Ecommerce Blog

New Webinar Series: How To Drive Sales Using Advanced Marketing Strategies

Published on August 2nd, 2011 by luke.dyer

Overview: New advanced webinar series
Title: How To Drive Sales Using Advanced Marketing Strategies
When? 1pm CDT on Wednesday, August 10th (See this in your time zone)
Register: Click here to register (limited spots available)


We already run regular webinars that teach the basics of e-commerce and BigCommerce, but today I’m happy to announce that we’re adding a fourth series to our already popular webinars.

Lead by certified BigCommerce design partner and e-commerce experts Madwire Media, How To Drive Sales Using Advanced Marketing Strategies is our latest webinar series and the first webinar kicks off at 1pm CDT on Wednesday, August 10th (see this in your time zone).

So, what will you learn during this free webinar? Here’s a taste:

  • Automatically targeting customers after purchase
  • Retargeting customers based on what they buy
  • Increasing conversion rate using promotional banners
  • When it’s best to offer time sensitive promotions
  • Strategies to increase sales using gift certificates
  • How to find and promote your best selling products
  • Analyzing abandoned cart data to improve conversions
  • How to manage orders and inventory for multiple stores
  • Dropshipping strategies to manage multiple vendors

Click here to register (limited spots available)

How Watching TV Helps Improve Our Customer Support

Published on October 19th, 2010 by richardlong

A live stream of our call queue which helps us answer calls faster

About two weeks ago our technical support team became a little “higher tech” – we mounted a TV screen on the wall in our Austin office to monitor inbound call activity. The TV screen lists all inbound calls that are on hold and color codes them by the length of time each client has been waiting. The calls are coded green for zero to three minutes, yellow for three to five minutes, and red for five minutes or longer.

You might wonder what we did before the TV and why it’s a significant change for us. Well, before the TV was installed we utilized the call monitoring client software that came with our phone system and installed it on all of the Windows computers used by our sales samurais and support ninjas. However, because some of our team members run Mac or Linux as their desktop, they weren’t able to install the monitoring software.

For those who could use it, the monitoring software would often get stuck running in the background behind other windows and it wasn’t as fluid as I wanted it to be, so adding a TV on the wall that shows our call queues was almost a “no brainer” – why didn’t we think of this before?!

This visibility has really brought about some nice changes and habits with our support ninjas.

In the two weeks since we installed the TV, we’ve seen an almost instant drop in the average length of time to answer calls. In the two weeks prior to the TV and now two weeks after, we have seen the average length of time to answer a call drop by almost three minutes. That’s three minutes of your life you get back by not having to “enjoy” our hold music.

Now I can’t always promise you a zero minute wait when you call us, especially during our peak periods, but you’ll probably notice if you’ve called in a few times recently that hold time is getting significantly shorter. In terms of color coding, our calls are averaging in the yellow zone but we’re working very, very hard get them the green zone (i.e. a zero to three minute wait, closer to zero than to three minutes of course).

I’ll keep you posted on our progress over the coming weeks and months.

Presentation: Bootstrapping to Seven Figures by BigCommerce Co-Founder Mitchell Harper

Published on August 19th, 2010 by Mitchell Harper

If you haven’t already guessed, I’m big on educating people. A few weeks back I put together a presentation called “Bootstrapping to Seven Figures” which took me about a week to create.

Basically it contains the core ideas and strategies we’ve used to build our company to over 50,000 clients and high seven figures in yearly revenue. I shared my presentation with around 3,000 people on a webinar I did recently for one of our design partners and was blown away by the response – I even managed to score two marriage proposals before I was done!

Anyway, I wanted to share the exact same presentation with you, our loyal clients. If you’ve just started your business and you’re looking for a way to grow your sales to $1,000,000 within 12 months then this is it.

I’ve broken my presentation up into four videos, each of which is embedded below – the entire presentation runs for around 40 minutes. It contains absolutely no sales pitch (I HATE pitches) – just good, honest advice based on my experiences building Interspire (the parent company of BigCommerce) to what it is today with co-founder Eddie Machaalani and our awesome team.

The presentation I used in the video is also embedded at the bottom of this blog post.

Part 1 of 4:

Part 2 of 4:

Part 3 of 4:

Part 4 of 4:

The Presentation I Refer To In The Videos Above

Download it here

[Video] Understanding Points of Diminishing Return

Published on July 26th, 2010 by Mitchell Harper

When I type define:diminishing returns into Google, this is what I get:

“In economics, diminishing returns (also called diminishing marginal returns) refers to how the marginal production of a factor of production starts to progressively decrease as the factor is increased, in contrast to the increase that would otherwise be normally expected”

What a mouthful. Long story short, there are certain areas of your business where adding more horsepower won’t necessarily give you the exact same result forever.

For example, if you build a customer service team comprised of only untrained, unmotivated, lazy customer service reps then eventually you’ll end up with frustrated customers who won’t be able to get their questions answered no matter how many people are on your customer service team.

In this video I discuss the economic principle of diminishing returns in the context of e-commerce and shares three examples that demonstrate how diminishing returns can impact your business productivity and bottom line.

The examples include:

  1. Spending more on Google AdWords to counter competitors bidding on popular keywords just to attract the same number of visitors
  2. Quality over quantity of autoresponders
  3. How to create a successful customer service department that when combined with automation will reduce your costs

This video is a bit heavy on theory, so if you don’t understand anything just leave me a question below or ask me on Twitter (@mitchellharper).

Podcast #5: Your ecommerce, SEO and online marketing questions answered

Published on April 6th, 2010 by Mitchell Harper

Length: 22:30

Overview: A Q&A session in which I answer your questions about ecommerce, search engine optimization and online marketing.

Description: In this, episode 5 of my podcast, I answer your questions (posted on our Facebook page) about ecommerce, SEO and online marketing. I discuss the best way to improve your rankings on Google, how to get started in ecommerce on a limited budget, how to improve customer loyalty while raising retention rates and a whole lot more.

If you like the Q&A style then please leave a comment below – there’s a good chance that this could become a regular thing if enough people are interested.

Like this podcast? Why not subscribe on iTunes?

7 Videos That ALL Business Owners Must Watch. RIGHT NOW.

Published on April 2nd, 2010 by Mitchell Harper

There are thousands of excellent videos online that can teach you everything you need to take your business to the next level. But it takes hours of filtering, searching and previewing to find them. Who has the time?

In this post I’ve included 7 videos (our of the 400+ I have bookmarked) that I think really summarize the ideas and strategies you need to build a business online using the tools available today. That means killer customer service. Twitter. Facebook. Google AdWords. Word of mouth marketing. Trust.

Under each video is the speaker’s name along with their Twitter account in brackets so you can follow them if you’d like to. There’s about two and a half hours of video goodness below, so if you can’t watch them all now, make sure you boookmark this page and watch them all when you can. I’d even recommend re-watching most of them so their messages really hit home.

Tony Hsueh (@zappos) – A talk on fostering a culture of extraordinary customer service (part 1)

Tony Hsueh (@zappos) – A talk on fostering a culture of extraordinary customer service (part 2)

Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) – An intimate talk about social media with Yahoo Employees

Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) – A talk about social media at the Affiliate Summit in Vegas

David Heinemeier Hansson (@dhh) – A (hilarious) talk on creating a successful startup

Seth Godin (@thisissethsblog) – A talk on influencing the masses

Jeff Bezos (@jeffbezos) – A talk on innovation

Podcast #3: Using social media to build meaningful relationships with customers

Published on March 11th, 2010 by Mitchell Harper

Length: 14:43
Overview: A step-by-step guide to using social media tools to build relationships with customers that offer value to both you and them.

Description: In this, episode 3 of my podcast, I talk about our over-arching social media strategy which we use to keep in constant communication with our customers. Topics include using Twitter as a support intermediary, using Facebook as a feedback loop, building a community with a focus on continual improvement and idea generation and how to turn negative feedback into a motivation tool. I also touch on the upcoming BigCommerce 5.6 and 6 releases at the end of the podcast.

Like this podcast? Why not subscribe on iTunes?

How to Write a Profitable Returns Policy

Published on August 21st, 2009 by Mitchell Harper

profitable_returns_policyReturns policies are extremely important when selling online. If you sell expensive products or if you’re a new store looking to build up your customer base quickly, the best thing you can offer new customers is a lenient returns policy.

In this post we’ll look at a few things which should be included in your returns policy. If you’re using shopping cart software that doesn’t let you create or display a returns policy, give BigCommerce a try – it has a built-in returns policy which can be customized as required.

Anyway, on to the list:

  1. The longer the returns period, the greater your sales. Most online stores have a returns policy that expires after 30 or 60 days, but what if your returns policy lasted for 90 days, 120 days, 365 days or even for a lifetime? Buying online is all about risk for most people. They’re thinking to themselves “If I buy from this website and things don’t work out, will I lose my money or can I trust them to honor their returns policy?”. Extending your returns policy for as long as you can will make more than it will cost you, because the overwhelming majority of your customers will NOT act on your returns policy – they just want to know it’s there for peace of mind before they place their order.
  2. List all conditions and be up front about them. If you’ll only accept returns to a certain address or when the box is marked with particular details about the item being returned then mention that up front and provide examples to help your customers out should they ever need to return something to you. Ideally, however, your returns policy will have few (if any) conditions attached to it.
  3. Include testimonials from refunded (happy) customers. If customers do return an item and there’s really no other way around it then be cheerful and friendly about it. Process the return immediately and ask for a testimonial about their experience. Take their testimonial (and name+photo if you can) and add it to your returns policy page. When shoppers see the testimonials they’ll be even more likely to whip out their credit cards and buy from you.
  4. Offer store credit instead of a cash refund. Depending on what you sell, a lot of returns can be because the customer simply chose the wrong model number or product size. Because of this you should include two options in your returns policy: a) a cash refund or b) the issue of store credit. If the customer wants a cash refund then of course you should give it to them, but a surprising number of customers will be just fine with a store credit.
  5. Find any problems and fix them. This might sound obvious, but you should always ask the customer why they’re returning an item they bought from you. Keep a list of reasons and if you spot any trends then try to stop the problem in its tracks.
  6. Promote your returns policy like crazy. Most of your competitors wont even publish a returns policy, but if you’ve listened to the tips above and you sell good quality products then you should promote your returns policy everywhere you can: on your home page, on your shopping cart and checkout pages and even in your newsletters and promotions. Remember, winning your shopper’s trust can send your conversion rate soaring through the roof!

Hopefully these six tips can help you craft a compelling returns policy for your online store. Take a look at the Zappos returns policy for an excellent example of how it should be done – and for some ideas of your own!

Customer Service Tips for the New Online Store Owner

Published on August 1st, 2009 by Mitchell Harper

customer_service_bannerHaving the faith to spend a little more time with your current customers and a little less time getting business can be hard, but it’s the right thing to do.  If you take care of your customers, they will be more inclined to both come back and send you referrals when you ask them to. Here are some ways to make sure you can always do a good job so your customers will always stay loyal to you:

  1. Offer live chat on your site. People are going to have questions about your products.  If you offer live chat on your site, you can answer these questions for these customers.  If many customers have the same question, you can include this information on your site so as to help others coming in.
  2. Be clear on your return policy and/or terms and conditions, and make these clearly visible on your site.  Misunderstandings happen.  You might think these will scare away, but they will prevent situations that could cause serious issues that take up both your and your customer’s time.
  3. Use surveys.  A lot of the time, your customers will voice their opinion if you just ask them to.  Email surveys and including a link to a survey on emails or receipts may offer the feedback you need to really impress current and future customers.  You could even include a “comment box” on your website with a contact form the same way brick-and-mortar merchants do.
  4. Use personal touches.  Sign emails with your name.  Include a hand-written note with every order.  Customers should know that you aren’t just a shop looking for a cheap buck.  Let them know you care about their satisfaction with your products.
  5. Take your complaints seriously.  A lot of companies dismiss complaints and figure they’ll make it up by getting new customers.  Guess what?  Word-of-mouth can be very powerful, so choose your words wisely.  What could be an opportunity for you to step up and make someone very satisfied can just as easily turn into hateful reviews across the web.
  6. Be accessible.  Have your phone number on your site as well as a contact form.

It can be hard to keep a customer’s best interest in mind when they are mad, but doing so can turn enemies into advocates.  Using these tips can ensure your customers always stay loyal to you and tell their friends that you can be trusted.

The Pages People Generally Forget When Setting Up an Online Store

Published on July 15th, 2009 by Mitchell Harper

shopping_cartProducts generally don’t sell themselves.  People want to know who they are buying from and what the terms are.  Establishing your own credibility is just as important as the credibility of your products.

Here are a few pages people tend to forget when setting up an online store that help establish credibility:

  1. Return Policy.  According to Practical Ecommerce, returned orders cost online retailers more than $20 billion in 2008.  Putting up a return policy will help you prevent costly returns as well as establish trust with your customer.  You will need to consider how many days a customer has to return or exchange an item as well as the terms for a return (why and how a customer can return something).
  2. An “About Us” page.  Unlike real life, a customer can’t see your face or what neighborhood you are in.  Your “About Us” should tell a story about you and your mission behind your store.  If you aren’t wanting to put yourself out on the internet, consider a MarketingSherpa study that concluded personable “About Us” pages increased conversion 30 percent.
  3. A “Contact Us” page.  People have questions about your product, so you’ll want a way for them to email you easily straight from your website.
  4. Depending on your industry, you may want a Facebook page.  Setting up a Facebook page is free and using one means your customers can share with their friends that they like your products.  If you advertise on Facebook, it will display your ad and show a person’s friends that they are a fan of yours.
  5. A phone number.  This obviously is not a page, but it is something people often forget.  Many sites chose to put their phone number in the upper right hand corner of their website.

Remember, your potential customers probably don’t know anything about you when they see your site.  You could be some scam trying to take their money.  Taking the time to establishing who you and why people should trust you can go a long way towards converting sales.