The A B C D's of E-commerce

by Tam Nguyen

First off, I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! If you are anything like me, you are looking forward to the New Year, a fresh start, a clean slate as it were. Along these same lines, it also time to get back to the basics. When I last left off, I had mentioned that we would start with a set of glossary terms that all ecommerce professionals or anyone looking to start an ecommerce business this year must know. Without further adieu:


Abandonment(Also, known as shopping cart abandonment)
When a visitor leaves a page or process without completing a desired action. Obviously, this is something that you would like to have never happen on your site, especially an ecommerce site. The best way to combat this evil plague is to install an analytics (Google analytics is good one) program to help you know exactly at what page or point the visitor is leaving your site. Another effective method is to try to streamline the checkout process, as this the most important section of any ecommerce business. We found that if you drop the requirement of a password during check out that it tends to speed up the entire process and increase sales conversion. Think of it as the ten item express lane at your local grocery store.


Above the Fold
The part of the webpage or email that is initially visible to the visitor without having to scroll. This is important to keep in mind when designing home pages, landing pages, and email newsletters. You would like your logo, promotion, or contact information to be the first thing that catches the consumer/client's eyes.


Address Verification System (AVS)
Process used by a credit car processor or other party to verify that a client's billing address that matches that of their credit card statement. I would recommend using Authorize.net.as payment gateway for this purpose. They do a wonderful job of instantly verifying the AVS, with zero down time. Their customer service is excellent and they offer a live web chat for inquires.


Affiliate / Affiliate Program
A website promotion tool where a website contracts with other websites to help drive visitors to its site. Affiliates are one of the partners who are paid a commission on the basis of the results agreed upon in your contract. From what I hear, this can be a lucrative and viable marketing solution. We are still trying to get our feet wet, when it comes to this particular tool. I will let you know how it works out for us down the road.


Batch Processing
The process of grouping orders all at once. Such processing might include capturing funds and creating shipping labels. I can't think of any instances where this is not a positive thing. If you get to the point where you have to do things in batches then business must be good. I suggest finding a shopping cart software that has this capability; otherwise you will just be wasting your time. Stone Edge Order Manager has been a life saver. Not only can you import orders from a variety of sources/shopping carts, but the software allows you to batch print shipping labels from your desired shipping provider.


B2B
Business-to-business. Enough said.


B2C
Business-to-consumer. Self-explanatory.


Card Verification Value (CVV)
A three digit number printed in the signature space on the back of most credit cards, such as Visa, MC, and Discover. On Amex Cards, it is a four digit code. The CVV is designed to reduce credit card fraud by ensuring that the customer has the credit card in their possession. All I have to say about this is"¦brilliant!


Domain Name
A name that is used to identify a web site. I can't stress enough how important picking a solid domain name is. Here are just a few helpful hints when strategizing for a domain name.

1.Make it easy to remember. Word of mouth is still the most powerful selling tool. If some one can't remember your store name, then they can't tell their friends.
2.Make it searchable. BadenBall.com didn't happen by accident. I can't begin to tell you how many people I see search for those two words (baden and ball) in the same search browser. Thanks analytics!
3.Make it easy to type. Try and stay away from long domain names with hyphens and rarely used letters like "y" and "z."
4.Always be branding. Again back to our choice of BadenBall.com. You have the brand name and the associated product in the URL. Right of the bat, you know what our site is all about without every having to visit the actual site. I'll give you a hint, we don't sell books.


Drop Ship
A scenario by which a customer places an order with a retailer only to have the goods ship directly from the manufacturer or another location. Drop ship is a fantastic solution for those who want to open an ecommerce store, but do not have the capital or warehouse space to carry the inventory.


Email Service Provider
A company that offers software to help advertisers bulk email to customers. We prefer the services of Constant Contact. The software is very robust and the essential components are that the software allows for unsubscribers and no duplicates.


to be continued....
(sources cited: SEOmoz, Nexternal, GoEcart)