Articles by Dana

After a 2 years of planning and 1 year of web development it's finally here. If you are currently using V2.3 please contact us to coordinate your free upgrade to Web Shop Manager V3.0. The list of new eCommerce features are endless!

After a lot of fussing we are finally able to show the world our new site. Along with all the new eCommerce features we have been launching we felt the need to our website to the next level as well.

Please let us know what you think!

In an effort to make Web Shop Manager more Manufacturer friendly we have added the following features to the Dealer package (some are applicable to all packages)...

• You can now block Dealers or other users from the free shipping option.
• You can now force Dealers or other users to only have Invoice for payment method.
• You can now set special messages for each step of the checkout for the Dealers or user groups.
• Limit certain pages, categories, & products to specific groups.
• You also still set Dealers and other users to tax exempt.
• Alternate email for new order notifications. (in config settings)
• Enhanced dashboard graph options to see your growth over longer periods.

In addition to our feature packed Google Maps integrated Dealer Locator, we make all fields optional so you can fill in anything or only fill in certain fields.

We are proud to announce our new Advanced Survey module so you can keep your finger on the pulse of your customers wants and needs. It offers many different question configurations including...

• Yes or No
• True/False
• 1 through 5
• Fill in the blank
• Multiple Choice with images

WSM just launched our new Live Chat eCommerce module which is available to all users in the Dealer package. Tests have shown conversion rates increasing from 2% to 20% with customers you engage in Live Chat for eCommerce customer support using suggestive up sell and cross sell techniques. Additionally you can be helping more people at once while doing other tasks using chat.

If you are looking to build a website and are unsure how or where to get started...you've found your starting point. Web Design Solutions (WDS) has everything you need. Whether you are looking to develop an informational site or sell Hundreds, Thousands, or Millions of products online, WDS is your new best friend.

Developing an eCommerce site has many factors to consider from deciding what your pages will look like to thanking your customer for their purchase. One of the greatest benefits to working with WDS is Web Shop Manager (WSM^TM), an unbelievably easy tool you will use to manage your site, list hundreds of products, organize thousands of items, import millions of parts, and communicate with your customers.

First you must have the features all eCommerce sites require which are menus for organizing your products. Of course WSM^TM has a feature for that, Categories. The employees at Web Design Solutions know how important it is for the consumer to easily 'shop' your site, no matter what industry. Consumers demand quick and easy ways to find the products they need. WSM^TM's categories will dynamically build your menus and list the assigned products. Change the category name or easily hide them if you sell seasonal products. So easy! So fast!

Do you have products that come in different size, color, or fragrance and you want your customers to customize the product to fit their need. Then WSM^TM has a feature for that, Product Options. Assigning Product Options to your product allows your customers to add customization during the shopping process. These Product Options give your customer the power to buy the right product for them. Create Product Options with the greatest of ease using WSM^TM.

Have you ever wanted to find a part for your car? With Automotive Aftermarket shopping sites there are thousands of products to sort through. Customers want to find the part they need quickly and easily. WSM^TM has a feature for that, Brands & Attributes.  This feature allows you to easily organize your Automotive Aftermarket parts based on the year, make, and model. Then WSM^TM will display a straight forward search tool for the customer to narrow the products listed base on Year, Make, and/or Model they select. Consider your products SOLD when customers use this tool!

Selling products from several manufactures is exciting and offers your customers several options. However, you may find that customers will want to shop by Brand. You can use WSM^TM's Brands & Attributes eCommerce features for this function as well. Easily create your brand, add a logo for brand recognition, specify the order you want them listed, and dynamically display them on all your site pages. Once you've specified which products belong with which brand your customers can click on the brand they love and browse all of their products.

Do you have Millions of products? Do you think if will take forever to get them on your new site? Are you worried that you do not have the proper staffing to do all the data input? No worries,Product Data Importing is easy with our platform than any other one out there with custom profiles and scheduling you can keep your website data up to date with minimal effort.

For those of you that are in the automotive industry we understand the importance of managing your orders rather than managing products which is why we created a turn key solution with DCI / CatalogRack live integration. Web Shop Manager also comes with import tools for Network Solutions Monster Commerce, Yahoo! Stores, Volusion, osCommerce, Magento, Miva Merchant, Zen Cart, and more....

Any questions or concerns...do not worry WSM^TM has you covered, contact WSM^TM today about your eCommerce needs.

Fashion eCommerce is a large and continuously growing market.  It is easily accessible for anyone with Internet capabilities.   This saves customers time and allows them to find things worldwide that they would not normally have access to.  Anyone can sell their fashion retail products online once they have an established website.  For more details on how to start a fashion website, please refer to our previous fashion blog post, “What to Know Before Starting Your Own Fashion Website”

Once you have a fashion website established, it is time for you to start thinking about how to market your products online and bring customers to your site to purchase those products.  Not only do you want to have your products listed, but you also need to find a way to set your products apart from similar products on other websites, for we all know there are many brands and businesses in the fashion industry.

What Features Help Sell Products on a Fashion Website?

Along with listing your products in a catalog on your fashion apparel website, it is important to find ways to further help your customer find what they are looking for, or help them find something similar.  If a customer can’t find what they are looking for within thirty seconds, they will leave your fashion website and look elsewhere.  We need to think about ways to prevent them from leaving.  Some eCommerce modules to consider include:

Live Chat which allows an eCommerce customer to click on a button on your website, which will alert your customer support, the customer can then ask the questions they may need to take the final step in purchasing a product. The customer support, in return, can answer questions as quickly as they are received.  If clothing is an item that will be sold on the fashion eCommerce website, it is important to know that the #1 reason why people stop short of purchasing is concern about proper fit.  If there is a customer service representative available to chat with the customer while they are looking at the product, they will have the ability to explain how it fits best and some things about the fit that they want to consider when buying.  Reassuring the customer will help to encourage the sale.

Ratings and Reviews offer an opportunity for new customers to see what previous customers thought about the product that they may be considering purchasing.  On each product, there will be a review below the description, which will show what the past customer’s opinion of that product.  This could help with a sale, especially when they are indecisive about making the purchase.  It will increase their confidence in the product and give them the extra push to follow through.  For example, if your customer wants to purchase a handbag online, they may want to be assured that the product is durable and nicely made.  If there was a previous customer who also bought that handbag and wrote a review, they would be able to see that the customer was very happy with their purchase and pleased with the quality.  This may be the extra boost that your new customer would need to make the purchase.

As well as listing your products on your own fashion eCommerce site, you also want your products to be searchable on other websites.  Shopping Data Feeds work on a “pay-per-click” basis, like Google AdWords.  Using Shopping Data Feeds, you pay for specific words that relate to your products or business based on your choosing the words and how much you want to pay for them per click.  You are only liable to pay for it if a customer clicks on it to go to your website.

Another option is using free shopping feeds like Google Shopping, which lists your product with similar products for your customers compare prices and products side by side.  This tool is free and beneficial for all products.  In addition, Web Shop Manager (WSM) automatically updates your product listings nightly.

Cross-Sell/ Upsell is a great tool to use when you want to show the customer a similar product to the one they are viewing.  For instance, if the customer is viewing a summer dress, you may want to recommend sandals that would work well with the dress, or you could suggest a different type of summer dress.  Cross-selling offers an opportunity to sell more than the one item that the customer was initially considering purchasing, which of course leads to increased eCommerce sales.

How easy is it to Manage an Online Shopping Website?

Deciding to start an online fashion website is a huge decision.  You are probably right where I once was, trying to figure out how you were going to juggle all the business, and creative tasks.  Learning to manage an eCommerce website can seem overwhelming.  Well, it could be overwhelming unless you use WSM as your fashion eCommerce Content Management System (eCommerce CMS).  I know you will be as amazed as I am at how quickly you can add content to your photo gallery, eCommerce fashion blog, and add events to the fashion calendar. 

When you are ready to start thinking about an eCommerce solution that includes fashion website design with a hosted shopping cart remember WSM.  Contact WSM today to schedule your free live demonstration to see for yourself how easy the WSM, our eCommerce CMS is to use. 

Brooke Nevins

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