How to Increase Sales with Automation Improvements

You have permission to publish this article electronicallyor in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines areincluded. A courtesy copy of your publication would beappreciated - send to: diana@ohiohelp.netHow to Increase Sales with Automation Improvements How popular is online shopping? And is there room forimprovement? Let’s check out some pros and cons of automated shopping and see.Digital carts offer convenience for people around the globe 24hours a day. Yet an estimated 4 percent of shoppers makepurchases, up from 3.5 percent in 2003, reported by DoubleClick,an online marketing company.And approximately 30 percent of shopping carts are abandoned,according to recent surveys by BizRate.com, a shopping searchengine.The main reasons for shopping cart abandonment are*:·High shipping prices (72%)·Comparison shopping or browsing (61%)·Changed mind (56%)·Saving items for later purchase (51%)·Total cost of items is too high (43%)·Checkout process is too long (41%)·Checkout requires too much personal information (35%)·Site requires registration before purchase (34%)·Site is unstable or unreliable (31%)·Checkout process is confusing (27%)To decrease shopping cart abandonment and increase sales, simpleminor improvements in automation can be highly effective. Hereare some tips that work best for clients and workers alike ofOhioHelp.net, an Ohio-based company that specializes in helpingbusinesses worldwide with their marketing, public relations andfreelance writing services.TOP TIPS FROM OHIOHELP.NET1.Calculate all handling charges and fees in with your pricewhenever possible, so that you can offer no-cost shipping. Andcheck for specials like Flat Rate packages with PriorityShipping.2.Don’t have people pre-register, fill out lengthy forms, waitfor email confirmation, find their password / user ID and figureout how to log in again and continue to fill out more detailedforms and click through a half-dozen pages. Ugh! People want toshop, buy and go. Period.3.On EVERY page of your site, shopping cart, receipt and ThankYou or other automated reply, list complete contact information.Include a specific person to follow up with, business phonenumber and postal address (no P.O. Box) and a direct emailaddress like diana@ohiohelp.net (i.e. not info@ohiohelp.net).Then if the Internet connection fails, the site goes down or anynumber of other technical issues occurs, the shopper immediatelyhas concrete information for follow up.4.Set your product order numbers at one (1). In other words,when someone clicks a purchase button, have the cart say one (1)item purchased when they preview their cart instead of zero,making them select “1” again.5.Include a no-cost gift in the shopping cart, with the receiptor in the Thank You email, especially with large purchases. Letyour customers know you appreciate their business. And ask forreferrals!6.Test special product and package prices with offers on a“Thank You” page or with a “Thank You” email.7.Accept multiple payment options when possible; credit cards,faxed and telephone orders, print checks, money orders, echecksand 3rd party solutions like Paypal. Note: many businesses useAmerican Express.8.Choose a progressive shopping cart software solution likeProfitAuto at http://presssuccess.com/AutoPilot for a variety ofservices, pricing packages and options for company growth.ProfitAuto manages not only the cart but also your leads,contacts and shoppers with automated “Thank You” follow up. Italso has autoresponders for pre-sale and after-salecommunications, digital tracking and delivery solutions,importing / exporting of lists and autoresponder series,electronic coupons, affiliate programs and more.NO-COST TRIAL AND INFORMATIONFor a 30-day no-cost trial of ProfitAuto, sign up online athttp://presssuccess.com/AutoPilot . And download ebooks withloads of information to help with your business from the“Freebies” section of the OhioHelp.net bookstore athttp://www.presssuccess.com/bookstoreSo tweak your checkout process. Make your clients and yourcompany happy. And ring up more sales. To learn more top tips andreceive them on a regular basis at no charge in your email, signup at http://ohiohelp.net today or email diana@ohiohelp.net .* From research (Fall, 2001) by Vividence Corporation,specializing in Customer Experience Management (CEM) products andservices.