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Plus Size Fashion Shopping Online

Written on 15 Januari 2011 – 02:00 | by misha

I am often surprised by people’s reaction when I tell them that I bought my latest dress off the Internet. They cannot understand how I could take the ‘risk’ of buying something so personal online, without even touching or trying it on first. This is the most common feedback I get from many friends and relatives when they compliment me on my new outfit, ask me where I got it from and I tell them… online!

The thing is, most of this feedback comes from people who are size 10 or less and who do not understand how much of a distressing experience clothes shopping can be for a lady who is size 20.

I remember when I was younger hating going shopping with cousins or friends. Most of the time I used to end up being their shopping assistant instead of their fellow shopper; not finding anything that I liked which was in my size, would usually leave me no other option. I could not understand why most stores could not open their eyes real wide and realise that most women are curvy! It felt (and still does feel) so unfair to me that most of the fashionable styles of clothing are not available for plus sized women.

My shopping experience changed from night to day when I discovered plus size clothing stores online. I could not believe the amount of stores available online for plus size women. Stores exclusively carrying plus size fashion; apparel and accessories that looked good and that was in my size. I was ecstatic at my discovery, this eased so many of my shopping problems.

I can now say that over the years the amount of plus size stores available online has grown tremendously, and the quality of fashion available has definitely improved. Plus size store online are now able to satisfy all tastes, occasions and sizes.

I have decided to share these thoughts with you to encourage fellow plus size women who may be looking for that special outfit, or who simply want to shop for more clothes, to consider the option of shopping online because, believe me, it will open many stylish doors for you!

Here follow my seven essentials reasons why I personally shop online for most of my clothes and why I am recommending online shopping to all plus size women.

1. Size availability

Finally you no longer have to worry about whether stores carry the item you like in your size, because plus size stores online cater exclusively to plus size women’s needs. That is, they usually carry items from size 12 or 14 to size 48 and above! Most stores have their own size ranges, as some may stop at size 34 for instance while others may carry items up to size 50. This usually varies on a store by store basis.

2. Endless choice of styles

When you are out and about shopping in the usual stores, you are rather limited to the styles of clothing available at one store. Some stores may focus on formal wear rather than casual, and some may not carry swimwear or lingerie for instance. This inconvenience does not exist online. Why? Most plus size clothing stores online carry a wide variety of styles. Plus, it is easy for you whilst you are shopping around online, to switch from one store to the other if you are looking for a different style.

3. Ease of shopping

I don’t know about you but shopping is one tiring chore; walking around big stores, out of this one and into the other. By the end of the day your feet will be aching; makes you wonder why you go into all their trouble in the first place! Shopping around on the Internet just to see what’s in stock, what’s in fashion and what the price ranges are, can be done at just the click of a mouse. You can tirelessly click your way from store to store.

4. Greater selection

When shopping online for clothes I usually find that I am open to a more vast selection of items than when I’m otherwise shopping in usual stores. A store’s web-site usually lists all the items available within that particular store, so you can view everything online. The fashion available to plus size women online from the various stores available is simply endless; you will find stores to suit every taste, age and size. You will find the right store for you!

5. Save those pennies

Looking for the best priced item is much easier online. Imagine you have found an item that you would like to buy; you could easily make a note of it by book-marking the page, and before actually buying that item you can browse around the other plus size clothing stores to check whether they carry the same or similar items at a cheaper price. There are also a lot of promotions and sales going on at online plus size stores. Some stores may choose to keep you updated to their promotions by emailing you monthly newsletters, which will keep you up to date with money saving deals, coupons available and discounts.

6. Friendlier shopping experience

I don’t know about you but one thing I really hate is the nasty attitude and looks I get sometimes from shopping assistants when they tell you, “Sorry we do not carry that in your size!” Seems to me like they need some chocolate in their system! You will definitely not get any of that from most plus size stores online, as they understand the needs of big beautiful women and the friendly customer service reps are usually plus size ladies themselves.

7. Convenient!

This is definitely my favourite perk of shopping online. It is simply convenient! You can shop whenever you what, at what time you want and you can even shop in your pyjamas! You have ample of time to think about your purchase, look over the items you want to buy over and over until you make you final decision. It is just all about you and your time.

Overall shopping online is much more of a pleasant experience. Personally I shop online for a wide range of stuff, due to time constraints and everyday life; however even if I had all the time in the world I would still opt for shopping online when looking for new clothes and accessories as it is much more of a satisfying experience. I recommend online shopping at plus size fashion stores to all the big beautiful women who have trouble finding outfits they really like and which fit them well. The Internet will make you love shopping and your figure!

Maya Matthews is the resident writer at http://www.pasazz.net, the plus size clothing directory. A plus size woman herself, Maya strives to provide plus size ladies with fashion and lifestyle tips and ideas. Please visit the plus size clothing directory at http://www.pasazz.net to read more articles and find the top online plus size stores.

Tags: Fashion, Online, Shopping

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How to Cut Down Your Shopping Time and Money by 50% Or More?

Written on 10 Januari 2011 – 11:06 | by misha

You wanted to buy a $1 pen and came back with a dozen other items for $100 and… oops you totally forgot about the pen! You thought of doing some quick shopping but ended up spending 2 hours at the store. Sound familiar? Would you like to learn how to cut down your shopping time and money and still have a pleasurable shopping experience?

Please note though that I am not referring here to pleasure shopping or window shopping. I know some of us enjoy shopping long hours. We do this once in a while when we stare and drool at eye catching transparent displays in shops and even relax somewhat while checking out 10 different milk brands on their chilling shelves. I am merely referring to the regular shopping; like that of groceries or general home items.

Fact is, shopping for household and personal items that do not require long-standing decision making should not take you longer than 30 mins! Yet many times we have taken more than a couple of hours buying nine other items not on our shopping list - that are mildly useful or completely useless.

I can relate to this because I used to spend long hours and lots of money on unnecessary item in shops. What comes to mind now is the fact that retails shops are designed to lure you to buy things. There is separate branch or retail chain management called Retail space management with its sophisticated software tools that are designed to manage retail space. The goal of any retail shop is: ‘To serve the customer better’. Or at least that’s what they tell us. But underlying that is their real goal which is: ‘To make you and me buy more!’ Every inch of a retail shop is designed for that. And boy are they ruthless. They attack you and me with their mighty weapons(adverts) and techniques(50% sales and coupons) and the poor shopper(you and me) ends up spending more time inside; leaving the store with less dollars.

So what can you do to cut down on your shopping time and money by 50% or more? To combat and reduce your time and money on regular shopping I use and recommend the following FIVE simple techniques:

1. Shopping List

On a daily basis note down the items you need. I recommend keeping a shopping list, paper, or some electronic device to capture important shopping items. Do not enter the shop without a shopping list. Never. Shopping lists will serve you as a direction map inside the shop. If you really want to buy some item outside of your shopping list ask this question first: “Can I live without this item for this week?” If the answer is no then buy it; otherwise postpone until next week’s shopping.

2. Shop once a week

To save time and money on transport do not shop more than once per week. Buy items once a week and make sure it lasts the entire week so you don’t need to waste time on weekdays for regular shopping. For perishable items like fruit and vegetables, do not buy large quantities that will last more than a week. The money you try to save by buying in bulk will be eaten up, as most of the vegetables will remain unused and rot, and likely, end up in the garbage bin.

3. Ask and you shall find

Here is the technique that will save you lot of time and some money. Inside the shop if you don’t know the location of an item, simple; ask the shop people where to find it. If it’s takes you 10 mins to find the item, asking will land you straight to the item in less than a minute. Also you won’t be tempted to buy other ’stuff’ you happen to see when you are searching. So don’t hesitate, just ask. They shop people are actually paid to help you.

4. Buy near and save more

If there is a shop near your home choose to shop there instead of at a discount shop 10 miles away. Even if the shop close by is a bit more expensive you will end up saving on time and transport costs.

5. Promotion / Sale / Discount - Keep OFF

It is the psychology of humans to spend more on discount items than normal items. Shops know this very well and use it to their advantage. People hesitate to buy a $3.5 normal price item, but they won’t mind buying the same 3 items for $10 in a promotion. Yes you saved few cents per item with the promotion. But on the whole you spend $6.5 more and the truth is you may never use all the three items you purchase. Buy on promotion only if you really need the item. Don’t buy items on promotion just for the sake of it.

Start using one or two of the above techniques mentioned and you will soon see the impact on your watch and wallet. I would love to get your feedback and experiences upon implementation of the same. Let’s help another shopper.

Cheers - Jag.

Author: Jag Karnan is entrepreneur and blogger. Manage your self, Time and Money. http://www.jagkarnan.com

Tags: Money, Shopping

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A Unique Marketing Spin for a Coffee Shop

Written on 8 Januari 2011 – 22:29 | by misha

Three business partners contacted me about creating a marketing plan for a coffee shop that they were opening in Greenwich Village in New York City. They had already leased a 3000 sq. foot space, which is very large for a coffee shop. They had not worked out what type of food or coffee they would serve. The location was too large for it to survive as just a coffee shop something extra would have to be added.

I met with the three partners where I discussed my concerns about there new business venture. I convinced them to follow a plan that I created that would solve the extra space problem for them. Since they had already signed the lease on the location that was to large to succeed as just a coffee shop I created a plan for the coffee shop to be used as a place for community service groups, discussion groups, art and theatre groups, and special interest groups.

I arranged for the coffee shop to operate a two-prong strategy. In the morning it will offer coffee, cappuccino, and breakfast muffins and an assortment of pastries to the people in the morning, 65% who are professional. After 9:30 A.M. the coffee house will strive to become a meeting place for various community groups, organizations, associations, and a place for college students to meet after classes. The coffee shop will have a part time program director who will work with the various groups to help facilitate community meetings and set up interesting forums and discussion groups, and to provide other entertainment for the college students.

I conducted some research on successful coffee shops and found that the espresso machines contribute well over 50 percent to a coffee shop’s revenue and even more to its profits. The shops with the best tasting drinks did five to ten times the business of shops with average tasting espresso. To capitalize on this the coffee shop should try to get its espresso drinks to over 50 percent of the drinks served. To accomplish this, the coffee shop set up a separate espresso station, with instruction on how to make a great espresso. The coffee shop will set its pricing approximately 25 percent below typical Starbucks’ pricing.

The key to the coffee shop is the merchandising and taste of its specialty drinks, which involves having the right coffeemaker and coffee, and people who understand the art of making good coffee. I suggested that the coffee shop purchased a high-end cappuccino coffeemaker that has a shiny copper and bronze exterior that can be set out in a separate station to attract interest to specialty coffees. Two employees along with the manager were trained in the proper technique of making specialty coffee drinks.

I worked with the part time program and sales director with finding groups and creating groups that will hold meetings in the coffee shop. A discount was offered to any group or individual who would bring in groups. I created a web site explaining what the coffee shop has to offer, and what meetings are taking place and how they can attend these meetings. The coffee shop will send out coupons to groups offering a 25-percent-off discount.

I bought a list from a list broker of organizations, associations, and local community groups in the area. I wrote solicitation letters to them explaining what services the coffee shop had to offer. I created online discussion groups that would involve potential clients for the coffee shop. Articles were written for on line publication for the organizations, associations, and local community groups that held meetings at the coffee shop. These articles contained links to the web site for the coffee shop that would list the upcoming events and discussions that would be held at the coffee shop. Print ads were also taken out in a small local publication that the targeted market reads.

After about 5 months the results of these marketing efforts had paid off. The coffee shops morning business was doing 10 percent better that was forecasted. The coffee shop had 8 regular groups, organizations, and associations holding weekly meetings in the coffee shop. I got permission from the clients who are using the coffee shop for meetings to use there names in the next set of ads that will run, and on the new web site. You must promote your success to get new business.

William Dupree is the owner of I.M.P.S. (Interactive Marketing & Promotional Solutions Inc.) (http://www.intmktprosol.com) a sole proprietorship marketing firm located in New York City that specializes in developing interactive marketing strategies for small businesses. Prior to founding I.M.P.S. in 2005, Mr. Dupree was a senior partner at E.D.L. Marketing for twelve years. Before joining E.D.L. he worked for Diamond Marketing Group where he performed personal sales strategies, product planning, event planning, and created interactive marketing strategies for an assortment of small businesses.

Tags: Coffee, Marketing, Unique

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Christmas Shopping in Galway City

Written on 8 Januari 2011 – 04:53 | by misha

Galway city is renowned the world over as a vibrant, warm and multicultural city. It’s a popular destination for Christmas shopping in Ireland, as it has everything - lively pubs, gourmet restaurants, plenty of accommodation, a weekly market, lots of shopping arcades and a terrific range of shops, so you’ll have no bother finding those Christmas presents and last minute stocking fillers!

Galway city is especially welcoming over Christmas. It’s located beside the sea surrounded by some of Ireland’s most spectacular landscape, which helps to create the perfect scene.

When it comes to Christmas shopping, Galway has just as much to offer, as any other large city in Ireland.

Shopping in Galway is a pleasant experience as much of the city center is pedestrianised and you’ll stumble upon quirky little shops, small boutiques and beautiful craft shops as you roam around its cobbled streets. Of course, you’ll find all your usual high street stores and labels too.

When you visit Galway on your shopping break, be sure to visit the local market. It’s normally open on a Saturday and Sunday all year round, but is usually open for about 10 days prior to Christmas and a visit here will definitely put you in the festive mood. Don’t miss the opportunity to mingle with the locals as they gather to chitchat as well as do their shopping. This market has been taking place for centuries and is located next to St. Nicholas Church at the bottom of Shop Street. It’s best known for its exclusive arts, crafts and mouthwatering foods prepared while you wait. Handmade chocolates, delicious crepes and Japanese Sushi are just some of the foods you’ll find here.

Many of the shops in Galway city are situated on streets in the key shopping area in the centre of the city, while the shopping centres tend to be on the outskirts of the city.

Eyre Square Shopping Centre

Eyre Square Shopping Centre (found in Eyre Square!) has up to 100 shops offering everything from fashion, gifts, jewellery, books, sport, department stores and restaurants.

The shops pull out all the stops at Christmas with elaborate window and shop displays.

(Even if you don’t buy anything - take a stroll through this shopping center and see the remains of the old city walls, which have been incorporated into the building!)

Shop Street - Galway City

Don’t pass up the opportunity to saunter down the bustling Shop Street where some of the best shops are to be found. The street is a bit touristy so if you’re looking for craft shops, hand made jewellery and art shops, then this is the place to go.

Latin Quarter

This street is known as High Street and the quaint cobblestoned street is filled with fascinating exclusive shops. You will find original and once off gifts here.

The Corrib Shopping Centre

There are lots of shopping centres in Galway. The Corrib Shopping Centre is not very big but is ideally located and within walking distance of Eyre Square. It has a good range of shops including Roches Stores - a large department store with everything under the one roof!

The Galway Shopping Centre

Situated on the Headford Road is the Galway Shopping Centre which has well over 100 shops including Penny’s - a big hit for its trendy clothes at bargain prices. A car is recommended especially if you plan on doing lots of Christmas shopping so it’s good to know there’s loads of parking. If you have the kids in tow, then there’s plenty to keep them occupied with the onsite Leisure Dome which incorporated a bowling alley, laser games, a play area and lots more.

Terryland Retail Park

Another shopping centre located on the Headford Road and catering for people looking for specialist shops and unique gifts.

Galway is such a fantastic city to visit and when you arrive here on your pre Christmas shopping break you’ll know what we mean. It’s a paradise of lively pubs, shops, and restaurants, with friendly faces and a warm atmosphere. And when you’re finished your Christmas shopping in Galway city, you can explore top attractions like Connemara, the Aran Islands and the Cliffs of Moher.

Mairead Foley writes for the Ireland travel and accommodation website http://www.GoIreland.com

Visit GoIreland for all you need to know before visiting Ireland, like what to see and where to go. You can also view B&Bs, guesthouses, self catering and hotels all over Ireland as well as Galway hotels.

Tags: Christmas, Galway, Shopping

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Online Shopping Cart Software

Written on 6 Januari 2011 – 13:39 | by misha

Without the need for web design and development expertise, you can have a successful online shop by using an ecommerce solutions package of online Shopping cart software. There is no programming on your part involved in setting up and marketing a successful online shop when you use the features and functions available in online shopping cart software. Some of the features include on-the-web administration, calculation and integration of shipping charges, real-time payments and much more.

Online shopping cart software is available through many companies. Both small companies and large corporations can benefit from online shopping cart software. To help get you started, there are training manuals and videos, such as an online store builder reference. Technical support is available 24/7 for free.

For a small price, you can stream-line your online sales with help that online shopping cart software offers. It will be a huge challenge to compare all the online shopping cart software as there are so many venders of online shopping cart software on the web. Since none of them can offer the absolute perfect solution, how do you determine which is the best option for you?

What are the considerations in the evaluation of Online Shopping Cart Software Packages:

Hosting - Is it necessary to use the same host as the online shopping cart software vendor? This isn’t actually a yes or no question. If you decide to use a different host than the online shopping cart software vender, you do need to make sure that reliability and security for your business are provided by the company you choose. You can rest easy enough if you outsource you online shopping cart software solution with a company like Yahoo as they will keep your business online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To be sure you are choosing a good company, do your homework. This will help make sure you don’t spend all your time resolving issues with the shopping cart company.

Flexibility of Design - Can you integrate the look of the online shopping cart software to match your store design or do you have to design around what the software will allow? It could be advantageous to design around the online shopping cart software as their designers may have thought of some cart design ideas you didn’t. But this is not always the case. If you provide them with a template of your online store design, They might be able to incorporate the design into their program. Keep searching if they can’t do it. Also, if you are changing online shopping carts, you need to find a package that will transition smoothly from the old online shopping cart software to the new software with a full uploading of your database. This will save you a lot of time and work.

Shipping - This can be quite a challenge. You may have products that don’t need to be shipped, such as gift certificates and memberships. There might also be instances when an item is very heavy and needs special handling in shipping. Will the online shopping cart software be able to adjust for these variations? What about certain items that are on a no shipping charge special or orders that exceed a specified dollar amount?

Taxes - Some states required that taxes be paid on online purchases. And there may be times when you are selling some things that are taxable and others that are not taxable. Such things as memberships are not taxable and some states don’t tax food items or clothing. I s the online shopping cart software able to handle these exceptions? Being search engine friendly is another major concern. Are search engines able to read the entire website? Though not all online shopping cart programs were design with this in mind, search engines such as Google should be able to index the whole site, including the shopping cart. You will lose out quite a bit on traffic coming from search engines if the big search engine spiders can’t read your site or if they can, find it isn’t completely search engine optimized.

Reporting - What type of information do you want the online shopping cart software to make available to you? Do you need to know what you best selling items are? What your overall sales are? Would you like to have your traffic info available? There are a lot of options on what kind of data can be provided for you and some of the online shopping carts are better than others in giving the data you want in a good cohesive format.

Back end functionality - Can you add new products or categories with ease? If a product of out of stock, can you turn off the order function for that product? Are you able to tie the shopping cart to an inventory system? What about images, will they be easy to load or be difficult and complicated? Is it necessary to upload a different image for thumbnails and enlarged views? If it appears that setting up and maintaining your shopping cart is going to be a major ongoing task, find a different shopping cart.

Cross selling - Can you list similar or related items on sale right within the cart to take advantage of cross selling? Can you offer accessories for items, such as headphones for a new personal CD player? Though it is a great way to get customers to add to their shopping carts, only a few programs offer cross selling as an option.

Merchant Account Flexibility - If you already have an established online business, you more than likely have a merchant account for processing credit card payments. Will you be able to use your current merchant account with the online shopping cart software you are considering? In the event you have to use it, is the merchant account associated with the shopping cart software under consideration acceptable? How are charge-backs handled? What about the credits cards they will take, are they the same as the ones your offline account takes? Will the shopping cart merchant account be easy for your customers to use? Will your customers need to register with a 3rd party program, such as Paypal, before they can make purchases? Be wary of anything that could have a negative affect on your website’s sales rates.

Additional Features - After you have your cart up and running, you will very likely think of features that could potentially raise your sales. Is flexibility to add other features offered by the cart you are considering? Does the cart offer gift registries or wish lists? Can promotional codes or online coupons be used so customers can get a discount for being referred or referring others. Can an affiliate program be incorporated into the shopping cart. Is a wholesale login offered in the cart program?

To summarize, to choose the right online shopping cart software, a lot of questions need to be answered. It is hoped that the above queries will get you on the right road when you are considering shopping cart software solutions for your ebusiness. Obviously, each ebusiness has its own needs to take into account when considering shopping cart software solutions, so the questions above should assist you in finding the right solution for your web business.

Nick Hurd is the CEO of 1CartPlus.com, LLC. 1CartPlus.com is complete shopping cart and e-commerce system that supports a comprehensive package of tools that totally automate the marketing and fulfillment requirements for it’s clients.

You can find more information at www.1cartplus.com - a shopping cart and e-commerce system on steroids  http://www.1cartplus.com/]. You’ll be glad you did.

Tags: Online, Shopping, Software

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Do You Suffer From Shopping Addiction?

Written on 4 Januari 2011 – 08:46 | by misha

Do you budget your spending? Or are you addicted to shopping? Research shows that shopping addiction affects mainly women while alcoholism affects men. Items which top a woman’s shopping list are clothes, makeup and jewelery.

You may have an internet shopping addiction if you spend a major part of your time online shopping for alluring products that seem just a mouse click away. If the only channel you watch on the telly is the home network, you could be at risk for a home network shopping addiction.

Causes Of Shopping Addiction

Shopoholics get a high from an addictive behavior like shopping. During shopping sprees endorphins and dopamine, naturally occurring opiate receptor sites in the brain get switched on making the person feel good. The nicer this feeling is the person is likely to shop more.”

To capitalize on this compulsive shopping instinct - shops display similar items alluringly side by side - making customers pick up what they want or desire rather than what they need being quite oblivious of the fact that one’s money is after all limited.

Shopping addiction is rooted in complex psychological reasons. Shopping may just be a means of escapism from the realities of life and its accompanying problem - an outlet to anger, depression, anxiety, boredom or loneliness.

Shopping cures none of your woes. It just seems to provide some instant relief. The long-term effects of shopping addiction can include debt and damage to close relationships.

Like most addictions, shopping addiction may be the result of trying to fill a void in your life with materialistic things, and gives only temporary happiness.

How To Treat Your Shopping Addiction

Treatment for compulsive shopping is like any other addiction. Shopping addiction may be treated with psychotropic drugs and counseling.

Here are some simple tips to recover from a shopping addiction:

Be honest and admit you have a problem.

Take professional help and speak to wise and empathetic non-shopoholic friends who can offer unbiased moral support and positive encouragement to help you overcome your addiction.

Chalk out a budget and ascertain a fixed amount, which you can spend on your personal shopping. Categorize items on your shopping list as necessities, comforts and luxuries with the help of your therapist. Try to minimize expenses on luxuries and judiciously monitor purchases of comforts.

With the help of a mental health professional identify all the stages in the compulsive buying cycle- the triggers, feelings, dysfunctional thoughts, typical behavior and consequences. Try to break the vicious cycle of shopping sprees.

Try to keep credit and debit cards just for emergencies. These cards just add fuel to fire in your shopping addiction. In fact canceling them won’t be a bad idea.

Don’t subscribe to shopping catalog’s. Don’t even visit sales or discount warehouses as they may make you spend more in the long run. Avoid watching shopping programs on TV and try not to obsess over advertisements in magazines and newspapers. Divert your attention when you come across such advertisements. Also avoid window-shopping as before long you may end up in purchasing what you covet for but can’t really afford.

Keep yourself busy throughout the day in work and various other hobbies. Don’t allow shopping to be your major or only hobby.

Try to be farsighted. Understand that saving money will help you to buy an asset your family really wants in the future - a house or a car - or be used for emergencies and dry days.

Pallavi Bhattacharya is a freelance journalist with Naaree.com, the magazine for the new Indian woman. She writes for many other leading Indian publications and relishes the freedom of expression through her journalistic pursuits, which is her means of self-discovery and understanding life. This article may be reprinted as long as all links are hyperlinked.

Tags: Addiction, Shopping, Suffer

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Minimise Shopping Cart Abandonment with the Right Shopping Cart Software

Written on 2 Januari 2011 – 09:04 | by misha

A great percentage of online shoppers abandon a shopping cart before completing the checkout process. Industry research reports as much as 75% of shoppers abandon the shopping cart before purchasing. Learn tips on what you need from your shopping cart software so as to reduce this significant statistic, and increase your conversion rate.

A Checkout Funnel with a Small Number of Steps

Your shopping cart software should support a conversion friendly checkout process. The main purpose of most shopping carts is to generate sales, therefore you would assume that the lesser number of clicks a user has to perform to purchase a product, the less likely they are to abandon the process.

Industry research reports that shopping cart software supporting a 2 to 3 step checkout process is ideal.

Place Shipping Types Before the Checkout Process

Before customers add their product to the shopping cart, many want to know if they can get their product before a particular date, or the next day. Therefore, you should think about presenting shipping types on your product pages, before the customer adds their product to the shopping cart.

Place Shipping Costs Early in the Checkout Process

When customising your shopping cart and checkout process you should place shipping prices early on in the checkout process, and if possible on your product pages.

You want to build up a trustworthy relationship with your potential customers especially throughout the vulnerable checkout process; therefore you should customise you shopping cart and checkout process so as to present them with the total cost of their product. Nobody wants to be billed at the last minute for VAT and shipping costs, when throughout the shopping cart process they have been under the assumption that the total cost has been presented to them.

Show Stock Availability

The best shopping cart software enables you to present users with stock availability before the user places their product in the shopping cart. By giving your user this information before they get to the checkout process, it saves disappointing your customer later in the checkout process once you have gained their trust and they have made the decision to buy.

Make the Next Step Obvious

When customising your shopping cart it is important that you lead your customer through a seamless shopping and checkout process. Otherwise, confusion will almost certainly lead to shopping cart abandonment. Provide a prominent “Continue with Checkout” button and keep the appearance of the checkout sparse and easy to follow.

Make Editing the Shopping Cart Easy

When designing your shopping cart you should customise your shopping basket to allow users to edit their products easily. If it comes in different colours and different sizes don’t make them delete it from their shopping cart if they want it in a different variation.

Build Confidence and Trust

When customising your shopping cart you should aim to consistently show them that you’re a real entity.

Throughout the entire shopping cart and checkout process your guarantee, return, privacy, delivery, customer service and security policies should always be in visible view. Even better, you should present the relevant information at the most relevant time. For example, as a user has to enter their email address during the checkout process, you might reassure them at this point by having your privacy policy alongside the field.

Viart Shop offer scalable and flexible ecommerce shopping cart solutions. To evaluate the Viart shop, the free evaluation edition is a fully functional version of the Viart shopping cart that can be downloaded from the website at: http://www.viart.com/Free_Evaluation. Viart also offer hosting, web design and reseller packages.

Tags: Abandonment, Minimise, Right, Shopping, Software

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Top 10 Shop Fittings Questions and Answers

Written on 30 Desember 2010 – 22:18 | by misha

Setting up a high street store can be more complicated than it seems. Above everything you need a well structured plan of action. Assuming that you have a good plan of action and have done all the researching and have the funding needed to set up your shop here is a check list that will aid you with one of the most important sections of your store, the shop fittings and display units.

After premises and stock buying, fittings represent one of the biggest slices in the expenditure pie when setting up a new high street shop. The check list below will help you avoid some common mistakes as well as choose the right fixtures for your shop.

1. Have I found a premise?

First and foremost you need a well located premise for your store. No good setting up a stunning shop where nobody can see it or find it. I know that establishments in very busy streets have high rental prices but that will be money well spent.

2. Do I have existing floor plans?

Now that you found the ideal place for your shop it is time to make you floor plan. Where will be the counter be, aisles, shelves displays, etc. Might be a good idea to ask for professional help here, like hiring an interior designer or decorator specialised in store’ interior designs.

3. What will the shops branding / colours be?

Choose the style and colours of your shopfittings based on the colours of you brand/shop. There are many shop fixture manufacturers these days that can create fittings and displays according to your requirements. Some of the most popular shop fittings manufacturers are Tegometall, CAEM and KLEEREX and you can find them on all major shop fittings suppliers across the country.

4. What work needs to be conducted to the shop front?

Again depending on the type of shop that you are setting up, you will need to make some changes to the shop front. Sports shops need to reflect action and movement, a beds shop needs to pass calm and tranquility and so on, you got the picture, right?

5. Will I need to alter the shop usage? Once again depending on the type of shop you will have to alter its usage but there is one rule that suits all shop, accessibility. A shop needs to have easy access for your target audience as well as for disabled people. Displays settings also should be considered when thinking of your shop’s usage.

6. What display shop fittings will I require?

I hate to sound repetitive but, this is also related to the type of shop you are setting up.

7. What is my budget?

The biggest villain in all start ups, the budget. With money everything is made easy but how to start up a good shop with a tight budget? As before mentioned shop fittings represent a big slice in the expenditure pie of a shop so make sure you reserve some extra cash for it.

8. What are my timescales for the shop fit?

This is entirely up to you and your shop fitter to decide.

9. Where to find good shop fitters?

Ask your shop fitting supplier or visit website specialised in finding you shopfitters in your area.

10. Have I got a quote from a shop fittings company?

Like mentioned in check list number 7, before you go out buying shop fittings left right and centre, do some research to compare prices. Get a quote from at least two shop fittings companies and suppliers.

Once you have the answers for all those questions you are on the clear to start your new shop.

F&G Smart shop fitting suppliers with over 100 years of experience supplying quality shop fittings to small independent shops, independent groups and shop fitters.

Tags: Answers, Fittings, Questions

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Shopping Carts - Five Usability Problems

Written on 28 Desember 2010 – 06:25 | by misha

The process leading up to a transaction online is possibly the most critical to a shopping cart’s success. If the buying process causes frustration, confusion or insecurity, the user is likely to abandon the shopping cart, never to return again.

The usability of a shopping cart refers to the efficiency with which a user can achieve their goals on a website. Many of the larger online shopping carts, like Play.com and Amazon.com, are continuously striving to make their buying process as fluent and as effortless as possible. Knowing you can buy a book or film in just 3 or 4 clicks encourages you to return to the same, reliable website.

Having read numerous articles and white papers dedicated to best practice shopping cart design and usability; below I have highlighted five potential design problems in shopping carts that I’m sure many users have encountered.

1. Shopping carts that ask a user to register before knowing if the product is available or not.

It could be quite irritating for a user if they have spent 10 minutes entering their credit card details, home address, telephone number etc etc. only to find out during the checkout process that the product they want to buy is out of stock.

Many shopping carts enable you to present users with live stock availability before the user places their product in the shopping cart.

2. Suggesting the user buys similar products before adding the main product to the shopping cart.

It’s often helpful when a website recommends additional products you may want or need after adding your main product to your shopping cart.

However, I think you’ll agree that it could be slightly confusing if these additional products were offered to you before even adding the main product to your shopping cart? You press “Add to Cart” and suddenly you’re offered batteries, or insoles or travel cases. Many users would be left feeling confused, wondering if their product had been added or not, or if they’d pressed the wrong button.

Best practice guidelines would indicate offering your user the extra products after the user has finished shopping and they’re entering the checkout process.

3. Shopping carts that ask a user to register before they have even added a product to their shopping cart.

Asking for a user’s personal information before they have even added a product to their shopping cart is not a good move.

Customer registration can offer some big advantages to you as a merchant including recovery for abandoned shopping carts, customer loyalty and email contact. However, many users may be browsing a number of websites, adding products to numerous shopping carts for the main purpose of comparing prices and features. If a user has to register personal details before using the shopping carts, a large percentage are likely to abandon the website.

4. Requiring a user to delete and add the same product to shopping carts just so they can change its colour, size or variation.

Editing a shopping cart should be as simple as possible and shouldn’t require the user to delete anything from the shopping cart.

If a product comes in different colours and different sizes don’t make them delete it from their shopping cart if they want it in a different variation. Users should be able to select from within their shopping carts the different options.

5. Websites that do not clearly show the user the contents of the shopping carts.

Have you ever been on a website and added the same product to your shopping cart 3 or 4 times because you’re not sure if it worked the first time?

Many users that can’t see the contents of their shopping cart in the same browser as the one they are shopping on can often feel confused about whether or not their item has been added successfully.

As a merchant it is understandable that you don’t want to take your user away from the page they are shopping on every time they add something to their shopping cart. Best practice guidelines therefore indicate displaying the contents of a users shopping cart in the same browser, in the right hand corner for example. To summarize, the design of the entire shopping experience is of utmost importance. These 5 potential design problems highlighted are five of many common problems found on shopping carts.

Which one is most likely to make you abandon your shopping cart? Tell us about additional usability problems you have encountered! Which, out of those above, do you think is the most irritating and the most likely to cause shopping abandonment?

shopping carts offer scalable and flexible ecommerce shopping cart solutions. To evaluate the Viart shop, the company are currently providing a fully hosted 30-day trial of their PHP shopping cart at: http://www.viart.com/hosting_trial.php

Tags: Carts, Problems, Shopping, Usability

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Holiday Shopping the Easy Way

Written on 25 Desember 2010 – 15:40 | by misha

This article has been written to save you gas, money, and time with your holiday shopping.

I have been shopping for years. (Clothes being my specialty) I have been to many a mall at 8:30pm during the holiday season, waiting in line while my feet ache and sweat ran down my brow. The thought of carrying bags, and boxes from one store to another in search of the right gift, for the right person, at the right price, is nothing short of terrifying.

Think about it for a second. How does the average person shop? There are two main ways. By impulse buying, or by making a list and following it. When you do the impulse buying thing, you put your god given memory skills to the true test. You’re out driving back home from work or it’s the weekend and your running around for one reason or another. You see a store, you say, “I have enough money to get some of these gifts out of the way. You pull in the parking lot and from that moment on your time is gone, your body is about to be worked out and you don’t even know if your going to find the gift your looking for. You walk around hoping you’ll see a gift for the right person, at the right price. Good luck! You might have some time left in your day to catch a movie later if it works out. There is no guarantee of success.

Let’s look at the other way. You plan your list and your time. First of all it has to be a day off, and I do mean a whole day off. After you have planed to shop on a certain day you have to go down your list and think about who gets what and how much you plan to spend. You’re ready. It’s off to the mall or to one of the all in one superstores. You have a good plan but who knows how much your going to spend on each gift, an how long it’s going to take. Best case scenario you get all your gifts, for all the right people at the prices you expected. Guess what? Bags and boxes that’s what! If you did get everything, you needed, you still have to get them to the car and unpack the car when you get home. Not to mention the gas money and the mall’s food expense to keep your energy up.

Have no fear……there is a better way!

Online Shopping is it!!!!!!!!

Nearly everything you can find at a mall or a superstore can be purchased on line at a competitive price with easy delivery. Your only added expense is shipping and handling, and if you get all the items you need from one online store, the shipping and handling cost will be far less than the price of gas to the mall and something to eat while you were there.

Let’s look at a comparison:

Shopping the old way………

Positives……

1.) Get all the items you need for your holiday shopping. That’s it! The only thing you can be happy about is that the shopping is done.

Negatives……

1.) Time…The average impulse shopping experience last 1-2 hours per session. The average planned shopping experience for the holiday season is over 15 hours spread out over a week or two.

2.) Gas…..You spend at least a half a tank of gas shopping around for all that stuff. With gas prices the way they are now, that could be about 20 bucks for the old SUV or minivan.

3.) Physical Stress…Walking back and forth to the car is a workout. Walking around a mall or superstore is a workout. Bringing the bags in the house is a workout. If you wanted a workout, you would have headed to the gym. Right?

4.) Mental Stress…Having to go to different stores to complete your shopping list when you don’t know if the items will be the right gift, for the right person, at the right price is stressful.

Now let’s look at shopping on line………..

Positives……

1.) Time…Self explanatory this one is. It takes the average person 1 minute to get online. 1 more minute to go to their choice of online store. Another 10 or 15 minutes to check off some names as you select your items, about another 5 minutes to enter your payment information into the appropriate places and print out your receipt. Walla!!!!!! 30 minutes tops! Think of what you could do with all that time. (Definitely catch that movie huh?)

2.) Gas……What gas? You don’t use any. You save it all for those trips to the movie theater. You don’t even need a car. You just need an address to send your gift too. You could even send the item to the person your going to give the gift too no matter where they are in the world, and save yourself time wrapping it!!! (Ever get a gift in the mail? It’s a great feeling.)

3.) Physical Stress…There is none!!!! No bags to carry, no walks through the malls, no lines to wait in, no fumbling with credit cards, receipts, money or bags while your in the store. All you have to do is lift a finger to click a mouse.

4.) Less Mental Stress…Think about all the planning that goes into doing all of your shopping the traditional way. All you have to do here is make a list, and check it off as you go.

Negatives……

1.) You must have a computer with an internet connection. Which you already have because you’re reading this article. That is the only negative…

There are some things that every serious online shopper should know before they begin their online shopping experience. Here they are:

1.) To make the best use of your time, pick an online store that carries more than one type of item. It should be a mini-mall. They should have products that you would buy for yourself and something for everyone you want to shop for.

2.) The store should have a shopping cart. This feature will allow you to pick up different items while your shopping, and put them together in one place, for review (whether you buy the items or not) before your final purchase.

3.) The store should have some kind of FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page that can help you with anything that you might need to know about the store. If not a FAQ page, definitely some type of Customer Service Contact Information.

4.) The store should have a picture of the item with a good description next to it. That’s right!!! An actual description of the item. When you go into a traditional store, the only time you’ll get a description given to you is when it’s a big ticket item like a car or expensive electronic item. To find the description yourself you have to check one of the 6 sides of the packaging. Online it’s right there in front of you. How great is that?

5.) The store should have a way to put your name and email address into its data base so that they can contact you for customer specials the store might have. This can be a great way to get discounts from that store. You’ll get all kinds of notifications about sales, special offers, and possibly some coupons to save you money on your next purchase.

6.) The store should have different ways to accept your payments. Credit cards, check cards, online checks, print out order forms that can be faxed or mailed to them to process orders. The more the better.

7.) The store should have a money back guarantee. This should let you know that if you are not 100% satisfied with your purchase, the company will refund all your expenses with no questions asked.

8.) The store should also be listed with the Online BBB.

9.) The store MUST have a secure connection in which to receive your payment. If a company does not have this, I would not suggest using them. Usually you will see some sort of notice that talks about security as it pertains to ordering items online, and a picture of a padlock somewhere.

That’s it!!!!!!!!!!! If you have those nine things you are ready to go. Try this method of shopping and decide for yourself. You be the judge. If you are serious about making your life easier when it comes to shopping for the holiday season, then you can’t help but giving online shopping a chance. I think you will agree that you can’t beat shopping online. Good Luck and Happy Shopping!!!!!

P.S. There are sites that I can recommend when it comes to getting all your online shopping needs met. Contact me for help in this area.

Sylvia Calhoun is a former Math Instructor and Computer Programer turned Entrepreneur with several business in the areas of Real Estate, Event Staffing and Product Distribution. She can be contacted at sylviaccalhoun@yahoo.com

http://trinityres.FSCStore.com

Tags: Holiday, Shopping

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