Website Trust Problem?

wba88

Hi, i recently setup an online retail shop, but besides people i know no-one has ordered from the website. I dont think it is my prices as I think they are very competitive as I have AFAIK beaten a lot of the more known online UK retailers and by far most Irish shops. The only problem I can think of is that I can only accept payment via paypal (a lot of ppl still dont know what this is).


If you have any advice, criticism, solutions or anything please reply.
Thanks in advance.

Trojan

This assumes you're talking about Aces-Direct.com. Ignore if it's a different site. Apologies if this is a little harsh, I'll be as constructive as possible.

Getting traffic

I see you have Google Analytics installed so you can ask yourself:

- How many unique visitors do you have per day?
- What products are they looking for?
- How are you attracting new visitors?

Your site performs very poorly in the search engines. You have 13 pages indexed in Google in total, with 7 of these in the main index and 6 in supplemental. 7 pages for an ecommerce site is very poor, you should have a much bigger footprint than that.

You should invest some effort and potentially cash in SEO. Search for "seo basics" and similar to find out more.

You might want to jump start things by paying for traffic via Google AdWords.

I can help you out with that, and SEO - send me a PM for more info about my companys services.

Converting potential customers into actual customers

It looks like you haven't invested in site design at all - your site appears to be using a default template and looks amateurish. This does not inspire trust in potential customers. I think this is a much bigger problem than using PayPal.

In redesigning, make your call to action (Buy Now) button bigger. It gets a bit lost. Make each product page stand alone and sell the product.

Look to other e-commerce shops e.g. your competitors for inspiration. (Find them by searching for your product names)

Image & page load times are slow. Make sure you have a decent hosting company like DigiWeb, Blacknight etc. You should move your Analytics code to just before the </body> tag, having it high up in the html can slow down your page load times. You could move to a standards compliant template instead of the tables-based monstrosit^Wdesign you're currently using

Hope this helps, any specific questions I'll be happy to answer. PM me if you're interested in investing in your site.

Cheers,
Alastair.

misterq

Yup, having the best prices is only important if people know about them.

MB74

Ditto again.

But looking at your site, yeah all looks good price wise. Simple to negotiate, but perhaps you need to 'tart' it up a bit and have some more products. Not every product needs to be cheaper if you can offer the same choice.

forbairt

Having a look at your site ... I wouldn't buy from it ... it just looks too unprofessional to me ...

I've worked with oscommerce sites before and they can look a LOT nicer than the default install with some color modification .. sorry if its harsh .. but it looks unprofessional to me and as such I'd need a VERY strong recommendation from someone before I'd buy even if you have the best prices ...

As the others said ... how many unique visitors do you have to your site ... ?

BenjAii

I would say site design is your biggest issue here. It looks amateur, which does not inspire confidence.

Some simple things could make the difference. Why all the different colours & fonts on the main page ? Write ups for the products - where are they?

"We stock a vast range of products at competitive prices" - the first bit isn't true, so i wouldn't say it !

What is your marketing identity? You're selling quite divese things, how are these tied to the Aces motif, i don't get that.

But mostly it's the visual elements that need working on.

Hope this helps, good luck !

wba88

Thanks for all the input, its all appreciated (including the critiscism).

I dont have a lot of knowledge in the website area (as you can see), i was trying to keep costs low so i could keep prices low (i now see this was a stupid beginners mistake).

The reason I only have these products is because I have a limited budget and stock all items so I can ship them immediatly and therefore i cannot afford to stock more items till i sell the existing ones.

As far as seo's go i do not know much about it and have enlisted Trojan's help so i can learn and hopefully solve a few problems.

@ BenjAii (your statement about the 'aces motif'): The only reason i went for that name and design was because the name of the business was holding me back for quite a while after my original one was taken, so i went for that (it means something aswell).

Thanks again to all the replies.
Any other help what so ever is still appreciated!

wba88

Oh and ill try post a screenshot of google analytics tomorrow if i can

antoinolachtnai

The question I have in mind is what this site is actually about. Lidl is about inexpensive. BT is about luxury. Amazon is about variety. FedEx is about shipping stuff. What's your site about?

(I assumed when I saw the name that you were in the poker supplies business, not that that means anything.)

It's like you are just selling odds-n-ends. You have to have a theme and go for it, hard.

Good luck with it though, keep trying.

wba88

mainly electronics and such, but its about passing the savings on to the customer as you can see yourself the ridiculousness (excuse the spelling) of rip-off Ireland

stepbar

TBH honest i'm having the same problem as antoinolachtnai. Aces-direct = electronics etc. Where's the link? Your logo / website design doesnt link up. I thought I was going on to a card shop or something like that. Needs a lot of work.

wba88

stepbar wrote:

TBH honest i'm having the same problem as antoinolachtnai. Aces-direct = electronics etc. Where's the link? Your logo / website design doesnt link up. I thought I was going on to a card shop or something like that. Needs a lot of work.

hence the bit i said earlier

wba88 wrote:

I dont have a lot of knowledge in the website area (as you can see), i was trying to keep costs low so i could keep prices low (i now see this was a stupid beginners mistake).........
@ BenjAii (your statement about the 'aces motif'): The only reason i went for that name and design was because the name of the business was holding me back for quite a while after my original one was taken, so i went for that (it means something aswell).

stepbar

wba88 wrote:

hence the bit i said earlier

TBH you should have turned to Ebay and setup a shop. The website is poor TBH. You are lacking even the basic details - What is your registered business address / phone number / vat number? Returns policy? Shipping costs / locations ? About / Contact us page? etc

I even see you are selling clothing I mean you are either selling electonics and related products or clothing. You can't sell both on the same website. It's no wonder one is confused. I think you need to spend a bit money, either that you might as well shut up shop. The market you are in is already heavily saturated and in all honesty doesn't really need another retailer. As well as that people are not going to miraclously find your website, you need to advertise it.

Long and short of it - I would estimate that you would need in the region of 30 - 50k to get this show on the road, with the vast bulk of this going on purchasing stock to sell. You have to be realistic, you can't start up a webstore on a shoestring budget.

dc69

wba i typed in your adress wrong and it came up with the company that is hosting you r websites details,i was looking at some of their example and thought i would show you this 1 http://kdubcustoms.vstore.ca/ it is based on the same template as your but the owner has added pictures and changed the menu colours,i think this looks like a site i would feel confident buying from and its only difference to your site is a few things.just my 2 cents,good luck:)

wba88

@stepbar: I did 'business address / phone number? Returns policy? Shipping costs / locations ? About / Contact us page? etc' all that but for some reason it is not showing up on the site so i am having the ppl i bought the hosting from sort it out. I am selling a small amount of clothes because i can get them cheap enough and bought a small supply to see what the market is like. In relation to the advertising i already said i dont know about that sort of thing thats why i am seeking help. Please read full thread before commenting.


@dc69: thanks for that link. what did you mean in your first sentance? what did you type, pm me if you want

forbairt

word to the wise ... to the best of my knowledge .. advertising commercial products for sale .. is a no no so I'd remove them from my signature .. you can advertise your website ... but not products ...

stepbar

wba88 wrote:

@stepbar: I did 'business address / phone number? Returns policy? Shipping costs / locations ? About / Contact us page? etc' all that but for some reason it is not showing up on the site so i am having the ppl i bought the hosting from sort it out. I am selling a small amount of clothes because i can get them cheap enough and bought a small supply to see what the market is like. In relation to the advertising i already said i dont know about that sort of thing thats why i am seeking help. Please read full thread before commenting.

Why don't you know? Why didn't you find this out before you went live? All of the problems should be sorted before the website goes live. I suspect that you did little or no research (market or otherwise) prior to launch. It looks very unprofessional. I'm afraid you only get one opportunity to impress the customer. If you don't do it first time, they won't come back.

As for selling clothes on an "electronics" website, it's not the way to go. Two different markets with different demographics.

I'm sorry, but I'm being realistic here. Too many people just bang up websites / webstores without thinking it through propertly to see if there's a feasible business behind it all.

EDIT: Selling "Johnnies" on an "electronics" website takes the biscuit TBH.

Trojan

wba888: Do you have a business plan for this business?

If you don't have a plan in place then I wouldn't invest any more time or money without stepping back and looking at this from a high level perspective.

Do some start your own business courses. Ring your county or city enterprise board and ask to talk to someone about advice.

wba88

Well its aimed a lot at things which are highly overcharged over here e.g. the johnnies, video games, clothes, chargers etc

Im not only selling on the website, Im going to car boots/markets etc to try and see if there is money to be made

stepbar

wba88 wrote:

Well its aimed a lot at things which are highly overcharged over here e.g. the johnnies, video games, clothes, chargers etc

Im not only selling on the website, Im going to car boots/markets etc to try and see if there is money to be made

According to who? You? What research have you done that points this out? I'm with Trojan on this. I wouldn't waste anymore time on this until you have a properly costed business plan / strategy in place. Its pointless otherwise. Would be akin to building a house without plans / costings. Madness.

BuffyBot

I have to agree with what the others have said on this.

Your main problems are the site (layout, lack of contact details, returns policy, paypal only payment methods, mixed product range) and your strategy (not much prior research re: SEO, advertising).

Condoms, clothes, remote controls, LCD toy dogs - it's like your trying to be Woolworths with 0.2% of the range. You need to find a tighter focus, sort out your plan, sort out your website and then work from there.

nice1franko

No offence sir but that website is pants. I think you'd be better off with an ebay shop. The whole 'beat rip off ireland' idea isn't bad but... as buffybot said, it lacks focus.

If you want to sell all sorts then you need to increase the size of your range *a lot*.

Trojan

Or just market it better. Do or find some research that shows the top 200 most overpriced items on the market. Go price them in your local centra. Then post comparison prices on your site and market your research results. Show people how the items you're selling are actually all linked, they're "the Top200 from RipOffIreland" or something like that. You might be able to pull it off. You definitely need a different URL though.

wba88

To some up why the website looks basic is as i have already said i am not knowledgable in this area and i am trying to keep costs down to pass on the savings to the customers.

stepbar wrote:

According to who? You? What research have you done that points this out? I'm with Trojan on this. I wouldn't waste anymore time on this until you have a properly costed business plan / strategy in place. Its pointless otherwise. Would be akin to building a house without plans / costings. Madness.

Yes according to me I researched these products and their prices and i am confident i have beaten the majority of sellers in Ireland and many in the UK aswell.
http://www.condoms.ie/#pricewatch
thats a website which also watches the prices of condoms and i am beating all the prices on it!

BuffyBot wrote:

Your main problems are the site (layout, lack of contact details, returns policy, paypal only payment methods, mixed product range) and your strategy (not much prior research re: SEO, advertising).

As I already pointed out and am seeking help for.

nice1franko wrote:

The whole 'beat rip off ireland' idea isn't bad

That was my original idea.

Trojan wrote:

Or just market it better. Do or find some research that shows the top 200 most overpriced items on the market. Go price them in your local centra. Then post comparison prices on your site and market your research results. Show people how the items you're selling are actually all linked, they're "the Top200 from RipOffIreland" or something like that. You might be able to pull it off. You definitely need a different URL though.

I used to work in a centra for a while, so i know all of their prices and up-to-date price changes as i know people working in 4 different branches. The problem with a lot of the 'top200' idea is that they are things like cars, very expensive cameras, doctors fees etc, good examples on this page
http://www.ripoff.ie/ripoff_stories.cfm

BuffyBot

As I already pointed out and am seeking help for.

As we pointed out, these are all the things you should have planned pre-launch!

wba88

As I already stated!

wba88 wrote:

I dont have a lot of knowledge in the website area (as you can see), i was trying to keep costs low so i could keep prices low (i now see this was a stupid beginners mistake).

...and...

wba88 wrote:

Please read full thread before commenting.

EKRIUQ

wba if things are slow here set up a E-Bay shop selling goods but also with a link to your website for retuning customers or just to build up trafic

stepbar

It doesn't seem that you are listening to what we are saying. You should have looked at the problems pre launch. No good trying to iron them out when the site is up and running. I would have serious questions as to what market you are actually trying to target. The vast majority of people are pissed off with the rip of prices of many goods in Ireland. How in ever, it's not feasible to target each and every person. It doesnt matter what "you think", it's what your customers think. The fact that you haven't refered to a business plan worries me. TBH you might as well call it a day if you are not prepared to invest a realistic amount of money in the venture. As I've suggested a minimum of 30 - 50k would be needed.

Good luck in your venture but I seriously dont see it lasting (viability) to Christmas.

antoinolachtnai

stepbar: it will be as viable at christmas as it is now. This is costing him very little cash to keep running.

You don't need to spend EUR 30k-50k to set up an ecommerce shop. You should read my book when it comes out!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Making-Impact-Online-Creating-Shoestring/dp/0713675454/ref=sr_1_1/026-9075978-2582038?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186325087&sr=8-1

I do think the OP needs some work on the ol' attitude calibration issues.

nice1franko

To me, the whole thing smacks of car boot sale. That's not just the website and all that entails (very poor navigation, crappy graphics, amateur html, domain name isn't great), it's the small mixed bag of stuff you're selling, no contact details, accepting paypal only, no return policy (edit - or rather, no return policy visible).

It looks like some badly hatched get-rich-quick scheme. I mean, I know you acknowledged your mistake of cutting corners on the website, but, when your only other presence is carboot did you really think you were going to be inundated with orders?

The old old "1% inspiration, 99% perspiration" applies here and if I were you I'd take the quality advice Trojan has given you. The top 200 idea is great. Obviously you can't sell doctors etc but find out what is in the top 200 (or even 100) that you CAN sell - I'd say razors is one? - and highlight the correlation between the products so it doesn't look and feel like a car boot sale.

edit- also, since your target market is Ireland, why not get a .ie domain?

stepbar

antoinolachtnai wrote:

You don't need to spend EUR 30k-50k to set up an ecommerce shop. You should read my book when it comes out!

I agree! but you have to stock it I did mention that. I am talking about the entire business proposition. Anybody handy with computers etc could divvy up a website and make a go of it. Stocking it and making a viable business out of it is another thing.