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SERVICES OFFERED BY
INTERNET DOMAIN SHOPPING NETWORK HOME • CONTACT US • SUMMARY • HOSTING • DEVELOPMENT • PRODUCT/MAIL LIST • PROMOTIONS • ADMINISTRATION • PAYMENTS • LIAISON • DOCUMENTATION • SHIPPING Our service is here to take all the hard work out of setting up, hosting and administering the site as well as fully processing and dispatching orders and client liaison, if required. This service is suited mainly to small to medium businesses wanting to expand the selling of their product onto the Internet. It could also be added as the purchasing section of a new or existing site or a new business with no shop, outlet or web site. The service is a complete ready-to-use branch on to the Internet for any organization wanting to or already selling goods to Local, National or International clients, although you can determine the demographics of the target audience. A word of warning - we are willing to go all out to make you business on the Internet a roaring success, however be under no misconception that people will beat a path to your site to buy from you. You will need to put a lot of time, effort and/or money into making it a success. Think of it as opening a store on a street corner. You wouldn't just wheel a pile of products into an empty room and sit there waiting for people to come in and buy something before you think about promoting it! If that's the attitude you have, forget it right now and this goes for you already in business. We're not interested in half hearted efforts or someone looking to get the so called "Net Presence" - there's no such animal and those who tell you there is are only looking to line there pockets at your expense. Our philosophy at Internet Domain Shopping Network (IDSN) is that if you don't make any money, we don't make any money. We don't want you to hand over a security bond, but we like to see that your serious and are willing to put in what is required for success.
IDSN can offer hosting services for your complete site or just parts of it. An ecommerce site will have some static html information web pages, promotional and information graphics, shopping basket software, product tables, product graphics a mail server and more. All of these recourses need to be hosted (located) somewhere on the Internet so that they can be accessed as required by clients wishing to use the site. The place were all of these recourses are stored is commonly referred to as a server. IDSN can provide the space for all of these recourses to reside, although the dynamics of the Internet means that they do not need to be in one location. This means that if you already have an information web site, we can provide a full ecommerce service from our host to add on to your site without moving it.
Most Internet sites, whether they are going to sell something or not, need to be developed. Even if you already have an information site, the ecommerce site of the site and how it integrates into your existing site will need to be developed. Mailing lists, product lists, general promotional & product graphics etc. will all need to be developed. Procedures for processing packing and shipping orders as well as updates, client liaison and dealing with damaged or lost goods will all need to be developed. IDSN can help with all of this as it's what we do every day of the year.
Although many organizations will want to maintain their own product lists, some will simply not have the infrastructure or time to do it. IDSN can assist by maintaining and updating stock lists on a regular basis. This includes the initial creation of the list, adding, removing and updating products and product information. Although IDSN does not promote the indiscriminate bulk emailing practice often referred to as SPAM, we are happy to assist or even fully administer a subscription mailing list. This is a list were visitors and clients are invited to join and can be used to promote the site generally or more importantly, make interested parties aware of new products and services.
Needless to say that promotion of your site is the single most important aspect of running a successful business on the Internet. Before you can provide the superior product and excellent customer service, fast delivery or super low prices, you must let people know that you exist. No one will ever accidentally stumble on to your site! IDSN can assist greatly in this department with submission of your site to more than 1,000 search engines, lists and directories, as well as proper preparation of key page text and META tags. We can also prepare mirror sites and multiple strategic key pages for diversification in your listings. Of course just because your business is on the Internet does not mean that you are restricted to promoting on the Internet. IDSN can help with many different options and suggestions for promotions, many of which will not cost you a cent.
Just as your products list and mailing list will need to be maintained, so will your ecommerce business in general. IDSN can administer and process orders, payments, shipping, chargebacks, tracking, insurance, client liaison and funds transfer to you. We can handle all aspects of the record keeping, and ensuring that all aspects of an order are followed through to completion. Administration of an ecommerce site is a very complex and dynamic group of tasks. Just setting up the site is a very small part of the sites life. If it's to have a long and prosperous life, it will need to be looked after like a "baby". If your thinking "....oh I'll set up the site and deal with the orders when they come in..." your going to be in for a big shock. Most sites that fail, (and thousands do), fail because the operator had no idea what they were getting themselves in for and they either get no orders or the orders they did get sunk them (too few, too late). An example of what happens when an order is placed. Setting aside the complex task of establishing the site and the enormous task of promoting it..... an order is now placed. The order must be downloaded to the back office computer that will administer it. It's integrity and validity must be checked, next is must be data based so that it can be easily manipulated as it progresses. Now the payment must be processed, if it's a successful credit card transaction all fine and well, but if the payment fails or some other payment option is requested, then the email roundabout begins. This could set the payment processing back weeks and in the mean time, you'll need to maintain the order. If the payment is successful, you need to advise the client, well at least we do - it's all part of a "Quality Service". All orders in a 24 hour cycle are batched and stock is prepared. In some instances this may involve sending orders out to a supplier. It does not make good business or customer service sense to deliver what you have and back order the rest for delivery in a few days or a week. Your shipping costs which the client will not want to accept are going to erode your profits. So you will need to maintain the orders on your system until the whole order is ready. Remember that we're not talking about just the one order, by now many more orders will be banking up behind it. Now you have all the products for our original order so a shipping document needs to be prepared along with tracking records maintained, customs documents and commercial invoices for over seas shipments then dispatching. Next advise the client that there order has been dispatched and when they can expect to receive it. So that's the end of it right? ..... WRONG. Now the order is in transit. If your shipping over seas, you can expect to have up to 93% of all orders processed within a given period, in transit. So if your turning over $ 30,000 per month, $ 27,900 of that turnover will be in transit, not with you, not with the client, out there in the delivery system making it's way to the client - YOU HOPE! If it arrives, you will need to reconcile it on your order control system and if it doesn't, you'll have to spend time tracking it, finding out what went wrong, who's problem it is, how to resolve it and/or making a claim, and don't forget the client, they haven't got their order yet. So get ready to start the cycle again. Because you already have an order lost in the system, you should create another order and get that out, but before you do that you'll need to console the client, validate their address and contact details with them and question that this is the best way to get their order to them. If the order has arrived and has been reconciled, that's still not the end of it. Some clients chose to have you maintain their file for future orders so they don't need to send their credit card details again, or maybe they have already settled on a form of express service outside your normal delivery method. All this information needs to be maintained in such a way that it can easily and quickly be accessed to answer questions or check history. This is hard enough with companies dealing with 300 - 500 clients in a normal business situation. Each client takes around 5 minutes to open an account for. Imagine having 300 new clients a month or if your on-line business is doing great, what about 1,000. You could be snowed under with record maintenance alone. Now let's not forget credit card chargebacks. Your on-line clients will have 6 months from the date of the transaction to register a query on the transaction that could ultimately result in the payment being reversed. You must be ready to respond to your banks request for information at a moments notice to try and prevent the chargeback going through. This includes email, shipping documents, payment slips, faxes etc. If your not ready or can't find the information in time, you'll lose your money - no question! So, we hope you can now see how important proper administration is. You may chose to do this yourself, but be prepared.
IDSN can process payments for your orders. We currently offer American Express, Bankcard (AU/NZ Only), Mastercard, Visa, Cheques, Money Orders, Wire Transfers, Direct Deposits (AU Only) and B-Pay (AU Only). Payment processing usually includes an email response to the client advising them of success or failure in the transaction. IDSN will need to be indemnified for all chargebacks or bad cheques in relation to orders from your site.
Liaison with the client and potential clients is very important and is the key to good customer service. We can and do provide this service with religious diligence. All bona fide query's are responded to within 24 hours with a mean response time of 6 hours. Even if it's only a quick confirmation message to say that we're looking into something, a response it essential. Most matters are finalized within 24 hours of the first response. This is very important as many companies on the Internet today are just not responding at all. Our service is second to none with quick and timely resolutions. Auto responders are NOT used! Client liaison is so important to us that we have no hesitation in getting on the phone and calling clients anywhere in the world at a time that is convenient to them. Good customer relations will build your business like nothing else and more importantly, it will keep it strong.
Although at IDSN we run an operation we like to call "paper less", documentation is indispensable. So if you going to prepare documentation, you may as well do it right. Documents like packing slips, customs forms, insurance forms, commercial invoices, tracking forms and tax free product records are essential. Who's going to pay for a $150.00 Express shipment that comes back because the paperwork was not in order? Of course this aspect of our service would only be appropriate if we were shipping for you and this would only be practical if we were close enough to your product source, although we would look into a local supplier for you if all you wanted to do was build from a concept and did not have a supplier. As well as tracking and processing orders as described above, IDSN's order control software can prepare the necessary documentation for shipping.
Like Documentation preparation, the shipping part of our service is only appropriate if we have access to the product. Needless to say that our shipping will include selection of the ordered items, appropriate packing, document preparation, security seals and lodgement with the carrier. If shipping we can also include charging to our accounts with various carriers depending on what arrangement is made with you the owner of the site. If
IDSN handles the shipping, we can also handle insurance, tracking, claims
and re-sending of lost or damaged orders.
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