Dr. Ralph F. Wilson is an E-Commerce Consultant and has served as editor of Web Marketing Today newsletter since 1995. His firm, Wilson Internet, has built more than 100 sites and online stores for small to medium sized businesses. He also provides telephone consulting opportunities for strategy development and speaks on web marketing and e-commerce to many organizations. In addition to these articles, see his articles on Web Marketing Topics.
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"12 Ways to Boost Your Conversion Rate," 8/15/98. A serious problem can be a low conversion rate, the percentage of customers who actually make a purchase on their visit to your store. Outlines 12 different strategies to increase the purchase rate.
"Should You Accept Checks over the Internet?,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 12, 7/15/98. Primer to online checks for payment of goods in your webstore. Considers legal and practical aspects. Estimates that about 10% of customers will prefer this payment method if available.
Apparel Industry Cases
"Setting Prices for Web Sales,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 4, 11/15/97. Discusses the value of careful writing of product description copy at Lands' End that adds value to the products, and allows higher pricing than would otherwise be possible.
"Affiliates Desperately Need a Business Plan,"Web Marketing Today, 10/1/99. Observes that the typical affiliate or associate has no business plan to create valuable content and therefore attract the traffic necessary for success in an affiliate program.
"How Does an Affiliate Program Work?,"Web Marketing Today, 10/1/99. Explains the basics of associate or affiliate programs, using Amazon.com as an example.
"The Waning and Waxing of Affiliate Marketing,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 24, 7/15/99. Argues that a number of factors are now inhibiting the growth of affiliate program marketing, such as competition for programs and many "dud" affiliates. Points out Ken Evoy's Five Pillar Program (http://sales.sitesell.com) as a modelof treating affiliates as valued partners and rewarding them appropriately.
"How to Retain Your Affiliates,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 10, 5/15/98. It's one thing to develop affiliates; it is quite another to have a team of motivated, active supporters of your businesses. Explains how to attract and keep affiliate loyalty.
"How ViaWeb and ShopSite Pro Incorporate Affiliate Program Software,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 8, 3/15/98. Review of affiliate program software built into ViaWeb (now Yahoo! Store) and ShopSite Pro software. Suggests that while the software is functional, it isn't really adequate to manage a large program easily.
"A Merchant's Primer on Affiliate Programs,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 8, 3/15/98. Explains the whys and wherefores of setting up an affiliate or associate program from the merchant's perspective. Includes selection criteria.
"How B2B E-Commerce Software Differs from Retail,"Web Commerce Today, 5/15/00. Low-end shopping cart programs often don't usually fill the bill for B2B e-commerce. Discusses specific needs B2B storeowners have, and points out both high-end and low-end software that can meet some or all of those needs.
"The Rise of Online B2B Marketplaces,"Web Commerce Today, 5/15/00. Examines trend in B2B e-commerce to rush to marketplaces and exchanges in each industry. Explains what these marketplaces will do, the pros and cons, and the special opportunities for small businesses.
"Will Online Marketplaces Displace Online Stores?,"Web Commerce Today, 5/15/00. Vertical marketplaces can display your entire catalog. Do you really need your own B2B standalone e-commerce capability? Yes, argues the author.
"Review: Business-to-Business Internet Marketing,"Web Marketing Today, Issue 52, 1/1/99. Business-to-Business Internet Marketing Barry Silverstein. Primer on B2B Internet marketing. Lots of good information.
"Selling Online to Wholesale Customers,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 4, 11/15/97. A general overview of B2B (B2B) sales via the Web. Explains the place of EDI in the process, and special features of websites catering to B2B sales.
Credit Card Sales
"Non-US Credit Card Gateways,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 19, 2/15/99. Suggests credit card payment gateway systems for non-US companies, such as WorldPay, CyberSource, CyberCash, etc. Suggestions for appealing to a global international market.
"Guidelines for Obtaining a Merchant Credit Card Account for Web Sales,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 17, 12/15/98. Obtaining a merchant credit card account is a major hurdle for small businesses seeking to do business on the Web. Describes the process, explains the costs, warns of the sharks that populate these waters.
"Why You Need to Take Credit Cards on Your Website,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 17, 12/15/98. Contends that an inability to accept credit cards dooms most merchants seeking US sales to a small fraction of what they could enjoy.
"Do You Need Real-Time Credit Card Authorization?,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 17, 12/15/98. Contends that automating the credit card authorization function can make online sales more efficient, and therefore, less costly. Examines other alternatives for smaller stores.
"A Short List of Internet Credit Card Gateways,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 17, 12/15/98. Annotated list of web-based credit card payment gateways systems, such as CyberCash, PaymentNet, and AuthorizeNet.
"International Payment Issues,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 2, 9/15/97. In the US credit cards are a standard medium of exchange. But this is not true for merchants outside North America. Discusses various approaches, as well as incorporating and paying taxes in the US in order to qualify for a US bank merchant credit cardaccount.
"Structuring Shipping Charges to Improve the Conversion Rate,"Web Commerce Today, 4/15/00. Argues that providing a low or even subsidized shipping option will increase sales, since high shipping charges are a common reason for abandoning shopping carts without checking out.
"Services to Support the Online Sale,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 20, 3/15/99. Outlines a variety of ways to provide pre-sale customer service that answers important questions and removes customer concerns. Methods include online chat, models, bots, FAQs, streaming audio and video clips, etc.
"Instant Person-to-Person Sales Support,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 20, 3/15/99. Overview of various approaches to instant customer services through online chat, phone back buttons, and knowledge base bots that answer simple questions.
Distribution Chain Disruptions
"Distribution Chain Strategies in the Internet Age,"Web Marketing Today, 6/1/00. The Internet forces manufacturers to decide whether or not to sell direct to the end user. Here are 5 ways manufacturers are dealing with their existing distribution chain.
"Manufacturers' Dilemma: To Sell or Not to Sell Directly,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 10, 5/15/98. Outlines the difficulties faced by manufacturers in selling products on the Web, threatening to disrupt their carefully-built distribution chain. Options include no online sales, full price sales, discount sales, and commissions to areas where productssell online.
E-Commerce Cases (General)
"Internet Business Plan Checklist for Online Start-Ups,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 22, 5/15/99. Recommends a written business plan to make sure that your online start-up covers the main obstacles that stand between you an success. Outlines points to include in your business plan.
Edi, Obt, And Xml
"EDI Glossary,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 4, 11/15/97. Defines the terminology used with EDI (electronic data interchange), a data format commonly used in electronic B2B (B2B) transactions.
"Why Business-to-Business Commerce Prefers EDI,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 4, 11/15/97. An overview of how EDI (electronic data interchange) format allows businesses to easily exchange financial data through standard forms, such as purchase orders, etc. Looks at both traditional EDI networks and newer web-based EDI.
Established Store Software
"A Look at Lycos Stores,"Web Commerce Today, 11/15/99. Positive review of Lycos Stores, which uses an Open Market ShopSite Pro TX infrastructure for building online stores.
"Review: Open Market ShopSite TX 4.1,"Web Commerce Today, 11/15/99. ShopSite TX provides access to the powerful Open Market Transact e-commerce platform that allows excellent order fulfillment tracking and communication. But there are a few drawbacks.
"Review: Miva Merchant 1.22,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 21, 4/15/99. Miva Merchant v1.22 by Miva Corporation. Mixed review. While Miva can handle records into the 100,000s, and is programmable, it has some flaws, such as no secure way to download a batch of orders. Plug-ins available for UPS shipping calculations.
"Review of ShopSite Manager 3.1,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 2, 9/15/97. Review of Open Market ShopSite Manager 3.1. Quite positive review describes the products main features, and critiques a couple of clunky elements.
"Review: iCat Commerce Online,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 12, 7/15/90. A review somewhat critical of iCat Commerce Online, an inexpensive online shopping cart option for small merchants.
Fraud Prevention
"How Widespread is Credit Card Fraud against Merchants?,"Web Commerce Today, 3/15/00. The article outlines the extent of the problem of credit card fraud against online merchants, with examples from Expedia, TheSmokeShop, and Software.net
"How Much Protection Do Online Merchants Have?,"Web Commerce Today, 3/15/00. Explains the various parties in processing credit card transactions. Then explains that online merchants not only pay higher discount rates, but also bear all the cost of fraudulent transactions.
"Sophisticated Fraud Protection Systems,"Web Commerce Today, 3/15/00. Describes both transaction-based and customer-based fraud detection systems. Encouraged that sophisticated systems will soon be available through reasonably-priced payment gateway systems.
"Low Cost Fraud Protection Methods,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 11, 6/15/98. Outlines some of the problems with credit card fraud against merchants, and some low-cost ways to protect yourself, such as not accepting orders from persons with e-mail addresses from free domains, orders from Eastern Europe, etc.
"Fraud and Chargebacks Challenge Online Merchants,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 11, 6/15/98. Overview of the vulnerability of web merchants to credit card fraud against them by unscrupulous persons. Explains what protections the processors provide, and what they do not. How chargebacks can be handled.
"Choosing an Internet Order Fulfillment House,"Web Commerce Today, 10/15/99. Briefly describes 3 options: inventory, drop-shipping, and fulfillment houses. Profiles 2 fulfillment houses: Shipper.com and iFulfill.com.
"Accounting Software Comparison Resources,"Web Commerce Today, 9/15/99. Provides links to online comparisons of accounting programs that cater to order fulfillment applications.
"Two Maturing Web Fulfillment Tracking Solutions,"Web Commerce Today, 9/15/99. Describes two more mature, and more expensive, fulfillment solutions. (1) Open Market's Transact e-commerce platform, and (2) Smith-Gardner WebOrder.
"Shipping via the US Postal Service,"Web Commerce Today, 9/15/99. Reviews some of the US Postal Service (USPS) offerings attractive for Web merchant order fulfillment, including Priority Mail, Delivery Confirmation, Global Priority Mail, Merchandise Return Service, and the USPS Web Developer's ToolKit.
"Integrating Web Ordering with Accounting Packages,"Web Commerce Today, 9/15/99. Brief description of Peachtree Software's PeachLink 2.0 and Dydacomp Mail Order Manager (M.O.M.) and its web product SiteLINK. Both products need greater maturity.
"Importing Online Order Data into QuickBooks,"Web Commerce Today, 9/15/99. Describes QuickBooks IIF (Intuit Import Format) files and how to create these from order data downloaded from your Web ordering program or shopping cart. Also links to other information on importing IIF files into QuickBooks.
"Amazon.com's Inventory Strategies,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 16, 11/15/98. Discusses Amazon.com's competitive strategies to keep fulfillment and shipping costs to a minimum.
"Analyzing the Drop-Shipping Model for Online Stores,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 16, 11/15/98. Examines the pros and cons of the drop-shipping method of shipping product without needing to warehouse inventory. Suggests resources for finding manufactures and distributors willing to do this for merchants.
"Exploring Your Shipping Options,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 15, 10/15/98. Examines various ways to set up shipping cost calculations in your shopping cart program. Notes UPS available software, and suggests how to group and simplify shipping zones using a map graphic.
"Example of the Online UPS Shipping Calculator,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 6, 1/15/98. Describes and demonstrates the features of the USP (United Parcel Service) shipping calculator, designed to calculate shipping from the US to US and some other destinations. Can be built into some shopping cart software.
General Store Software Topics
"Comparison of Popular Stores,"Web Commerce Today, 10/15/99. Comparison table of popular online stores: Amazon zShops, Yahoo! Store, Lycos Stores, iCat Web Store, and ShopSite Manager SC
"Review: Open Market ShopSite SC 4.1,"Web Commerce Today, 10/15/99. A generally positive review of Open Market ShopSite SC 4.1. Provides both shopping cart and store-building functions, with an interface that is both powerful and merchant-friendly.
"From Print Catalog to Web Catalog,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 23, 6/15/99. A key problem for those with existing print catalogs is developing a database that becomes the updated product information source for both print and web catalogs. Looks at the obstacles and some of the (partial) solutions for companies using Quark orAdobe PageMaker.
"What I Look for in Store-Building Software,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 19, 2/15/99. Guidelines for selecting a shopping cart program. Tips on selection criteria, warnings about future support, etc.
"Review: Building Database-Driven Web Catalogs,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 15, 10/15/98. Building Database-Driven Web Catalogs by Sherif Danish and Patrick Gannon. Describes the need for a single database that flows information to both a company's print catalog as well as its web catalog.
"How Much Infrastructure Does Your Store Need,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 9, 4/15/98. Discusses the various systems needed in e-commerce businesses, such as shopping cart, inventory, accounting and fulfillment, shipping, tax calculation, etc. How to determine which are important for your business.
"How Does Store-Building Software Work?,"Web Marketing Today, Issue 5, 12/15/97. Describes the basic operations of shopping cart or store-building software products. Some guidance as to selection features you need to look for.
"Store-Building Software Evaluation Guide,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 5, 12/15/97. An paper-based form you can print out and make copies of to take notes on as you look at various store software options.
"Simple Form Demo,"Web Commerce Today. Novices often try to make a simple HTML form function for ordering where a shopping cart program is really needed. This page demonstrates where the simple form falls short.
Gift Store Cases
"Lessons from Giftstore Marketing,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 24, 7/15/99. Analyzes the difficulties with marketing a giftstore, and surveys various external and internal marketing approaches used by some major online giftstores.
"Trends in E-Commerce: Freeze-Frame December 1999,"Web Commerce Today, 12/15/99. Dr. Wilson examines the 15 important e-commerce trends that dramatically affect e-commerce planning for the first few months of 2000. Analysis and lessons that on-their-toes merchants must learn from them.
"Book Brief: Selling Online,"Web Commerce Today, 12/15/99. Jim Carroll and Rick Broadhead have produced an important e-commerce introduction, published by Macmillan. Though targeted to Canadians, an extremely helpful book for US merchants, too.
"Book Brief: The E-Commerce Book,"Web Commerce Today, 10/15/99. A good overview of the business and technical processes involved in e-commerce.
"Sidebar: Why Not Set Up Your Own Online Store?,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 23, 6/15/99. Contends that an experienced developer is needed to help your business succeed. But for do-it-yourselfers recommends in favor of Yahoo! Store and against webpage editor designed online stores.
"E-Commerce Readiness Assessment Tool,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 23, 6/15/99. Assessment tool helps companies -- and their developers -- determine their degree of readiness to sell products online. Covers top management commitment, product database preparation, etc.
"Jumping All 12 Hurdles: Store Elements You Must Have Right,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 22, 5/15/99. Small businesses on and off the web face serious challenges in order to survive more than a few years. Article identifies the 12 essential elements of an online business that must be right in order to achieve success.
"Review: Make Your Site Sell,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 22, 5/15/99. Review of Make Your Site Sell by Ken Evoy, M.D. Book explains how to design a site to increase the conversion rate to the maximum. http://sales.sitesell.com
"Review: StrikingItRich.com,"Web Marketing Today, Issue 51, 12/1/98. StrikingItRich.com by Jaclyn Easton. Excellent profiles of 23 business that have been successful on the Web through late 1998. Gives sales information not often disclosed elsewhere for comparison purposes.
"Marketing Single-Product Websites vs. Multi-Product Stores,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 7, 2/15/98. Explains some of the differences between marketing websites promoting a single product compared to an online store with many products. Single products require high mark-up since they get few return customers.
"Review: IBM HomePage Creator,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 20, 3/15/99. While this is an option for a very small business, do not recommend for stores with many products. The wizard is too limiting and slow to develop pages.
"Shopping Carts for Small Sites,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 6, 1/15/98. Highlights several simple shopping cart programs suitable for very small product lines.
"Why Freeware Shopping Cart Programs Are Expensive,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 5, 12/15/97. Identifies some of the free shopping cart programs available on the Web. Contends that they are actually expensive since they have poor documentation, no support, and require a programmer to customize them to meet particular business needs.
Malls
"Malls and Niches,"Web Commerce Today, 7/15/99. Describes why the physical mall model works so that a specialty shop can flourish in the shadow of a giant anchor store. Explains where the mall model has applications to online stores, and where it doesn't.
"How Valuable Is a Mall to the Merchant?,"Web Marketing Today, Issue 34, 6/25/97. Update to 1996 article. Recommends against being in a mall -- especially if you have to pay for it. Contends that Yahoo is the biggest and free-est mall. Malls usually offer little advantage.
"Should You Locate Your Store in a Mall?,"Web Marketing Today, Issue 9, 3/19/96. Recommends against being in a mall -- especially if you have to pay for it. Contends that Yahoo is the biggest and free-est mall. Malls usually offer little advantage.
Misc E-Commerce
"Overcoming the Four Common Barriers to Order Completion,"Web Commerce Today, 2/15/00. Offers antidotes to 4 chief barriers to order completion: (1) high shipping rates, (2) in stock questions, (3) security and privacy concerns, and (4) ease of return policies.
"Creating Compelling Special Offers,"Web Commerce Today, 2/15/00. Describes a variety of offers and sales that can get shoppers to visit your store, and some that can stimulate sales by walk-in visitors.
"Are Amazon.com zShops Good for Merchants?,"Web Commerce Today, 10/15/99. zShops provide a way for merchants to begin selling products on the Web with little or now upfront capital -- and without a Merchant Credit Card Account. But there are some downsides.
Personalization And 1-To-1 Marketing
"Data Mining Your Website,"Web Commerce Today, 9/15/99. Review of Jesus Mena's Data Mining Your Website, applying the established practices of commercial database datamining to identifying customer preferences and predicting customer purchases online.
Sales Agents
"Shopping Agents for the Christmas Season,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 16, 11/15/98. Suggests that merchants sign up with shopping agents in order to increase site traffic for Christmas shopping.
Store Design (General)
"Improving Store Navigation to Increase Sales,"Web Commerce Today, 4/15/00. Contends that redundant navigation systems are necessary to make it easier for shoppers to find what they're looking for, increase a store's conversion rate, and make visitors want to return.
"Using HTML E-Mail to Sell Your Products,"Web Commerce Today, 4/15/00. HTML e-mail offers merchants the ability to send an illustrated, colorful flier with store specials to existing customers at very little cost. Here's what to watch for.
"Employing Color and Graphics to Stimulate Sales,"Web Commerce Today, 2/15/00. Describes how to use cool colors to make shoppers feel comfortable, and warmer more active colors to stimulate action -- clicking on the order button or finalize the sale button.
"Cross-Selling and Up-Selling,"Web Commerce Today, 2/15/00. Once a shopper gets to the product level, it's important to offer alternate products, accessories and more expensive products just a click away. Important way to both increase conversion rate and transaction total.
"Tips for Scanning Photos from Catalogs,"Web Commerce Today, 1/15/00. Offers various tips on getting rid of crosshatch moiré patterns in photos scanned from print catalogs.
"Review: Words That Sell,"Web Commerce Today, 1/15/00. Review of Richard Bayan's thesaurus of words commonly used in sales copy, product descriptions, sales letters, and advertising to increase sales.
"Improve Product Description Copy,"Web Commerce Today, 1/15/00. The second element customers examine when they're browsing your store is your product description. Length of copy, anecdotes, features and benefits: all increase sales.
"Display Products Compellingly,"Web Commerce Today, 1/15/00. Describes various kinds of photos that act as compelling sales tools to sell products, such as photos with happy people, photos of a series of actions or various features, panning, scanning, zooming, using FlashPix, MetaStreaming, QuickTime, VR, and othertechnologies.
"How to Assess an E-Commerce Developer,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 23, 6/15/99. Guidelines for determining an e-commerce developer knows the field and is the right person or firm to help your company set up an online store.
"How Will It Look on Me?,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 20, 3/15/99. Examines the use of customer-configured manikins that model online clothing and apparel. Systems use sophisticated 3D modeling techniques.
"Examining the Goods: Flashpix Imaging Technology,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 18, 1/15/99. Overview of Flashpix imaging technology that allows the shopper to click on an image and zoom in on features, texture, etc. Describes the process and some of the costs.
"Best Practices: Ideal Front Page Size,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 18, 1/15/99. Research on the total file sizes of the first page of popular and successful e-commerce sites. Many novices make the mistake of too many graphics, discouraging shoppers from going further.
"How the Disney Store Online Drives Sales,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 13, 8/15/98. Survey of the Disney Store, examining various techniques used to encourage sales and final checkout.
"Moving Shoppers toward the Checkout Stand,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 13, 8/15/98. Webstore owners find a lot of deserted shopping carts in the aisles at the end of the day. Explains how to encourage shoppers to complete and finalize their orders.
"Tips for Preparing Product Photos,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 10, 5/15/98. Brief tips for preparing product pictures for the Web in GIF or JPEG format.
"Making People Want to Buy in Your Retail Webstore,"Web Marketing Today, Issue 33, 5/29/97. How do you create motivation to make a purchase? This article discusses various techniques to drive shoppers to the checkout stand.
"Review: Why We Buy,"Web Commerce Today, 11/15/99. Examines ability to increase click-through rates and conversion rates by seemingly simple changes to webpages. Though author Paco Underhill works exclusively in bricks-and-mortar retail, contains many insights that can help savvy online storeownersincrease profits.
Transaction Security
"12 Ways to Boost Your Conversion Rate,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 13, 8/15/98. A serious problem can be a low conversion rate, the percentage of customers who actually make a purchase on their visit to your store. Outlines 12 different strategies to increase the purchase rate.
"Is It Really Safe to Order Online?,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 3, 10/15/97. Assures shoppers that shopping online is actually quite safe. But warns of insecure methods of order pick-up by the merchant.
"A Primer on Retail Transaction Security,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 3, 10/15/97. A thorough discussion of how an e-commerce site is secured by means of a Digital Certificate and SSL (secure socket layer) security.
"Securing a Digital Certificate,"Web Commerce Today, Issue 3, 10/15/97. A digital certificate on the merchant's e-commerce website assures the shopper's browser that credit card info cannot be stolen by hackers. A digital certificate, purchased by the merchant from VeriSign or Thawte provides the identify and works with theSSL system of the web server.
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson is an E-Commerce Consultant and has served as editor of 
a star.
