Open for business?

Internet shoppers are some of the most fickle consumers there are and when they are ready to buy your site better be ready to take their order. We have been noticing on many commerce application support forums where some really bad information is being posted that if followed is a recipe for failure, if your site is down a shopper may never come back no matter what anybody says to the contrary!

According to our research the instances of someone visiting your site and placing an order on a first visit are rare unless you are the only site that sells a specific item that can be found nowhere else on the planet. It is more likely that a shopper will visit your site multiple times before actually placing an order after researching other sites that sell the same or similar products.

Once they have made up their mind to make a purchase and it happens to be your site, availability, performance, customer service contact information, ease of use and a professional looking site are the primary keys to closing the sale. If your site is down or has page not found, poor performance, page errors and any number of consumer confidence killing issues chances are they "will" shop elsewhere and may never come back to your site.

eBusiness fact not fiction -All things being equal, item, price and shipping the store that is going to make the sale is the one that's open for business and able to service the shopper. If your site is down its pretty much like going to your favorite department store during business hours only to find the door locked and nobody home.