Like any business, online commerce has its own obstacles. Though they may present themselves differently than a brick and mortar establishment, many of these challenges are rooted in the same fundamental issues of trust, communication, and convenience. Creating a profitable eCommerce business with a positive reputation depends on your ability to navigate these challenges and provide customers with the best online shopping experience available.

The first thing to realize as an online business owner is that the vast majority of visitors to your site will not trust what they see. Customers are unimpressed with stylish layouts and amazing graphics when it comes down actually spending money. Most people want to see legitimacy. This can be displayed in many ways. Start by including a physical address and phone number, along with several contact emails and company bios. These things can go a long way in establishing legitimacy, but don’t stop there. Partnering up with other valued websites and becoming a member of organizations such as the Better Business Bureau are other proven ways to build trust. Beyond that, you must be good at answering the phones and responding quickly to customer inquiries. Some customers will even call just to see how quickly you respond, looking for comfort in the fact that your business is active and on top of things.

Product presentation is the second most important obstacle to overcome in online business. Unlike in a real world store, customers cannot touch and feel the product under consideration, and for this reason, the level of product showcasing must be very high. Provide several image views, elaborate descriptions, customer reviews, as well as links for other information. Most successful ecommerce sites provide at least five pictures of each product. Descriptions should be unique to your business and as clear as possible. If you or your team is not comfortable writing attractive product descriptions, hiring a writer is well worth the expense.

The last major issue in online business is security. The security of your website determines a customer’s willingness to enter their personal payment information. Part of establishing trust in your security is in having an online merchant account. A credit card merchant account will allow you to accept card payments while keeping shoppers within your website. Moving from your site to a third party processor’s site can be quite unsettling for potential buyers and can also cause a host of other problems. Once a merchant account is in place, making sure your site has adequate encryption will also reassure your customers in the level of informational security employed by your business.

The challenges of online sales are easily overcome with the investment of some time and thought. Without tackling these obstacles, the probability of sales will be very low. Of course, it doesn’t stop there. There are an infinite number of improvements you should continue to make as your business grows and develops. These major obstacles are merely the roadblocks that have a tendency to shut businesses down before they even get started.

Merchant accounts make it possible for businesses to provide online credit card processing. For more information on credit card processing visit www.stradafee.com.

With all of the preparation, problem solving, and management involved in having an eCommerce store, there is one precaution that is grossly overlooked which has the potential of creating huge problems. Credit card chargebacks were created to protect cardholders from unauthorized transactions, and they make it possible for customers to refuse payment for goods or services based on the claim that the services were not received or goods were never delivered. Credit card institutions may also approve chargebacks based on damaged items and items that are not what they were claimed to be, even if the items were never returned to the vendor. As a result, a few customers regularly abuse the system in hopes of receiving products for free. Naturally, this greatly impacts those in the business of online sales by suddenly removing funds that are already collected, thus these entities must take care to utilize certain protocol to prevent as many chargebacks as possible.

It is extremely important for an eCommerce website to exercise extreme clarity in regards to shipping information, products, and checkout. It is imperative that the customer is aware of how the charge will appear on their card statement. Some customers mistakenly submit a fraudulent charge claim because they did not recognize the charge. Another way to prevent such confusion is to send automatic follow-up emails reminding customers that their card will be charged. These emails are also an appropriate time to reiterate to the customer that they are welcome to call you with any questions concerning this order. The business telephone number should appear clearly on the website as well as on the actual credit card charge. This allows customers to easily call to verify the charge without having to research what the charge might have been.

Pre-ordered items should not be charged to credit cards in advance. The time in which it takes to receive the item in stock may give the customer time to change their mind or simply claim a false charge on the grounds that no items were shipped. Instead, wait until the item is in stock and ready to be shipped before charging a customer’s credit card.

Getting rid of mistaken charges quickly is also a valuable policy for eCommerce. Not only does this avoid confusion and assure the customer that you will not be keeping the money, but it will also build your reputation as a professional and organized establishment. If a mistaken charge is not quickly voided, the customer is likely to take matters into their own hands by simply requesting a chargeback. If a customer reports a mistaken charge, you must never put off responding. It is imperative that you send an immediate response at least to let the customer know you are looking into the matter and will correct it as soon as possible.

The basic idea of preventing chargebacks is to have professional quality control and customer service policies that deal with the problem before a customer has time to consider disputing the charge with their credit card institution. It is much better to deal with these issues with customers directly, both for your future business and for your credit and legal integrity.

Merchant accounts make it possible for businesses to provide online credit card processing. For more information on credit card processing visit www.stradafee.com.