Blog Category: eCommerce

If you’re like me, you do quite of a bit online activities that utilize secure websites. Shopping on online stores, banking, and investing all require a secure connection between your browser and the website you are sending your private information to.

But how often do you notice whether the little padlock in the upper right hand corner of your browser is actually there? This article serves as a reminder to always, always, always check.

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A client of mine recently hired a bookkeeper to do her state and local taxes and was surprised to find out that she should be collecting sales tax on shipping and handling.

I wanted to write this article to provide help for other online retailers who may be asking the same question, because the answer was a bit hard to find.

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Many of my website clients, after watching their website traffic statistics, are dismayed to see many people coming to their website leaving after only visiting one page (this is called the “bounce rate“).

They also often see visitors who may look around at several pages and then decide to leave without purchasing anything.

They even see people who were very close to a purchase. Visitors who after adding items to a shopping cart and starting the check out process, left before completing the purchase ( this is called “shopping cart abandonment“). While all of these visitor activities are normal and expected, what’s often surprising to my client is how often they happen.

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If you’re a Washington state business and you ship/deliver goods within Washington state, you need to collect sales tax based on the destination starting in July 2008. This is very different from the current way we do it, which is based on whether the business is based in Washington. It’s quite confusing, and I don’t have it all sorted out, but will be updating this article as I learn more.

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Shopping cart abandonment is a visitor behavior and a metric that every online store owner should be aware of and actively tracking. It happens when a potential customer puts an item in their shopping cart, but fails to complete the purchase process. Studies I’ve listed in this article quote shopping cart abandonment rates of 60% – 80%. Knowing what your rate is, and what you can do to improve it is vital to the well-being and success of your online store.

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You’re thinking of launching an online store to sell your products or services. You’re wondering if you’ve got what it takes to be successful in this rapidly changing online arena. You’re wondering how much time it will take and what it will cost. You’re wondering if you’re smart enough. This article hopes to help you answer some of these questions before you invest in an online store.

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Adding an online store to your website can dramatically increase sales, but it’s important that you understand HOW to run your online store BEFORE you select which one to purchase. This is a tour inside the store owner administrative area of the eCommerceTemplates (ECT) store, my favorite online store software application.
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If you’re shopping for an online store, it’s important to become familiar with the particular online store application before you make your purchase decision. Online stores vary significantly, and I’ve made this video tutorial to give you a quick overview of my favorite online store: eCommerceTemplates (or “ECT”).
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The ECT (ECommerceTemplates) online store has a nice administration area that allows store owners to manage every aspect of their stores. Here’s just one quick tutorial on how to view orders in your ECT online store.
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My favorite shopping cart to install for my website clients is eCommerce Templates, or “ECT”. ECT has a long list of features already built in, but what happens if my ecommerce customer wants a feature that the ECT shopping cart doesn’t have? Sometimes there are after-market modifications or “mods” that web developers sell. But which actually work? Here’s my review based on my own experience installing various modifications, mods or add ons for the ECT shopping cart.
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