e-commerce

Newsletters are an essential part of customer communication. They are simple to create and cost-effective to deliver. They allow you to let existing customers and interested parties know about the latest news, offers and changes in and around your shop. But in order for newsletter campaigns to also be successful, merchants should be sure to do the necessary planning up front. The ePages blog will show you what to keep in mind.

Provide a structure

Create brand recognition for your newsletter by giving it a solid structure. Determine in advance which topics and themes are to occur regularly. Then create a template that will apply to all future newsletters. From time to time you can send a completely different newsletter which will stand out. You can use this one for particularly spectacular sales, for example. You’ll be sure to get the attention of your readers.

Stay in touch

You should send out newsletters in a regular cycle so that your customers are reminded of you in an optimal way. But don’t overdo it and choose intervals between mailings that are not too short. Place yourself in your customers’ shoes: How often would you like to be “bothered” by an online shop where you have only made one purchase?

Find the optimal interval

Not every day is equally suitable for sending out a newsletter. Not too long ago, a study by an Austrian e-mail marketing company identified the days of the week which are particularly suitable. They determined that the opening rate on Mondays was around 40 percent and decreased as the week progressed. It turned out that later Monday evenings were the optimal time for sending out a newsletter.
But have a look at the e-mail addresses of your customers. Are they primarily companies or private addresses? For company addresses, concentrate on delivery of the newsletter during the week. For private addresses, it makes sense to send it out on Saturday or Sunday. On Sunday evening in particular, you’ll be able to reach customers in a relaxed, sales promoting situation.

Plan in advance

Many shop operators send out their newsletters based on a gut feeling that it’s time to get in touch with customers again. They write up a quick text and fire it off to customers. Show your customers that you can do better. Always be thinking about new material for the next two mailings so that you always have a reserve from which you can create. Occasions like Christmas or Easter offer regular opportunities for special sales and a newsletter text. But why not try a special promotion on “International Kissing Day” or on “World Poetry Day”, for example?

Entice your customers

The opening rate of newsletters is usually surprisingly high. Studies show that it lies near 40 percent. But with a little intuition about your customers, you can increase this opening rate even more.
A few options: Everyone likes to be entertained. Try being a little provocative and funny in your texts. Present your offer in a refreshingly different way than your competition. Or use special offers for subscribers, for example, coupons that don’t require a minimum order amount. Invite your readers to send the coupons to their friends as a way to gain new customers

Give yourself an unmistakeable look

The best way is to first use a suitable HTML editor for the design of your newsletter in order to utilise the full potential. Orient yourself on the design of your shop in order to create a brand recognition for your customers. While doing so, consider the limitations of a newsletter and how it differs from the limitations of a website: A good newsletter should have a much smaller breadth than a website. The reason for this is the standard way e-mail clients like Outlook or front ends of freemailers like web.de display HTML-formatted e-mails. Also make sure you don’t create endlessly long newsletters – nobody wants to have to scroll through advertising e-mails. Don’t waste valuable space with long introductions. Get right to the point and start with the most important first.

Is creating HTML templates for newsletters a mystery to you? Then take advantage of one of the many free templates that you can find on the Internet. Or ask a friend who knows how to design webpages to help you make a template. But even better than this: Contact an agency and ask them to create a template for you. The few hundred Euro it will cost you will pay off in the long run.

Think about the inevitable

Newsletters also have obligatory data that you absolutely need to have. The imprint of the sender and contact information must be present in every newsletter. You also need to offer the option for recipients to quickly and easily unsubscribe from your newsletter at any time. A request that the recipient send an e-mail when they wish to be removed from the recipients list is not sufficient in this case. Instead, place a link to the newsletter subscribe/unsubscribe page.

Create an archive

Newsletters that have been sent out should not be subsequently deleted. Instead, create an archive of your newsletters in your shop. You’ll kill two birds with one stone: On the one hand, you can provide a link to the HTML version of the newsletter in your shop thus offering recipients with technical problems the ability to read the newsletter online. On the other hand, it gives you a simple and elegant way to have additional content and a regular update on your website. This will help you with search engine optimisation.

Scepticism is one of the deciding factors as to why customers give the cold shoulder to online merchants. It’s not only missing contact information, non-functioning pages or difficulty when paying that also give reason for doubt. In the first part of this series, we take a closer look at the importance of good customer service.

Customer service is more than a call centre. More than anything, good customer service includes transparency and a real human touch. And that is challenging to convey on the Internet. Here are a few tips to help you:

1. Show a Face

Show who you are, what you do, what your claims are and how you can be reached. After all, you should have nothing to hide. ‘About us’ and ‘Contact’ pages are the best suited for this purpose. Actively encourage the visitors of your shop to express their comments and criticisms on these pages. When someone is asked for their opinion, they feel that they are being taken seriously. In addition, you will get a good impression whether you are well positioned with your offer.

But nice words are not everything by a long shot. Images or short film clips from your business or production facilities, from your employees or from satisfied customers help to create a special closeness. This imparts your shop with an individual look.

2. Short Response Times

Always be there for your customers. Online shopping isn’t any fun when the answering machine is the only response and writing mails feels more like Russian roulette. Customers expect a quick response. You should respond to e-mails within 24 hours and phone calls should be answered immediately. If a prompt service is not possible, you should explain why or provide information about your business hours. The text could read:

‘If you have questions, problems or suggestions about how we can improve our service, please call or e-mail us. We’re looking forward to hearing from you. Here’s how to reach us:

An older but still good article on emarketer.com shows that Internet usage by people over 62 is increasing dramatically and that especially online shopping is becoming more and more popular for them. So far, however, e-commerce has been staying away from the age bracket.

62+ as A Target Group

It’s actually a paradox that e-commerce is catering to the needs of younger people because: They don’t have the money! Who can afford a luxurious automatic espresso machine or an expensive digital camera at the age of 25? What’s more, they don’t have the time! Who can afford to travel extensively or go shopping during the day at the age of 40? According to eMarketer, it’s particularly older people who are active on the Internet who are well-to-do. Many of the people over the age of 60 are still working and have good incomes. Or they are no longer working and have time to spend money. The annual growth of the Internet users over the age of 62 currently amounts to 7.6% in the USA. Which means good prospects for online business.

How Do I Reach Older Consumers?

Older customers should never be treated as “old”. Nobody wants to feel old. However, what should be considered is the increased need for security by people over the age of 60. Simple functionality and an easy order handling that inspires confidence are thus essential. Test reports and a seal of approval, faces and background information about the company also help to create trust and pull back the shop’s veil of anonymity. Since all of this also applies to younger people, the design of a webshop can and should be catered to the needs of older customers from the very beginning.

Of course, not every product works in all age groups. Use appropriate teasers on your start page to attract your different age groups and which point shoppers to the relevant items.

The appeal of a brand or product is based in large part on its prestige, distinctiveness and dependability. In this third installment of the “Trust in e-Commerce” series, we want to boost the trust your clients place in you and help you enhance the distinctiveness and appeal of your products and services. Testimonials or loosely translated customer recommendations are simple ways of achieving a great deal.

What Are Testimonials?

A testimonial is a recommendation of a product or service written by a truly satisfied customer. For example, if a customer praises the indestructibility of the cream cakes you sell, then that is a testimonial. Positive customer feedback leads new customers to like and trust the product in question, thus simplifying the decision-making process. If you want to use testimonials to your advantage, you simply need good products and a good relationship with your customers.
Advantages of Testimonials

Ultimately, testimonials are little more than marketing tools. The decisive advantages in contrast to conventional advertising? Testimonials cost little or nothing, are not annoying, entail no work and sound authentic.

Authentic Testimonials

Of course, you could simply use a testimonial generator and let it spit out tiny texts . Authentic sources, however, are superior. When a customer praises you, ask him to submit a photo of him with the product had purchased. You can reward him for his help with a coupon for his next purchase. Or you can encourage a lot of customers all at once via newsletter to submit testimonials about their purchases. Again, do not forget to acknowledge feedback with small gestures such as coupons.

If you already display testimonials in your shop – or know of pages which properly present customer opinions – please comment on this article.

Is there anything you have questions or remarks about? We eagerly look forward to hearing from you.

Most complaints about products purchased online are due to the fact that a product’s on-screen portrayal does not conform to reality: colours look different, materials feel different, sizes do not fit. Product descriptions with measurements are not enough to point a shop visitor’s imagination in the right direction. A lot of different zoomable images and product videos offer clear advantages.

Products are rarely offered nowadays without pictures. Now and then you will still see private vendors on eBay who see no need to provide images for their articles. Yet not all images are created equal. This is especially true of products for which size and appearance play a key role: they require vivid and realistic depictions which liberate them from their two-dimensional confines. Here is some good advice:

• Products of similar size should also appear in a similar size.
• It might make sense to specify sizes right away – in product titles.
• Portray an item along with an everyday object to illustrate its size in relative terms (e.g. pillow on a sofa, purse on a woman).
• Extreme close-ups of products can show how materials feel to the touch.
• The use of various scrollable product images can facilitate three-dimensional perspectives.
• Photograph different colours separately; do not create them by means of Photoshop.
• By no means should you use low-resolution or distorted images.

Some shops which nicely illustrate the aforementioned items:

• leonardo.de
• homestickhome.fr
• housemakers.co.uk
• indian-ocean.co.uk

Of course, the advanced versions are product videos, which ideally incorporate all of the pieces of advice listed above. If you visit talkmarket.com and shopflick.com, you will experience video shopping portals which set good examples.