Useful websites

[inetbiz]

I like Crafty Syntax Live Chat Software We've even donated to the development in the past. Click here to view screen shots using their live chat software.

[CypherUK]

I'm always a strong believer in the fact that with good customer support, comes long term repeat business.

Some fantastic software I've used in the past is:

Kayako - Kayako SupportSuite is a robust and flexible turn-key solution, allowing you to implement effective support channels, e-mail management and manage self-help resources. SupportSuite does this by combining ticketed support (web and e-mail based), live chat and an intuitive customer interface. - http://www.kayako.com/

Now this was a feature rich piece of software and aimed more at larger merchants. If you would prefer something a little easier that gives you customer interaction to help cut off any potential issues, you could offer an online 'Live Support' service that allows customers to interact with you, quickly and for free !

3 Software packages I've used are:

PHPLive - PHP Live! enables live help and live customer support communication directly from your website. With PHP Live!, you can provide one-on-one chat assistance in real-time, answer visitor questions and add that extra human touch to your website.  -  http://www.phplivesupport.com/

Crafty Syntax - Crafty Syntax Live Help (CSLH) is an open source live support solution that helps customer support with live help functionality that can be proactively pushed to visitors to your site or requested by the consumer. - http://www.craftysyntax.com/

Live Help! - Live Help Messenger is a customer service software solution that allows customer support operators to chat with your web site visitors and potential customers. Live Support enables you to instantly add PHP Live Help Customer Support Software to your web site to increase your sales and customer satisfaction. -  http://livehelp.stardevelop.com/

All 4 of the above are well worth a look.

Regards

[David M. Graham]

Not necessarily a lot of effort - but definitely a moderate amount of recoding.

Building a track/trace SYSTEM  is on our long term to do list.   There is one partially modularized contribution there - but we will have a completely modularized system.

David

[CypherUK]

The only company that i know of (and for some reason missed off the above list???) are http://www.shippingmanager.co.uk/ecommerce.html

They have designed something for OSC but i believe they are quite a good bunch of lads who will work to help/develop new modules.

Other OSC Modules for track/trace functionality are available from http://addons.oscommerce.com/info/5535 and include the below.

DHL
Interlink Express
Royal Mail Track and Trace
TNT UK
CityLink
DPD
Business Post
and Parcel Force

Not sure how much would be required to convert any of the above to EOS.

Regards

[David M. Graham]

Mark,

Useful information, thanks.   Any idea if these couriers have estimate API's or  osCommerce modules??

Regards,

David

[CypherUK]

With the exception of digital downloadable products, everything that a store owner sells, will need shipping in one way shape or form.

When i first started out, i used to visit the local post office three times a week, then when things became busier, it became daily.

Most days i would go to the post office armed with my 'signed for' book and 2 bin bags of parcels to send to customers.

After a while this not only became a laborious task, but also used to annoy a lot of people who were queuing behind me as i usually spent about 20 minutes going through the process.

So i had 2 choices, #1 was to invest in a franking machine from http://www.pitneybowes.co.uk/ - This enabled me to prepay all my postage, then just take it down the post office and drop it off. Although anything that i was sending recorded, i still had to get each parcel checked. You were billed monthly for your postage by PB direct.

So i decided on going for a courier. I looked into a few different companies, but they were all asking for silly fees.

So after scanning the internet once again, i found 2 companies that had accounts with all the major UK couriers and arranged everything for me and collected it from my office too.

The companies i used were www.parcel2go.com and www.interparcel.co.uk

Both had a range of options and took away a lot of the hassle of the post office.
 

Check them out.

[CypherUK]

When i first started out, like many other store owners, money was tight.

Like a lot of people, the first thing i thought about was drop shipping. I could start my own business with a minimum of costs involved.

now not everyone agrees with drop shipping, and one of the main reasons i stopped it was that i thought that a large part of my customer service was being handled by someone else and i had no idea what service was being provided.

Some people however, have had great success with DS and that's great. Like i say, the only reason i stopped was the whole CS issue.

One website that i had fantastic success with was http://www.esources.co.uk/ it is a subscription based service and that starts from just £9.99

The websites that are listed go through tough inclusion requirements.

The site is excellent for anyone who is considering Dropshipping.

Regards

[CypherUK]

One of my biggest issues when i first started, was making sure that all the hours i spent building my business, weren't going to be wiped out by someone else owning something as simple as my business name.

Your business name is the focal point, it's the one thing that sticks with people and what they remember. If your trading under an unregistered name you run the risk of losing all your hard work by someone registering YOUR name and then setting the wolves on you.

Or worst still, you trade under an already pre-registered name... and the wolves come out again.

A Good website to check such information and to register your business name simply is http://www.anewbusiness.co.uk/

They provide a name checker so you can check to see if your name is available etc.

Well worth checking out.

[CypherUK]

One of the biggest websites i used was the UK Business Link website - http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/

The information on here opened my eyes as to what is required by UK law in order to sell on-line legally.

e-commerce specific information can be found here - http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?r.l1=1073861197&r.l3=1075384925&topicId=1073866263&r.l2=1073866263&r.s=m

I recommend ALL store owners read the information here no matter what stage their store is at.

Regards

Mark

[CypherUK]

During the past 8 years of trading on-line, i have got some very useful information from a whole host of websites.

Over the next few days, I will post links to various websites that i feel were pivotal in helping me establish my businesses on-line.

Most of the sites were found from spending many hours scanning various search engines to find the answers, others were quite simple to find.

I hope this information provides as much useful information, as it has me.

The first link is for the Better Payment Practice.

The Better Payment Practice Group was established to promote a better payment culture within the UK and urges all firms to adopt a responsible attitude to paying on time.

Check them out at http://www.payontime.co.uk/ Its totally free

Cheers for now.

Mark