The first reality to absorb is this: if you sell merchandise over the Internet and you have a physical presence in a “nexus,” or state, you are required to follow that jurisdiction’s sales tax laws – but only from customers who are subject to sales tax because of their residence in that state. Sounds pretty simple until you understand that there are 50 states to keep track of. Add to that the wonky official rule that if customers do not remit sales tax payments to sellers, they are technically required to pay them directly to their state. Don’t ask how that enforcement mechanism would work; truly, it’s anyone’s guess. Mostly only very high-end purchases would come to the attention of each state’s tax collector.

We’ll make it easy for you. Only five U.S. states do not impose a sales tax. They are Alaska, Oregon, Montana, Delaware, and New Hampshire. Now you know.

But what is your obligation in terms of making sure your customers pay up? That’s more confusing.
​
If you’re committed to avoiding future problems and doing the right thing at the outset, here are steps to take that will keep you in the clear:

• Acquire a sales tax permit. Registering for a permit in the state where you are based is only necessary if that state collects sales taxes. The Department of Revenue is typically the governing agency, so locate yours and find out the process, the filing frequency requirements, and any related obligations. *Note that in many states it is illegal to collect sales tax without a permit, so don’t freelance on this one.
  
  
• Set up a sales tax collection mechanism. Perhaps your service provider has a built-in function making it easy. Some offer precise tax-collection features pertinent to each state. If you don’t have this option, find a way to get it.
  
  
• Learn the difference between destination and origin. If you ship to a customer in a state that does collect sales taxes, charge that state’s rate on each purchase. If your state requires collection based on where you are located – the “origin-based” designation – you will be charged by your state and required to pay up. Again, consult your state’s revenue agency for clarification.
  
  
• Now file taxes. No one likes that phrase, but if you buy online sales tax software, you can cut through the red tape with little effort. These programs will even nitpick down to the varying counties and jurisdictions with add-on taxes. They make filing a breeze.
  
  

If you start out of the gate with a solid tax-collection strategy and are clear with your customers, you’ve saved a lot of time and trouble. Try including an estimated tax figure in shopping carts so prospective buyers are aware of it in advance. They will appreciate the heads-up.

Keep in mind that beyond your proprietary site, selling goods on third-party platforms involves unique demands. If you’d like to use Amazon or eBay, for example, you will need to carefully ingest their specific image requirements. This is where the science of photography sneaks in, blending concepts of pixel count, scalability, and (most important) avoiding copyright infringement.
​
Making things more confusing are the product-specific difficulties in capturing clean images of goods like jewelry, clothing, and extra-large items. Consulting an online expert is your best bet.
Some basics to get you started:

• Good news! You don’t need a high-end camera. In fact, a decent SmartPhone camera function is not only suitable, but excellent for quick editing. Invest in add-ons for editing with more specific settings.
  
  
• Remember that highly saturated, high-resolution images are slower to load on many devices, which can make a prospective customer bail quickly.
  
  
• Use a white backdrop in almost every case. This highlights specific detailing, colors, and even scale and size ratios. White backgrounds reconcile white balance temps and reflect a level of lighting that our brains recognize as a staring point.
  
  
• A “photography sweep” works best, meaning a backdrop that offers a clean transition from a vertical to a horizontal surface. Make the “sweep” larger than the product, creating perfect balance.
  
  
• Shooting tables are ideal for smaller products, offering flexibility in placement. Purchase one on a well-known online platform, or be handy and make your own using scrap wood pieces nailed to the back of a small table, clamping the sweep into place. Reflective qualities in white wrapping paper adds a bonus.
  
  
• Always employ sufficient lighting levels. Your detail, palette, and color balance will improve immeasurably. The temperature of a light source can diffuse the impact and clarity of most goods.
  
  
• Displaying images in different angles is an exceptional substitute for video presentation – although if you have the bandwidth, you can also consider those.
  
  
• It’s critical to understand that every monitor or phone display is not equal, and what you see on your end may not reflect what others will experience. Try viewing your images on another household computer, or a friend’s device.
  
  

Speaking of expert tips, check out this piece from Shopify. It offers image optimization ideas for ecommerce sites. Or this one, exploring more customized enhancements. Other options include buying a tripod (they even make these for SmartPhones) and achieve top-rate image stabilization. Experiment with filters and diffusers, but check that they don’t grossly distort a product’s likeness. Your first objective as a trusted seller is to deliver what customers think they see.

​You’ve built your email list to a point where it’s time to automate. But how do you do it?

The nuts and bolts of process and procedure are great, but you need to start with a strategy. Simply sending the same message to every customer, or potential customer, on your list isn’t enough.

As nice as one-size-fits-all is in theory, in practicality, it’s not very effective. 

So what does work?

Define and Segment Your Audience
If you want to tailor your approach, you’re going to start by thinking about what separates those on your list. A customer that made a purchase last week is different than a customer that made a purchase last year is different from a potential customer who hasn’t made a purchase at all.
Once you’ve created a few segments, you can begin to tailor your outreach approach and to set up automated triggers for email outreach. For instance, if your segment is those who’ve made a purchase between 10 and 90 days ago, you might consider sending an offer for free shipping or a discount code.

Collect Data During Sign Up
They got on your list somehow. Presumably most had to fil out a form and give you their email address. But that’s not the only thing you can ask for. Here are other pieces of information that you might find useful:

• City
• Country
• Gender
• Age/Birthday
• Phone number for SMS outreach

Birthday is a particularly effective bit of info as targeting birthday emails generally have a much higher ROI. Omnisend estimates birthday emails generate a 34% open rate, 24% click-through rate, and a 10.5% conversion rate. Granted, you still have to compose a compelling birthday email series, but that’s a topic for another day.

A/B Testing and Analytics Are Your Friend
Dive into all that data that’s right at your fingertips and begin by texting different email strategies to see which get you the best open, click-thorough, and purchase stats. Don’t hesitate to test in parallel, either. Got a message going out? Create two versions to determine things like the best subject lines, whether emojis help or hurt, or whether it makes a difference if the email comes from a generic or personal email address. Once you’ve sent those parallel messages, take a look at the stats and use that to build and refine your strategy.
In a world that’s ever-changing, more and more quickly, this isn’t a one and done prospect. Revisit your assumptions and test again. Continually be building your strategy and pushing back against what you think you know. What worked in 2019 probably isn’t the same as what will work in 2022.

Create Automated Message Flows
Once you’ve got a good handle on what works on whom, it’s time to actually devise your email strategy. You can start by creating workflows – series of emails that push a customer to your desired outcome. What might that look like? For a new customer who’s just joined you list, it’s a welcome series of 2-3 emails that establish your brand/ mission and invite them along on your journey. For someone who’s abandoned a cart, it’s a series of email tempting them to return to finish their purchase.

Other ideas include a birthday series, an order and shipping series, purchase follow-up, and reactivation for customers who’ve gone quiet. And, of course, you should be tailoring these workflows to your specific business and audiences, and you should be testing various messages and strategies within your emails.
​
The result? Better ROI. Higher conversion rates mean more business and really, that’s the whole goal.

​Welcome back to the How to Handle Abandoned Carts that Don’t Result in Sales series. In part I of the series, we discussed the following:
 

• The reasons why customers abandon their carts: lack of trust or unexpected costs.
• How to reach out to abandoned cart customers in a timely manner: time is of the essence.
• Best practices for customer outreach: how to reach out to customers who abandoned their carts, using email and other avenues that we’ll discuss in part II.

 
Implementing the advice from the last blog can help you create an outreach plan at the precise timing. But what if you can automate some of the process while saving sales at the same time?
 
Now, we’ll discuss tools that can help you automate abandoned cart problems and regain sales.

​1. Optin Monster 
Optin Monster is a popular pick as a cart abandonment saver tool. It uses advanced page-level targeting to track the behavior of your visitors.
 
From there, Optin Monster will provide your customers with irresistible offers. This tool also comes with attractive and beautifully designed templates which are entirely customizable. Some of the approaches that Optin Monster includes countdown timers, floating bars, and geotargeting.
2. BigCommerce Cart Abandonment SoftwareWant to send automated emails for abandoned cart users? BigCommerce Cart Abandonment Software implements this approach.
 
It works like this: a customer adds an item to a cart. They close out of the browser or leave without purchasing.
 
From there, BigCommerce Cart Abandonment Software will send an email to your customer and remind them to come back.
 
You even have an option to add a coupon for extra enticement. Keep in mind that one of the reasons people abandon carts is unexpected (or high) shipping costs. An automated email with a coupon for free shipping can sweeten the deal.
 
3. Chatra Live Chat + Cart SaverHow about a pop-up chat box in real time when a customer abandons their cart? That’s what Chatra Live Chat + Cart Saver is all about.
 
This is a powerful plugin for engaging visitors. An interesting advantage is that you can see what customers are typing before they hit the send button. It’s almost like reading their mind!
 
How can you take advantage of undecided shoppers with live chat, including Chatra and similar services? Several approaches include:
 

• Determining the average time on the website from the time of browsing to making a purchase, triggering a live chat option after that time period. You can track time on your website by using Google Analytics.
• Nurture customers who reach a specific dollar threshold in their cart.
• Assist with payment problems in real time if incorrect information is submitted during checkout.

 
Implementing an automated process for abandonment carts can be a game changer for saving sales. Keep an open mind in terms of which approach works best for your business. You may begin with one idea or automated tool and then switch to another, tweaking to get your desired results.
 
Understanding your customers and their behavior can assist with scoring more sales while increasing buyer confidence. Meanwhile, these 3 automated tools can help you save time while overcoming abandoned cart obstacles. 

​As customers browse your products, it’s not uncommon to add products to cart without making a purchase. Unfortunately, the average abandoned cart rate is 72%, which can seriously take a bite out of your profits. 
 
While frustrating, there are solutions to help this happen less often while having more successful transactions. In this two-part series, we’ll show you to handle abandoned cart situations that don’t result in sales.

Why Do Customers Abandon  Carts?

Before we dive into effective strategies for handling abandoned carts, it helps to know why people abandon carts in the first place.
 
There are several common reasons:

• Unexpectedly high shipping costs or taxes
• Requirement to create an account
• A time-consuming checkout process
• Slow shipping and delivery
• Website performance problems
• Limited payment options
• Lack of reviews and/or social proof 
• Browsing and researching product, leaving the item in the cart to return to it later

 
The good news is that there are ways that you can reach out to abandoned cart customers and alleviate their concerns. 

Reaching out to Abandoned Cart Customers: Time is of the Essence

There is a strategic process for reaching out to abandoned cart customers, especially if you want to do it effectively.
 
Timeliness is important when it comes to reaching out. You’ll want to act quickly, as the experience at your online store will be fresh in the customer’s mind.
 
Meanwhile, a timely outreach can help tap into the purchase mindset. A customer might still have the idea of an item or shopping on their mind, making it easier to lead them back to the cart.
 
Another important note to keep in mind is accessibility. The customer might still be on their computer or on their phone. If this is the case, it can be a quicker and easier process to finish the purchase. 

Best Practices for Abandoned Carts: Customer Outreach 

Now that you know the importance of timeliness, it’s time to think about best practices to put into action.
 
One of the most popular ways to reach out to customers with abandoned carts is via email. Abandoned cart emails can be quite effective when used correctly, helping you to regain up to 14% of your sales.  
 
You’ll want to send the email within the first 2 hours of the abandoned cart occurrence. If this doesn’t yield a response, send a follow up email 24 hours later.
 
In the email, you’ll want to include a photo of the item that the customer is considering. This approach will get the item back on the customer’s mind. Providing a link to their cart can give them quick access to make the final purchase.
 
If you still find yourself having a hard time with abandoned carts, this is a chance to add a discount to the product or offer free shipping. Since unexpected costs can contribute to abandoned carts, this is one way to address the issue.
 
For part II of our abandoned cart series, we’ll discuss tools to use for abandoned carts. These automated suggestions will help save you time with the ultimate goal of customers finishing their transaction. 

Photo by David Clarke on Unsplash

Don’t be surprised if the lion’s share of blog posts and other venues devoted to offering tips on building and sustaining your ecommerce biz are directly related to marketing. It’s clear by now that the virtual world of shopping has expanded consumer options exponentially, which comes with its own Catch-22: yes, you have a built-in audience you’d never have as a simple physical store; no, you are not the only game in town. Crafting a smart, savvy marketing strategy is the only way to become a viable presence with a statistically significant customer base.

Thankfully there are innumerable useful hints on how to market an ecommerce business, and they range from commonsense to proven to edgy, new approaches developed after the phenomenon of online buying reached its multi-decade stage.
​
Following are strategies known to generate business and, more importantly, to keep it.

• REWARDING REPEAT CUSTOMERS
  
  Once you hook a buyer and deliver both excellent products and superior service, consider offering them a loyalty bonus in the form of a discount, exclusive sales info, or anything you create as an appropriate and do-able campaign.
  
  
  
• TAP INTO THE UNKNOWN
  
  People seem to crave a quasi-gamble, as evidenced by the volume of lottery tickets sold every week. Carry that over to your ecommerce store by converting lookers into buyers, enticing them with a “mystery discount” they will only uncover after spending time on your site. It’s a tactic that’s irresistible to some, and unoffensive to those who aren’t terribly interested.
  
  
  
• PERSONALIZATION PLUS
  
  Online shopping is as personal, if not more personal, than in-store buying. Consumers tend to execute targeted searches in their spare time. Consider developing segregated sub-stores within your main store, setting up “lifestyle segment promotions” aimed at luring buyers in search of something special.
  
  
  
• ‘TIS THE SEASON
  
  Holiday or seasonal promotions are as old as time in the commerce sector, and in ecommerce, they reflect a superb sales strategy. Take great care in presenting a campaign that is aesthetically pleasing, well planned, and reflective of an offer that is unique – not just an extension of a current sales promotion.
  
  
  
• FLASH-BANG FOR EFFECT
  
  Repurpose the tried-and-true “flash sale” invented by predecessors in commerce. Whether you’re offering a clearance price on older inventory or a temporary price reduction on current fare, these tend to be effective for capturing the attention of shoppers. Even better, design a secret flash sale that teases with a graphic offering a percentage-off deal by “unlocking” through a website click.
  
  
  
• NO DOWN TIME
  
  Our final tip is to be on-brand, on-time, and on-target every day. Accomplish this by ensuring every visitor to your store’s site experiences the full potential of engagement and interest. Promotions should target existing customers, but also be incentivizing new buyers who want to be part of the club. In short, make every contact count.

 
For a bevy of fabulous tips, facts, strategies, and overall info on the evolving ecommerce world, check out ecommerce specialist Namogoo. They are awesome.

Among dozens of considerations merchants of all type need to take to heart, one of the most impactful is offering reduced pricing either as part of a sale even to all or even to selected loyal customers. This has become a problem for many ecommerce vendors, especially. Discounts are well known to be magnets for new and existing buyers; in fact, for online commerce, they are a driving force in the skyrocketing rate of revenues year after year.

For larger e-sellers, discounts are a staple and a primary marketing tool. Giants such as Amazon use them to produce maximum revenues on a marginal basis, meaning they may profit more on the sheer number of sales, even if they take a loss on each individual transaction.
​
But when is and is not a good time to slash prices? Here are some important factors to evaluate, broken into two categories -- advantages and disadvantages:


The Yes Effect, or why offering sale prices is a great idea:

1. AOV, or Average Order Value
   How much revenue are you generating for each customer on checkout? This figure offers a useful tool for overall assessment on the typical sale. If you bundle a variety of products together, it helps generate sales for categories that are experiencing a dip in revenues. Ecommerce big players adopt this strategy frequently.
   
   
2. Long-term loyalty discounts
   Retain long-time or just somewhat regular customers by rewarding their repeat purchases with discounts. This is on balance a good way to encourage continued loyalty. And it’s not limited to product discounts. Also consider perks such as “Buy one; get one half-off” or “Receive a logo T-shirt with each $50 purchase.”
   
   
3. Kickstarting a client base
   Offering discounts right off the bat is a great way to look attractive to new buyers. Provided you are in a position to follow through, benefits such as free shipping are tried-and-true methods of luring up to 70 percent of shoppers who are first-time visitors.
   
   
   

The No Effect, or why sales pricing may backfire:

1. More harm than good?
   Some e-tail analysts say that regular deep discounting can be a self-inflicted fatal wound when customers begin to suspect they are a false representation of your usual prices. Overdoing discounts is a pattern seen in jewelry stores offering half-off gold chain sales and never change that policy over a period of years, for example.
   
   
2. Stay in the black
   Profit margins suffer when an item is discounted too heavily, as customers may expect that price to hold over time. If you continue it, your bottom line suffers. If you don’t, buyers may look elsewhere.
   
   
3. Offer good stuff
   Quality control changes everything. If your products don’t meet the standards buyers come to expect, they will see the discount as a manipulative tool to peddle inferior goods. This is especially true with respect to products offered with no warranties.
   
   

The basic points to be considered in contemplating a regular discount program require a careful study into your inventory, your current profit figures, your reputation going into the program, and whether you feel confident that it’s a positive business model that will serve you years down the road. Proceed with caution, but don’t be shy about proceeding if it all adds up.

The old adage goes something like this: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” We’ll back off of the hyper-dramatic element therein, while still making a solid point. And here it is: Attempting to ramp up your practical and technological upgrades can be a colossal failure for an ecommerce store if it is not prepared to make certain that it’s functional.

Countless blogs—including ours—eagerly advocate for trending technology as a method of padding your bottom line. It’s simple to discover a new strategy that uses tech concepts to make your site more noticeable and competitive, and even simpler to share it as a fabulous way to help you sell. The downside of this unfolds when the execution goes south, and disappointment ensues.
​
This blog post represents a reversal of our typical entries, for good reason. It’s equally important to avoid errors as it is to take advantage of popular, accelerating trends.

​Here are some examples, pulled from past suggestions we and others have made:

• MOBILE SHOPPING and MOBILE PAYMENTS
  At some point, these will be standard elements, as conventional as opening a brick-and-mortar store. For now, though, there are considerations that should be acknowledged with respect to ensuring your online store is providing seamless access without interruption, including a compromised interface that translates to poor visual presentation and makes prospective buyers immediately turn away. If you wish to place an emphasis on tailoring your store interface for smart phones (which are a fast-growing method of consumer buying) make sure you have either the personal expertise to make it work, or the resources to hire someone who does.
  
  
• CHATBOTS and REAL-TIME COMMUNICATION
  Offering instant access to live support is a golden opportunity to rival the level of service available in physical stores. But if your app is not functioning correctly, leaving a customer in limbo, it may lead to their vow of never visiting your store again.
  
  
• OUTREACH MARKETING
  It is never inherently wrong to incorporate personal interactions following either a sale or an inquiry. Emails, text messages, social media direct messaging– all of these can be invaluable tools for establishing a close buyer-seller relationship. That said, too much may be too much. Not everyone enjoys this level of communication. Always ask in your first outreach, in a careful, conversational manner, whether your marketing messages are welcomed.
  
  
• VISUAL AUGMENTED IMAGERY
  Online commerce increasingly is embracing the strong impact of video in addition to still images. Capturing the attention of potential buyers by providing them with a near-living example of how your products will suit their tastes and needs can be powerful. But if your technology or application is not up to par, it can distort what you sell and turn them off forever.
  
  
• REWARDING LOYALTY
  Not that loyalty programs are a newfangled strategy for endearing buyers, but e-commerce merchants developing them need to be careful to avoid overselling. Your reputation as a relatively new source for shoppers can quickly deteriorate if their first attempt to participate is unsuccessful due to an unforeseen factor that makes it impossible to follow through. The trick is to be judicious with reward offerings, updating them incrementally as you gain the confidence in your ability to deliver.
  
  

Now that you know what not to do, you can gain confidence in what you can do, and plan carefully with a strategy going forward that is aimed at growing your store and your reputation in a sustainable manner.

It’s time again to revisit the various and sundry “tips and tricks” feature that serves up a reminder on how to make your online store work for you. Search engines are littered with hints from analysts, fellow ecommerce vendors, and influencers alike, all poised to help you kickstart or continue to grow your business. Peruse every hint you’re given; choose the ones that may fluidly be put into practice.
​
Just think! At some point you may be in a position to hand out advice. Until then, embrace the lessons learned by those whose trails were blazed before you, and those who have kept close watch on the booming commercial phenomenon of internet sales.
Here are four useful tips, in no particular order:

1. Spread yourself thick
   The beauty of cyberspace as a virtual shopping mall is its reach, obviously. Though it can be confusing, or bogged down with competition, focus forward and look specifically for ideas that address your needs, your niche, and your passion. The rest will follow.
   
   That means building a presence on as many social networks as possible. The analogy for conventional retail biz would be advertising in as many media platforms and physical areas as possible. For our purposes, it’s a tad more fun. Facebook, the social media giant, is a start. With more than 1 billion unique users worldwide, it’s the biggest stage, but increasingly not the best. Depending on your product mix, a younger crowd on Instagram and Snapchat may be more lucrative; niche collectors congregating on Pinterest turn out impressive endorsements; and don’t forget that run-of-the-mill neighborhood community pages are opening up to ads. 
   
   
2. Get noticed
   Tempting as it is to refine and re-refine your product inventory, customers won’t appreciate your efforts unless they know you. Keep your focus intently on marketing, building a growing list of loyal buyers you reach through social media, or through expanded post-sale contact with current clientele. Post daily (or several times daily) to social media. Reach out to product-specific magazines and high-profile blogs, enticing them with well-crafted writing, photographs, and products that will catch their attention.
   
   Name recognition is vital currency, but getting it isn’t automatic. Of course quality and excellent service are part of this equation, but selling to buyers who have never heard of you is next to impossible.
   
   
   
3. Make a toolbox
   Applications, or apps, are your best friends and life-giving entities. Ecommerce sites aren’t successful without them, but the key lies in determining what’s suitable for a business of your size, what will fill needs you can’t fill, and what will make your everyday efforts easier. Try out the array of apps in the Shopify ad store, using free trials until you find something that gels. Redbytes offers a primo list of suggestions as well. Give each a look-over. This invaluable piece from Influencer Marketing Hub does a fab job of summarizing the process with breakdowns of areas you can best use an app, such as supplier directories, branding and design, shipping, and more.
   
   
4. Hire help
   Speaking of filling holes, the typical ecommerce newbie may be resistant to relinquish control. This could be a mistake, as there are limitless opportunities for outsourcing tasks you may not have mastered. A good second-hand vendor might be the glue that joins your already stellar store. Oberlo has some resources for you.
   
   

Perhaps you’re tiring of the endless stream of “tips and tricks” directed at new and growing ecommerce stores. They can be a dizzying spate of redundance, or a useful collection from which you carefully consider and choose. Go for the latter. Building a successful online business is not for the faint of heart, but it is for anyone with a dream, some time, and a desire to be the best.

E-commerce hits on a dynamic set of options when considered a global entity. US-based sellers enjoy a large market due to its simple population figures, but what happens when you want to expand your horizons and sales, and ship internationally?

There are factors at play, and each should be explored. Besides shipping costs and difficulties in communications at times, a major element relates to trade customs and duties. Thankfully, there is a universal code assignment system to ease the pain of having to formulate your own procedure.
​
Classifying products goes to the heart of custom and duty requirements, or taxes paid to governments in the course of trade. Tracking the type of goods being imported and exported is a primary function of all governments, and not every category is equal. If you endeavor to spread your sales territory across borders, get up to speed on the concept of clarifying the type of sale you’re making, and stay within the compliance expectations of various purchasers to maintain good relations. Even though the importer (seller) is technically responsible for paying customs and duty fees, purposely mischaracterizing the goods category can land you and/or your buyer in hot water. At best, it may cost your buyer more in customs and duty fees.