As a web development company we have had the privilege of building very awesome features for our clients. Today I'll share with you some of our favorite (and very successful) types of projects & upgrades.
Shopping Carts & Ecommerce On Websites
I get such a jolt from seeing my clients succeed, so it should come as no surprise that online purchasing is one of my favorite features that we offer as a web development company. If you've got the traffic, what faster way to juice up the bottom line than to take payments RIGHT NOW?
Every Business is Different
Here's the thing, everybody is going to need something that fits their business model (and their selling style) like a glove. Does the cost of your service include some startup work and then a flat monthly fee? Or maybe you'd like to offer your customers a discount for booking 5 sessions upfront. Does your product go well with other companion products that we need to be showing your buyers right after their first add to cart? Or maybe you've got a really custom pricing system that makes the traditional "one SKU = one price" a wrong approach for your business.
The Answer is: Do it Right, Do It Once
You need a kick-butt web development company who understands this. I can help you, and together we'll get you set up with an ecommerce solution tailor-made for your business. Sometimes a business will limp along with a weird bandaided system of spare parts. Have you seen this before? Every process has an asterisk on it, and generally the reason given is "because that's what the owner wants." Seriously though, you've got to ask yourself if that is the RIGHT WAY to be using your time. Too often in our lives we only have 20/20 vision in hindsight. If only we could have saved ourself from doing things the hard way for too long!
Automation Is Worth More Than You Think
If you are a serial online bill payer (and I totally am), then you already know how powerful automation can be. The thing I want you to see for your own business though is how many real human hours can you reclaim? Every time a bill is paid online, or a notice is sent automatically, or an expiration is handled, and so many more cases -- each one of these saves time in a real person's day. Possibly yours! How can your web development company free up some hours from your billing process?
Custom Calculation Processes and ROI Estimators
Do you have a business where the sales process is as smooth as butter if only you can show your client some numbers? If you're in an industry that will save your customers money over the long haul, this is an opportunity you MUST capitalize on with your website.
Alternately, have you ever had to pull out a calculator to tell your prospects how many (bags, boxes, units, etc) they need to be buying? The quantity issue is only compounded when you have pricing tiers in place.
Customers Will Quickly Discover Your Value
Fear no math! Your website can help. This is a perfect opportunity to let customers do their own exploring with YOUR TOOLS. If Amy the Event Planner is trying to put together table settings and gift bags for 197 guests, you as a Party Supply company (or Party Rentals?) can be there with a couple of great tools that she can't go without. In this example I'd recomend a custom Party Calculator app that takes in the number of people and generates a shopping list of what to buy and how many extras of each item ought to be on hand for the big day.
Tying it In to the Sale
Conveniently, those items on Amy's list are also for sale in the online store. There's a one-two punch going on here, did you catch it? We're giving our client a fast pass in her party planning mission, and we're inviting her to continue to save time by staying on our site and letting us handle the order for all these supplies. She can price shop if she wants to, or she can place the order and have her time back.
As a web development company it is my job to think of and build fabulous websites for business.
We've gone over one industry example here but a custom calculator (and planning derivitaves) are excellent for many industries. You will be helping people but at the same time reminding them that your company is truly the expert in this field and endeavour. This is an instant credibility boost that also gets bookmarks, because we all want to work smarter and not harder.
What Tools You Can Provide
Great estimator products include:
- How many units of product for a project?
- Dollars saved every month with your company's solution
- Revenue calculators for wholesalers, sales reps, and investment opps
- Price per year for your services VS competitors
- Complex transactions with many line items, eg real estate
- Tricky pricing of custom products with many options
How could you keep eyes on your site and provide a valuable service add, with $0 to deliver to every new client over the long term?
Store Locators, Find It On A Map Near You
Have you ever found a product that you desperately needed like, today, and found out that it wasn't available in stores nearby? Or even worse, maybe you've meticulously tracked down a very specific thing to order only to find that the company who makes it is wholesale only. And of course there are no distributors near you. A huge sale killer. You were all geared up to buy only to have your sails deflated by time and proximity.
We want it now! Today, Not Tomorrow
I'm an impulse buyer, what about you? Maybe I should be more specific here, I pick projects and objectives (only slightly impulsively) to move on fast. As fast as you can say "wtf Saturday" I might find myself in a checkout line holding a strange assortment of doo-dads. Your company's doo-dads, possibly. But if the resources aren't available, I bail. It could be building an outdoor shower or trying to fix something that has been long broken and needs an obscure part.
The nugget here is that you want to WHENEVER POSSIBLE show your customers how to solve their problems today. Your web development company is ever so poised to help you with this task, and I highly recommend a store locator with map tie-in. Like Veruca Salt, we want it now.
What's Next
There are so many great ideas for ways that your website could be helping you right now, and all it takes is one solid gold gameplay to start. Do you have an inkling of what feaure could jump your business forward? If you do, that's great! Let's talk about it and get a plan together to get it in place. When there is something that can crank up your sales and streamline your operations, you invest in that right away and don't wait.
On the other hand if you're coming up a bit dry in the idea department, I can help you with that. I've put together a great little PDF that's chock full of winning strategies. Remember, you only need one great idea to improve your rate of return on your website. You can do this one step at a time and build your empire over time, if you prefer. Grab this freebie by using the form below.
Are you ready to roll or want some time with a pro for feedback? Contact me with all of your questions, and let's get this show started already.
Lauren Grey is a web professional with her own web development company Sprise Media in Arizona. Her focus is high returning websites for business that focus on automation, free up human time, and work seamlessly.
Last Updated: July 5, 2017
