Shopping Cart News: osCommerce, CRE Loaded, Zen Cart

The New osCommerce Project this week formally abandoned all plans to complete the moribund osCommerce 3.0 and 4.0, citing an outdated and near-obsolete code base. The group will instead build a whole new cart from the ground up using a fast and flexible PHP framework called Kohana to allow rapid development.

There had been no work done on osCommerce MS3 for the last two years when the New osCommerce Project, spurred by long-time osCommerce developer Rhea Anthony, broke away and quickly completed the neglected osCommerce MS2.2 last November. Prior to the group's resurrection of the original program, the osCommerce forums had been assaulted for months with masses of porn spam, and the project had been slowly dying of neglect.

The break-away group's rapid completion of the almost-completed program shook the original program's founder Harald Ponce de Leon out of his lethargy long enough to work again on the MS2 ARC streams and the MS3 stream. This culminated in the original osCommerce releasing an MS3 Alpha 5 release in March of this year. The release was labeled "production-ready" but it remains far from that.

After the new osCommerce Project successfully released the final osCommerce MS2.2 it immediately turned to developing a new framework onto which the new shopping cart would be bolted. The group realized fairly quickly that creating a framework would be demanding and time consuming, and that there were already excellent frameworks that would serve the purpose and allow more rapid development.

The group chose the object-oriented Kohana framework to help speed development of the new open source cart, citing its speed and light weight in comparison to, for example, the slow and resource intensive Zend framework used by the popular open source cart Magento. Many complain that Magento is slow because of its dependence on the bloated Zend framework.

The New osCommerce Project had decided at a team meeting in January to keep the name osCommerce even though it would no longer use the osCommerce code base. In April the team decided to completely re-brand the new cart as soon as they decided on a new name.

The new cart will not be released as osCommerce v4.0 but will be released as osQuantum v1.0. The "OS" signifies the group's ongoing commitment to Open Source Software. The "Quantum" is the name of the new cart.

A schedule for osQuantum's first Alpha release is expected to be released within the next month.

About the Kohana Framework

The Kohana framework, a cutting-edge offshoot of the framework Code Igniter, is speeding development of the new cart. What this means to users is that many features that will be needed in the new open source cart already exist in the pre-existing framework.

For technical folks, Kohana uses the Model-View-Controller architecture, as do other PHP frameworks, which provides database abstraction, event handling and other standard features. It follows strict PHP5 Object-Oriented programming protocols and is very professional compared to some other frameworks. Kohana has error logging, an easy-to-use template system, API consistency support for internationalization, and more.

Unlike other frameworks however, Kohana is a very simple and flexible, fast and powerful framework that provides only the essential features common in the majority of applications. If need more features you can add them via the module system. The framework is easy for experienced developers to learn as well as those new to the system.

Continuing Support for osCommerce 2 Final

The group plans to continue to support osCommerce version 2.0 (Final) from its forums at http://forums.oscommerceproject.org. The group has also recently released four bug fixes which apply to versions RC1, RC2, RC2a, RC2b and 2.0 (Final), which are not available from the original osCommerce.

In Other Open Source News… CRE Loaded Releases PCI-Compliant Version 6.4

The CRE Loaded version of osCommerce left behind its unsuccessful 6.3 version with the release of a new 6.4 version designed to help small merchants meet strict PCI or Payment Card Interface credit card processing standards. The new version has had all non-PCI compliant payment modules stripped from the program, and only the new "CRE Secure" module is pre-installed. The new payment module allows a merchant to seamlessly process credit cards on a secure third-party site that is branded to look identical to the merchant's site.

Merchants must apply for a new merchant account with integrated processors from First Data, GlobalPayments, Elavon, TSys, Chase PaymenTech or JetPay in order to take advantage of the pre-installed CRE Secure payment module.

Small merchants can also meet PCI Standards by using an off-site processor such as PayPal, but the group points out that the seamless payment experience is lacking with this method as the PayPal Web site allows only rudimentary customization.

By 2010 all merchants processing credit cards must adhere to strict security standards or risk losing their merchant accounts. CRE Loaded's PCI 6.4 will make it easy and inexpensive for small vendors to adhere to these standards.

For most small online vendors, those with fewer than 20,000 transactions per year, the new strict PCI security standards also require a regular self-audit regarding handling of all customer data. The group expects to release plug-in modules for its CRE Secure payment system for other open source ecommerce programs including Zen Cart and osCommerce, to allow users of all programs to quickly achieve PCI compliance.

Zen Cart Announces Security Issue and Patch

A security issue has been discovered in the Admin section of Zen Cart in versions

Up to and including 1.3.8. The vulnerability requires an attacker to know the URL of your Admin. The Zen Ventures group recommends changing the name of the Admin folder immediately on installation of Zen Cart.

The group released a security patch that takes advantage of Zen Cart's easy to use "Override System" for easy updating. The patch is available on Zen-Cart.com and is recommended for all Zen Cart stores version 1.3.8 or earlier. Earlier stores may need to manually install the patch.

Kerry Watson is a regular contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com, as well as a consultant and author of 14 books in the OSC industry. Her Web site is osCommerceManuals.com.

Tips for Selling Crafts Online

Online craft selling is a big business.  Just ask Etsy founder Robert Kalin, who was quoted earlier this year as saying the Etsy marketplace sold $100 million worth of goods in 2008.

Craftsman, author and Sell your Crafts blogger, James Dillehay believes that crafts are gaining in popularity in online shops and the craft industry is gaining consumer support. 

Dillehay began creating and selling his own hand-woven pieces in 1984. Since then he has moved his craft business online, focusing on handmade woven home dйcor and ladies clothing pieces. He has also authored eight books and has taught craft-business skills around the country.  

His most recent e-book, Sell Your Crafts Online offers sellers more than 500 free and low-cost business ideas to help boost traffic, links and sales.

Crafty Tips for Getting Started

Dillehay said that most artisans who are just getting started tend to look at one of two options for online craft sales;  creating their own Web site or setting up a new Web shop on an existing marketplace.  Those new to selling their crafts online tend to choose Web shops simply because it’s easy to get started—most Web shops have automated processes that let you list and sell in minutes with no previous online selling experience required.

1000markets is one of five online craft markets that delivers good traffic rank and attracts shoppers.
(Click for larger image).

Despite the popularity of using existing marketplaces, like eBay, Etsy, and other eBay alternatives, Dillehay recommended that crafters also invest in their own domain name and Web site, since the craft business online is largely connected to one’s own presence.

“It’s no longer a case of deciding if you should set-up shop here or there,” Dillehay said. “It’s a growing need of the ands . You need to show your product here, and here and here.”

 In addition to using your own Web site for branding, Dillehay said that you can also invest in opening a Web shop and link to it from your own domain.

 In his e-book, Dillehay reminds sellers that there is no guarantee of a sale just by listing on popular selling platforms, but five online marketplaces he recommends that  have a good traffic rank and attract shoppers looking for crafts and unusual items include; eBay, Etsy, Artfire , Silkfair  and 1000markets.

Can You Afford to Sell Crafts Full-Time?

For most crafters, managing their own business selling product they create would be a dream-come-true. Dillehay said that many market their crafts to supplement an existing income. He mentioned a column on the Etsy Web site where successful sellers talk about how they had to quit their day job to fulfill orders, but  Dillehay cautioned that this is not what happens for most people.

“Having little or no sales is rough for a seller, and that’s why many people get discouraged so quickly,” he added.

Sellers who really want to make online craft selling their full-time business really need to put a full-time effort in to it. Dillehay noted that online sellers need to try different marketplaces, build a trustworthy online presence and experiment with new technologies—like social media— to market their crafts.

Tips for Aspiring Craft Sellers

Dillehay suggested that novice online craft sellers need to focus on the business aspect and also create a brand and product people will trust.  Here are five tips for those who are thinking about launching their own craft shop online:

When you offer a craft for sale online, you need to ensure you are listing the item with the best photo you possibly can. Crafts are unique and your photo has to show that. Also, be sure you spell-check your listings. You never ever want to list an item with errors in the descriptions. Be honest in your listing and don’t exaggerate. Always include exact size and weight measurements, and add color and materials information for your shoppers. When you sell online through Web shops and marketplaces it is extremely important to read their terms of service—and different sites will have different terms. There is nothing worse than wasting time creating listings only to have them removed because you didn’t abide by the terms of service. Create a story around your craft. This helps you give your work a story and bring it to life for shoppers. This will give customers a higher perceived value of your crafts. Always collect your customer’s contact information and build a customer list.  Down the road you can encourage more sales from shoppers who have already bought your product and who are familiar with your name and branding.

Selling crafts online is not just about sales. In order to truly be successful, Dillehay said that artists have to focus on building their brand and creating an Internet presence that shoppers can identify with. 

Dillehay's " Sell Your Crafts Online” e-book with hundreds of tips for online craft sellers is available for download from his Web site ($12).

Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.

Secret-Shopper Expedition Reveals Live Chat Trends

Live Chat Comparison has released details on a new independent research report, commissioned by Bravestorm and conducted by veteran market analyst and former Gartner vice president, Tim Smith.

The study, “ Online Shopping Review: Testing Three Communication Methods ,” came as a result of Smith taking a closer look at some of the more compelling insights revealed in a recent BoldChat report on live chat effectiveness.

The report concluded that live chat (also called live support) software is an important tool for driving sales. Additionally, the survey showed that online shoppers ranked live chat as the number one preferred method of communication—ahead of phone and e-mail—in a variety of typical purchase situations.

Intrigued by those findings, Smith put live chat, e-mail and phone communications to the test by conducting secret-shopping expeditions at several leading online retailers.

In an interview with ECommerce-Guide.com, Smith said that he sees a shift from traditional communications, i.e., the live telephone call center, to online communications that include e-mail and live-chat applications. 

Secret Shopping Online: The Methodology

In doing the secret-shopper test, Smith made purchases from six online retailers to ensure the validity of the experiences as actual purchasing scenarios. Live chat, e-mail and phone were all used as communication methods with the retailers.

Smith performed four types of interactions that are typical of online shopping behavior, including inquiring about specials, asking for help finding an item, placing an order and inquiring about shipping and delivery. While he made purchases with only one method with each vendor, Smith used each contact method for all other interactions with the retailers.

"Each method of communication—telephony, e-mail and live chat tended to gravitate toward the most logical application, which is live chat," said Smith. "For online shopping the logical progression is to view the retailer’s products in your browser and stay within the browser to use live chat for immediate contact.”

He added that phone-based communications means that the buyer to leave the browser ‑‑ and possibly even the computer ‑‑ dial the number, wait on hold and so on. Suddenly phone support isn’t so real-time anymore.

Also, Smith said that e-mail seemed to be the least real-time method of communication, but it was the one method that gave him official documentation of the communications.

Secret Shopper: Research Conclusions

Smith’s secret-shopper experience found that retailers don’t always make it easy for shoppers to contact them by means other than phone support. Smith observed that most retailers prominently display toll-free numbers, but they tend to bury chat buttons and e-mail tools several layers deep in the Web site. 

Smith found a significant range of both agent and information consistency from one communication method to the next.  He said that if a retailer is going to offer a way for customers and prospects to reach them, make sure it doesn’t end up being a missed opportunity to win over a customer.

If you are going to offer live-chat functions, Smith says you must make sure you are there.  “It is frustrating as a shopper when you sit in a chat queue and do not receive an immediate response to your request.”

For that reason, it’s critical for retailers to use “no-show” chat boxes—that is make sure that you hide the chat box on your Web site or display a ‘sorry, we’re not available’ message when you are unable to man the live-chat requests.

According to Smith, each communication method (telephony, e-mail and live chat) does have a natural role to play in online customer service and support. Though e-mail makes the most sense for shipping confirmation, sales notifications and less real-time interactions, Smith concluded that  live chat is the most natural progression in the online shopping experience.

While Smith found that online retailers still tend to view live chat as primarily a support tool, he cites it as a powerful sales tool if staffed correctly.  For telephony-based contact centers, Smith concluded that they will continue to play a role in both sales and support, with integration of chat and e-mail as a challenge that lies ahead in this area.

Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.

Silkfair Launches Custom Shops for Online Sellers

Silkfair, the online marketplace place where everyone is invited to shop or sell their way, has recently launched the Silkfair Custom Shop platform. This new e-commerce tool, according to the company, is designed to give sellers a way to quickly set-up a Web shop and customize it with their own branding.

Silkfair Founder Albert Wu said the new Custom Shop platform lets sellers build a standalone e-commerce Web site with sophisticated functionality, but he also noted that the platform is also easy enough for a novice designer to use.

Custom Shops give sellers control over their Web shop branding and design.
(Click for larger image).Custom Shop Set-up and Features

With Custom Shop, Silkfair sellers can create their own Web brand and then personalize all aspects of their Web store. They can also take advantage of built-in marketing tools for blogging, customer forums, product videos, Google Base feeds, and search engine optimization (SEO).

“With Custom Shops, sellers can focus on branding and marketing themselves,” Wu said.  “Unlike many Web shop platforms, we don’t use our Silkfair branding and logo on the user’s store.  Only a single ‘powered by Silkfair’ line of text appears on the bottom of each shop”.

Another Custom Shop feature that many sellers will want to take advantage of is using their own domain name for hosting their shop. If a seller doesn’t have a domain name they can still choose a store name which is included in the default Silkfair store URL.

Easy Importers and Templates

Custom Shops provides sellers with an online dashboard for managing their store. From one user-friendly interface you can set your store profile, add products and product categories, and see your transaction details, store statistics and other functions.  You can activate many Custom Shop features, including the option to use your own domain name, with a single click from within the seller's store dashboard.

When you first open your Custom Shop, Silkfair’s platform lets sellers add new products or import product list using the commonly used CSV format.  Additionally, you can also use the platform’s eBay and Etsy importers to get products you currently have listed on those marketplaces added to your new Web shop. To use the automated importers, sellers simply need to provide their Etsy or eBay username in their account profile.

The Custom Shops platform also lets sellers choose from one of ten default store templates, which can be customized to include your own logos, images and colors.  According to Wu, the platform was designed to allow any online seller—both novices and people with expert knowledge of site design—to quickly set up their own shop and incorporate their own branding.  

“Custom Shops allows sellers to take full control of their store design. Every aspect of the design can be edited using a simple point-and-clink interface,” said Wu. “Sellers can control the HTML code, fonts, style, color and branding of their own shop. “

Savvy designers can choose to edit the store template HTML or upload their own template to achieve a unique store design.

Sellers can add new products, upload CSV files or import existing products they have listed on eBay or Etsy.
(Click for larger image).

Silkfair also supports its Custom Shop sellers by providing additional services including interactive video promotions that let a seller spotlight best-selling products. The platform also offers built-in blogs and forums that will help sellers using the Custom Shop platform to interact directly with their customers.

Pricing and Availability

The Custom Shop platform, fully powered by Silkfair technology, is available now for a subscription fee of $24.99 per month. Silkfair currently offers sellers a choice between two promotions; a discounted Custom Shop rate of $14.99 for the first six months, or sellers can receive the first month of service free.

Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.

eBiz Profile: Bidz.com Cashes in on Bling

Eleven years ago David Zinberg sold jewelry on eBay. After discovering just how difficult it was to turn a profit, in 1999 he launched his own site called Bidz.com. 

A true success story, Bidz.com offers consumers an exciting way to obtain unique, high-end and name-brand jewelry pieces in a live auction, rather than through a traditional Web store format.

Leon Kuperman, the company president and CTO, says that the online live-auction platform really appeals to people. Consumers receive auction details only hours or minutes before the auction end time, not for days as on eBay and other online auction marketplaces.

According to Kuperman, Bidz.com traffic exceeds one million page views each day.  The company ships between 8,000-12,000 items per day, and in 2008 sales reached $207 million. Most recently Bidz.com ranked second in Internet Retailer’s Online Jewelry Category and number 71 in the Top 500 Guide of the largest e-retailers.

Turning a Profit with Dollar Bids

The big incentive for consumers to buy on Bidz.com is that they can bid on jewelry with just a dollar – and we’re talking jewelry that typically retails for tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. At any given time you can expect to see 2,000 or more items open for bids on the site.

Bidz.com turns a profit even when selling product below market value because the company buys direct from manufacturers—this includes distressed products, manufacturer overruns and closeout merchandise.

Kuperman said that the dynamic-pricing business model is why Bidz.com can offer such extreme value to its customers. Offering well-known brand names on the site helps bring repeat customers back to bid and purchase.

Fixed-Price Shopping

Last year the company launched a fixed-price online Web shop at Buyz.com. Here, consumers not interested in using an auction-style platform can buy the company’s products at fixed prices.

While auctions are an exciting way to shop for jewelry there will always be consumers who want a good price but don’t want the hassle of going through an auction buying process. Kuperman said that Buyz.com publishes only in-stock merchandise, and the site offers anywhere from 6,000 to 12,000 items for sale.

Bidz.com
(Click for larger image).Marketing Tasks and Lessons Learned

In previous years, Bidz.com was open to other sellers via a merchant program, but the company found that by having only one predominant vendor on the site it increased consumer trust.  While the site no longer offers a merchant program, it does partner with several vendors in categories that Bidz.com, doesn’t cover, such as the fine art category.

Bidz.com also offers Web publishers affiliate revenue opportunities through a number of popular affiliate channels including Commission Junction, Zanox, and LinkShare. The company tends to focus its marketing messages on product types and specific brand names— something it believes is crucial to repeat customer sales.

Bidz.com also invests in another e-commerce trend: shipping deals. “It’s difficult to offer free shipping when you start an auction at just a dollar,” Kuperman says. “If an auction ends at a low price, adding free shipping on top of that really cuts into profits.”

Instead, Bidz.com offers its customers free shipping on a combined three-item purchase totaling $100 or more, between the Bidz.com and Buyz.com sites. The company uses other marketing incentives including time-limited gift certificates it sends out to its subscriber list.

Kuperman attributes the company’s overall success to being a trusted vendor with brand name jewelry at low prices that drives repeat customers.  Promoting the brand name merchandise is the company’s primary marketing incentive, followed by gift certificates and other promotions.

New Features and Focus on Customer Service

Bidz.com has certainly changed over its ten years of doing live auctions online, and Kuperman says the company is always tweaking and improving its business.

One newly added feature is a concierge service. A phone number listed on the auction page lets customers call in and connect with a jewelry specialist who immediately answers any questions about the item. The company is also planning to increase its customer support line to 24/7 support.

Kuperman says that in the coming weeks Bidz.com will also introduce video streams in the auctions to give consumers a more realistic view of the actual item on offer. He said they’ll incorporate the video streams into the high-end product listings first, and then roll it out to all items.

In a less-than-stellar economy, jewelry sales tend to go down, and Bidz.com is facing the same economic issues as most companies in the jewelry industry.

Kuperman believes this is the perfect opportunity to tweak the business, and the company is changing to meet new consumer demands. This includes offering a better mix of product, increasing customer support and rolling out new consumer-friendly features.

Vital StatisticsName:Bidz.com Inc.Founded:1999Sales/revenues:(2008) $207 millionPayment solution:PayPal Payflow, PayPal Express, Bill Me LaterHosting provider/Cart:In-house developed systemNumber of employees:170

Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.

eBay Sellers Prep for $25K Challenge and Policy Changes

EBay has launched a new promotion called the eBay Sellers Challenge, an initiative designed to inspire entrepreneurs to grow existing businesses—or start new ones—on eBay.  Four winners will each receive a $25,000 business grant, along with marketing advice and assistance from eBay.

In the company's official announcement, Lorrie Norrington, president of eBay Marketplaces said, "The eBay marketplace is a community rich in innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. The Sellers Challenge helps underscore this simple truth, and along with the powerful selling tools available on eBay, signifies our fundamental commitment to ensuring the success of our sellers."

The challenge asks entrepreneurs to develop a compelling plan for growing or establishing an eBay-based business.  Entrants are encouraged to submit a business plan and an accompanying video in one of four categories:

Current or former members of the United States armed forces; Individuals or small businesses who have not sold on eBay; Part-time sellers who want to go full-time on eBay Full-time eBay sellers who want to grow their business further

Eight finalists—two in each category—will be selected based on perceived business challenges and obstacles, clarity of business plan, passion for using eBay and appropriateness to contest theme. EBay Buyers and sellers will then be invited to review and vote on each finalist’s entry, and the most popular entry in each category will win.

Each of the four challenge winners will receive a $25,000 business grant from eBay, as well as marketing services and support from eBay. The runner-ups will each receive a $5,000 grant.

Submissions will be evaluated by eBay and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the world’s largest foundation devoted to entrepreneurship.

June is a Time of Change on eBay

Having learned its lesson after rolling out frequent seller changes last year, eBay now limits site-wide changes to only two or three releases per year, with a 60-day notice to site members.  Back in April of this year eBay announced planned changes to the marketplace which will go into effect next week (the week of June 15).

Several of the site and policy changes we expect to see put in to action over the next week include new item pages, new ways to list in fixed price, buyer incentives, eBay’s Smart FAQ, return policy and handling time requirements, as well as new dispute regulations.

One of the biggest changes that will affect sellers is eBay’s plan to move dispute resolution from PayPal to eBay.  While eBay still strongly focuses on encouraging buyers to work with sellers before opening a claim, when a buyer doesn't receive an item or the item doesn't match what was described — and the seller doesn't provide adequate resolution to the buyer — eBay will reimburse the buyer subject to the conditions of its new eBay purchase protection policy. 

Sellers conducting business on eBay need to be aware of the policy changes and to know that your eBay user agreement requires you to accept the terms and condition as outlined in the new eBay purchase protection policy.

 To find out more about the changes that have been previously announced, with most being rolled out on eBay next week, you can read our past coverage of the policy changes here:

EBay Clarifies Buyer and Seller Protection ObligationsEBay —Not PayPal—To Handle Dispute ResolutionWill eBay News Skew toward Big Sellers?eBay Promotes Eco-friendly Businesses

EBay’s most recent Father’s Day promotion has buyers supporting eBay’s own artisans and eco-friendly businesses for dad.  The newly announced promotion offers buyers a free hand-crafted Fair Trade picture frame (a $25 value) when shopping for father's day on WorldofGood.com by eBay, an online marketplace where thousands of eco-positive sellers and products can be found in one place.

Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.

HeyButler.com Targets Visitors with Concentri

HeyButler.com, a savings search engine Web site, recently chose Knotice Ltd., as its direct digital marketing platform. HeyButler.com invested in Knotice's on-demand solution, Concentri, to improve the company’s Web site and e-mail experience for its rapidly growing subscriber base.

Direct digital marketing is marketing that is addressable —meaning you can identify the recipient of the marketing message being distributed. Traditional direct marketing is achieved using a customer’s postal address. With the evolution of direct marketing to direct digital marketing, Knotice CEO Brian Deagan says that addressability comes in one of three forms; an e-mail address, a Web browser cookie, or a mobile phone number.

First launched in 2004, the Concentri direct digital marketing platform brings the three elements of digital marketing addressability together under one platform. According to Deagan, the platform is designed to help businesses get the maximum return possible from their Web sites, increase the relevancy of each digital marketing campaign sent, and to improve conversions.

On-demand Tools for Direct Digital Marketing

The Concentri direct digital marketing platform is an on-demand service, so businesses can choose from a variety of tools, paying only for what they used. The platform features e-mail marketing tools that let you create a campaign using WYSIWYG or HTML editing tools. Concentri provides e-mail reporting for you to analyze and optimize your e-mail marketing. The platform also offers Concentri Mobile to take advantage of SMS mobile campaigns, plus it has embedded tools for live testing of your marketing content.

One of the unique direct marketing tools of the Concentri platform is SiteTarget. This lets you define easy-to-edit areas on your Web site, called live zones , to target content and marketing tests specific to Web site visitors.

One benefit of using Concentri SiteTarget’s live zones is that Web site owners do not need to redesign their pages to inject targeted marketing content.  Instead, even the most non-technical of users, can use a WYSIWYG editing environment to create and manage live zone content. Once the live zone content is created, content editors simply apply displays rules to target a specific site visitor segment.

Deagan says that using live zones is like defining the main real estate areas on your Web site for targeting and testing.  Companies invest a lot into their Web site infrastructure but at times you may need to add some customer personalization or include relevancy for a specific marketing campaign.

 “Adding on-site relevancy should be a low-cost option for site owners. You don’t need to invest in a new site just to address one specific area,” he said. “If you are happy with all other aspects of your Web site, then it is as easy as creating a live zone with Concentri SiteTarget and then editing the template from within the Concentri platform.”

In combination with Concentri’s segmentation tools, you can target customers and the marketing message based on a wide range of criteria including the last time the user visited your site, the customer’s last purchase, or the action taken by the user in the last e-mail campaign you sent.

SiteTarget Reinforces any Digital Marketing Message

For search engine HeyButler.com, Deagan says the company is able to target customers on-site, based on its geographical location. Instead of using multiple pages, HeyButler uses the information the customer provided when he or she signed up on the site. That lets the live on-site targeting provide direct marketing messages that are targeted to the user based on the city they live in. This in turn lets HeyButler offer relevant marketing messages to users as they arrive on the Web site.

You can edit the actual function of the on-site targeting to reinforce any direct digital marketing message.  In some cases you can use live zones to replace some of your site’s landing pages for conversion, or use the live zones to reinforce landing page messages.

 In some instances where an e-mail subscriber might choose to type your URL into a browser, instead of following a special landing page URL from an e-mail marketing message, you can use live zones to ensure they still see the campaign’s marketing message from your main page URL.

Concentri On-demand Pricing

Knotice's Concentri platform, which includes SiteTarget, E-mailPlus, Mobile, and other direct digital marketing tools, starts at $250 per month plus usage charges.  The on-demand platform charges customers only for the services they use.

Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.

Microsoft's Bing Starts with a Bang

Microsoft's new search engine Bing is apparently off to a good start, even surging slightly ahead of Yahoo, if only for a day.

Instead of being a groundswell for Microsoft, though, analysts said that the spike may only indicate consumers' trying out the newest search engine on the block.

For whatever reason, on Thursday at least, Bing was the second-place search engine worldwide, according to net metrics tracking firm StatCounter, which claims to monitor "in excess of ten billion page loads per month [globally]."

StatCounter's report says that on Thursday, Bing garnered second place status with 16.28 percent of searches in the US. That put it ahead of Yahoo, which had 10.22 percent of searches for that day. Of course, both still ran well behind Google which had 71.47 percent.

Read the Full Story

Open-Source Ecommerce Adoption Obstacles

Open-source ecommerce (OSC) programs are wonderful in theory: cheap or even free money -making programs ready for the taking. So why isn't everyone an Internet millionaire?

The answer is that many obstacles prevent potential OSC users from learning about these programs — obstacles that no proprietary program would experience. Most OSC programs are created by volunteer programmers, whose interests lie in areas other than marketing and product communications.

There's an old joke that assembly instructions are so awful because they pick the least -needed person from the manufacturing floor to write them. In the open-source world, if no volunteer wants to write Web site information about the product, they don't bother to pick anyone at all. There could be a dynamite product that could change the world, but only the developers would know about it.

It doesn't matter whether a product is free or for purchase. Every potential customer tries to satisfy basic information needs as they move through the classic "sales cycle" of Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action. If a customer cannot satisfy their need for information on a product, they simply move on to a product that does. Imagine that you were at a car dealer who refused to lift the hood of a car, who wouldn't allow test drives, or who refused to give you a brochure that lists the car's features. Can you see yourself purchasing that car anyway? I didn't think so.

Now let's go back to the OSC world. Few makers of OSC programs even offer the most basic screenshots of their product. Screenshots are necessary for the very first step in the sales cycle: Awareness. Many makers do offer demos, it is true, but demos are appropriate for the end of the sales cycle, the Desire phase. A demo is equivalent to the auto industry's test drive, which is the very last step before you buy the car. By ignoring the most critical phase of the sales cycle, the beginning, a huge percentage of OSC sales are lost before they even start.

Every software marketer knows that in order to sell a program, he or she must offer the following ten items to potential customers or lose the sale:

A factual description of the program. The best product description is concise and written in plain language, without technical talk and hard-sell phrases. Actual screenshots. Potential customers won't buy if they can't find out what it looks like. At best, screenshots should be used liberally to explain important features. At a minimum, screenshots should be used to show the storefront (what the customer sees) and the Admin (the "back-end" or private area of the Web site where the owner maintains his or her store). Who the product is for. For example, small, medium or large business; beginner or advanced technical skills. A product that sells to "everyone" sells to no one. Features list. A potential customer must be able to find out what the program does. What are its unique features? The best will include a "What's New? " list of features that have been added since earlier versions so existing customers can know what they will get if they upgrade. Specifications. Also known as requirements. What kind of computer operating system and supporting programs are required. It's on the outside of every software box ever sold. Pricing. E-commerce programs are used by business people, who are likely to consider the full lifecycle cost. A low or free initial cost of a program is irrelevant if the product's life cycle will be littered with bug fixes, crashes, or if it's difficult to find consultants for it. Such a product will be abandoned early in the lifecycle. A user manual. Also included with every software box ever sold. Who would buy a new car if there was no manual in the glovebox? Or no third-party manuals available? Can you imagine an automaker telling customers to check the forums or the "Wiki" to learn about their new car? A working demo of the program. After a potential customer has reviewed everything else, the very last step before making a decision will be to test drive one or more programs. A free trial. All of the programs reviewed here do offer a free trial, so this item is not reviewed below. Support information. If the maker does not directly offer support, at a minimum they must refer customers to a source of support. The best software makers will certify third-party consultants and developers. An OSC "Treasure Hunt" Reaps Mixed Results

We did what's known in the world of the Internet as a "classic treasure hunt" usability test: we tried to find all of the above vital information as quickly as possible from the top OSC providers. The results are timed, and the sites with the most information found in the least amount of time are deemed to be the best.

A summary of each Web site in this classic web treasure hunt is as follows:

Cube Cart

"What is Cube Cart?" is answered on the home page, neatly and succinctly. Excellent features list accessible from home page. Excellent screen shots are also available you rech them from a link called "Demo" and there is no working demo on that page for the Admin. There is a page of technical requirements and compatible Web hosts, but I had to do a Google search to find the page.

An online user manual is also available. The company offers paid support, but it is nearly impossible to find out about it. A potential customer must click a link called "ordering system" at the bottom of a paragraph on the support page, register as a customer, activate the account via e-mail before logging in. Apparently then the potential customer will receive information on pricing for support packages.

CRE Loaded

No concise description of the product, so potential customers must already know what the program is before they arrive at the site. The home page is written with heavy e-commerce lingo; it's a veritable paradise for Buzzword Bingo fans (where he who gathers the most buzzwords wins). One screenshot of the storefront is included on the home page. A features list is sorted by version number, which is good for existing customers but confusing to potential new customers.

The company markets three versions of their program to three different target markets, although the home page only mentions two of the versions. A requirements page is accessible from the products or the support section, but not from the home page. Support is well-packaged with "10 incident" easy-to-buy packs directly from the makers, as long as you know what "SLA" means. The support has a Service Level Agreement (turn-around time for incidents) of two business days via email and live chat. A user manual is available on the site and on Amazon.com.

Magento Commerce

Magento Commerce is the second place winner of the treasure hunt. What's not to love about a site that has product page that lists nearly everything a potential customer could want - features list with screenshots, exactly who the product is for, working demos of both the storefront and the Admin back end. The commercial enterprise edition of the program at $8,900 per year includes support with a one-day response time. An official user manual ebook is available on the site and a third-party user manual paperback is available from Amazon.com.

Minor quibbles include: no concise description that answers a potential customer's most important question, "what is Magento?" and second place for Buzzword Bingo for tech jargon on the home page. System Requirements must be reached through a "Resources" menu. Paid support for the open source version should be much easier to find; instead it is three levels down from the home page via "Partners - Find a Partner - Solutions Partners."

osCommerce Online Merchant

A brief description of the product is included on the home page, assuming that the business person knows what "GNU Public License" means. Ample screenshots are available on the product's home page under "Solutions". No mention of who the product is suited for, which is somewhat alarming given that the features list on the Solutions page leads in with, "although osCommerce is still in its development stage..." Minimum requirements are listed on the same page. No working Admin demos.

No paid official support; support is available from free discussion forums only by clicking the "Community" link and then "Community forums." No official manual, but many different manuals are available including for programmers, designers, and users on Amazon.com.

The osCommerce Project

The home page contains a description of the project, but not a concise description of the product. A potential customer must know what osCommerce is to know that this is a fork of the original osCommerce. No features list, screen shots, specification or who this product is for. No working Admin demos. No support link; support is available from free discussion forums only by clicking the "Community Forum " link. No official manual, but manuals written for osCommerce Online Merchant should cover 99 percent of this program.

osC-MAX

"What is osCMAX?" is answered on the home page. A list of features is included on the product's main page. No screenshots or who the product is for. Requirements are mentioned on the "Download" page. A user manual is available from the left column of every page.

PrestaShop

The winner in the treasure hunt contest: everything a potential customer needs was located in a mere seven minutes! Concise description and screenshot of the product on the home page written in plain language. Good features list. Screenshots of both storefront and Admin back end on the Showcase page, along with the working demo of the Admin. No direct support, although in the free forums the names of Prestashop team members who are logged into the forum are prominently displayed along with their photos. No official or third-party manuals as of press time, though several are promised.

The only faux pas: the PrestaShop company does support its product with service and consulting, however this information is available only from the footer link "Prestashop services" which leads to the company's Web site in French only.

Zen Cart

A concise description of the product on the home page, but that's it - no demos, screenshots, description of who it is for, pricing, or support. Hello! A comprehensive programmers manual is endorsed on the Web site, and a third-party user manual is available on Amazon.com. A features list can be found by going to the tutorials/FAQ section, and then doing a site search for the word "features."

Kerry Watson is a regular contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com, as well as a consultant and author of 14 books in the OSC industry including the new osCMAX User Manual. Her Web sites are osCommerce-Resources.com and osCommerceManuals.com.

EBay Listing Tips and Seller Promotions

HammerTap, an eBay research company that helps sellers discover what products to sell and how to make more sales more often, has recently been investigating what specific days of the week are best for ending an eBay auction listing. This type of eBay research can help sellers obtain the maximum selling price and also sell more items.

According to Sean Eyring, an eBay certified consultant, many eBay sellers mistakenly believe that Sunday is the best day of the week to end your eBay listing. This myth came from an announcement eBay made some time ago that the site’s highest traffic day is Sunday.  Eyring says that the highest traffic day on eBay doesn’t mean that everyone is making a purchase on that day.

HammerTap research shows that the best ending day actually depends on two things; your selling strategy and the product you are selling. According to Eyring , all selling strategies are founded upon one of two options: high-volume, low-profit or low-volume, high-profit.

You use a high-volume, low-profit selling strategy when you have a very large inventory of the same product, and you’re more concerned with selling all of your products at a lower price to avoid left-over inventory.  According to HammerTap's data, if you sell on eBay using a high-volume, low-profit strategy, listings that end on a Tuesday increase sales from the average success rate of 75 percent to 87 percent.  In this scenario, HammerTap used DVD players as the high-volume, low-profit item.

Sellers commonly use the other selling strategy option, low-volume, high-profit, when they have a smaller inventory of the same product, or a large inventory of several different products. This strategy maximizes the item sale price. Using data for Garmin GPS Systems, HammerTap research showed listings that ended on Saturday increased the sales price by $35. This is straight profit in your pocket.

Of course, the actual product you’re selling plays a big part in choosing the best day to end the listing. For example, HammerTap research showed that selecting Monday as the end day for Coleman Double-Burner Stoves increased the chances of selling by six percent, while selecting Wednesday increased the final sales price by seven dollars. For Hoover Vacuum cleaners, an end day of Thursday increased the selling success rate by nearly seven percent while Friday increased the selling price by 12 dollars.

Eyring says HammerTap data constantly shows that ending a listing on Sunday does not increase sales or profits.  It is your own selling strategy and product that determines the best day to end a listing.

In his report, Eyring said, "When it comes to the best ending day, there is no general rule of thumb, and not just because it depends upon your selling strategy and your product. In case you haven’t noticed, eBay is a very fluctuating market. What works one month may not work the next."

EBay Offers Seller Promotions to Save on Fees

As we head into the busy spring and summer selling period, eBay is offering sellers several promotions to help them list more items and save on listing fees. 

Through June 15, eBay’s offering a five cent fixed-price insertion fee promotion for many seasonal items including golf clubs, cameras, cell phones and many more items when you use product details (pre-filled item information).  The regular fee for fixed-price listings of one dollar and above is 35 cents.  

Also, until June 8, sellers can also list fixed-price and auction-style items in select parts and accessories categories for 35 cents.  Regular fees for these listings run from 55 cents to four dollars. You’ll find the eBay Motors promotion details here.

Another New Online Marketplace Launches

Spring is also a busy time for launching new fixed-price and auction Web sites.  Based in Charlotte, NC, Chekkout.com is a new marketplace that lets sellers easily added banner links to their Web sites or blogs to show items being listed on Chekkout.com. The site currently offers a $100 automatic account credit for new registrants. 

New registrants can use the $100 credit to pay site fees when they sell. Chekkout.com's end-of-auction fees range from 7 to 8.75 percent, depending on the selling price.  Sellers can also subscribe to several levels of Web shops, starting at $4.99 per month. Chekkout.com, which currently has less than 100 items listed on the site, outlines its seller fees here.

Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.

Found in the Forum: Advice for Beginners

Joslinrose has an idea and an e-commerce dream…but she lacks the know-how to make that dream come true. Like other budding entrepreneurs before her, she’s asking for advice from the experienced e-commerce hands in our forums.

Do you recall your humble beginnings when you didn’t know your e-tail from your elbow? Over the years you’ve learned a lot, and the newbies here (and probably some of the old hands, too) can learn a thing or two from you. So stop by and give Joslinrose the benefit of your e-commerce experience.

Read the full forum post

IMshopping Adds a Human Touch to Online Shopping

IMshopping is a service that aims to bring a human touch to online shopping.  With the IMshopping social media site, CEO and Founder, Prashant Nedungadi, said the company has created a level of human assistance resulting in a deeper level of e-commerce satisfaction that doesn’t exist on the Internet today.

"There is a lot of information out there, but very little help when online shoppers need specific answers that will make or break a purchasing decision,” said Nedungadi.  “At brick-and-mortar stores, human experts fill such a void, but on the Web, it doesn’t exist.”

The IMshopping service also fills an information void in online shopping. Most shopping sites tend to focus on providing answers to technical-focused questions, not the general shopping and product questions that shoppers submit on the IMshopping Web site.

How it Works for Consumers

IMshopping was developed to bring the same level of personalized assistance to online shoppers that consumers expect to find at brick-and-mortar stores.  On the IMshopping Web site, consumers ask shopping questions, and a staff of human shopping guides answers them.

The Web site offers responses and recommendations to more than 20,000 questions, such as "Can you help me find good men's watches?" and "Where can I find the best iPhone deal?"

For each question asked, a human IMshopping guide or community member provides a brief summary and can also link to products he or she recommends.

Consumers can register on the IMshopping site to save answers and product recommendations in a personal folder that they can browse at a later time. Registered users can also rate the answers provided by the IMshopping guides.

Also, consumers who use Twitter can message @imshopping to submit their shopping questions instead of going to the IMshopping Web site.

IMshopping Opportunities for Retailers

Currently, retailers can join the IMshopping community and answer questions being asked by shoppers. A retailer could recommend their own products or recruit community members to answer questions on his or her behalf.

When promoting your business on a social media platform, industry experts recommend that you be upfront and state that you are the business owner, or an employee of the business being recommended.  On IMshopping a retailer answering questions asked by shoppers could use phrases such as “My Web shop has”, or “I sell a product” in the response to show your affiliation.

Retailers can also capitalize on advertising opportunities by sponsoring IMshopping answers.  This works much the same as sponsored ads on search engines and other Web sites: a shopper might see five answers to their question, with the first response being the sponsored—or paid for—answer from a Web retailer. 

As part of its merchant package, retailers are able to upload an entire catalog to IMshopping and display product images in sponsored answers and recommendations. Creating an account to answer questions and sponsored ads are currently available to online retailers, however the company also expects to launch an additional retail product in the coming months.

This additional merchant opportunity will allow an online retailer to provide the IMshopping experience to customers on its own Web shop.  Nedungadi said the company is currently running several test pilots to provide a shopping guide microsite to individual retailers.  Interested merchants can contact IMShopping to request beta test details.

IMshopping, which is currently in Beta, has just recently raised $4.7m from SK Telecom Ventures in funding, and expects to collect revenues when shoppers purchase recommended products through affiliate links.

Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.

Vangie Beal is a seasoned online marketplace seller, frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com and avid online bargain hunter. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com.