* Using content for effective selling on the web
Everything you've learned to this point has been about getting people to your site. Now that someone is sitting there looking at your site, will they buy from you? Do they trust you? Do they feel confident? Does everything look professional? Are there any amateur signals popping up?
Now that you've got the visitor to your site, I'm going to tell you how to convert them from a prospect into a customer. You want them to reach into their pocket and give you money.
But first, it's amazing how many web sites I've been asked to visit and review. They all have the same fundamental problem. They're not designed to sell anything.
Unless your site is something you do for fun, it should be designed to sell your products or services. If you haven't already done so, take a good hard look at your web site, pretend you're a novice internet user and seeing your site for the first time.
Is your home page very clean and fast loading? Does it tell people within 10 seconds, exactly what they'll find inside?
It's very important to state your unique selling proposition at the very beginning. People should be able to find out within seconds of arriving at your home page, what it is that you do or what it is that you sell.
Unless you're selling programming, take away all the technology. All the Java. All the animation. All the frames. Anything and everything that does not enhance the buying process, or distracts the buyers attention.
Every page on your web site should be clean and look like they belong together as a single entity. Your web site must focus on establishing trust, building consumer confidence and making a sale.
Is there a descriptive headline for each item. Text filled with features and benefits. The critically important price. And the equally important "call to action" saying "order now" or "order yours today." Why? Simply because they work.
On Cell-West and every other client, I created a standard footer on every page. It contains shipping information, credit cards they accept, hours of operation etc. The reason I did this, was so people wouldn't have to go to another page to find out this information.
I didn't want to run the slightest risk of losing a customer because they got frustrated trying to find contact information. The person finds the product they are looking for, knows we're open, knows we accept Visa, knows the price, picks up the phone and calls the toll free order number.
The consumer should never be more than three or four mouse clicks from placing an order. Here's how easy the process needs to be.
They find a hook page of yours in a search engine. They click on a link to get your product directory. Clicking in the product directory brings them to a category page. They scroll down the category page, find what they're looking for, phone to order.
It really needs to be that simple folks. Keep your files size down for quick loading pages. Create an easy to navigate interface. Have a clear and clean site that makes it easy to do business with you.
* Discover the layouts and designs that sell
Let's think about mail order catalog shopping for a moment. They are just static words and photos on a page, yet they do billions in sales.
I spent ten years in typesetting, graphic design and advertising before getting into the internet. I
know from experience and years of training what works in the real world of advertising.
Don't believe me? Pick up any printed catalog selling software, home furniture, consumer electronics, office supplies or clothing. They all look basically the same. Why? Because it is a formula that works. The minute you make your web site look like a dirt world catalog, your sales will go up dramatically.
Humans have been conditioned to read in certain ways for hundreds of years. We read left to right. Our eyes have natural resting positions and focus on certain key areas of the printed page or a monitor screen. Emotions can be triggered by certain colors. We know how big a headline should be in proportion to the body copy or text.
We also expect to find shopping conditions a certain way. Want to know a secret? Don't mess with catalog layouts unless you enjoy reinventing the wheel. If you want to increase your sales online, simply do what they do in the real dirt world.
Mail order catalogs are successful models that have been working for hundreds of years. They are responsible for billions of dollars in sales every year. Replicate them! Pick the one you like and follow the model.
Get rid of the dark and ugly backgrounds. Toss out the clip art. Start using real photos and start typesetting like a professional.
Use layouts that are similar to printed catalogs. Use a simple home page or "cover page" that links to your real index or product directory. Make sure the directory page is easy to follow.
Put your navigation buttons or categories on the right, not the left. How many printed books have navigation on the left where the spine of the book is? None.
If you want to make people feel comfortable right away, put your site navigation on the right, where humans are accustomed to finding indexes, color coded sections and page numbers.
Use a white background and black or dark colored text. Use descriptive headlines. Create ad copy filled with features and benefits. Include a price and call to action on every item.
Put the headline and ad copy flush left, not centered. Run the ad copy around the photos. Put the price and call to action flush right. Photos can be flush left, right, or alternated for the best effect.
Use real photos. I can't stress this enough. The first thing I think of when I see clip art, is cheap and tacky cartoons. Please don't use clip art on your pages unless you are selling the cartoons.
Real images on your pages translate into consumer confidence. Use a digital camera to take real photos of real products. Then transfer the images to the computer, clean and enhance them for the web and drop them into your web pages.
If you don't have a digital camera or a conventional camera and scanner, there are other ways you can get real photos. Call and ask your wholesalers and upstream providers. If they have a printed catalog, they must have a copy of their photos on disk somewhere.
I get them to send me a copy of the actual disk they sent to the print shop. They usually send a copy on CD as it is the most universally accepted format. If not, the print shop can usually send a Zip disk or other removable format disk. Just be sure you'll be able to read the disk before they even send it to you.
If the disk comes from a print shop it will probably be in Mac format, not Windows. You'll probably need to convert the graphics from TIFF or EPS format into GIF or JPG format for use on the web.
Just beware that graphic file sizes used for print are huge, often 10 to 30 megabytes in size
per image. Your computer will need enough horsepower to open these huge files. If you're not comfortable converting graphics, it may be best to get an experienced web site designer or print shop to do it for you.
Another source for real photos and artwork is through an online subscription service. Many of these services have millions of images that you can download and use on your web site.
Another source for photos are the manufacturers. They want you to sell their stuff. They often have press kits, media kits, promo support, and point of sale material.
I was surprised to find a major cell phone manufacturer had a catalog of just promotional stuff. Everything from keychains, to beer mugs, to life size cardboard cut outs of celebrities holding their phones. They also have a CD available for $5.00 that contains official logos and real photos of every product they make. Talk about a time saver!
Ask manufacturers and wholesalers if they already have pictures of their product. They want to assist you in your efforts to make sales. They will usually end up saving you an incredible amount of time and money. All you need to do is ask.
Anything that does not have a photo can be line listed with plain text. After showing a group
shot, or photo that shows a bunch of batteries together, do we really need to see a picture of every battery?
Keep your file sizes down by showing only featured items, or a group of items. Then list the remaining products and their prices using text only. Try to keep a fine balance between page esthetics and loading times for customers on 56K modems.
A word of caution on using other people's logos. Companies usually don't mind you using their logos if your are selling their product in a fair and ethical manner.
If you go to a manufacturer's web site, they often have the logos just sitting there waiting for you to come copy and paste them into your own web site. They love having you brand their corporate image all over the place.
Just be sure to follow their "terms and conditions for use" exactly. They may not allow text within so many inches of their logo. They may require certain text underneath the logo and in a certain color. Just play by their rules and you can use their logos.
Here's why you might want to use brands and logos on your site. They are "official" logos. They make you look like an "official" representative. Logos boost a consumer's confidence and sense of trust. Recognizable logos make people comfortable. People want to buy from someone who makes them feel comfortable.
Take a look at any successful retailer's web site. Notice how official logos are used throughout the site. Notice the credit card logos, the testimonials, the list of customers. These all contribute to user confidence and sales. Really, really, study how successful sites are laid out and how they are presented.
I'm NOT saying steal the images, text, or html code. They are all copyright and cannot be used without written permission. What I am saying is go and look at the way say... Nokia.com is laid out. The look and feel. How smooth and slick it is, how it melts in your mouse, how easy it is to use.
Want to know a secret? The best selling layouts are not even original. They are the same layouts that design schools teach every graphic designer. The same layouts that have been used by mail order catalogs for a hundred years.
Pick a catalog and study the model. See how it appeals to basic human nature, the way we read, and the way we expect to find information. It's plain, it's simple and it works!
* The importance of good writing and typography
Good writing and typography will boost sales dramatically. If you don't think you can typeset or write good copy, don't worry about it, I'm going to tell you the secrets.
If you still don't think you can do it after you learn the secrets, hire a writer to help you out. Preferably someone who has spent some time in advertising, doing graphic design in a print shop, someone that understands motivational copy or has taken courses in selling.
OK, unlike sales letters which use benefits and emotion in headlines. Catalog headlines must be descriptive. When people are looking for something, they are doing just that, they are searching.
Their eyes are scanning along the page looking for "Hands Free Set With Boom Mic". They want
to find it quickly. A quick glance at the photo will confirm they have found what they're looking for. Use the ad copy to make the sale. The ad copy is where you put the features and benefits.
Here is a sample ad showing just the features:
Hands Free Set With Boom Mic
* Leaves both hands free
* Over the ear bracket
* 4 inch boom mic
* Standard 1/8 inch mini plug
Order yours now for only $29.95
Now assume that someone reading your copy, does NOT have the same basic product knowledge as you do. They might not know why an "over the ear bracket" or a "4 inch boom mic" is a good thing. You'll always want to associate a benefit with every feature that you list.
Your ad copy should read like this; state a feature and follow it with a benefit. I repeat... feature +
benefit, feature + benefit.
The way to find a benefit is to write down the feature and ask yourself, "Why is that so great?" or
"Which means?" or "What's so good about that?"
Writing ad copy in this manner of feature and benefit style is almost seductive to the reader. Don't be afraid of saying too much about a product. You never know which benefit will be the trigger and to get them to take action, whether it's a phone call inquiry, or placing an actual order.
Let's try this features and benefits style using our Hands Free Set example:
Leaves both hands free (which means) you can drive or bike more safely.
Over the ear bracket (what's so good about that) it's comfortable, lightweight, folds up and stores easily in the glove box.
4 inch boom mic (which means) crystal clear communication the mic is in front of your mouth.
Standard 1/8 inch mini plug (why is that so great) it works with any phone that has a built-in jack.
Now let's take a look at our completed ad using the features and benefits style:
Hands Free Set With Boom Mic
* Leaves both hands free so you can drive more safely
* Over the ear bracket is comfortable, lightweight, stores easily in the glove box
* 4" boom mic puts the mic in front of your mouth for crystal clear communication
* Standard 1/8" mini plug works with any phone that has a built-in jack
Order yours now for only $29.95
Much better. The consumer looking for this product has painted a clear mental picture and can almost see themselves using the product, and then they read the call to action. It snaps them to attention and out of their daydream.
It's a nasty cycle, the reader keeps going back to ad copy and getting seduced into seeing themselves using the product. The call to action keeps yanking them back to reality and builds a sense of urgency to buy the product.
Let's take a look at this unassuming yet so important little thing called, "A call to action." It reads something like this; Order yours now for only $29.95.
Let's examine the subliminal message here, what these words mean to the consumer. Order, yes sir, right away sir, we are at you're command. Yours, you've already imagined owning it, we're waiting to deliver it to you. Now, don't hesitate to order, it answers the questions, "should I order" and
"when can I order".
Let's look at the word "only". Order yours for only $29.95. The word "only" conjures up such a tiny little image. The word "only" sounds small and lonely. The word "only" is so tiny, yet is one of the most powerful and compelling words in the English language
Sorry to make such a big deal of the call to action but, there's a lot of consumer psychology at work there. Using call to action on every product throughout a publication will create a sense of buying urgency, at least that's what they taught me in design school.
OK, price. Every item must have a price. Don't hide the price, don't make people look for the price. Sooner or later you're going to have to tell them the price. You do want to sell something don't you. In fact, put the price in a bigger type size, let it ring out. Let it boldly state, I am not ashamed, here I am, right down here, the price!
And put the price flush right. Take a look at any flyer or catalog you may have laying around. 90% of the time the price is in BIG print and is to the right of the product. Just where most people expect to find it.
Typeset and layout the ads on your web site as I have described above. You'll be amazed at the pulling power and the revenue generating capability of traditional catalog advertising. Just be sure to use a descriptive headline, a real photo, feature - benefit ad copy, a call to action, and a BIG flush right price.
* How to build confidence and trust, so shoppers will buy
Every day I am barraged by spinning icons, Java that crashes my browser, no clear sales message, no 800 number, no guarantee, spelling errors. No wonder many consumers don't have a lot of confidence shopping the web.
Believe me there's a lot of sceptics out there. If you don't present your sales message just right, if there's one little suspicion, one hesitation, or anything that causes a sense of caution, your prospect is gone my friend. They're off and checking out the competition.
Remember, unless you are a nationally recognized brand, people don't know anything about you. You need to build trust on every page.
Again I encourage you to use a 1-800 number, nationally recognized logos, and a standard footer throughout your site.
Get a toll free 800 number that works in all of North America - not just in the USA. Put it on every page. In fact, put it several times on every page.
The 800 number is one of the single most powerful confidence builders. People can actually call
up and talk to a human. This is critical, especially if you are selling a product or service that people have questions about.
Many people shop the net, but when it comes time to actually place an order, they do not trust (the reasons are endless) a machine. They want to call up and talk to someone. They want to give their credit card number to a human. They want to know there really IS someone on the other end.
If you've scored any big name customers, display them on your site. Say right in the footer that some of your customers include the US Navy, Nasa, European American Bank. Having big companies as customers builds credibility in your business, boosts shopper confidence and act as testimonials to your success.
Put credit card logos on every page. Let people know that you accept Visa, Mastercard and American Express. Put it on the footer of every page so it keeps reminding people. The credit card logos add a lot of credibility. Only a legitimate business can accept credit cards.
Put the shipping company logos on your page. Let people see the UPS or FedEx logos as a footer or sidebar on every page. The shipping company logos make your site seem more professional. People have confidence that their package can be tracked.
People are also confident that an international company is being held responsible, and accountable, for the delivery of their package. The shipping companies get the benefit of added exposure. Just ask them. They will tell you where to find their logos and how you can use them.
Line listing or just stating in the text that you accept credit cards is not enough. As people come to your page for the first time their eyes are scanning for visual confidence builders. They are asking themselves if they would buy from you..... Remember, they don't know you.
Seeing the credit card and shipping company logos are like checking something off a "confidence checklist" that all humans seem to have. Let people check these critical factors off their list immediately by letting them see the logo. Don't make people search for "confidence" builders, they might miss them.
Join one of the regulatory companies on the web like The Public Eye or Better Business Bureau Online. Having these logos on your page show the consumer that you are serious about resolving any complaints.
When you do get complaints, always try to resolve them in the favor of the customer. This is your opportunity to really impress them. You may even turn a complaint into a customer for life.
After listening to the complaint, ask the customer, "What do I need to do to make this right?" Listen carefully and then do it. The customer will be satisfied with your performance and often be amazed at your level of customer service. They might not turn into a written testimonial, but at the very least, they'll tell all their friends about how you "made it right" for them.
Use a secure server such as "Verisign" for your credit card transactions online. Be sure to put their logo on your directory page and order page.
You don't need to have your own "secure certificate" to get started. Ask your web master or the person that hosts your web site if they can set up a secure order form for you using their certificate. The answer is usually yes. If not, you may need to get your own certificate and your web master should be able to set this up for you.
When you click on any link leading to the online order form, a little dialog box should pop up and say, "You are about to enter a secure area." People like seeing this little box pop up. They get a real confidence boost when their browser shouts, "Hey, you are about to be secure." People like being secure.
Your webmaster or site designer should be able to tell you how to make the secure area dialog box pop up. It uses nothing more than a little bit of html code in the link that leads to the order form.
Once you're on the secure order form page, the little key icon at the bottom of the browser window becomes locked. This lock indicates that you are in fact, using a secure order form. It offers a final visual security check for the consumer.
* The critical importance of offering a guarantee and warranty
The money back guarantee and warranty are two very important but often overlooked confidence builders. They are part of the visual checklist that people go through before they will buy from you. No guarantee, no warranty, no sale.
Would you buy from someone not willing to stand behind their product? Of course you wouldn't. The longer the guarantee and warranty, the bigger the confidence boost.
The increase in sales created by offering the money back guarantee far out weigh the value of any returned merchandise. We want the customer to be totally happy and confident with their purchase! We want to give them enough time to use the product and ensure their satisfaction.
It's called, "risk reversal." It means that we've taken the risk out of the buying process. If you don't like our product - for ANY reason - send it back for a full refund.
I have experienced returns to be around 3% of sales. It's important to take the value of returns into consideration when doing any budgeting, so there won't be any surprises later on.
If you do suddenly get a large amount of returns it means you have a piece of defective merchandise and you want to know about it right away. You'll be able to stop the problem before it becomes wide spread and send the products back to the supplier or manufacturer for refund.
Defects happen, they're just a fact of life, manufacturing is automated and machines like humans fail from time to time. Just try to resolve the issue in the favor of the customer, eat the shipping cost, or do what it takes to keep the customer happy.
You as the retailer, have your warranty issues covered by the manufacturer or supplier. They will generally work with you to ensure you stay a happy customer, resolve any warranty issues quickly and in your favor. You are customer in this scenario and ultimately have the option of using a different supplier or wholesaler if they do not perform to your satisfaction.
* Should you get a toll free order number, a secure order form, or both
Use both a toll free number and a secure online order form to maximize sales. When it comes to
"first contact" sales, we find our toll free line outselling the secure online order form by 10 to 1. On second or third contact sales, where we've answered a question by email or voice previously, the toll free order line still outsells the secure order form by 4 to 1.
People are more likely to order on the first contact when they can phone up and talk to a human. If there is any doubt about your company or questions about a product, your professional telephone manner can put them at ease right away. Answer their questions and ask for the order. Ask them
"would you like to order one of those today", the answer is usually yes.
Another benefit of having people call to place an order is the ability to increase sales by upselling them on additional products. Always ask the customer, "Would you like fries with that?"
There's always an opportunity to upsell. Simply listen to your customer. The difference between where they say they are now, and where they would like to be, is your window of opportunity to make sales.
The phone bill also gives important demographic information. You can tell where most of your calls are coming from ie: New York, Los Angeles, Long Island. This info can be helpful knowing which newsgroups to post to or where you might want to take out dirt world advertising like radio ads.
Second or third contact sales usually happen because we've answered an email question or a general inquiry at an earlier date. The moral of the story... answer every piece of email that comes to you, even if its only a stock reply.
Also take the time to chat with anyone that calls the toll free number. Even though it may just be a general inquiry and not a sale. I believe that these verbal "deposits" in the "bank of Karma" will
come around and build good will. Eventually most of the people that have contacted us by email or phone end up being customers.
The secure online order form is used by people who know exactly what they want, repeat customers, and people that have already asked their questions via phone or email. The order form, like the rest of the site should be clean, well laid out, logical and simple to use.
You don't need shopping carts, fancy programming or to spend a lot of money to start. A simple, one page, secure order form will get you started. Take the money you would have spent on programming and invest it in a toll free number instead. Your sales will get an immediate boost and you can always add automated software like "shopping carts" and "online databases" later on.
If your product is simple like CDs and books, you will end up getting more online orders and fewer phone in orders. There are not many questions to answer about these items and their price is relatively low.
Consumers are far less sceptical about using online form to place orders for inert products like books, as opposed to a dynamic products like consumer electronics, that can have hundreds of possible configurations and accessories.
The more complicated the product, the more you need a toll free number. Even if you are selling books, CDs, and software, people still want to see a toll free number to boost confidence and talk to a human if the need arises.
* Accepting credit cards via email and order forms
At a minimum you need to accept Visa and Mastercard as they are most popular credit cards. I'm often asked how important is American Express? Do we have to accept it? I think it's a good idea. Many business owners and high rollers use Amex, they often have huge credit limits and place big orders on impulse. A word of advice, accept American Express.
I know some online companies, especially when first starting out, accept credit cards using an old fashioned manual imprinter. Place the card in the machine, place in a credit slip, push down and "ka chunk" make an impression on the slip.
These imprinters can be a bit of a hassle, but unfortunately many new businesses find it's the only way to take orders over the internet. The banks want them to post bonds for half a million dollars or the equivalent of one year worth of sales for anything more elaborate.
A lot of the smaller banks are just not up to speed with internet commerce. I'm sure that some people will tell the bank they want to use an imprinter for their local customers. Since the customer is not physically there to sign the Visa slip with their signature, they write "phone order" in the signature field and it's reported to be OK with the banks.
Later on as sales start booming and volume increases, you could always go to the bank and ask them to install an automated credit card terminal. The type where you swipe the customer's card and it automatically dials out and processes the transaction.
The credit card number would still have to be manually keyed in as there is no customer present with a physical card. But it would prevent hauling all those credit card slips to the bank every couple of days.
Another option is to use one of your desktop computers as the credit card terminal instead of the stand alone unit the bank supplies. If you already have merchant accounts set up, go to the National Data Corporation. That's ndc.com in the States, or gps.ca in Canada.
I'm told that when your Visa terminal dials out, that's who it calls, NDC or GPS. They act as information brokers, sending credit card transaction information to the banks. You'll need the
people at the NDC or GPS to assign you a "dummy device number" or "ECR number" as it's known technically.
Last of all you'll need to buy desktop "credit card terminal emulator" software. I recommend Tellan Software's MacAuthorize for the Mac OS or PCAuthorize for Windows. When you install the software it asks for the phone number, which is the same as the one your stand alone terminal dials and it asks for your ECR number. Once configured, you have a desktop merchant account system.
Bottom line.... You can start small and automate as you grow online. You can start with an IVR
type merchant account, where you punch in the card number manually. Later you can automate the entire transaction process where the credit card authorization happens in real time over the internet.
Finally, if merchant accounts seem like a big pain in the butt, you can always use third parties like iBill or Clickbank to do the processing. These services are especially useful if you are selling digital products or ebooks. They do the all the work for a small commission and let you forget about merchant accounts altogether.
For example, with Clickbank you don't need a merchant account. They handle the credit card transaction, the banking and cutting the checks. You can sell a product through them and even pay commission to the affiliate, salesperson, or web site that made the sale. Clickbank handles all the credit card stuff, then pays you the publisher and the affiliate their sales commission.
Learn more about Click Bank here:
http://www.cdzn.com/cbn
* Precautions on accepting credit cards
Many of you may not know this, but the ultimate responsibility, the person that loses money in credit card fraud is the merchant. Someone can buy something from you and then turn around a month later saying "I never ordered that" and "charge it back" to the merchant. Scary Huh? All this talk about building consumer confidence, getting them to place the order and it's ultimately you that has to trust them.
People have tried to place all sorts of fraudulent orders. It's mostly with expensive phones and orders sent via the online order form. If you have a "high fraud" product like cellular phones, you may want them to call in and place the order in person.
In fact, to order a phone from a business like Cell-West, the customer must call in person, fax a copy of the front and back of their drivers licence, front and back of their credit card, along with their credit card statement showing their billing address. Plus they ship a phone only to the billing address. Whew!
This procedure, when followed carefully, will practically eliminate fraud. Seriously, people will call up with the wildest stories trying to avoid your company policy. Careful not to let your guard down, stick to your policy. Honest customers will follow the procedure, if they really want the product and it's a legitimate order.
There have been several instances where someone places an order with the correct name, address, credit card number etc, but want the order shipped to a different person, in a different state. It may be a legitimate gift, but they'll have to ship the phone to their friend on their own. For maximum security, ship phones to the billing address only.
My experience is, when there's different addresses and different people involved, it's usually a scam. If it seems slightly suspicious, 99% of the time, it is. Usually there is an email address missing or phone number missing and the scammer gets aggravated when you press them for info.
Call or email the person whose name appears on the card and ask them if they are ok with the order. Chances are they don't know anything about it, and they have no idea how someone got a hold of their credit information. Just be cautious and you'll keep the fraudulent orders down to a minimum.
For accessories and smaller items like batteries and leather cases there was not much in the way of credit card fraud. Each order was looked at by several sets of eyes. The order was also manually authorized to see the messages displayed by the credit card terminal. Again just be cautious and let common sense be your guide.
For large orders, the credit card companies have something called "merchant address verification" where you can verify the billing address on the credit card. It's a good idea to verify the billing address if you're dealing with a stranger.
With American Express you phone up and talk to a human. Visa has an entirely automated system. With MasterCard, they (at the time of this writing), ask you to try and contact the card holder's actual bank branch. We have experienced many of them to be less than cooperative and it often takes several calls to get through.
Often people forget that they ordered a month ago and "charge back" the sale to the merchant. In this case, phone them up to remind them who you are. Get them to agree that you have permission to charge their card again.
To minimize charge backs be sure your company name, or the web site name you're doing business as, appears on your customer's monthly credit card statement. It's also a good idea to state this same information on your online order form, and in the order confirmation email.
* Using passwords to qualify leads and protect sensitive material
If you have sensitive documents or an expensive product, consider making potential customers fill out a form. By using the data from the form, you'll be able to determine what geographical area the prospect is coming from and which sales representative handles that territory. Plus you'll be able to separate suspects from prospects and know if it is a competitor or an existing customer.
I had one customer like this. They made circuit boards. The hardware that went into military and civilian aircraft. Needless to say, they wanted to be very careful about who got see photos of the boards and specifications.
You can also set up a password protected area on your web site so people have to pay to get inside. It may be exclusive photos, a newsletter subscription, a digital book or research papers. Your webmaster should be able to set up a password protected area on your web site within minutes. It's not hard to do.
* American vs Canadian catalog shopping habits
Americans love catalog shopping. People who have lived in the states for even a few years seem to have the same zestful energy and enthusiasm for catalogs. Many people can't get enough, they want more and more. Give the Americans a good deal, deliver on time and stand behind your product and you'll have a customer for life.
Canadians on the other hand (I should know because I am one) are a far more sceptical bunch. They don't seem to like catalog shopping as much. They would rather get dressed, leave home, drive across town, find parking, walk in the rain to the store, poke at the product for half an hour, go back home, then drive back a second time to actually buy it. ;-)
Put your prices in American dollars on your web site. 85% percent of all your sales will come from the USA! America is your target market, so you better be ready for action.
Americans phone up and say, "Hi, I'd like to place an order." Plain and straight to the point. Canadians call up wanting to drive down to the warehouse eh? Sigh, I can only hope that the internet will make us Canadians better "catalog" shoppers in the long run.
OK, enough of teasing and kidding my fellow Canadians. If you are setting up your internet store in Canada, you'll need find out if there are any taxes or duty on what you are exporting to the US. Duty usually gets prepaid to your shipping company, who in turn pay it to the customs people.
You'll also need to get the "duty codes" or "harmonization codes" for your products from the US customs people. Packages going over the border require the harmonization code written on the waybill.
For example: rechargeable batteries have the duty code 8507 30 9000. You need to write this code on the waybill where it asks for a complete description of contents. Using duty codes will ensure your "overnighters" and "2 day express" will actually fly across the border without getting delayed in customs.
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