The Merchant's Perspective Part 1

Ways to Effectively Sell Online

osCommerce features a number of useful tools that allow you to more effectively communicate with and sell to your customers. Some of these features include:

• Building Customer Relationships: The account system allows store owners to build and maintain customer contact, view purchase histories, and generate reports about which customers purchase the most goods.
• Email Newsletter: Communicating with shoppers is essential, and osCommerce provides an efficient method for periodic communications with registered users of your store. The newsletter system allows vendors to compose a newsletter regarding news related to the store, new products, discounted products, and other matters of interest. These can then be sent out to all registered shoppers. This is highly effective as the newsletter is only sent to interested shoppers who have registered to receive such information. The newsletter system also allows the merchant to email customers who have expressed interest in particular products.
• Product Specials: It is possible to discount products and display product specials randomly on every page. There is also a specials page that lists all products currently on special.

• Suggestions of Related Products: When viewing product information, relevant products are displayed based on previous customers' purchases. The software suggests products based on other customers' purchases.

• "What's New": The What's New feature allows the vendor to automatically display new products to customers when they enter the site. This ensures that exciting new products easily get the attention and publicity they deserve.
• Reviews: Customers like to be reassured that the products a vendor is selling are as good as the vendor suggests they are. A useful method to assure customers of this is the use of previous customers' reviews. Customers' reviews of a certain product can be displayed alongside the product description.
• Tell-a-friend: The site allows customers to easily email friends about a particular product, allowing them to spread the word about your site and products.