Thursday, October 29, 2009

Who should be your ideal shopping cart solution provider?

The market is up for a definite revival. The eerie silence that prevailed earlier is now transforming to a crescendo of positive business-talks all across the marketplace. None other than Standard and Poors research analysts predicted that business, specifically online retailing, will come up with significant growth in 2010 boosting up sale-volumes across various market domains. So, if you are a retailer, it is the time to think beyond your brick-and-mortar store and for that, you need to acquire online retailing capabilities.

A simple Google-search will reveal a host of shopping carts with enormous lists of features and options. There are known, not-so-known and totally-unheard-of ecommerce solution providers who are ready to offer the “best shopping cart solution” instantly. Believe it or not, online retailers seldom make the mistake when they blindly go for the “best shopping cart” merely on the basis of a huge list features and add-ons!

The performance of your online store depends not on the shopping cart itself; but, it is almost entirely affected by the type, nature and the present state of business of the actual solution provider. The definition of good ecommerce application is no longer synonymous to the size or reach of the ecommerce solution provider; but, it is the quality and the commitment towards better deliverance that matter more. With a change in the business landscape, the big fishes are facing tough times to keep the stronghold in the ever changing ecommerce solutions market because of their mounting running cost and naturally, the allocated budget for actual feature enrichment in the shopping cart is far less. Also, the observers, who analyze market vulnerabilities, suggest going for proprietary-based technology-platform (such as Microsoft .NET) while choosing an online store solution.

So, rather than going for any leading ecommerce service provider, it is now the time to choose your online shopping cart vendor on the following parameters:

Is the solution provider certified or with proven creditability?

The online shopping cart vendor that you chose should be with authenticated expertise such as a Microsoft Certified Partner.

Will the shopping cart vendor provide references?

Don’t get lured my simple one-liner comments in the vendor’s website; look for specific testimonials with existing customers’ identities. If needed, ask your vendor to give you contact details.

Is the solution provider’s business stable?

Find out for how long the shopping cart provider is in business. A one or two years’ old ecommerce company may not have the required IT infrastructure to support your online store. Check out whether they have separate resources in case you want them to manage your store in future.

Is the vendor charging hefty fees to cover the running cost?

Why would you pay for the vendor’s promotional campaigns? Some of the big names providing online stores cannot afford to lower the price simply because they have a big marketing budget to cover and they do it through hidden costs. Ask the vendor to provide you with detailed quotation.

Does the ecommerce service provider understand your industry?

The sales and marketing team of the vendor should clearly know your market and suggest strategies for a rapid growth of your business. Talk to them and ask specific questions to find out.

Can the shopping cart vendor provide customization?

What you need to excel in the market is not an off-the-shelf packaged software, but, a completely customized solution aptly equipped with specific features to serve your business needs. Never get constrained with a free-for-all and least customized shopping cart.

Doing business online will surely be the next big thing around the world. However, the real benefit will come when you will do it smartly and with the help of someone you can always trust.

Gear up for new ecommerce opportunities

Experts say that the recession-draught will be over sooner that expected. In fact, we see signs of a recovering market with financiers opening doors for new investments. Top market-research farms equivocally predicted that retail sell will be up by at least 35% by mid-year 2010 and by year end, it should go beyond 55%.

So, if you’re a retailer, are you ready for the new wave? Do you have enough resources (which you might have shredded during those tough days!) to counter an increasing rush of orders? Are you thinking beyond your retail store?

Think for a while – how will you harness the growth to derive the best benefits? Of course, you have your retail store! With a better market condition your customers will surely walk into your store. However, the real problem is – awareness. To bring new customers to your store or to simply sell your products you will have to make the information about your products readily available to your customers. The best way to do that is through your online storefront.

So, if you already have an online storefront powered by a good shopping cart software, it’s the time to refurbish it for new customers; else, you should start planning to get one. An integrated ecommerce store is the answer to reach those customers beyond your physical store. However, before you chose your shopping cart, you should consider the following:

· If you are using a POS (point of sale) system like Microsoft Retail Management Systems to run your store, you may want to integrate it with your shopping cart. So, your shopping cart should provide the option to integrate Microsoft Retail Management Systems or any other POS system.

· Your customers are from different states or countries. So, your shopping cart should support multiple tax and shipping options.

· You may need to display your products in different categories, departments and so on. The online storefront should support so.

· Your customers will look for discounts, freebies, related-products while shopping in your online storefront.

· The ecommerce software solution should have a robust content management system so that you can avail your customers with the maximum possible information about your products.

· Finally, the ecommerce software solution provider should ensure that you can avail any customization at a reasonable cost.

The competition in the market is going to be fierce; at the same time, you will get a greater customer-base with potentiality to buy products. As a retailer, you will need to provide your customers with the right product at the right time. The key to success will be to make your products so popular that even if a customer walks into your store he/she will already know what to buy. Nothing but a completely customized and integrated ecommerce store can make this possible for you.

Microsoft RMS integrated eCommerce Cart Solution

RMScart is an eCommerce Cart solution that completely and seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Retail Management System (RMS).

Our Microsoft RMS integrated Shopping Cart solution’s standard features far exceed those of any other Retail Management System - compatible Web Integration and Authoring Application. Inventory synchronization between a physical store and a web store can be immediate or scheduled for a later time. Although, RMS cart is a feature rich application, we can easily further customize many features of RMS cart to fit one’s specific business needs.

Some of the advantages of our Microsoft RMS integrated eCommerce Cart Solution are:

• Customizable eCommerce Website
• Scheduled Inventory updates between RMS and Online Shopping Store
• Automatically Downloads Orders into RMS
• Show Standard and Matrix items with multiple images
• Accept payments through major payment gateways
• Creates New Customer Records in RMS
• Updates Shipping and Billing Information on each Customer
• Uses the Existing RMS Tax Structure
• Supports RMS Sale Pricing
• Intuitive and effortless navigation
• Powerful Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tools
• FREE RMS cart set up, FREE training

RMS cart gives the ability to quickly create and manage an online store in combination with a brick and mortar retail operation running RMS. For either online businesses opening retail locations or retail stores adding online stores, Microsoft RMS and RMS shopping cart give any retail business a complete solution for maximum revenue in a global market.

RMScart, also called - Microsoft RMS ecommerce cart, has been developed, specifically, to bring together the leaders in Information Technology (IT) and experts in Online Store design, custom application and database programming.

Microsoft RMS integrated eCommerce solution offers features like no other. RMS cart’s web interface allows anyone to create a web store in just a few steps. Our team of professionals, at no additional cost, helps in creating a web store, selecting the products one wants to sell online, and launching the web store. The web store is built quickly and becomes an extension of any business, adding convenience and increasing revenue to the bottom line.
Microsoft RMS eCommerce solution, i.e, RMS integrated cart is the most powerful eCommerce cart for Retail Management System. A few clicks of the mouse on the Web Integrator interface and RMS cart creates product pages for all of the products in the Retail Management System database. Then, RMS shopping cart publishes those pages in the web store. From this point forward, the store owner is providing products to customers walking in to his store and online customers who are surfing the Internet anywhere around the globe.

eCommerce transactions are provided using the state-of-the-art in merchant systems from the leaders in the banking industry, at the lowest rates in the industry, and all electronic transactions are supported 24X7 at no additional charge. After the customer makes a purchase, a fully customized rich text email is sent to the customer’s email address confirming the order. This email contains information such as Order Confirmation and hyperlinks that take one’s customer back to the store to get additional information about their order status, order history or complementary and available products in his store.

With RMS integration, we provide unlimited FREE technical support, FREE setup, FREE training, one’s own domain, Secure hosting, Search Engine Optimization, registration with Search Engines, maintenance, email boxes, Daily backups, storage, and 99.99% uptime.

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