E-Commerce Tips for Small Businesses – Top 5
Make it easy to check-out
Having a complicated checkout process is the downfall of many e-commerce sites. People generally don’t like waiting to pay online just as they don’t like standing in long queues at supermarket tills.
Don’t use your checkout process as a method of gathering as much customer data as you can, give people an option to pay and leave without having to register their details.
Try to sell other items
When you’ve got a customer ready to pay for their items, it’s easier to sell to them than a completely cold prospect. With this in mind, it’s a good idea to try and up-sell or cross-sell other items that are related to what they’re already buying.
For example, if you’re an online florist you may want to offer balloons, Champagne and chocolates at the checkout stage to maximise your online profits.
Utilise email marketing
People who have bought from your online shop previously should never be ignored or forgotten about.
Don’t focus all your efforts on finding new customers for your e-commerce site. Your previous clients already know your products and level of service so are usually much easier to sell to.
Repeat business is of critical important to the survival of any shop, whether online or offline. Make sure you send out regular email newsletters with exclusive offers to encourage people to buy from you again.
Use your product descriptions to sell
Many e-commerce sites sell other people’s products. It’s quicker and easier to just use the standard descriptions for your products than writing your own but it has disadvantages when it comes to sales and SEO.
For example, let’s say a manufacturer’s description of a mobile phone said “VPX-10 Model, Available in Black, Lightweight”. That doesn’t really convey any benefits to the consumer and if lots of other sites have the same description, it will have no impact on SEO either.
Well written and unique product descriptions whether they’re for yours or someone else’s products will make your site stand out, get more sales and boost your search engine results.
Optimise, optimise, optimise
Optimising your e-commerce site shouldn’t stop at your product descriptions. If you’re able to write keyword rich URLs, meta titles, meta descriptions and headings for each product you’re much more likely to get them found online.
For example, if you’re an online jewellers, all your products should have a unique page (using the attributed listed above) selling exactly what they are rather than just all being labelled something general such as “jewellery”.…
Read And Compare Best Flat Irons
Rating the best flat iron from hundreds of brands and varieties is not that easy unless you are aware of the qualities of a professional flat iron. You can find out the best quality flat iron by talking to friends and family if they have been using one for themselves. You can go and collect reviews of flat irons from the online and hair magazines where you can come across the real experiences and opinions about flat irons available on the market. Talking to professional hair stylists is another best method as they can recommend some high quality and durable flat irons for you to choose from.
There are numerous factors that rate the quality of a flat iron. One of the best one is the material of its manufacture. When you go out to shop for a flat iron, you will be confused with a number of types of hair straighteners, some cheap and some expensive. You will have to choose from aluminum flat iron, ceramic flat irons, ionic flat irons, tourmaline flat irons, titanium flat irons and even gold plates ones.
If you desire to acquire a straight, smooth and undamaged hair, then avoiding the flat irons with metal plates is essential. This is because metal iron makes scratches on your hair during styling and offer rough and damaged hair. Flat irons with ceramic, tourmaline and titanium flat iron on the other hand are the newest technological innovation in the hair care industry. All these materials when added with a flat iron offer maximum protection for your hair and best results.
Ceramic flat irons are also available with the incorporation of added features like nano technology, silver ion technology etc that are capable of styling hair efficiently, while retaining the moisture of the hair and eliminate frizz and damaging spots. You can shop for flat irons that come with various advanced features like variable heat setting, dual voltage, professional swivel cord etc, according to your needs and budget.…
Choosing A Fashion Designer Career
If you are interested in color combinations, putting together attractive outfits and have an eye for fabrics, a fashion designer career may just be the thing for you. It is a world of excitement when you are creating something that has never been seen before. The exhilaration of a runway presentation, of your very own designs, is a way to show talent, imagination and a flair for the unusual.
To become a designer it will be necessary for you to attend a Fashion Design School. Employers in this field are usually looking for someone with a 2-year or a 4-year degree in clothing design. To be successful in this field it is necessary for you to know fabrics, textiles, ornamentation and current clothing trends.
The institutions with these programs must be accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and many have certain entry requirements. In most schools, to obtain formal entry into the program, basic art and design courses must be completed. Sketches, showing your artistic ability must also be submitted.
The classes in the schools include a study of past fashions and a hands-on experience in things such as creating patterns and designing an outfit. Color, textiles, computer design and various types of clothing design are included. All of these will be very useful if you decide to run your own business or a retail store.
Many schools have at least one runway presentation where you can show your own creation for everyone to see. This is where sewing and pattern making skills come to the fore, even though, as a designer you would probably not be involved in this part of a project. Employers, seeking to add to their staff, often attend these presentations.
The various jobs that are available, with this degree, include entry level positions as Assistant Buyer, Pattern Maker, Assistant Designer, Clothing Stylist, Wardrobe Assistant, Visual Merchandise Manager, Sales Representative, or Marketing Assistant. Once you are working, at one of these entry level positions, there are many opportunities to reveal your talent in clothing design.
Completion of the classes, and a degree, will prepare you to officially enter a fashion designer career. At the beginning you will continue learning the tricks of the trade while acquiring experience and enjoying the excitement of new fabrics and designs. If your interest is in this field it will be the fulfillment of a dream come true. Salaries in this industry vary from state to state and depend on one’s position. A beginning salary would be approximately $40,000 per year with a top designer over $100,000.…
My Online Shop Is Now Ready: How Do I Make It As Safe As I Can?
We’ve seen and heard about the recent events as far as online fraud goes. More and more of us are buying goods over the internet, and with this comes an inevitable increase in concern over credit and debit card fraud. However, there are things you can put in place to protect both yourself and your customers from the perils of online scamming.
First off, any reputable ecommerce software platform should let you create an online shop for a low, fixed monthly price. It’s pretty much a given that with the boom in online shopping, all companies underneath the ‘e-tail’ umbrella should have a space on the internet to advertise and sell their products. Having access to your own ecommerce website isn’t new news; perhaps understanding how to gain customer confidence is.
In other words, your customers ought to safe in the knowledge that their personal details and credit/debit information is in great hands. And this, as a respective online shop owner, is your responsibility. Where newer and/or smaller businesses are concerned, it’s even more important to build up customer trust and this means getting it right from the offset. Clients are less likely to hand over their sensitive data if they see no good reason to do so.
The basic things you must do to create a professional and trustworthy image are listed below:
1. Display the padlock symbol
Any ecommerce website using secure technology should begin their web address with ‘https’ accompanied by a padlock symbol further down the page. There’s nothing complicated about taking steps to ensure security; all personal details exchanged online should be protected. The way to check that you’re on a secure page is to check the security information by double clicking on padlock symbol. Simple.
2. Use a respected payment gateway
Whilst there are many payment providers to choose from, we find many online shop owners turning to SagePay, PayPal and Google Checkout to process their customers’ card information. It’s advisable to check with you ecommerce provider which payment gateways are compatible with your online shop, then go from there. Note that by using a third party system you are passing on the responsibility of stockpiling sensitive credit/debit card, protecting both yourself and your online business.
You must take care not to put your client’s personal information at risk by attempting to use offline processing methods. Should you use a streamline terminal or PDQ once an order has been placed, you are paving the ground for potential hacking and risk extortionate fines – so do refrain. Make your ecommerce website look and feel like a safe place to shop, and you can’t go far wrong.…
A Guide To Finding The Perfect Pants
All women are always on the lookout for a flattering pair of pants. Pants which are too tight only emphasize your flaws, making a crease and unwelcome bulges. The zipper may be strained and open slightly, making the wearer appear overweight. The perfect pair of pants is one which will cover up flaws and give the wearer a flattering silhouette. We all want to look good and a big part of that is getting the right fit in our clothing.
Before shopping for a new pair of pants, take careful and accurate measurements. This way, you’ll be able to shop for the right size from the get-go. Take a look at this chart to find your size from your measurements; the measurements are given in both inches and centimetres to help you in online clothes shopping.
Size | Waist | Hips
10 (S) | 70cm (27 inches) | 97cm (38 inches)
12 (S) | 75cm (29 inches) | 102cm (40 inches)
14 (M) | 80cm (31 inches) | 107cm (42 inches)
16 (M) | 85cm (33 inches) | 112cm (44 inches)
18 (L) | 90cm (35 inches) | 117cm (46 inches)
20 (L) | 95cm (37 inches) | 122 cm (48inches)
22 (XL) | 100cm (39 inches) | 127 cm (50 inches)
24 (XL) | 105 cm (41 inches) | 132 cm (52 inches)
26 (2XL) | 110 cm (43 inches) | 137 cm (54 inches)
28 (2XL) | 115 cm (45 inches) | 142 cm (56 inches)
30 (3XL) | 120 cm (47 inches) | 147 cm (58 inches)
When you use the chart, always select pants that fit the larger of your waist or hips. For example if you have a 95cm waist and 127cm hips you will need to choose size 22. Regardless of whether the pants fit the waist or not, if they don’t fit through the hips, your derriere will tug the pant leg upward causing the legs to become too short, forming creases or opening the zipper.
Always take your hip measurements at your hip’s widest point. If the tops of your thighs are wider than your hips, then take this measurement here instead to ensure a better fit. Keep in mind that some clothing manufacturers have their own sizing charts, which means you should use their measurements to determine size.
The next step is to take a measurement of your inseam. Your pant legs should be long enough to touch the top of your shoe, but not so long that you will step on them. If you have an inseam of less than 29 inches (75 centimetres), then petite sizes are where you should be searching. If you have an inseam which is longer, then regular sizes are for you – you can always have them re-hemmed if needed. If you have an inseam which is longer than 32 inches (82 centimetres), then tall sizes are what you need.
A gathered waist emphasizes weight so stick with straight pants to disguise a large hip and waist but use a longer jacket length to hide it. In an effort to hide their extra weight, some women select baggy or loose fitting pants. These actually make the person wearing them look larger. Short-legged women can use tiny vertical stripes to make their legs look longer and give the illusion of height. A wide belled bottom actually is best for the longer legged woman.
When you use your exact measurements to purchase pants, you’ll find that you have better luck finding the right fit to flatter your figure. Just make certain that you take the measurements in your normal relaxed mode. These are only for you to see, so if you suck in your stomach and attempt to make them as small as possible, you defeat the purpose and won’t get a good fit and that’s the reason you want the measurements.…
Lingerie Tips For Plus Size Women
Every woman needs to feel good and to have fun with every piece of lingerie she wears. Forget lingerie that is too revealing, too skimpy, too tight, too trashy or just plain not you. Lingerie is as individual as the woman who wears it. With a little effort, you can find lingerie that feels like it was created just for you.
If purchasing underwear is a joy of yours, yet that is all you know concerning lingerie, then you are only at the start of your journey into the opulent world of lingerie. Specific bras and panties can make a woman feel sexy, seductive, passionate and can even bring out their animal side! Wearing sexy lingerie is a sure way to spark a fire in the bedroom, yet it can also work wonders when you choose a cozy night in front of the television with your significant other.
As fashion becomes more accepting of the plus size woman, the lingerie options available to her will increase. New fabrics that are comfortable, colorful and sensuous can be transformed into gorgeous lingerie for women of any size. We will now show you just some of these exciting new possibilities.
Baby doll nighties (also know as chemises) are one of the most popular of all types of lingerie. The baby doll chemise is very flattering to the plus size lady as it plays up her curves while downplaying the parts of her body she you may like the least. The baby doll is sexy, playful and very figure enhancing. It can also be naughty as opposed to nice when it is called for.
Most babydoll chemises are made from material that are very lightweight and soft such as cotton, lace, net and silk. Some come in a bustier style similar to a bra while others are more relaxed for comfort. The conventional babydoll nightie is made with spaghetti straps, a plunging neckline (to varying extents) and sports an empire waist. Most babydolls fall somewhere in the thigh area.
Sheer and lacy is not necessarily the same thing as naked. If you’re a plus size woman and you shy away from lingerie like that, then you haven’t found the type that’s right for you yet. Avoid sheer lingerie if you find it’s too short, too tight, or just plain too skimpy. You can find long, lacy sheer nightgowns that will look stunning on you. You could say that long nightgowns resemble floor length ball gowns that sweep across the floor; they’ll give you a sense of beauty, elegance, and sophistication.
Purchase full length filmy negligees or mini length babydoll styles. The short ones are perfect in the heat of the summertime. Also shop for full but sensual night shirts and really cute babydoll pajama sets. Net coordinates like a cami and short shorts are other appealing garments to keep in your bedroom closet if you are a full bodied gal who wears larger sizes.…