Yesterday, I gave you a few reasons why welcome emails shouldn’t be dismissed.

Today, I’d like to provide some practical tips for those who already utilize welcome emails.

That’s straightforward enough, right?

Well, not really.

Some of these tips may require you to look at welcome emails in an entirely different light. It might even be easier for you to disregard everything that you’ve done up until this point.

 

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In 1999, The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants released some research about security and ecommerce after customer information was compromised on certain popular websites. I can already hear you questioning its relevance in 2009. But before you dismiss it, you should know one thing: it’s just as applicable today as it was then. Some may say that it’s even more so.

Take this excerpt:

“Consumers are looking for better ways to research and buy online, all the while requiring a reasonable amount of assurance and trust that the sites are safe and secure and that their information is …

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These are troubling economic times. That much can’t be denied. Consumers feel the pinch as they find that it costs more to buy things. But now businesses are hurting, too. It’s also expensive to sell things.

Skyrocketing fuel costs have turned consumers to the Internet for their shopping needs. After all, it can be easier, quicker and cheaper to order something online if you find a good price and if shipping is cheap or even free. But therein lies the problem. While expensive gas has made shopping on the Internet more attractive to fuel-conscious consumers, it’s also made the …

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Most websites do not pay close attention to the design of their top navigation bar. Yet simple changes made on this location of the page can make huge differences in conversion optimization. Prior to going bankrupt, Tower reported that they were able to double their conversion rates by adding a new navigational feature to their site.

While there are no concrete rules on what elements you should include on your top bar, there are several elements you should consider.

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In my first post, I discussed the first seven areas you should evaluate your ecommerce options. The areas we covered in the first post are:

Out of the box features Time-to-market Ease of migration from current systems to new platform Ease of integration with external and internal systems Scalability issues Ease of customization (branding, change of look and feel, etc.) Upgrade challenges with an ecommerce package

In this post I discuss the other 6 areas you should consider when choosing an ecommerce option:

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Companies have three main options to choose from when it comes to implementing an ecommerce site:

Custom build the e-commerce website Choose an e-commerce packaged solution Go with a hosted ecommerce solution

Each of those options has advantages and disadvantages. And while there are no correct an absolute answers in this area, there are some common approaches to select the best solution that will coincide with the business’s mission and objectives. A solution that works well with one business model might not be the best option for a different one. You also should consider the short and long-term costs …

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