So, what exactly is an e-commerce store? Well, if you are looking for ways to expand your online business, attract new customers from around the world, generate sales online, then e-commerce maybe for you!

If you are selling goods to the public then we highly recommend adding a customised e-commerce store to your company website. Having an e-commerce store is a great way to sell out of hours, enabling you to reach customers worldwide, day or night. New products and services can also be added at any time, as your business expands.

Having an e-commerce store enables you to organise your products into relevant categories online. Highly descriptive text and images allow your customers to make an informed choice about which products to buy while alerting them to items they may not otherwise have considered… Amazon is great at this!

Having a product comparison feature enables customers to compare products side by side to establish exactly the right choice prior to purchase. The colour, size and features of products can be compared by the customer and selected during the checkout process.

Another awesome advantage of an e-commerce store is the ability to include, view, edit and approve online reviews made by customers too. Inclusion of a CMS (Content Management System) allows for custom web pages to include up-to-date information on your privacy policy, what’s in stock, delivery information and terms and conditions.

Creating an exciting online e-commerce store that features a great home page welcome, plus bestselling products and latest additions is a great way to ensure customer satisfaction while generating increased sales for your business. Offering a variety of postage options – shipping, Parcelforce, Royal Mail – and a selection of payment options such as PayPal and SagePay – gives welcome flexibility to your customers, enabling you to sell products and services worldwide easily and effortlessly.

During the checkout process, the customer may access reward points or gift vouchers, before the final order total is calculated. You may also wish to consider use of Google Base – which enables people to find your products when doing related searches online.

Regarding business administration, the Orders section of your online e-commerce store enables you to view, edit or delete customer orders, while also creating invoices and packaging slips. There is a facility to enable you to email customers to update them regarding their order. You may even wish to update customers on new products or services via a regular newsletter.

With many great features enabling customers to purchase goods or services from your business at any time from anywhere in the world, having this “buy online facility” is vital to achieving the sales and increased customer satisfaction that your business deserves.

Why not contact Tidy Design today and find out more about how an e-commerce store could benefit your company… When it comes to the development of a business, brand or website we simply love to help!

Are you looking for a creative company based in Portsmouth, Hampshire to design a bespoke newsletter for you or your business? Newsletters are a great way to communicate with your clients and suppliers, keeping people updated on what’s new with you and your company.

Over the years Tidy Design has designed and sent many of its own newsletters, as well as creating fun and corporate newsletter templates for businesses we work with… Here is a testimonial we received today from Tracey at Van Walt Limited regarding one of our bespoke newsletter designs:

When studying my Communication Design degree at the University of Portsmouth we researched many different and innovative ways to communicate with customers, be it the less is more approach, a shock factor or personal approach, it is all about building long lasting (memorable) relationships with your clients.

A tidy newsletter or mail shot will get your message across swiftly and effectively. The design should be eye-catching and it’s content / message not rushed… To find out more about our bespoke email designs and newsletter templates why not contact us, we would love to hear from you.

Yesterday morning I allocated some time to create and send a mail shot to our awesome Tidy Design clients.

As a company we feel it is important to keep connected and build business relationships with ALL our customers!

Lets face it, in today’s economic climate it is easy to get caught up in the moment, work long hours and focusing on the task at hand, maybe not seeing the bigger picture!

At Tidy Design we never want to be in this position, I mean ‘not have time’ for other businesses we work with, the ones that maybe don’t email, invest in SEO or request updates.

Ok, you could argue ‘why don’t we just focus on our bigger clients’, however we know what it is like to start out and develop a business; it takes time and support from family, friends and even suppliers!

Following yesterdays email to our client database, it was nice to receive replies from people we have not heard from in a while… Several companies have now requested +1 buttons and those who didn’t, well they have been reminded that Tidy Design is here to help as and when they require!

Over the years we have seen clients use different email marketing companies / packages to promote their businesses. If you Google ‘Email Marketing Software’ or ‘Email Marketing Services’ you will find no shortage of companies looking to help!

Many moons ago Tidy Design created a bespoke mailing script to keep clients updated with tidy news… It is a basic script, one that involves some knowledge of PHP. Sadly the mailing script used by Tidy Design does not generate reports or come with a user friendly management area… Because of this we would not consider re-selling or offering it to our clients as a service or product… So, what now?

If you are serious about email marketing and driving new traffic to your website then you should find ways to measure your campaigns success. One company we know in the south that can offer real-time email stats, link tracking to show who clicked what links and when, an easy-to-use client interface and subscriber management is email.me.it.

Please click here to find out more about email marketing services in Portsmouth, Hampshire.