Last week Craft MBA wrote an article about making it easy for customers to give you money. This is a subject I talk about a lot over here because it can make a very big difference in your profitability. A lot of us get stuck in the mindset that our customers are just like us, therefore they want what we want. They’re indie like us, they have Etsy accounts like us, they grew up with the internet like us, etc.

We Are Not Our Customers
The truth is they aren’t just like us. They don’t know your website well, they may not be computer-savvy. They’re rushed and tired and usually multi-tasking. They don’t want to read a paragraph of instructions on how to place an order. They don’t want to create an account or call customer service. They want a hassle-free experience on a user-friendly, professional-looking website. If you don’t have that to offer, they’re going to the competition.

Asking customers to email you to get off your mailing list may be easiest for you. Selling on Etsy may be cheapest for you. Having a shopping cart that requires a login may be most convenient for you. None of this matters because you aren’t the customer. If you want to make money, all that matters is what your customers find easy, convenient and appealing.

Testing Beats Asking
If you want to improve your customer experience on your website, don’t rely on customer surveys! You may get some valuable feedback from customer surveys, but anything you get is going to be skewed and not give you a full picture of your lost revenue. Here’s why:

The people who already bought from you slogged through your possibly awful ecommerce system or website. They don’t represent the people who didn’t buy from you. These are the people who bothered to suffer through your account creation process. These are the people who already had an Etsy account. These are the people who went to the trouble of emailing you to apply a coupon code. These people are exceptionally patient. These people loved your items so much that they put up with a bad user experience. These are the people who are computer-savvy enough to make their way through your problematic website.

Those people represent the 100 people who placed an order this year. They don’t represent the thousands of people who left your website in disgust. If you’re content with your current sales figures, keep on keeping on. If you want to sell more, start testing.

That means implementing usability improvements on your site and testing to see if it improves your conversion rate. Perform an A/B split test. Send half your website traffic to the old version of your site and half the traffic to the “improved” version. See which version gets more conversions. Tests will allow you to see a truly objective survey of what works and what does not.

You Can’t Run a Report on Sales You Didn’t Get
Never assume your system is fine as is. Yes, you might be getting some business now, but you have no way of knowing how much business you’re losing unless you’re testing out usability improvements and constantly looking for ways to make things easier for your customers on your website.

Some sales are not an indicator that everything is fine as is. The only way to truly know is by studying ecommerce best practices and testing them.

Get Smart
If you don’t know what the best practices are, it’s time to get educated. I discuss them a lot here on Smaller Box. Every week I link articles on best practices. Start following some of the websites I suggest. It’s where I learn a lot of great stuff and get ideas for improving my website and increasing sales. Having a profitable ecommerce site is not a destination, it’s a journey. The web is always changing and it’s important to be adaptable and informed so you can change with it.

Note: Don’t forget about this week’s special offer for Creative Entreprenuers. Deal expires Friday!

What happens when someone visits a page on your site? Chances are they get an error page. Maybe you’ve customized the error page with your logo or a message that tells them they’ve gone to a dead link, but there are better things you can do with a 404 page.

1. Share a Coupon Code
Red Envelope shows site visitors a coupon code when they stumble onto a 404 page. This is a great way to turn a disappointing error into a sweet surprise.

2. Make ‘Em Laugh
I Wear Your Shirt’s 404 page is a perfect reflection of the brand personality. Their 404 page is designed for getting a laugh from their site visitors.

3. Get Them On The Phone
Red Tag‘s 404 page encourages site visitors to give them a call. Their 404 page says “call us for directions,” and lists the company phone number. Getting customers on the phone is a great way to put a personalized touch on the transaction, and help them place their order before they get frustrated and leave.

4. Help Them Find Their Way With Search
Merge helps customers get back on track when they get lost. Their 404 page directs the visitor to their site search so that customers can easily find what they’re looking for.

It’s very important to recognize that your time is worth money. With that in mind, having constant inquiries from customers can get expensive. In order to save time, and thus money, it’s helpful to evaluate what you can do to reduce the number of customer calls and customer emails you have to respond to each day. In my ecommerce business we had 3 questions that came up over and over:

1. Where is my stuff?
2. How do I return this?
3. Why am I being charged customs?

We had answers to these questions in our FAQ but most customers were not reading it, and instead calling and emailing. Here’s what we did to make it easier for customers to find answers to these questions:

1. Added delivery time details to product pages and check out

Customers want to know when they will receive their items so it’s important to set expectations. We would get customers who’d place an order and then email the next day to ask where their shipment was. Since my ecommerce business makes everything to order we aren’t able to ship immediately.

It now says on every page of our site that orders ship in 3-7 days. We also say on our check out pages that all items are made to order and we are a small business, so we need 3-7 days to ship orders. We explain that a delivery confirmation email will be sent as soon as an order goes out, so our customers can track their packages. We also remind customers to check their spam folder for these notices.

2. Put Return Information on Invoices
My ecommerce business sells apparel so we get a lot of returns due to sizing issues. To make returns easier, we have return instructions printed on the invoices that go out in our shipments. We instruct our customers to go to oursite.com/returns and fill out a simple form to do a return request.

This makes the return easy for the customer and streamlines the returns process for us. Since implementing this solution we’ve had almost no emails or calls about returns.

3. Warn International Customers About Customs
My ecommerce business is US-based, so customers outside the US frequently get hit with customs fees. If they are not used to shopping internationally, this can come as a shock.

When our customers select a shipment location outside the US a notice appears telling them that their country may charge customs fees. We explain that we cannot calculate or control these charges, since they are dictated by our customers’ home governments.

This notice has significantly reduced the number of complaints we’ve received about customs charges.

4. Links to our FAQ From Our Contact Page
We linked the portions of our FAQ that address our most commonly asked questions right on our contact page. For example, it says “Have an order status question? Please read this.” It makes those answers extra easy for customers to find and encourages them to read our published answers before emailing us.

What questions do you hear most frequently? What changes can you make to your website to reduce your call and email volume?

International shipping is an issue for every online seller. It’s expensive and there’s no perfect way to do it. At my own ecommerce business, we’ve tried just about everything and found that you basically have 2 choices: fast or cheap. Since we realize our customers won’t agree on which is more important we actually offer both. Today’s post is going to detail the options, and the pros and cons of each.

Note: This post is for US vendors. I unfortunately don’t have any experience shipping FROM any other countries, but if my readers do, feel free to give your $.02 in the comments below.

USPS
The USPS has a few different options for international mail and they all have varying degrees of speed and reliability.

First Class International: This is the cheapest way to go. It’s also the slowest. It is supposed to take 6-10 business days to arrive, but after having shipped hundreds of international packages I can unequivocally tell you, that’s often not the case. I’ve had packages arrive up to 2 months after I shipped. Your are very much at the mercy of the USPS and the postal system of the country you are shipping to. Some countries are more reliable than others. I’ve seen record speed with Australia’s post and a shockingly glacial pace in Canada.

The worst part of First Class International isn’t that the speed is questionable, it’s that the package can’t be tracked. If the package gets lost, you’re screwed and you’ll have a customer bitching about their lost items. Now you have to pay to send their stuff AGAIN and hope this time it actually arrives. You are also open to the possibility of con artists claiming the goods never arrived, only to try to get freebies out of you. Most people are honest, but this is a risk you take with First Class International mail. This service also does not have insurance available.

Flat Rate Priority International: This is not to be confused with Priority International. This USPS offering is mid-way between First Class and Priority,  both in terms of price and features. With Flat Rate Priority International you get a free mailer from the USPS for your shipment and you can mail whatever fits in the box for a flat rate. (There is a weight limit, but unless you are mailing lead this probably won’t be an issue.) Flat Rate Priority International is supposed to be a bit faster than First Class, but like First Class, you can’t track the package. So if it gets lost (or a customer claims it is lost) you are on the hook for the replacement/refund. Also, like First Class, you cannot get insurance.

Priority International: This is the reliable way to go. it gets your order delivered the faster than First Class, and you can get a tracking number for the package so you know when it has arrived. You can insure the package in case it gets lost or stolen. The bad news is that this option is much more expensive than Flat Rate Priority and First Class. It costs us about 3 times as much as First Class.

I personally offer this option to my customers, in addition to First Class, so they can decide for themselves if speed or price is more important. (Actually, we only offer First Class to countries that we know have a reasonably reliable postal system. For countries whose postal systems are of questionable reliability, we require customers to use Priority International for their shipments. International shipping really has some calculated risk attached to it so you have to set your policies in accordance with your risk tolerance, average order value and shipping volume.)

Express and Global Express Guaranteed: This method of shipping is the fastest, most reliable and most expensive. Unless your customer is desperate to have their package immediately, you probably don’t need to go this route. For a premium, USPS will guarantee package delivery in 1-3 business days to a number of countries.

FedEx/UPS/DHL
These private services all offer a small variety of shipping options. None of them are cheap. They also will charge your customers a hefty customs processing fee. (This fee is justified by the private courier getting your package through customs post-haste.) The up side of dealing with these private couriers is that your shipment will arrive when they say it will arrive. You aren’t at the mercy of a pretty unaccountable government agency who will take their sweet time delivering your package. If FedEx says it will be there Tuesday, with the exceptions of literal hell or high water, your package will be in your customer’s hands on Tuesday, end of story. The private couriers aren’t 100% perfect, but they’re definitely a good way to go if speed and reliability are of the utmost importance. You can also insure your package with private couriers, so if your package is lost or damaged, they are responsible for reimbursing you.

A final note about communication with international customers:
One of the most important things with international shipping is communication. Make it clear to your customers what they can expect, so they don’t get angry later. On my website’s checkout pages we remind customers that international shipments may incur customs fees and we are not responsible for those.

Since we offer both First Class and Priority International shipping on our site, we have those options in a drop down, and right next to them we have an estimated number of days to deliver, so customers know that if they pick the cheaper option they’ll be waiting for a longer time to get their packages. We also tell customers (on the check out pages) that First Class packages can’t be tracked, so if they choose that option, we won’t be able to give them shipment status.

Managing our customers’ expectations right from the point of taking their order, helps ensure that they’ll have a more positive overall ordering experience.

If you sell online, especially if you’re an artisan, there are a few questions you’ll probably hear over and over. They don’t get less annoying, but having a stock response to these queries helps a little.

1. Can I have it cheaper?
You’ll get people asking if they can have a discount or asking why you’re charging so much money for X. Don’t feel compelled to lower your price or justify your price. A few acceptable replies:

• We sometimes offer discounts through our mailing list, please feel free to sign up to find out about our next sale or discount.
• We offer 10% off for orders over $100, here is the coupon code.
• I’m sorry but we simply can’t offer our products at a lower price at this time.

2. Can I have it for free?
Some people will claim they’re dying of scarlet fever and your free product is their dying wish. Other people will say they just started a blog and want to review your products. It all amounts to virtual panhandling and there’s no reason to give into it. A few acceptable replies:

To members of the public who just want freebies:
I’m sorry, but we’re unable to provide you with a free product at this time. Please feel free to join our mailing list and follow our blog. We announce fan sweepstakes events in both places.

To “bloggers” with little to no readership:
I’m sorry but we’re unable to provide free samples for review at this time.

(Note: Legitimate press are another story, if you get a sample request from a large publication it may be well worth it to provide a sample. Just make sure you find out what the requester’s readership is like before you part with your product.)

3. Can I just make it myself?
Some people will ask how you made something, where you got supplies to make something, etc. This information should be proprietary. You worked long and hard to learn your craft and find the best suppliers, that information is private.

A few acceptable replies:

• I’m sorry, we unfortunately can’t give away our trade secrets
• Learning to make X took me several years and it would just be too complicated to explain my process.
• We work with overseas suppliers who require a 10,000 unit minimum purchase, so they probably wouldn’t be suitable for small projects. If you want to work with overseas suppliers you can try a site like alibaba.com for sources.

I always thank people for taking the time to write, even if I am not going to fulfill their somewhat offensive request. Most people don’t realize they’re being annoying with these types of requests, so it’s best to still keep up the appearance of charm and stick to calling them a moron in private.

Have a favorite stock response to these questions? Share in the comments below.

I just had the WORST experience with returning products to overstock.com. I was in complete awe of how painful they made the process. I’ll never shop there again as a result. As an ecommerce business owner, this also inspired me to make my own website’s return process even easier for my own customers.

First, let me tell you what overstock.com does wrong:
1. I have to log into my account to initiate a return. This means I have to remember my username/password or retrieve it. As I’ve discussed on this blog before, having to create/use accounts with ecommerce websites is a common peeve with online shoppers. That said, this hassle is a common one so it wasn’t high on the list of reasons for my disgust.

2. Once logged in, I had to click the “returns” link. Then I had to select the order I wanted to do a return for.

3. I got a screen where I had to select the item I wanted to return. This was the first major problem. I wanted to return more than one item and the form they’d created only allowed me to select ONE. I selected one of the items and clicked submit.

4. I got a screen asking the reason for the return and several radio buttons to choose from. I chose an option and clicked submit.

5. I got another screen asking for a more specific reason for my return and more radio buttons! I chose one and clicked submit.

6. I got another screen asking me to write out, in a text area box, why I wanted to return the items!!! (I’ve now been asked 3 different times why I’m returning merchandise, and it’s been on 3 different pages! If I had a dial up modem I’d probably have lost it by now.) I wrote a note and clicked submit.

7. I got a screen asking me if I wanted to print a pre-paid return label for $6.00. (My credit card would be charged for this label.) This, of course, won’t work for me, because as I said before, I had several items to return and this pre-paid label would only take postage into account for the ONE item. So I selected “no pre-paid label” and clicked submit. I then got another screen asking if I’m sure I don’t want a pre-paid label. The page went on to tell me why pre-paid labels are awesome. I already know I don’t want the damn pre-paid label, so I say no.

8. I finally got a screen with instructions on where to mail my return.

That’s an awful lot of steps to return something! Not only that, I have to repeat steps 2-8 for each item I want to return!!! I had 6 items to return. Needless to say, I never want to look at overstock.com again. I am sure the thinking over at overstock.com is that if you make returns really miserable people won’t want to make returns. I am sure they also think a lot of people are unsavvy enough to pay for a pre-paid label for each item they want to return when they have more than one item to return. No doubt that return postage is a profit-center for overstock.com. This short-sighted thinking turns off customers though. I spend thousands of dollars online every year at ecommerce sites and buy nearly everything I own online. Turning away customers like myself is probably costing overstock.com more than they’re making from their nickel and dime return postage scam.

Now, the good news is that this nightmare of a returns process encouraged me to improve my own return process for my ecommerce website. Being a small online business I’d been doing things pretty informally. If customers wanted to return something they just had to drop me a line for details on where to send the return. My online business has more than tripled in the last year though, and it’s high time I made things a little more streamlined. This overstock.com debacle was just the kick in the ass I needed.

Here’s what I now do for returns:
1. I set up an easy-to-type URL for my returns page on my website. (I used myurl.com/returns.)

2. I made my returns page easy to find. I’ve linked my returns page on the footer of my site, added the URL to our invoices that go out in our orders, and linked it on the “returns” portion of our FAQ page.

3. My returns page simply asks customers for 4 pieces of information (all on one screen). I request:
- Order ID
- Whether this will be a return or exchange
- A quick note on reason for return/exchange
- How the customer would like their refund issued (I allow customers to select gift card, credit back to the purchasing account or refund to an alternate Paypal account. The first and last option are to accommodate people who received their order as a gift.)

4. Once the customer clicks submit they get a page with our returns address and instructions.

This process is quick and easy for my customers, and it gives me all the information I truly need to handle returns. Making returns easy for my customers makes it much more likely that they’ll order from my website again in the future.

If you sell on a site like Etsy or ArtFire you can still set up something like this for your customers. I truly believe that anyone selling online should have their own website, even if it’s just to house your portfolio, contact information and a link to your hosted web shop. You can set up a returns form on your website and include a link to it on your packaging invoice.

Every day I check out the 100s of subscriptions in my RSS feed about marketing, PR, advertising, branding, social media, and a host of other topics of interest to small businesses that sell online. Most of what gets posted isn’t earth shattering but I reserve Fridays for the best reads of the week. So here you have it, the most valuable things I read in the business blogosphere this week:

Note I was away on vacation last week so there will be a special “Link Love” post this weekend with extra reads. Stay tuned.

• Are You Suffering from Homepage-itis?
• Build a Better About Page
• 10 Free Usability Testing Tools to Improve Your Website and Shopping Cart
• 31 Tips for Winning Over Retailers
• How to Handle 4 Common Shipping Problems
• How Mountain Equipment Co-op Found the Ultimate 404 Error Page Design
• 25 Ways of Encouraging and Rewarding Customer Engagement

Every day I check out the 100s of subscriptions in my RSS feed about marketing, PR, advertising, branding, social media, and a host of other topics of interest to small businesses that sell online. Most of what gets posted isn’t earth shattering but I reserve Fridays for the best reads of the week. So here you have it, the most valuable things I read in the business blogosphere this week:

• How Well Do You Protect Your Customers’ Privacy?
• 99 Ecommerce Acronyms
• Wholesale: Pitching Large Retailers – Is It Worth It?
• The Advantages of a One Page Checkout
• When to Start an Affiliate Marketing Program

Every day I check out the 100s of subscriptions in my RSS feed about marketing, PR, advertising, branding, social media, and a host of other topics of interest to small businesses that sell online. Most of what gets posted isn’t earth shattering but I reserve Fridays for the best reads of the week. So here you have it, the most valuable things I read in the business blogosphere this week:

• Merchandising Your Vendor Table
• Be Straightforward in What You Sell – using brochures, business cards, and other materials to highlight your product offerings
• How to Write a Good Privacy Policy
• 33 Free Tools to Make Your Website Better
• How to Create an Ad for Your Business
• Do Buttons With Unusual Shapes Boost Sales?
• How to Deal With Discount Codes in the Checkout Process

Every day I check out the 100s of subscriptions in my RSS feed about marketing, PR, advertising, branding, social media, and a host of other topics of interest to small businesses that sell online. Most of what gets posted isn’t earth shattering but I reserve Fridays for the best reads of the week. So here you have it, the most valuable things I read in the business blogosphere this week:

• Testing Your Web Store: Be Your Own Customer
• Legal: Domain Names, Trade Names, and Trademarks
• “One Tip That Changed My Business” – 67 entrepreneurs share! A nice follow up read to my “The Best Thing I Did For My Business” series
• Avoiding Unnecessary Detours on Your Website
• Pricing Your Products for Growth
• Growing Your Business Beyond Etsy
• What Happens When A Customer Complains
• SEO in 2010: What You Need to Know