Ecommerce isn’t a fix-it-and-forget-it endeavor. If you want to generate revenue, digital commerce needs to be a continuing process that analyzes and refines the tools you use to make transactions happen. A good place to start on any site is the shopping cart. Are you making one of these ecommerce shopping cart mistakes?

You play hide-and-seek with navigation buttons.

Basic navigation buttons should be simple to find, especially if you expect to make the shopping experience hassle free. If a consumer needs to hunt for a search box, for example, they may just become frustrated enough to click onto a competitor’s site. Shoppers should be able to easily find buttons, such as:  

• Buy
• Cancel
• Change quantities
• Shipping charges/estimates
• Search box
• On sale/bargain products
• Top sellers

The pages are a jumbled mess or a utilitarian wasteland.

Ecommerce pages need to blend appealing images with functionality. If the digital store’s page is cluttered with too many photos or images that are too large, they eat up real estate needed for some of those navigation buttons that make online shopping a breeze.

But you also can’t expect to appeal to consumers with a shopping cart that looks like a dot-matrix printout from 1990. You still need appealing, professional-level images to help sell a product, whether it’s a cat toy or a corporate report. Use the best-quality images possible rather than “no image available” icons.

You don’t build trust with ecommerce customers.

As consumers become increasingly aware of the potential risks of identity theft, it’s critical to instill trust. Share contact information, such as email address, phone number, or live chat info, clearly and prominently to alleviate consumers’ concerns.

Another way to build trust is to partner with a third-party payment processor that offers credit-card free payment options, like phone billing, so the shopper doesn’t need to share sensitive info to get the goods and services they need.

What other no-no’s have you seen in ecommerce shopping carts?

As an ecommerce merchant, you know that customers want—and need—alternatives to the traditional credit card payment option. So if you want their business, you need to partner with an alternative payment processor who offers the right blend of expertise and easy-to-integrate technology. But before you sign on the dotted line, here are a few questions to ask the third party payment processor:

1. What is the deposit process? Cash flow is the lifeblood of any business—so be sure to understand how long it will take to deposit money into your account. Also find out if there are any situations that would delay a deposit.
2. Will a member of the payment processing team explain the statement to you? As a business owner, you deserve to know exactly where your dollars and cents are going. Be sure the prospective alternative payment partner is willing to familiarize you with how to read and understand statements.
3. If you dispute a fee, how will it be handled? If you see a fee that doesn’t look right, it’s important to know how the payment processor deals with merchant disputes. Find out what the dispute process entails as well as who makes the final verdict regarding refunds or waived fees.
4. Who’s your go-to person? No doubt, your initial contact was someone on the third party processor’s sales team. You’ll also want a list of additional contacts to have on speed-dial, such as the technical support team.

Adding alternative payment methods to checkout is a savvy way to boost revenue and control costs. But as with any other business deal, be sure to read and fully understand the terms and conditions of the contract—this is critically important when it comes to the complexities of payment processing.

What additional tips can you share with fellow merchants who might be on the verge of signing a contract with a third party payment processor?

Whether you’re upgrading Internet service or ordering remote computer tech support, you want an online transaction that’s safe, cheap, and easy. That means it’s time to put away the credit card when shopping online. Here’s why:

Smart Shopper Reason #1 – The Fraud Factor

We’ve all seen the news stories about identity and credit card fraud. Sharing sensitive info, like bank account or credit card numbers, online exposes you to cybercrime. Increasingly, ecommerce merchants are adding alternative payment methods that don’t require you to share personal information with people you don’t know. For example, phone billing (or Bill to Phone) lets you charge purchases to your phone bill—no need to transmit that credit card number into cyberspace.

Smart Shopper Reason #2 – Money Matters

Credit card interest rates and fees take a bite out of your budget. No doubt, you have better things to do with your hard-earned income than fund the Big Banks. By choosing Bill to Phone or other alternative payment options at checkout, you avoid paying those ugly interest fees—and who doesn’t want that?

Smart Shopper Reason #3 – Easy Does It

Ever want to shop online during a lunch break but you don’t have a credit card with you? Have you ever abandoned a transaction because you couldn’t find reading glasses to see that security code on the back of the card? Online shopping simply doesn’t get any easier when you pay with alternative payment methods. For instance, if you’re buying with Bill to Phone, the only things you need to know are your phone number and possibly the last 4 digits of your Social Security number (for identity verification).

Shop Safely. Shop Savvy. Shop Without the Credit Card.

Protect yourself from fraud, save money, and shop conveniently. Bill to Phone from ILD Teleservices is a digital store checkout option you can count on. From clearly identifying charges on your phone bill to providing a friendly customer care team to answer questions, you can trust your online transactions to ILD.

Whether you market a digital newsletter or a service site, you rely on customers to come back for your product on a recurring basis. One way for ecommerce merchants to generate those repeat sales is by offering automatic subscription renewal.

Subscription renewals in digital commerce take two forms.

One way is manual renewal. With this option, the customer is not charged unless he or she expressly agrees to each transaction. Manual subscription renewal requires a digital customer to continually re-enter information regarding payment, such as a credit card number. Whether the subscription is renewed is entirely at the mercy of the customer’s schedule and convenience.

There is an easier way to boost subscriptions: automatic subscription renewal. The customer agrees to be charged at regular intervals until they cancel the service. After they submit valid billing info for the initial transaction, that same valid information is used for each subsequent charge. It’s easy for the customer and profitable for you!

There is a drawback to automatic subscription renewal.

Unfortunately, a few ecommerce customers won’t fully understand what they’ve signed up for—so when they continue to be billed, they become frustrated and dispute the charge. That’s why it is crucial to partner with a third party payment processor that offers a customer care team with the expertise and tools to professionally resolve those issues for you.

Alternative payment methods are a convenient way to boost auto subscriptions.

From electronic newsletter fees to monthly service charges, alternative payment methods (APMs), like phone billing, are an affordable way to lift subscriptions through auto payments. When you’re ready to boost revenue with automatic subscription renewals, contact our team at ILD Teleservices. As a leader in phone billing (LEC billing), we offer an easy-to-integrate payment system and one of the industry’s best customer care teams. Learn more today.

Ecommerce merchants lose more revenue from the fear of fraud than from actual fraud—6x as much revenue to be exact, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Eye-opening figure, isn’t it? And digital consumers have reason to be wary of sharing credit card or bank account information for online transactions. More than 11 million U.S. adults were victims of fraud in 2009, the highest level since 2003. The good news is there are tactics digital merchants can implement to make customers feel safer when shopping online.

So how do merchants take the fear out of shopping ecommerce stores?

1. Offer alternative payment methods (APMs). One of the easiest ways to give consumers peace of mind is by giving them shopping cart payment options that don’t ask for sensitive information. Third party payment processors provide alternative checkout options, such as Bill to Phone (LEC billing), which allows shoppers to charge purchases to their phone bill. No matter which APM you choose, invest in a third party payment processor with a platform that integrates smoothly into your current system for a seamless checkout—a feature that will boost customers’ confidence in the transaction.
2. Invest in an SSL certificate. This security software encrypts information transmitted between the customer and the digital merchant. Remember to feature the security logo or seal prominently to let shoppers know you’re doing your part to keep online shopping safe.
3. Outline an easy-to-understand privacy policy. Customers want to know what you’re going to do with the information they’re sharing, whether it’s their email address or credit card number. Post the privacy policy in clear language that the ecommerce shopper won’t need a legal expert to interpret.

What tips can you share for taking the fear out of ecommerce shopping?