E-Commerce and Beyond Blog

Customer service and support is King. This is true for all businesses: Computers – Lawyers – Garbage Collectors – Web Hosts. It doesn’t matter what the business is, some level of one-on-one service is required.

This begs to ask the question - as a business, what are your expectations for customer service? This should depend on three things 1) the type of product or service you are receiving, 2) the level and/or version of product or service you are receiving, and 3) the cost you are paying for the product or service you are receiving relative to the competition. What it all boils down to is the old saying “you get what you paid for.”

All customer service is not created equal. But that is not a bad thing, you must set your expectations accordingly. Did you purchase a Mercedes or a Kia? You pay a lot more for the Mercedes but you will also get greater service and support from the dealership – they may even fly you to Germany to pick up your car. Do you have a Platinum American Express card or just a regular green one? The service and support provided with the platinum, and its $300 annual fee, are much more comprehensive then with the green card. How about that fine Armani watch, did you buy it at Macy’s or a discount jewelry outlet? Try exchanging it or complaining about a malfunction at the outlet - you will have a much better experience at Macy’s.

The same is true for Web and e-commerce services. Don’t expect great customer service or tech support from a $1.99 hosting company with servers in Turkey, no phone number on the Web site, and a Web store package that includes open-source OSCommerce. You sign up, hope it works, you figure things out yourself, and you don’t use it for a mission critical Web site or Web store. If all is lost, hey, you only spent $1.99 or the equivalent of a loaf of bread.

Our goal is to provide an “a la carte” experience for all customers. Purchase an application or service from PShelper.com and Serrahost.com at a very competitive price, then have the option to do-it yourself and utilize our free technical support for general questions. Or you can opt to purchase additional customization, maintenance or consulting services that provide an advanced level of support including our team making changes and updates for you or explaining how to change html code. These are items that are not generally included in subscription hosting and e-commerce services. And if they are, the service provider will charge a premium on your subscription. Our philosophy is pay only for what you need, when you need it.

It has been a while since my last post but because we have been so busy improving our entire network and business, I think of this as a good thing. But with that being said, my New Year resolution is to make sure we make more frequent posts. We are also looking to add additional e-commerce and business professionals to our list of bloggers so keep checking back for the latest developments.

As I have indicated, we have been extremely busy upgrading our network, software, and business as a whole. It has been challenging and I know some of our existing customers have suffered a bit due to the unavoidable glitches that occur with an upgrade of this magnitude. I would like to apologize for any inconveniences and ensure all existing and future customers that great things will come from this in 2008.

The products and services available from PShelper.com will expand greatly throughout 2008. Expect many new ProStores add-ons and ProStores-ready design templates. We are also working on a revolutionary e-commerce service that will make running an online business much easier and more profitable. Details are not available yet but ideally we will launch within the first half of 2008.

And so in closing, we would like to wish everyone a very joyous Holiday season and a Happy New Year. Looking forward to posting again in early January.

Earlier this month David Hogan, CIO of the National Retail Federation (NRF), sent a letter to the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council. The content of that letter contained some very valid criticisms of PCI compliance, specifically the requirement of businesses to protect cardholder data – data that businesses should not have to store in the first place. It was refreshing to see an official request for change to a system that is greatly flawed.

Like Mr. Hogan, I agree that there is a need for strict standards to protect cardholder data and eliminate fraud. PCI as it stands today, however, is not the answer. It is convoluted, changes regularly, does not clearly define responsibilities, and passes most of the liability to business owners. The only issues PCI is clear about are 1) you can get fined tens of thousands of dollars if your business is not compliant and 2) there are many qualified security assessors that charge businesses a lot of money to audit for PCI compliance. Just take a look at the organization’s Web site at www.pcisecuritystandards.org.

Taking it a step further, I think rather then creating new and prohibitive costs for businesses, the card associations need to certify compliant solutions themselves. And not the way it is done today - by expensive third-party auditors and by then charging compliant service providers even more money just to appear on “official” lists on Visa.com and MasterCard.com. Businesses using these compliant solutions would then know they are compliant and not be forced to pay an auditor to audit solutions that have already been audited. In essence, that is how the system works today and it is a classic example of double and even triple taxation.

PCI needs to be about eliminating fraud and protecting businesses from hackers. It should not be about companies making money due to these requirements. Unfortunately, a cottage industry has sprouted up and as it becomes more profitable, this new PCI-based industry will fight to remain in place. Before this happens action must be taken by organizations like the NFR. Hopefully other organizations, such as the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) and the Nation Small Business Association (NSBA), will also let Visa, MasterCard, and the other card associations know they have to take more responsibility and not use PCI as a way to make more money.

I am currently selling a townhouse. If you follow the national headlines then you are aware the real estate market is slowing down tremendously. Although I am selling in one of the “best” markets in the country, it is still slower than just a few months ago and prices are dropping steadily.

As a businessperson with a sales background, I am now looking for new and innovative ways to sell my townhouse in this challenging environment. I’m changing the marketing message and looking at non-traditional real estate outlets such as eBay and contacting corporations looking to relocate employees. Since I am not a real estate professional, I am using an agent to help with both the normal selling routine as well as some of these new ideas. Some of my ideas he likes, others he does not.

One thing I noticed about my agent, and others I talk to, is they are down on the market and worried about the future. They don’t have a lot of suggestions except their normal “do an open house, place your ads, follow-up with agents, and do it all over again” routine. This is not cutting it in today’s slowing market.

Now I am in no way saying I have a bad agent. I like him and think he is doing a good job. But what I have realized is that he has been an agent for only 5 years and all he has ever know is a boom market. In fact, all agents with 15 years of experience or less are only familiar with record-breaking growth and demand, year after year. They do not know what to do in a slow or contracting market.

This is a danger we all face - complacency. Sometimes it creeps up and you just don’t know it. We need to prepare for changes in our business and our markets. Never assume that things will stay the same because they won’t, they will change.

I believe real estate agents and mortgage professionals that innovate and plan ahead will thrive in this down market. You can also thrive in your own industry and as a Web merchant by doing the same. Here are some simple guidelines:

- Be observant and look ahead: Understand what is going on in your industry and observe what your competitors are doing. You do not have to copy every move they make but understand what you would have to do if their innovations create new standards. Another easy way to keep abreast of innovations is to read your industry trade journals and Web sites. I read www.greensheet.com and www.practicalecommerce.com every day.

- Have contingency plans: Plan for different scenarios that may occur in the future, including an emergency plan if there is a big downturn in your business or industry. As a Web merchant you should always make sure your Web store platform has the latest features and integrations, or the ability to add them if necessary. I think ProStores is the best platform for this, but I’m sure you knew I would say that…

- Take affordable risks: Be willing to try new programs and ideas that are unproven, as long as they do not strain your existing budget. Our company typically does a number of new and innovative business development initiatives each year. Some don’t work out but the ones that do easily cover the costs and usually put us in front of our competition.

- Find your correct channel and market: As a Web merchant you should try to sell through new channels. I knew a Web storeowner selling a specialized line of long term care products. It was geared towards patients and generated very few sales because the target audience was people over 65 and in the year 2000, there were not many in that age group purchasing over the Internet. So the owner decided to re-tool the Web store to sell to the nursing homes instead. It worked and sales increased greatly. But the same Web store today would probably need to target patients again since the 65 and over gang, in the year 2007, is much more Web savvy. The Web store owner would need to evolve and adapt.

For all of you either using Serrahost.com for your ProStores Web store hosting or contemplating it, I am happy to announce we are adding a bunch of new services and upgrades. It’s all about keeping things cutting-edge in terms of the latest technology and Web hosting tools. It is also about keeping it economical and ensuring you have choices.

The list is long so I won’t get into details here. Please continue to check www.serrahost.com for details. The following is a summary of the highlights, in no particular order:

- Complete Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance: This is a big issue that continues to generate greater attention and enforcement. Visa and MasterCard require all businesses that accept credit cards over the Internet meet these standards. This means that all software applications and all hosting facilities must be PCI complaint. Although we have always met these standards, we were never officially audited. So now our entire network for ProStores customers is certified PCI compliant by an approved auditor.

- Better Everything: Without getting into boring technical details, we are adding more bandwidth providers, better servers that are load balanced, a larger data center, and redundant facilities. All of this is very good and goes beyond industry standards.

- 24 x 7 x 365 telephone technical support: Although we always had reps on call during off hours and weekends, this will give immediate access to a technical support rep who will help solve problems over the phone. We looked long and hard for the right solution and now expect to have the best ProStores tech support in the business.

- Many cool tools: The list is long but if you can think of it, we will most likely have it. From enterprise-class e-mail and file restoration to a blog creator, appointment scheduler, and an ad server. Oh yeah, you can also choose between Windows or Linux based hosting.

All of these upgrades are scheduled for completion by the end of this month. I will continue to post info on our blog as it becomes available.

Web store, shopping cart, storefront, eStore…so many names representing the same application. It is unfortunate that this industry cannot decide on one name. If “word processor” could become a generic term, then why can’t Web store become one?

This comparison actually answers my own question. If you look at the word processor, only a handful of companies were successful developing one and they all seemed to agree on the generic name early on. And now a single word processor called Word, developed by a company in Seattle, dominates the market. Unlike word processing, there is no dominant Web store platform nor has there ever been one. There are over a dozen recognized brand names, hundreds of obscure brands, and probably thousands more if you count custom developed applications.

Why is this industry so fragmented? Is it because it is so profitable that thousands of players are in it? Not likely. If that were the case then we would see a dominant entity take a majority share of the market and acquire or drive out most of the competition. Google or Microsoft could easily do this but have not. The opposite is most likely one of the main reasons - no single entity is making big money solely developing Web store software.

Just look at the ongoing trends. Miva Corp. is a great example and a company I used to work for back in 2001. When I joined the company it had just raised $2 million dollars, had over fifty employees, claimed over one hundred thousand users, and was valued at over $15 million dollars. Miva Merchant was the most recognized brand of Web store. By 2003 revenue was dwindling and the company was purchased by public company Findwhat.com for only $5.5 million and some debt. Findwhat.com then changed their entire corporate name to Miva, Inc. So just a few days ago, Miva, Inc. announced it is selling their small business division (this is what the original Miva Corp. eventually became) for a mere $200,000. That is a 96% drop in value from just four years prior.

But dropping values aside, another major reason is complexity. Businesses are unique and all require very different features to run a Web-based business. A seller of downloadable MP3 files has very different requirements than a seller of motorcycle parts. It is impossible to address all Web business requirements with one software application.

What does make sense, and has been proven to work, is offering a customizable Web store as an important part of a larger e-commerce strategy. eBay purchasing StoreSense from Kurant Corp., and renaming it ProStores, is a good example. ProStores became a way for eBay to reach more businesses and encourage business usage of the entire eBay platform. ProStores has also allowed eBay to service, and profit from, businesses that may never use the eBay marketplace. Plus they adapted the existing business model (something Findwhat.com failed to do with Miva) to include a mix of selling directly as well as through a small group of highly qualified resellers. In this model, both eBay and the resellers are thriving, the merchants receive the best product plus a wide array of custom services from the resellers, and ProStores has near unlimited reach.

An enterprise example is NetSuite. As the name implies, this is a complete suite of Web-based business software. Within this suite is a Web store application that integrates with all the other services in the suite. It is a one-stop shop for larger businesses with a significant budget. The Web store is simply one of many important services.

So both eBay and NetSuite are doing well and offer a reliable, safe-from-going-out-of-business Web store. It is important to note that the two do not really compete as NetSuite is much more expensive and not truly in the same small-to-medium size business category as ProStores.

I am biased and of course recommend ProStores through Serrahost as the ultimate Web store solution. My general advice, however, is to strongly recommend you choose a customizable platform that easily integrates with other e-commerce services, is auto-upgraded on a regular basis, and is developed by a reputable company that has resources and offers a Web store as part of a comprehensive e-commerce strategy. I can help you find that perfect solution, just ask me…

Every online business wants to rise to the top of the search engines. This is especially true for those with a Web store. Statistics typically claim that between 80-90% of all Internet users use search engines to find products and services. Whatever the exact number is, the vast majority are using search engines to find what they want to buy.

The dilemma is this: there can be only one. And I’m not referring to one immortal (for all you Highlander fans) but only one top listing for each term and phrase on, say a Google search. If this is the case, how can any search engine optimization (SEO) firm guarantee to get you to a number one spot on Google? The bottom line is they cannot and if they claim they can then do not trust them.

As an example, if SEO firm X guarantees number one rankings and they are so good that every business decides to use them, then a lot of competitors would be using the same service. This would mean only one in any given market would be at the top and one would have to be last, gaining no benefit. This is a simplistic example as there are many different search terms, but I can virtually promise you that every computer dealer wants to be number one with the same exact search terms.

When we first decided to offer SEO services I was hesitant for the exact reason I stated above. I didn’t want to be in a 50/50 type venture reminiscent of stockbrokerage in the 1980s. Stockbrokers had a reputation of calling 50% of their clients telling them to buy a stock and the other 50% to short sell the same stock. This guaranteed that at least half of their customers would be satisfied and stick around for the next great pick.

Our friendly neighborhood SEO expert eventually made it clear to me that SEO is a valuable business service. The key is SEO can be broken down into two levels, the first is standard SEO - all the things you should do, the stuff regarding meta tags, content, titles, site maps, directory listings, etc. These efforts will definitely improve search engine rankings and should be implemented by all Web stores. The second is advanced SEO, doing a deep analysis of what you are up against in terms of specific market, competitors, and the current search term landscape. This data is then used to create an aggressive strategy to get as high as possible, and to adapt that strategy to stay as high as possible. Look at advanced SEO as a competition and each day as a new round. If you can win more often than the other competitors then you will stay on top and reap the rewards. Advanced SEO costs more but is worth it for businesses that have the available budget.

I’m sure you’ve heard this before – fresh content regularly displayed in your Web store will encourage customers to return. Many of you probably feel challenged to continuously add fresh content. Time constraints are usually an issue, or maybe it costs too much to have your Webmaster make changes, or it may just seem that you only sell a few products and not much changes to warrant new information. None of these arguments are valid. It is rather simple to change your content in a meaningful way.

As a summer job while I was in school I sold fireworks (legally, of course). As we approached the big day, July 4, sometimes the buying frenzy would slow or we would run out of the most popular products. To boost sales we would place big, bright stickers on the items we wanted to clear. They would say things like “Price Reduced!” or “50% off Retail”. Yes, these were standard promotions but they were last minute, very easy to implement, and most importantly, driven by eye catching displays. They worked every time.

If this can be done at a rundown firework stand in Tysons Corner, Virginia, it can easily be done in your Web store. If your operation is small it may just be as simple as adding a few bold bright lines to your home page indicating a 10% sale for a limited time. Some other ideas include featured links to news articles and associations related to your products, an announcement box on the home page, a blog, or just change the featured product once a week. Random Product Viewer is a great PShelper.com product that provides an effortless way to keep your content fresh on your home page. And if you don’t have time to make regular changes, ordering our StoreCare maintenance service will ensure we make those content updates for you.

To get even more creative, you can add a video. Does your supplier have one you can display? If not, make your own, post it on YouTube.com for free, and then post the link on your Web store.

When I was a student of economics at Penn State, US banks were not allowed to own branches in states other than their own. I won’t tell you when I was in college but just to give you a hint, the Riegle-Neal Act of 1994, which was passed soon after I graduated, eradicated this restriction.

Fast forward a few years and a bank I had never heard of growing up on the east coast is now the largest in the world. Bank of America has basically taken over the number one spot with their aggressive acquisition efforts. Their size is staggering with over 1.45 trillion dollars in assets.

When the largest entity in an industry, such as a Bank of America (or a Microsoft, or a Google), decides to make a radical change in the way they do business, the competition usually has to follow. Bank of America has recently implemented a policy that should to be watched very closely. The bank has launched an awareness campaign to educate all customers on better banking practices and how to avoid banking fees such as bounced check, non-sufficient funds and below minimum fees. This may not seem like a big deal but considering the fact that nearly half of their 68 billion dollar of per year revenue comes from these fees, it is surprising.

My guess for why they are taking this action is they have concluded the goodwill associated with this campaign will outweigh any losses. Plus I am sure they have done the research and learned that only a small percentage will modify their fee-generating habits. So goodwill at a low cost equals a good move.

How will this affect your business? Banking fees hit the bottom line of every business. Internet merchants feel it particularly hard with their inflated fees for accepting credit card payments. If you use Bank of America, contact them to obtain the tools they offer and to learn how they can help you reduce your unnecessary fees. If you use another bank, tell them you know what Bank of America is doing regarding awareness and that you want them to help educate you and lower your fees. See if they are up for the challenge.

My last entry addressed avoiding copyright infringement. Another pitfall of a Web-based business is the possibility of running an illegal operation. Even if you’re sure you are in the clear, never be too sure…

Last week Betcha.com, a new Seattle-based Web service, was raided by agents of the Washington State Gambling Commission. Although not a Web store, Betcha.com is a service that allows people to place bets with each other on just about anything (sports, celebrities, politics, etc.). It works on a similar principal as eBay, allowing an individual to post a bet that others can agree to. Settlement is based solely on an honor system and participants rate each other.

The key is that no contracts are made, no one is obligated to pay, and Betcha.com does not offer any sort of gambling service, they simply provide a platform allowing individuals to bet amongst each other. It appears Betcha.com is confident that they are 100% legal - their Web site even states they are “The first betting platform specifically designed to comply with U.S. law”. Their Web site also goes on to say that they “spent thousands of man hours” analyzing federal and state laws.

I happen to think Betcha.com is a great idea. I hope they ultimately prevail over the somewhat hypocritical lawmakers (Washington has hundreds of legal casinos including a few giant, Vegas-style Indian casinos). But as the old saying goes, “you can’t fight city hall.” Betcha.com has a hard battle to face and even if they can win against the State of Washington, the Feds may just be waiting to fight the next bout.

The majority of Web-based businesses are safe from unusual legal concerns but if you have any doubt about the legality of what you are doing, research the law. Obvious red-flag markets include anything gambling related, pharmaceuticals, alcohol and adult material. Other, less-obvious businesses that may face restrictions include business opportunities, imported foods and downloadable media such as music, images and video.