WebProNews sat down with Paul Boisvert of Yahoo Small Business to talk about some things that small e-commerce companies are doing wrong and how they can improve their approaches to ultimately get more sales. 

Making the Most of Limited Time and Resources

"The big issue with any small business is having enough time," says Boisvert. "There’s so many different trends that are out there, having to keep up on the education with what’s new…what’s current, what are the new tools they should be using, what are the new trends…it’s a little bit daunting, and so we try to simplify things with our services, and try to educate them and direct their attention to things that are going to generate the highest ROI."

In fact, this subject came up more than once at PubCon this week. Read here and here for some additional thoughts on this from Chris Brogan and the New York Times’ tech columnist David Pogue respectively. 

"In a nutshell, the biggest thing I see that they’re doing wrong is they’re not focusing," says Boisvert. "They’re not embracing their passion. When people get in and try to sell every product to every single person…you can’t possibly be an expert on everything."

"You know, Amazon has tens of thousands of employees, but they have people that are experts on their specific topics," he adds. "So all small businesses need to kind of embrace what that core product is that they really have a lot of knowledge on, and then you’ll be able to speak with authenticity. You’ll be able to speak with authority, and that’s going to persuade people to buy from you, and buy the products that you’re selling as opposed to anywhere where they could get the same product."

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But e-commerce success isn’t just about time and product focus. Things like site usability and shopping cart optimization can make a huge difference when it comes to getting people to actually buy.

Improving Your Shopping Cart Process

"A few pointers I would throw out on shopping cart optimization…" says Boisvert. "You obviously want to have your contact information there, you want your 1-800 number there if you have one (if not, if you have a live chat, you want it there)…it’s just a reassurance. Even if people don’t use it, they know that that number is there. You’re a reputable company, and if they have an issue they can contact you. It’s not hidden."

"So you kind of want to reduce all the fears that people have as they proceed into that checkout process, so they don’t have any of those questions and they can just pull out their wallet and pay you," he explains.

"Other things like trust marks are also very important," Boisvert adds. "Just having them on the site and reassuring somebody that you’re a brand that another larger company has vetted to a certain degree, whether that’s Yahoo or Verisign or any of the other trust marks that are out there, but those are really important in kind of reducing the fears that people have."

Trust is one thing, but you also have to think about the process itself. How easy is it for a customer to check out? If there’s any hassle involved, you risk losing the sale, because your competition is only a click away. 

How Many Pages Should The Checkout Process Include?

"You do have to guide the consumer,’ says Boisvert. "You want to have a smooth flow. You want to reduce friction in your checkout process, but I think the whole argument around one-page or two-page or three-page is largely overblown. I’ve talked with many merchants. They’ve tested both versions. Our shopping cart supports all the various combinations: order review in place, order review not in place, single-page, multi-page…people have tested it, and they find out that the results for the most part are the same."

"I think the key differences are the people that are kind of on the edges," he notes. "If you sell a very low average order value, like a $20 purchase such as beads for jewelry or something like that, a single-page checkout makes sense because it doesn’t require a lot of having to address a lot of fears and uncertainties with a low purchase value."

"However, on the flipside, if you’re selling expensive watches or appliances, you want a multi-step process so somebody can feel comfortable with you…comfortable with the product they’re going to get at the end of this checkout process," he concludes. 

Watch the video above for more from Boisvert and some things Yahoo Small Business specifically is doing for e-commerce businesses.

How important is Facebook to your online business? Share your thoughts here.

We’ve written several times recently about Facebook’s role in e-commerce. WebProNews spoke with Christian Taylor CEO of Payvment, which has been offering a Facebook storefront application to retailers since the beginning of November, and is now giving them a way to get people more interested in buying from them. It’s simple really – if a Facebook user comes across one of the retailers utilizing Payvment, they will be able to get discounts on merchandise for becoming a fan. That ought to drive some interest in Facebook e-commerce and user engagement with retail brands.

"As Facebook’s F8 conference approaches, many companies still wonder how they can transform Facebook from a "soft" relationship and marketing tool to something that will actually have an effect on their company’s bottom line.  For the first time, this new e-commerce solution will allow that to happen," Pavyment says.

Sidenote: A new study finds that questions businesses have about how they should be using social media have changed quite a bit within a year. Last year it was more about tactics. Now businesses want to know about ROI.

First, it’s important to understand how Payvment’s Facebook storefront app works. Unlike some of the other Facebook e-commerce apps out there, Payvment:

A. Doesn’t take users away from Facebook, and lets them pay via PayPal or credit card through PayPal (most likely Facebook credits as well before long)

B. Is completely free (in fact, Taylor tells me "it will always be free no matter what happens.")

C. Acts as a network of retailers from which customers can make multiple purchases across, all in one checkout process (money is then divided up among the retailers on the back-end)

D. Provides users with a way to discover additional retailers on Facebook as each retailer’s page provides a gateway to additional brand pages for shopping.

Now back to that new incentive feature. A retailer using Payvment can go in and simply set a certain percentage they want to offer as a discount in exchange for the user becoming a fan of the page. Here’s what a page utilizing the platform might look like to a fan and to a non-fan, respectively:

I raised the point that when a Facebook user "fans" a brand, Facebook automatically alerts that user’s friends that they have become a fan of said brand. I wondered if that might be looked upon as something of an endorsement, and if a fan is getting an incentive in the form of a discount to for being a "fan" of that brand, how would the FTC view that in light of its much-publicized guidelines on endorsements?

Taylor made the point that Payvment and its retailers aren’t actually giving the user gifts or paying them anything. They’re just taking money off for becoming a fan. He equates it to becoming a member of a club or joining a mailing list. Mailing lists don’t alert all of the friends of the person who signs up that they are fans, however. Taylor maintains that Payvment does not create such alerts, implying that this would be more on Facebook to address, if it were to be considered an issue at all. As we see more Facebook e-commerce platforms become available as I’m sure we will, and others copy this strategy (which also seems likely), this may indeed become something Facebook would want to address.

Either way, Payvment has a pretty interesting concept on its hands. "While Facebook has become an excellent platform to build or strengthen brand awareness and communities, companies and their enthusiastic fans have been unable to take that final step between being a fan and being a buyer," says Taylor.

The new version of Payvment’s Facebook e-commerce application lets Facebook users add comments and reviews to Payvment-enabled storefronts. The feature includes spam protection, so sellers can control inappropriate content in the comment and review section of their storefront.

Due to Facebook’s terms of use, Payvment users are not permitted to sell adult content, alcoholic beverages, tobacco product, ammunition/firearms, items that promote hate, criminal/terrorist activities, or items that infringe upon the rights of a third party.

On a related note, Facebook recently partnered with two offer providers so users can earn Credits without having to pay directly. As InsideFacebook’s Eric Eldon noted, "For users, this means another way to get Credits without paying — this may increase spending on Credits for social games and other applications on Facebook." (emphasis added)

Taylor expects a lot of talk about Facebook Credits to come out of Facebook’s F8 Developer Conference this week, and he said that Payvment would definitely integrate Credits into its system.

Whether you are going to use an app like Payvment or not, it shows you that monetizing Facebook fans can be done, and if social media ROI is one of your concerns, here is a good example to look at. Again, I would expect this kind of thing to become more commonplace within the Facebook ecosystem, which is growing across the web in general.

Would you offer Facebook users discounts for becoming fans? Let us know.

"NetSuite securely passes the required information to Google Checkout and automatically updates once the transaction is complete," explains NetSuite. "NetSuite ecommerce merchants gain a fast and convenient checkout process that will attract more customers and simplify how they buy, while enabling cost-effective order processing and payment by credit or debit cards."

"We’re excited to welcome NetSuite, a leading vendor of on-demand and integrated business management software, as one of Google Checkout’s featured ecommerce partners," says Gina Del Vecchio of Google Checkout Operations. "NetSuite offers a seamless integration with Google Checkout, making it fast and easy to add Checkout to your website. Plus, NetSuite’s platform provides real-time visibility into key business operations in one system — including inventory, fulfillment, shipping, marketing promotions, and customer buying patterns for up-sell and cross-sell analysis."

In an explanation of the benefits of Google Checkout support, NetSuite plays the "Google Checkout users click on ads 10% more when the ad displays the Google Checkout badge" card. I seem to recall a similar figure from Google when discussing AdWords ads and use of the badge.

They also say that a fast, convenient checkout process helps users convert 40% more than shoppers who don’t offer such an experience. Google Checkout also provides a Payment Guarantee that protects Checkout orders.

When a user enables the Google Checkout option, it displays the Google Checkout button next to the Proceed to Checkout button in the shopping cart, or on the checkout landing page. Customers can then click on it and go right to Google Checkout, with NetSuite providing the items in the shopping cart, the selected shipping option and tax information.

After a payment has been completed in Google Checkout, a sales order is automatically created by NetSuite. When the Google Checkout order is processed and fulfilled in NetSuite, any order status changes are automatically updated to Google Checkout.

Conversion data from users’ Google Checkout orders automatically get captured and shared with AdWords and Google Analytics. Analytics integration is always a plus.

"Working with shopping cart and e-commerce solution providers to make sure their solutions seamlessly integrate with Amazon Payments was one of our immediate priorities when we launched Amazon Payments less than a year ago," says Mark Stabingas, General Manager, Amazon Payments.

"Now businesses have an additional option for getting started with Amazon Payments and reaching Amazon’s tens of millions of customers with the easiest way for customers to complete a purchase, while also enjoying the benefits of Amazon’s fraud-detection technologies," adds Stabingas.

Solutions from Amazon Payments are available for merchants, service providers, and non-profits. They include:

- Checkout by Amazon, which is suited best for sites selling physical goods, includes support for tax, shipping, and promotion functionality, as well as post-order management.

- And Simple Pay, which is more for sites selling digital goods, subscriptions or services, or accepting donations. It actually lets customers use their existing Amazon accounts without having to re-enter information when they go to checkout.

Amazon is offering free payment processing through Amazon Payments through September 30th to businesses and organizations that begin accepting Amazon Payments the solutions mentioned above.