The important step in e-commerce development is diverting traffic to the website. However, the success of an e-commerce website depends on how effectively it can engage the interest of customers, and finally convert that interest into a sale.

A recent survey has highlighted that the use of live chat within an e-commerce environment significantly helps to increase conversion rate optimization.

This survey’s findings highlighted the following:

27% of Ecommerce Sites Surveyed said that those customer that engage in a live chat more than 40% convert into a sale or an active lead while 50% reported a conversion rate of 20% or more.

69% of respondents said that live chat now formed a critical part of their business.

64% responded that live chat enabled them to deliver quality service in a cost-effective manner and that it gave them a significant competitive advantage.

Some live chat software immediately presents useful “clues” about your visitor. You can see the exact traffic source that sent your visitor and what keyword phrase they used to find your site.

Subsequently, you can prioritize your best leads among your current visitors by comparing how the keywords they used match what products and services your website offers. Logically, your best bet and easiest path to a sale on your website are those visitors that are specifically searching for what you already have to sell.

In addition, it shows where your visitor is on your website. Whether it is a product page or a customer support page, you are provided with additional intelligence to better connect and live support with that visitor and their needs.

Why would content matter when you are running an e-commerce site? After all, you provide a product or service that people want to buy, so setting up your site to easily purchase should be your primary goal, right?

Not necessarily.

Let’s look at some of the more successful e-commerce sites on the Web and see how they balance content with marketing and sales techniques to get people to not only return to the site, but buy. (more…)

New customers are out there, but they might not be on eBay–yet. Use a website to show them the way to your business.

To get the most from your eBay business, make sure you’re using the “triangle of success”: eBay auctions, an eBay Store (read my previous column on eBay Stores) and a website. eBay Power-Seller and 47-year-old website owner Yaron Hankin (www.anytimesale.com) says, “People look at someone who not only sells on eBay, but also has his or her own website, as a more established seller.” (more…)