It’s always a tough task to plan your newsletter campaigns for the year ahead. Trying to blend those important sales messages with fresh and exciting content can certainly cause the brain to work in overdrive.

To make things a little easier we have created an Email Newsletter Calendar that outlines important dates for 2012 and which have the potential to be used for promotional activities.

We have even thrown in a few ideas that you are free to use.

Download here: Newsletter Calendar

It’s sometimes impossible to have a conversation on a subject without some jargon creeping in.

Here is glossary of ecommerce terms you might find handy.

Auto Responder

An automatic email that is sent to a customer or newsletter subscriber when they perform an action. This could either be a link being clicked or a basket being abandoned.

Basket Abandonment

When a visitor leaves your website during the checkout phase they are said to have abandoned their basket. If a user is logged in when this occurs it is possible to track this activity and automatically email them to ask if anything went wrong or if there is anything you can do to help them with their product selection. (See Auto responder)

Bounce Rate

Usually shown as a percentage, bounce rate shows how many people have entered your website and left without visiting any other pages.

Examining this figure will give you an idea as to the quality of your website visitors.

A high bounce rate will generally mean that your landing page is not providing your visitors with relevant content.

CMS (Content Management System)

A system that allows the website owner with little to no technical expertise to make changes to their website. The user will usually log in to an admin section of the website where they will be able to make text and image changes using a basic word processor interface.

Conversions

A conversion is the completion of a pre-defined goal. It could either be a customer completing a transaction on your e-commerce website or simply filling and submitting your online contact form.

It is also possible to combine conversion tracking with ‘funnels’. Goal funnels allow you to track the steps a customer takes before reaching the goal.

Eshot

Simply another name for email newsletters sent out using an email marketing system.

Landing Page

A landing page is single web page that is used to provide content that is highly relevant to the advertisement or link that a visitor clicks on.  For example, if you sell dresses and have a PPC advert promoting a green spotted dress you would ensure that when a visitor clicked on the link they would arrive at the page with the green spotted dress as opposed to the home page. Constructing well thought out landing pages can lower website bounce rate.

Organic results

These appear on search engine results pages and are generated by the search provider’s own algorithm. Organic listings have the benefit of being free (if you discount the cost of ‘getting to the top’) and are also accepted as a more trusted result by the searcher. Organic results generally have a higher click through rate than paid advertising.

Payment Gateway

Payment gateways provide ecommerce retailers the ability to authorise transactions. They protect customer credit card information by encrypting information as it passes from the customer to the retailer and the retailer to the payment processor.

PCI DSS Compliance (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)

A set of requirements defined by the major debit and credit cards that ensure retailers meet a minimum standard of information security. Compliance checks can be carried out by an external assessor or by self-assessment depending on the volume of transactions.

PPC (Pay-Per-Click)

Advertisements that only cost you money when someone clicks on them. Most likely to be seen at the top and right hand side of the Google search engine results pages.

SERP (Search Engine Results Page)

These are the results that are displayed when you search for a keyword using a search engine.

SSL Certificate (Secure Socket Layer)

SSL itself is a technology used to encrypt data as is passes through the internet. It is comprised of two keys which are unique to each other. One key encrypts information while the second key decrypts the information when it arrives at its destination. A third party company provides these keys along with a certificate which proves their authenticity. The certificate can be viewed by customers using your ecommerce shop.

URL rewriting

This is a technique used to improve the readability of a web address and also improve search engine rankings. By default, an online shop will generate long URLs which often contain peculiar numbers and symbols which not only look untidy but also give no clue as to where the link will lead. Using URL rewriting we can make a web address go from this:

http://www.ansellandclarke.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1&

to this:

http://www.ansellandclarke.co.uk/ecommerce_experts

1) A fully defined feature checklist.

Before the design process can begin the client and agency must be clear on the type of features that the ecommerce site will have. Provision can then be made to ensure the designer takes into consideration the placement and design of these elements.  Increased website functionality can also create the requirement of additional database information.

2) A database with all the necessary fields in place.

Be it a large or small online shop the initial seeding of the database should be done as a bulk import. Using a spread sheet is far easier than keying data directly into the ecommerce platform and allows the customer the time to work on product data, cross sells, up-sells etc. during the websites development phase.

3) Provision of imagery.

One of the most important and often underestimated aspects of selling online is imagery. It is VITAL to have engaging, professional lifestyle photography and also detailed still life product images. After all… a picture tells a thousand words.
Next to the development and marketing of the site this will be your greatest expense.

4) A detailed understanding of the existing IT systems and third party suppliers used.

Your ecommerce agency must fully understand your current business processes. This is especially important when developing sites for multichannel retailers who will already have POS systems, fulfilment companies and couriers that the ecommerce website will need to integrate with.

5) Merchant provider and payment gateway.

If you enjoy filling in forms you will love this part. A merchant provider will likely be the bank who you currently use for your business transactions. The payment gateway company will provide you with the secure link between the website and your bank allowing you to take money and issue refunds.

6) A development plan for the future.

Selling online is an art form that can often require numerous iterations of designs and features to maximise conversions. When planning your ecommerce venture consider budgeting for split testing, focus groups and continued website development.

7) Marketing plan.

Any website is only as good as the traffic it receives. Of course one must consider search engine optimisation and social media but do not ignore the power of print advertising. The use of unique promotional codes will allow you to easily monitor the success of marketing campaigns both off and online.

8)  Staff.

A point that borders into the realms of business consultancy, but one that is worth mentioning. As an e-retailer you should not/cannot expect to run such a business on your own. We have seen first-hand the value of investing in great people and so have our clients.

From creating and sending out promotional email newsletters, engaging with your customers through social media to managing an AdWords campaign these all require a significant amount of time.
A professional agency will be more than happy to provide these services for you and you will of course benefit from their knowledge and expertise, but do also consider employing someone to manage these aspects of your business for you. It may very well be more cost effective.