Using Your Web Storefront to Give to Charity

Marci Braunstein sells secret message bead kits on her web storefront Bead The Message.

She launched the product in 2009 after leaving her corporate accounting job, but she knew she wanted to do more than just make a profit.  “The business was for me, but I had to give back as well,” she says.  Marci created a successful company, as well as a charity effort for Give Kids the World Village (GKTW) in Kissimmee, Florida.  GTKW makes it possible for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families to experience a visit to GKTW and Central Florida theme parks.  

Congrats to Daryl from Two Sisters of Texas, winner of our $1799 Jump Start Package

The team at Prostores wants to thank everyone for dropping by our booth during eBay On Locatoin in Dallas and everyone who participated in our drawing for the Jump Start Package, valued at $1799.  The lucky winner was Daryl from Two Sisters of Texas.  We can't wait to see the transformation of his webstore!

Video Profile: Featured Web Store Solstice Supply

Over the past month we've introduced you to one of our featured web stores, Solstice Supply.  Justin Clapick and his staff are diehard snowboarders who run a successful web store selling high quality snowboarding equipment at discount prices.  Their mission is to make the sport they love more affordable so everyone can enjoy it.

They're just another example of a ProStores merchant riding high on success and still being able to enjoy what they love to do most.  Check out their video.  

Five eCommerce Tips for Good Customer Service

We’ve introduced you to one of our featured merchants, Justin Clapick of Solstice Supply, an eCommerce storefront based in Oregon that sells discount snowboarding equipment.  Solstice Supply has built a loyal clientele, but Justin admits that connecting with a customer online can be more difficult than connecting with that person in a retail setting.  

“There’s something esoteric about being online," he muses.  "Dealing with someone who’s virtual that you’ve never met can be a challenge, and you have to do more to prove yourself because a customer can always go somewhere else.  We try to connect on a level that isn’t robotic, but there’s no perfect science behind it.  It’s all about exceeding expectations, and that starts with customer service.  The simple things go a long way.”

Some of the simple things Solstice Supply does are:

The Web Store Marketing Breakdown

ProStores web store Solstice Supply does a burgeoning business selling discount snowboarding gear.  Like most web stores, it relies heavily on organic search.  “We have a good chance of getting free traffic because we’re not selling stuff that a lot of other people sell,” says owner and snowboarder Justin Clapick.  SEO accounts for about 50 percent of Solstice Supply's traffic, and a few other online marketing strategies drive the other half. 

Twenty-five percent comes from paid traffic, through NexTag, Google AdWords, and Shopping.com.  Justin follows a simple formula for his monthly advertising budget--he spends about two percent of his total sales.

Web Store Merchants List on TheFind for Free

Esteban Nunez runs the web store A10 Collectibles, which sells high-end super hero and Disney collectibles.  Like many eCommerce merchants, Esteban would like to get his products seen by more people.  He has considered listing his products on shopping comparison sites like Shopzilla, Shopping.com, and Yahoo! Shopping.  But Esteban feels that “the cost is rather high” on those paid sites.

 

Instead, Esteban uses TheFind, a vertical search engine that crawls the web for products on sale, as well as discounts and coupons.  The site boasts over 320 million products from more than 500,000 stores.  And the service is free.  “TheFind automatically pulls our database and makes it available on their website,” says Esteban.  “When shoppers click on a product, it takes them directly to our web store."

Sellers can increase their visibility in search results and reinforce their online credibility by signing up with TheFind as an UpFront Merchant.  UpFront Merchants get a special badge listing their contact information, business certifications, shipping policies, and social networking links.  The badge appears in their search results on TheFind, as well as on their web store's homepage.  

“TheFind is just like Google, but more shopping oriented,” says Esteban.”  Since it’s free, you have nothing to lose. 

Merchant Spotlight: Red Pig Garden Tools

This store sells very unique products: hand made garden tools! Not only do we think Red Pig Garden Tools is cool, but where else can you find a hand plow for left-handed gardeners?

Merchant Spotlight: Detroit Institute of Arts and Cyberboutique

Here are two great examples of museums selling online: Detroit Institute of Arts and Cyberboutique (online store for the Canadian War Museum). Note use of Member Discounts with DIA and use of French and English store versions for Cyberboutique. Nice!

 

Merchant Spotlight: L2 Design Collective

If you're interested in handprinted journals, notecards, greeting cards and more, check out L2 Design Collective. Their cool designs are not just limited to their products - their ProStores web store looks pretty good too. They made it clean, simple and easy to make purchase (I couldn't resist! I ended up buying some awesome cards).

Merchant Spotlight: Moms on Edge

This ProStores web store is a definite go-to for parents of young children: Moms on Edge. They offer parenting tools like the The Original Naughty Spot Time Out Mat that was featured on the Today show. Moms on Edge was one of the winners of the Entrepreneur Magazine/ProStores eBusiness Boost contest we held a few years back and they just recently had ProStores Certified Designer Solid Cactus help out with the design of their site. Nice!