Mom & Pop Internet Business Thrives After Dot Com Bomb-Part II
This is Part II -- See Part I for beginning
Shipping Considerations
The Rowes had to also consider shipping options. "For Celtic
jewelry and Celtic gifts, we had relatively simple options, says
Bill. "Celtic jewelry is small, so we could mail everything, so
we offered first class, priority mail, express mail, and global
priority mail. After some time, the service of express mail
deteriorated. Express mail no longer meant one day. It was
sometimes two or three days. Global priority mail also started
to become unreliable. So, we checked, and FedEx presented us
with the best deal. FedEx, UPS, and DHL all have similar
services for similar prices, but FedEx did not have any problem
with shipping precious metals as the other two did. We know
offer FedEx two day and overnight to US orders and several
international choices to non-US orders. Our FedEx shipping
module sends the order information to the FedEx website which
then returns quotes for the relevant options when shipping
options are required at checkout. Finally, our FedEx orders are
insured and trackable, unlike Global priority mail and more
reliable than Express mail."
Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policies
"We also had to spend a good deal of time considering our store
terms and conditions and our privacy policies," says Christi.
"We eventually came up with a good set of terms and privacy
policies using the golden rule as follows: We will treat
you the way we would want to be treated. It has worked
really well for us. We take the customer's information in trust
and use what we absolutely have to in order to transact the
Celtic jewelry order, but we never share this information with
third parties outside of the transaction, nor do we sell, lease,
or loan any customer information."
"We made sure that our terms and conditions and privacy policy
was clearly spelled out on our web site," adds Bill.
Keep the Customer Informed All Along the Way
The Rowes have one more tip up their sleeves. "We believe that
it is critical to keep our customers informed about the progress
of their order," says Bill. "I have ordered online at places
where my order seems to have gone to a black hole perhaps to
show up unexpectedly weeks from now when I have ceased to
remember it. We do not do that: We immediately send a
confirmation email that is automatically generated, with a
promise of a human generated email to follow."
"When we are ready to ship, we send the customer an email
telling him or her so. If there is a problem, we email the
customer and explain the situation, the choices, and ask for a
response."
"We believe that one of the reasons for our success is our quick
shipping and our keeping our customers informed about their
order step by step. Once we have completed the order, we shut up
and to not contact the customer again unless she or he has
signed up for our newsletter."
Instilling Customer Confidence
The Rowes have been rewarded with a good Celtic jewelry website,
repeat customers, and lots of customer testimonials. "We signed
up with the Public Eye when we started. This independent agency
asks for and tabulates consumer comments about our goods and
services," says Christi. "Obviously, we want our customers to be
happy, and we want them to say so about us."
"We also ask each customer what they like and what they would
like to see improved at our shop," says Bill. We publish these
comments as well as unsolicited emails from customers on our web
site. We reassure customers this way that we are okay people to
do business with. After all, they do not see us either, although
I use a picture of myself on the web site to put a face to our
business."
Sit Back...And Wait!
With lots of hard work, the Rowe's business has grown. "We
anticipated that it would take four to five years for the
business to be profitable," says Bill. "We didn't factor in the
recession, 9/11, and the dot com bust, but we may begin to turn
a profit in our sixth year. Of course, we spend a lot of our
revenue investing in marketing our business."
"So many people just think that if they build a web site,
customers will come," adds Christi. "Wrong! First they must find
you, and that means being well placed in the search
engines."
"Then, once a surfer has finally arrived at your site, you have
about five seconds to make a good first impression so that a
surfer will take time to look over your wares," adds Bill. "When
I go to a store, I generally go in to buy something, not to
shop. But on the web, it is so easy to go from place to place
because there is little effort to do so, that we get about one
buyer in twenty visitors."
Give Customers Complete Product Information
"It is an art to make your pictures and words as compelling as
possible in order to convert visitors to buyers. We give a great
deal of detailed information on each product on its product
page. We have its size in inches and in metric so we may appeal
to a global audience. We tell you who made it, what its made of,
and what comes with it."
You Don't Have To Do Everything Yourself
"I find that having this business has really broadened my
skills," says Bill. "As a small business owner, I have to wear
many hats. But sometimes, it is better to outsource some tasks.
Writing is one to outsource if you are not good at it. Web site
design is another. It is a lot more difficult to address
everything that ought to be addressed and then implement that
design for something as complex as an ecommerce web site."
From First Order to Repeat Customers
The Rowes sum it up for us: "We have really had a lot of fun and
satisfaction from running our own ecommerce Celtic jewelry web
site," says Christi. Getting our first order was very exciting,
and, no, we did not open our store one day in July of 1999 and
then see orders begin to trickle in and then start arriving in
droves as some dot com commercials of the bubble times would
have you believe. But, orders have come in, customers have come
back."
Product Variety & Breadth
"We started with about 150 Celtic jewelry products, and over
time we have added, always selecting the best, until now we have
about 800 products," adds Bill.
Lifetime Guarantee
"We find it easy to stand behind what we sell and offer a
lifetime guarantee for materials and workmanship for each item
because we only select quality, well made jewelry products to
begin with."
Free Shipping
"We are then pleased to ship your order to you for free first
class mail if your order is $25 or more, and charge you nominal
(basically at cost) shipping charges for other, faster
options."
Return Customer Incentive
"Because we like to reward our return customers who are loyal,
we offer them a 10% discount on their second and subsequent
purchases, for any amount, no minimum or no maximum, and with no
time limit."
The Rowes sum it all up with: "So please be good to your self
and come to our Shop Bag End Celtic Jewelry Gifts to
purchase a piece of the Celtic spirit for you or for a friend or
loved one. These classic pieces make for a treasured gift that
will be remembered for ever and a day," says Bill.Tangibles Expressing the Intangible," adds
Christi. Shop Bag End Celtic Jewelry Gifts is
online 24 hours a days, 7 days a week, and about 360 days each
year. We do take a few days off on Memorial and Labor Day
weekends.