The internet is full of advice on how to build successful ecommerce websites, some of it bad and some of it useful. Whilst it is easy to disregard the bad advice, unfortunately the sheer amount available only encourages bad practice during ecommerce development. We are going to dispel some of the myths that surround ecommerce to ensure that you or your website developer only build ecommerce websites that are full of the good stuff!Myth Number 1 – You can never provide too much informationOne of the most common ecommerce myths is that you can never provide your buyers with too much information. Buying decisions hinge on information gathering, in theory the more information you provide potential customers the more you enable buying decisions. In reality however too much information is overwhelming and can prevent buying decisions from being made. Filling up your product pages with countless choices and unnecessary information only causes confusion and choice paralysis. Encourage users of your site to become customers by providing them with simple product information, and if you really want to provide technical specifications for your products present them as separate downloadable documents.Myth Number 2 – Security badges inspire confidenceMake no bones about it, online security is paramount. Thanks to a surge in media interest, the security of online shopping has taken a bashing of late and many would-be customers are still wary of engaging with ecommerce. As an owner of an ecommerce site you need to inspire confidence in your users, but simply adding a McAfee or VeriSign badge to your checkout pages does nothing to allay the fear of internet shopping! You need to convince potential customers that your site is trustworthy and secure through effective written content; a feeble badge just won’t cut it!Myth Number 3 – Cross-sell at every opportunityWalk into any supermarket and it’s a guarantee that you will be exposed to cross-selling at every aisle and checkout. Even something as simple as purchasing a newspaper from a supermarket subjects you to a range of other products to purchase…chocolates, magazines and supermarket brand credit cards! Cross-selling works in shops, but it doesn’t translate very well online. In a bid to follow the Amazon template many online retailers attempt to introduce cross-selling at every stage of a user interaction including checkout processes. Some website owners even try to cross-sell products which are completely unrelated. This is just wrong wrong wrong! Online buying processes are user driven and checkout procedures need to be fast, focused and efficient. Bombarding your customers with extra choices and additional products when they are in the process of buying from you is off-putting and will simply encourage them to visit your competitors’ websites. Keep all cross-selling and promotional techniques away from the checkout, don’t give in to temptation!Myth Number 4 – Successful ecommerce depends solely on the websiteYour ecommerce website development agency has probably only concentrated their advice and attention on building you the ecommerce site of your dreams, after all “if we build it, they will come”! That’s a nice sentiment but sadly the success of your ebusiness doesn’t rely on the website alone. The real success of your ebusiness is in the service that you provide to your users and customers. User experience is improved by appealing and well design websites, but there are other important components which make up the full experience such as: open communication channels, returns policies, order fulfilment and dispatch, email notifications and complaints handling. Providing excellent customer service online is as important as providing it offline.Myth Number 5 – Ecommerce is easy, anyone can do it!The final ecommerce myth is that setting up and running an ecommerce business is easy. And it’s not just the internet that conveys this message; it’s even on our television screens. Take the current crop of “junior” apprentices vying to be Lord Sugar’s dogsbody for example, at least two of these adolescents claim to be CEOs of ebusinesses. Proof then surely that ecommerce so easy that 16 year old children can do it? Unfortunately it’s not as simple as that! Yes setting up an ecommerce website can be easy, but as we have discovered successful ecommerce relies on so much more. Successful ecommerce is a long term process which incorporates all the elements which are found in bricks and mortar businesses – product, functions, customer service, communication and effective marketing strategies. Now how many 16 year-olds can get their heads round that?!
Business Loans In Canada: Financing Solutions Via Alternative Finance & Traditional Funding
Business loans and finance for a business just may have gotten good again? The pursuit of credit and funding of cash flow solutions for your business often seems like an eternal challenge, even in the best of times, let alone any industry or economic crisis. Let’s dig in.
Since the 2008 financial crisis there’s been a lot of change in finance options from lenders for corporate loans. Canadian business owners and financial managers have excess from everything from peer-to-peer company loans, varied alternative finance solutions, as well of course as the traditional financing offered by Canadian chartered banks.
Those online business loans referenced above are popular and arose out of the merchant cash advance programs in the United States. Loans are based on a percentage of your annual sales, typically in the 15-20% range. The loans are certainly expensive but are viewed as easy to obtain by many small businesses, including retailers who sell on a cash or credit card basis.
Depending on your firm’s circumstances and your ability to truly understand the different choices available to firms searching for SME COMMERCIAL FINANCE options. Those small to medium sized companies ( the definition of ‘ small business ‘ certainly varies as to what is small – often defined as businesses with less than 500 employees! )
How then do we create our road map for external financing techniques and solutions? A simpler way to look at it is to categorize these different financing options under:
Debt / Loans
Asset Based Financing
Alternative Hybrid type solutions
Many top experts maintain that the alternative financing solutions currently available to your firm, in fact are on par with Canadian chartered bank financing when it comes to a full spectrum of funding. The alternative lender is typically a private commercial finance company with a niche in one of the various asset finance areas
If there is one significant trend that’s ‘ sticking ‘it’s Asset Based Finance. The ability of firms to obtain funding via assets such as accounts receivable, inventory and fixed assets with no major emphasis on balance sheet structure and profits and cash flow ( those three elements drive bank financing approval in no small measure ) is the key to success in ABL ( Asset Based Lending ).
Factoring, aka ‘ Receivable Finance ‘ is the other huge driver in trade finance in Canada. In some cases, it’s the only way for firms to be able to sell and finance clients in other geographies/countries.
The rise of ‘ online finance ‘ also can’t be diminished. Whether it’s accessing ‘ crowdfunding’ or sourcing working capital term loans, the technological pace continues at what seems a feverish pace. One only has to read a business daily such as the Globe & Mail or Financial Post to understand the challenge of small business accessing business capital.
Business owners/financial mgrs often find their company at a ‘ turning point ‘ in their history – that time when financing is needed or opportunities and risks can’t be taken. While putting or getting new equity in the business is often impossible, the reality is that the majority of businesses with SME commercial finance needs aren’t, shall we say, ‘ suited’ to this type of funding and capital raising. Business loan interest rates vary with non-traditional financing but offer more flexibility and ease of access to capital.
We’re also the first to remind clients that they should not forget govt solutions in business capital. Two of the best programs are the GovernmentSmall Business Loan Canada (maximum availability = $ 1,000,000.00) as well as the SR&ED program which allows business owners to recapture R&D capital costs. Sred credits can also be financed once they are filed.
Those latter two finance alternatives are often very well suited to business start up loans. We should not forget that asset finance, often called ‘ ABL ‘ by those Bay Street guys, can even be used as a loan to buy a business.
If you’re looking to get the right balance of liquidity and risk coupled with the flexibility to grow your business seek out and speak to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business financing advisor with a track record of business finance success who can assist you with your funding needs.
The Increasing Popularity of Skin Care For Men
The market for skin care for men is increasing rapidly because men are becoming increasingly aware of their looks. Although those who would like to be known as ‘macho’ will not admit to it, they too are using male skin care products. Not every woman likes the scruffy look, and men are finding that caring for their skin can help them win the woman of their dreams.However, there are limits to what they will do to improve the way they look, and how their skin feels to their partner, and they tend not to focus too much on skin care treatments. That is the reason for skin care products for men being very easy and quick to use, just before they rush off to work or a disco.Women try to look good for work, while men don’t bother unless…there is a woman they like, when they will do whatever is necessary! However, a man will still be looking for something they can just quickly splash or smooth on without it taking up too much of their precious time. What are the forms of skin care products that men would use?Shaving ProductsThe most obvious are shaving products because, while make-up is what women do to get ready for a night out, shaving is what men do. They will either have clean, smooth face, wear so-called ‘designer stubble’ that women tend to refer to as ‘sandpaper-skin’ or even a beard or moustache, though these have lost their popularity in recent years.If you check out all the guys around you, you will see that most of them are smooth-shaven while the rest have ‘designer’ stubble more akin to sandpaper. Not that the ‘sandpaper look’ should be knocked, of course, because it does attract some women, but that doesn’t mean that they should neglect the health of their skin, and that could certainly be improved by using the appropriate skin care for men.Among the shaving products you can use are mousses and creams, and you acn also get dry shaving lotions for electric razors. After-shave products include skin conditioners, perfumed lotions and fragrances. None of them are difficult to apply and they only take a moment to do so – so they won’t hold you up! Their advantages are well worth the short time it takes to apply them!Skin Care ProductsSo let’s talk about you now and not the other guys that could end up losers if they don’t follow your lead. There are more skin care products for men other than just shaving lotions. The dead skin cells on your face can be removed using face scrubs, and the new skin underneath can come through and give you a new, fresh and glowing look, and make you look years younger which is what women like – women like that. They can make you look years younger.There are also tonics available that remove excess skin oil (sebum) from your face and protect you from getting whiteheads and blackheads due to your pores blocking up with dead skin cells and oil. Most women would prefer their men to have smooth, fresh, clean skin rather than a face covered in pimples or oil. Every cosmetics company markets its own skin care products, Another type of product that can be very successful with a man is shea butter, in particular those men that are exposed to outside weather conditions can can be damaging to their skin, such as strong sunlight, heavy rain that washes off their natural oils, and drying winds. By using a shea butter product you skin will retain its moisture and feel really smooth when your opponent’s skin has dried up and feels really rough. Believe me – that is not what girls like.Although men are not under the same pressure as women to look after their skin properly, and likely feel it a waste to spend money on skin care products for men, they will eventually regret it in a few years time. Many men believe that they are being macho by not using these types of products, but the cosmetics houses did not develop them without there being a market for them and the fact is that men’s skin needs more looking after than that of a woman!You are more liable to be exposed to pollution and other chemicals while at work, and to be out in the rain, hail and snow. Skin care products for men are made with that difference in mind, which is the reason for the skin care products used by women having little effect on you. You men must have your own skin care products: each sex is different, their skins being just as different as any other parts of their bodies.It’s one thing wanting a woman to admire you from a distance, but quite another if you want her real close to you – that’s when the state of your skin is very important. You will be able to get ahead of the guys that don’t use anything by splashing or smoothing on any of these scented products for skin care meant for men – and they certainly do what it says on the tin. Definitely!