MIDITECH was building websites when the Internet was still very young and over the years we have seen some ecommerce businesses come and others go. Those that are no longer around failed to realize some of the necessary real costs of operating a retail store on the Internet. Although the overall cost of opening a web store is very low in comparison with opening a new offline retail location, these are costs that any successful offline retailer should consider when opening a retail web store online.
1. The initial website graphic Design Cost and ecommerce shopping cart setup.
Your webstore MUST have crisp graphics, well displayed products with easy navigation and purchasing procedures in place. It is incredible how many retailers have gone online without considering these things and how important they are to shoppers. Studies have shown that if you have a website that looks like you paid a lot of money to build it, shoppers are more confident shopping from you. On the flip side of this, if your web store looks like someone made it themselves without experience that it can actually hurt your business. Your web store must look professional to be successful.
2. The ongoing website upkeep and maintenance costs.
Online shoppers dislike coming back to a website and finding that nothing has changed. It gives them the impression that no one is minding the store. In order for a retailer web store to be successful you MUST have an ongoing website updating service in place. Many times a retailer hires a web designer to create their site. But when they need an update done, they sometimes wait weeks before it can be completed. MIDITECH knows that you absolutely NEED to have ongoing website updating to be successful. We offer website updating packages that include updating services as a priority service.
3. Reliable Web Hosting and Secure Information Technology With Accessible Top Priority Support.
A webstore does you no good if the pages load slow for customers, or if error messages keep appearing or if your server is down too much. If every time you call for support, you get a new person, it is hard to get things fixed in a timely manner. You end up go over the whole issue with multiple people and wasting valuable time, all while your web store is dead in the water.
There is a real cost to providing superb website availability these days. The cheap host plans at $9.95/month are not going to save you money in this regard - they will lose you money.
What you really need is:
1) A Technology Partner: You need a technology provider that is experienced, has a long standing track record and has up-to-date technology and security measures in place so your store can conduct business properly. You need to be hosted in a World Class Data Center Facility with 99.9% availability. (You can read about MIDITECH's Technology here)
2) A Single Point Of Contact: With MIDITECH, you also have one person that handles support issues and web design updating and support for you. A person you can build a positive business relationship with that grows over time. When you need help, you call this person and they know you by name and their goal is to meet your needs. You also have an emergency after hours number to reach this person for critical issues should they occur.
4. Search Engine Optimization.
Some say, "If you build it - they will come.". MIDITECH believes this is true if things are done right. But we also believe that "If you are visible - they will come". With every web store we build, we keep a sharp focus on search engine visibility and optimization to help you rank higher in the major search engines. How your web store is designed has a great impact on this! It is NOT an easy task but we have been very successful for our customers in getting their websites in front of the markets they seek. This is NOT an extra cost service we provide. We include this with our packages. We believe that you MUST be successful for us to be successful. And being visible is important! We include our SEO package Free!
5. Competition.
Who is your main competition online? Saying, "Every retailer" is too vague an answer in the online marketplace. You need someone who has a marketing mind set and who helps you reach specific niche marketplaces and to compete with the niches. This has been a big part of MIDITECH's success for our customers. So many retailers hire a web designer to build them a website...only to find out that the web designer did not understand the retail marketplace nor marketing concepts. The founder and owner of MIDITECH was in retail sales and management for over 13 years. We understand your business industry and we also know the Internet industry very well with over 10 years experience. We do the research into your competitors. We learn what they are doing online. We learn what your needs and your goals are. We then implement ideas and plans to achieve your marketing goals.
Review Our E-commerce Package Options and see what we can do for your retail business online.
Miva Complete Ecommerce Shopping Cart
