Sage Blog

Well, it’s that time again where we’re asking for your help. If you are an online retailer – we need your help in gathering information so that we can provide you with a report focused on checkout conversions and the factors that contribute to visitors dropping out of the purchase process. We’ll then compile our report helping you to navigate through what successful businesses do to maximise their conversion rates.

By taking part this year, you could also be in with a chance of winning an Ecommerce health-check worth £1000 or £500 towards your business or one of 10 £50 Amazon vouchers! You will also receive a complimentary copy of the report once it has been published. We’re closing the survey on the 25th April, so why not take part in our E-business Benchmark Report survey now?

In case you missed it last year, our very first E-Business Benchmark Report was a study of views and opinions of over 2000 online businesses currently operating in the UK. This report uncovered what makes an e-commerce business successful – from attracting people to a site through to delivering the goods.

The secret to success

If you didn’t manage to download a copy of last year’s report, you can find a summary of our top tips below:

1. Providing on-site reassurances such as customer testimonials, next day delivery and a money back guarantee will improve checkout success. We found that if your e-business doesn’t offer any value added features, you are twice as likely not to complete the sale. However, be warned, loyalty points appear to not add any value in terms of promoting sales conversions.

2. E-businesses with fewer checkout pages convert more sales. Reducing this number of pages, can improve conversion and won’t cost the earth.

3. Successful e-businesses customise their payment pages. Suddenly being forwarded to a payment interface that has a different look and feel could cause shoppers to be concerned and drop out of the purchase.

4. Providing multiple payment methods, to give people more choice in the way they pay, improves transaction rates.

5. Social media can heavily influence purchasing behaviour by building trusted relationships and subsequently loyal customers.

Amy Monro, Sage Pay @amy_sagepay

Download our first E-Business Benchmark Report

Be part of this year’s report and take part in our survey.

How to store card data

Online trading has never been more important, but if you’re new to e-commerce getting started can be a bit daunting. Here are some of our top tips to help you get set-up as an e-tailer.

Get a domain name

You’ll need one to run your website. It should be relevant to your business, memorable, and easy to spell. Try to register the .com and .co.uk versions in particular. Keep it snappy and check whether your ideas are original. Companies like Daily.co.uk. can help with this.

 Building your website

If you’re not an html pro, you’ll need a web developer and a web hosting account to store your site. Most hosting companies offer e-shop software packages and there are plenty of easy to use shopping carts and e-commerce platforms.

 Think payments– online: credit card, debit card, paypal, via telephone or mail order?

You’ll need a merchant bank account to deposit your online income and a good payment services provider (PSP), such as Sage Pay. Your PSP should take care of fraud screening, card compliance (PCI DSS), payment authorisation, settlement of funds into your merchant account and in some cases can take care of your merchant account too.

Design your shop

While your merchant account is being set up, it’s a good idea to work on your shop/web design.  Easy navigation around the site and usability are essential. Research how others are doing and test it out on friends if you can’t afford ‘usability testing’ and get them to give you some constructive feedback!

Prevent online fraud

Make sure you’re PCI DSS compliant [check out the article on p38-39 of Sage Pay’s Moving Money mag) and that you take online fraud seriously. As an online merchant you have a responsibility to your customers to make sure that their card details are not compromised in any way.

Optimise your website for search engines (SEO) – think clear, accessible design and incorporate the search terms your customers will use into your website copy. Keep text short and succinct.

Free book giveaway: Starting your own online business

Sage Pay have teamed up with Startups.co.uk and Crimson Publishing to produce Starting Your Own Online Business, an all you need to know guide to getting your business online.  And we have 5 copies to give away in our prize draw!  You can register by emailing your details to marketing@sagepay.com.  Entries close Monday 14th December 2009.

Written by Amy Monro, Sage Pay and Catherine Widdowson from www.daily.co.uk