain the product,
there are no representatives in the
virtual store. The customer does not
expect one but he expects the virtual
store to be organized well. Information
regarding your products should be
readily available on the site.
Since there are no sales
representative’s in a virtual store to
facilitate the customer is making his
choice, the problem of choosing is a
major issue for the industry. Therefore,
you should have a very narrow and
focused range of products on your
e-store otherwise the customer will get
frustrated and close your site due to
it.
There are 3 ways of merchandizing on the
internet.
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The advertisement or the interior
appearance of your virtual store
will not have much influence on a
customer’s decision. It is only the
mindset of a consumer which does
that job. However, advertisement and
interior appearance will attract the
consumers to your site and they may
even change their decision because
of this.
-
Your site should be designed in such
a way that your customer will be
able to find what he is looking for
in not more than 4 clicks or you
should display the “NO STOCK”
message.
-
If the goods required by the
customer are not in stock then take
his email id or phone number so that
you will be able to contact him when
the stock arrives.
The way your site is designed is very
important and determines the success of
your business. There should not be many
links in a single page that will confuse
the customer. If there are some
discounts or sale then place them at the
end of the page.
Another trick for up selling the
customer is showing him additional books
of similar type. Also, display the book
that had the highest sales in the
previous month. Once all this
information is available to him he can
make his decision easily.
If the customers are not able to find
the book they are looking for then your
site should provide recommendations and
direct him through your store so that he
finds what he is looking for.
High quality photos together with
descriptions will also aid in selling
products for your site. You should also
have convenient payment options for your
customers. |
