September 2010 – nauticalsupplyshop.com

[AnonymousParticipant]

Website: http://www.nauticalsupplyshop.com/

Description: NauticalSupplyShop.com is the nautical enthusiasts and decorators shop for all things related to the sea. “We offer everything from authentic lobster buoys to scale model ship replicas to precision navigational instruments”, states David of NauticalSupplyShop.com. Launched in January of 2000, NauticalSupplyShop.com is one of the oldest nautical retailers online.

Technologies Used: David continued, “We just migrated the site over in August to ShopSite from Miva Merchant to take advantage of all the tools that have been integrated into ShopSite. We are still in the process of implementing most of them, but tools we have integrated thus far include the standard features including coupons, free shipping, wish lists, email lists and customer reviews. New tools we have implemented and found useful include share with a friend, the Facebook and Twitter icons and the buy safe service. We initially selected ShopSite for SEO purposes, but have been thrilled with all of the other features ShopSite offers including the Google feed submissions, the streamlined checkout process, as well as the ease at which maintenance can be performed on the site. ShopSite has allowed us to stop being programmers and go back to being marketers. Something I believe that most other shopping carts have lost focus on.

We were also able to extensively use the custom template features to design a template that allowed for easy navigation, increased conversion, and increased our average order rate. First, we used the navigation menu feature so that you can get from one point of the site to any other point in a maximum of two clicks. To increase conversion and sales, our product page template was designed to eliminate any barriers to purchase. To accomplish this, our phone number, return policy, low price guarantee, product reviews, shipping rates and site security are all prominently featured on every product page.

Secondly, we were able to promote related products and special offers directly on each page as well. While it sounds like a lot of information that might otherwise crowd out the actual product being sold on that page, the ShopSite product page template design allowed us to lay out all of these features in a clean and organized, not to mention search friendly display. Since switching to ShopSite, our sales for our NauticalSupplyShop.com site have jumped 35%.”

Advice / Tips: “We operate a total of eight sites with two currently in development. Always keep an eye out for a strong performing line of products, there may be an opportunity to spin that line off into its own specialized website and develop another site and revenue stream. Our first site was a seashell site that we launched back in 1996. People laughed at the idea of selling seashells online, but we were the only one online selling shells, and we were selling a lot of seashells. That site eventually spun off our NauticalSupplyShop.com site along with two other sites. NauticalSupplyShop.com since it launch has now spun off two sites of its own.

My only other piece of advice seems rather simple but is often overlooked by competitors to my own advantage. Put your phone number on every page of your site. A site without a contact phone number is not a real business in the mind of a customer. A phone number on your site is more important than any third party security seal.”

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