The Sellerdeck survey shows that although online sales are growing faster than in the high street, the average shopping cart value has declined slightly from £87.09 in Q2 2009 to £72.35 in Q2 2010. This decrease means e-retailers had to work harder to achieve the increase in revenue with promotional offers, discounted lines or focusing on lower value items. On average an extra 262 orders were processed by each e-retailer during the quarter when compared to the same period the previous year.

Jez Hall, director of garden machinery supplier www.mowermagic.co.uk comments: “We have noticed a shift in customer purchasing behaviour for the second quarter of 2010, due to the economic climate. Our range of garden machinery is still selling well but we have experienced a significant increase in spare part sales as customers, make do and mend, rather than replace garden equipment. This trend has helped our bottom line as the margins we can achieve with spare parts can be higher than selling the larger ticket items such as lawn mowers.”

He adds, “Without wanting to put a dampener on this year’s long hot summer, the lack of rain does mean gardens are not flourishing. However with our sales revenues up 12% on the second quarter of 2009 figures, we are not complaining.”

Nick Kington, managing director at Sellerdeck says, “This is another impressive performance by online sellers in the SME market and in line with Sales Index figures reported by the IMRG in June. Despite the economic climate many Sellerdeck retailers are seeing very positive signs that consumer confidence and online spending in particular is on the increase.”

Chris Barling, CEO of Sellerdeck says: “The latest version of Sellerdeck Ecommerce introduces several new features that many of our merchants have requested. Retailers will benefit from real time stock control and additional marketing functionality to help increase sales, while their customers will see improvements to their shopping experience.”

Key new features in Sellerdeck v10 include:

• Real time stock control – This provides improved stock management for retailers and automatic, up-to-date visibility of stock levels for shoppers. For multi-channel retailers this also enables stock synchronisation between the website, offline ordering and the Sellerdeck EPOS till system.
• Customer feedback integration with Feefo (Feedback Forum) – Enables the merchant to display independent customer feedback on the website. This can help to increase conversions to sales , as well as enhance the site’s SEO.
• Streamlined checkout – Improves the shopper’s experience by reducing the number of checkout steps.
• ‘Recently viewed’ products – This new marketing feature shows the shopper a list of products that they have previously viewed on the website.

Commenting on the release of version 10, Richard Cooper, Marketing Director of Polished Bliss (www.polishedbliss.co.uk) said, ‘The new release of Sellerdeck improves what was already a great E-Commerce package. Sellerdeck has been core to our business since 2005. It has proven itself to be flexible, reliable and very user friendly and has helped increase revenue by 48% per annum for the last 3 years. The release of Sellerdeck v10, with its improved functionality, will contribute significantly to the continued growth of our business’.

Prices and Availability

Available now, Sellerdeck Catalog and Sellerdeck Business pricing remains unchanged at £499 and £899 respectively, for single-site, single user licenses. Sellerdeck Business Plus is £1399 plus £300 per additional networked user. Sellerdeck Designer is £350. Sellerdeck Enterprise is £4,000 for a 2-user system plus £500 per additional user. All prices exclude VAT.

Feefo aims to help web merchants operate their businesses better and has an excellent track record of obtaining customer feedback. Since it started in 2006, Feefo’s clients have received feedback on an average of 17% of all web orders — the highest in the industry. Feefo solicits a merchant’s customers for feedback, making them aware that the results cannot be edited by the store owner. This not only leads to more feedback, but it also addresses trust issues and increases sales.

Used with Sellerdeck’s award-winning E-Commerce products, integration and operation of Feefo is very simple for the merchant, with all aspects of integration and configuration available on a point and click basis. Merchants control the number of days’ delay before requests for feedback are sent; whether service or product feedback is sought; and limits on the number of emails sent to individuals. All aspects of the service comply with data protection and email legislation with full opt-out available.

Benefits from the service include:

• Enhanced search engine rankings
• Better conversion at the web site — typically in the order of 10%
• Improved understanding of customers and their requirements
• Reduced returns.

According to Sellerdeck CEO Chris Barling, “With trust issues firmly in the forefront of buyers’ thinking when they are contemplating a purchase from a smaller store, we feel that independent customer feedback is imperative. Our survey of the market identified Feefo as having the best business model at a price that is accessible to small and medium sized merchants. We are closely integrating the service so that it can be implemented with a few clicks. We are convinced that it will be a winning formula, and there is certainly a lot of interest in the subject from our customers.”

For Feefo, MD Andrew Mabbutt comments, “We are very pleased that Sellerdeck chose us as its customer feedback partner. From the beginning of the discussions, it was clear that Sellerdeck intended to offer a service that was both easy to use and reasonably priced, which fitted well with our policy of providing customers with the best solution available. The partnership will allow Sellerdeck’s customers to benefit by having affordable access to a world-class independent feedback solution.”

For full details see feefo-customer-feedback.

In this Sellerdeck survey of over 200 small and medium businesses selling online, on average the quantity of orders processed by each e-tailer increased 13% during the third quarter when compared to the same period the previous year.

Respondents reported their average shopping cart value increasing slightly by 4% during the period from £73.81 in the third quarter 2009 to £76.81 in 2010.

John Boyes, managing director of www.track-shack.com commented, “Our Q3 turnover has increased in excess of 20% when compared to last year’s figures which we put down to simply holding more stock of the products our customers want. In our niche market customers would traditionally wait ages between placing an order and receiving the goods. We have recently started “The People’s Engine” survey which provides an invaluable insight into future demand. This allows us to work with suppliers to develop new product and stock up on what our customers actually want.”

Rob Mobberley, director and CEO of www.performancemotorcare.com has seen revenues increase by 28% for the third quarter compared to the same period last year, with the order volume increasing 19% and average order value increasing by over 7%.  Rob said, “The focus for us is maintaining a high level of customer service to encourage repeat orders. We have used social media, including Twitter and Facebook to engage with our customers giving advice and guidance on our car care products and have also introduced customer reviews and feedback so website visitors can make more informed purchases.”

Nick Kington, managing director at Sellerdeck adds, “These growth figures indicate that online sellers in the SME sector are faring well against poor high street sales. With consumer confidence decreasing in September as reported by the Nationwide Building Society it is very encouraging to see e-tailers are still reporting double digit year on year growth. On the run up to Christmas online merchants are looking well placed to capitalise from consumers shopping around to get the best deals.”

This joint venture will create a European group providing E-Commerce systems to the start-up and SME markets with a customer portfolio approaching 20,000 e-tailers. This union strengthens the group’s position in the E-Commerce market in the UK, France, Spain and Italy. The group also takes the lead as the foremost E-Commerce solution provider with over 11 million orders processed through Sellerdeck and Oxatis retailers combined, representing more than £1 billion of online sales per annum.

The joint venture will be represented in the UK by the formation of a new business division called Sellerdeck Online. This division will provide a full range of web-based E-Commerce solutions offerings to the UK market, based on the Oxatis platform.

The launch of Sellerdeck Online will complement the existing Sellerdeck desktop products (Catalog, Business and Enterprise) by providing an alternative SaaS-based E-Commerce application with a number of advanced capabilities not found in the current Sellerdeck range such as eBay, Amazon and Facebook integration. At the same time, Sellerdeck will continue development of the existing desktop E-Commerce software products range with version 11 due for release this summer.

Chris Barling, CEO and founder of Sellerdeck, says: “Sellerdeck has a large customer portfolio and extensive experience in the UK market. The combination of that experience and the expertise Oxatis possesses in the SaaS environment will help us to complement and strengthen the overall choice for both business customers and partners. There is clearly a strong synergy between Sellerdeck and Oxatis and we are looking forward to joining forces to make a real difference in the UK market.”

Marc Schillaci, CEO and founder of Oxatis, declares, “We are very happy to announce this alliance with Sellerdeck. It is an interesting and challenging market opportunity for us, and taking on this challenge will help us accelerate our European development and solidify our position as a European leader.“

Contact:

Simon Armstrong, marketing manager, Sellerdeck Online. 0845 129 4800   

About Sellerdeck:
Established in 1996, Sellerdeck is a long-time player in the UK E-Commerce market and offers a complete range of E-Commerce solutions dedicated to start-ups and SMEs.

About Oxatis:

Oxatis was established in July 2001 in Marseille, France and is a European leader in SaaS E-Commerce solutions. Oxatis is also present in Spain and Italy with over 6,500 confirmed customers.

In addition, the latest Sellerdeck survey of small and medium businesses selling online shows the quantity of orders processed by each e-tailer increased by 12% on average in the first quarter over the same period in 2010. Notably respondents also reported their average shopping cart value decreasing by over 3% during the period from £71.17 in the first quarter 2010 to £68.82 in the first quarter 2011, indicating shoppers are becoming more restrained in their spending.

If the two sets of figures are compared by month from 2010 to 2011 a very different picture emerges. January was very strong with a 20% increase in sales and 17% increase in orders processed, in contrast to February and March which both saw only a 4% increase in sales and 10% growth in the number of orders.

Nick Kington, managing director at Sellerdeck comments, “The quarter started very strongly, perhaps as a bounce back following the difficulties experienced due to the weather in December 2010. However in February and March there were signs that consumers might be starting to rein in their spending. With the government cutbacks starting in earnest and the possibility of an increase in interest rates the outlook for the second quarter of 2011 is looking less optimistic. But internet shopping still seems to be more resilient than the high street given that the British Retail Consortium reported a 1.9% decrease in sales this March.”

Selling Successfully Online is available as an A5 paperback from Amazon for £7.99 (www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0955068819), or for a limited time as a free PDF download from www.actinic.co.uk/top-tips.

Written and laid out in an easily digestible format which allows readers to dip in and out of particular topics, Chris Barling has collated the best tips from his own articles published over the last 15 years, as well as including real world advice from online shop owners and E-Commerce site developers. As a result the book offers a wealth of vendor-neutral ideas and sound professional advice to those thinking about E-Commerce, as well as anyone already selling online.

Topics covered include:

• Introduction to selling online including a FAQ about selling on the internet and setting up advice;
• Marketing a website – attracting people, digital marketing, SEO, PPC, email marketing, social networks, using video/audio and measuring performance;
• Selling – maximising sales with optimal product pages, turning browsers into buyers, avoiding abandoned shopping carts, pricing and promotion;
• Operations – fraud prevention, staying legal and shipping considerations;
• Advanced E-Commerce – selling abroad, mobile commerce and multi-channel retail;
• Customer relations – showing customers you care, interaction and feedback.

Book reviewers have described it as:

“A must read for anyone thinking of selling online, Chris Barling has packed in over 300 practical tips based on his experience of helping thousands of businesses setting up E-Commerce websites. The book is divided into easy to follow sections and covers all the aspects of selling online. If you are thinking of selling online this book will be invaluable to have and keep returning to.” Brian Jack, managing director of www.is4profit.com.

Rory MccGwire, founder of www.startupdonut.co.uk and www.marketingdonut.co.uk says, “The E-Commerce advice Chris gives visitors to our business advice websites is always sharp and insightful. Here it’s condensed into more than 300 practical tips for increasing online sales that anyone can follow — if I were you, I’d get hold of this book before your rivals do.”

Review copies & information from:

Sellerdeck ’s PR: Jane Lee, www.dexterity.co.uk, 01273 470199, Sellerdeck [at] dexterity.co.uk.

About the author:

Chris Barling, CEO and co-founder of Sellerdeck has provided advice and insight for small and medium businesses over the past 15 years. He has 30 years’ experience in the IT industry, having held senior positions in Reuters, Cable and Wireless and GLS before joining Sellerdeck and is also a non-executive director with Hargreaves Lansdown plc, the independent financial service provider.

His articles, blogs and interviews have appeared in the leading E-Commerce and small business media including .net, BCS Annual Review, Better Business, Business Matters, BusinessZone, Catalogue e-Business, Internet Retailing, is4profit, MarketingDonut, New Business, New Media Knowledge, Retail Systems, Retail Technology, StartupDonut and many more.

The deal will mean that businesses using the Sellerdeck platform to drive their websites can now select Ogone to process their payments simply by clicking on a dropdown selection in the Business Settings. The plug-in is available to those using Sellerdeck version 10 (v10.0.2 onwards) for Sellerdeck Catalog, Business, Business Plus and Enterprise.

As a result of the partnership over 12,000 of the UK’s small and medium sized E-Commerce ventures can now benefit from Ogone’s fully PCI-DSS compliant online payment processing. Furthermore they can take advantage of Ogone’s established relationships with all the major payment providers such as Visa, Mastercard and American Express, as well as all local European payment providers. These include Solo and Maestro in the UK, iDeal and Machtigingen in the Netherlands, ELV in Germany and Carte Bleue in France, enabling them to develop European markets through a single, consolidated payment mechanism.

Nick Kington, Managing Director, Sellerdeck said of the partnership “An increasing number of the UK’s independent retailer’s want to trade internationally. It is Ogone’s ability to process payments from different markets that differentiates them from other PSPs and makes its plug in an excellent addition to our platform and services.”

Julian Wallis, UK Country Manager, Ogone said: ‘Sellerdeck helps thousands of businesses to power their online stores and is a major player in the UK market. As British retailers realise that the our domestic E-Commerce market is maturing, it’s important they take the next step and prepare for overseas trading. The Ogone platform is specifically designed to open European markets and this partnership with Sellerdeck will simplify international trading for a large number of UK firms.’

Ogone has completed all the technical work to develop the plug in and fully integrate its payment platform with Sellerdeck so that Sellerdeck customers can benefit from Ogone’s extensive experience and wide range of payment services with minimal time and effort.

The plug in is available now and is listed on the payment services page. Please visit: http://www.sellerdeck.co.uk/index.php/partners/category/payment-service-providers

ENDS

About Ogone:

Ogone Payment Services is one of the main European service providers specialised in the processing of online payments, with more than 28.000 customers in 40 countries. The company provides a range of electronic payment solutions covering a number of areas, including e-commerce, ticketing, call centres or the hotel industry. This includes both business-to-consumer solutions and business-to-business services (purchasing cards). With its transactional functionalities and extensive back-office capabilities, the Ogone Payment Services offering is one of the most comprehensive available today.

Ogone Payment Services is connected to the banks by certified interfaces and hence is able to handle international methods of payment such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Diners Club, as well as local payment methods, including iDeal and Machtigingen in the Netherlands, Solo and Maestro UK in the United Kingdom, Bancontact/Mister Cash in Belgium, ELV and giropay in Germany, Carte Bleue in France, Dankort and eDankort in Denmark etc.

A number of major organisations have also opted to use Ogone to handle their payments. These include Friends Provident, Tui, Thomas Cook, Halfords, Just Eat, Bose, Opodo, Club Med, DHL International, Viking Direct/Office Depot, Thalys International, Misco and Center Parcs.

Ogone Payment Services has offices in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the United Kingdom.

About Sellerdeck:

Founded in 1996, Sellerdeck (www.sellerdeck.co.uk) is a British company specialising in helping small and medium retailers trade, both online and offline, using its E-Commerce and electronic point of sale (EPOS) packages.

 Sellerdeck offers E-Commerce products for web designers and self-builders, including both web-based and desktop solutions. The range includes Sellerdeck Enterprise, Sellerdeck Business, Sellerdeck Catalog, Sellerdeck Express and Sellerdeck Designer. Sellerdeck powers more UK E-Commerce sites than any other company. 

Sellerdeck EPOS systems give a comprehensive feature set that is straightforward to operate at great value. The range extends from a low cost, single till installation for the smaller store, to integrated multi-till and multi-site systems with head office functionality for centralised product, stock and price updating and reporting.

Trademarks: Sellerdeck, Sellerdeck Catalog, Sellerdeck Business, Sellerdeck Express and Sellerdeck Designer are registered trademarks of Sellerdeck Software Limited.

Nick Ward / Sarah Mulder EpochPR T: +44 (0) 207 401 8001 nward@epochpr.com smulder@epochpr.com Enterprise House 1-2 Hatfields, London www.epochpr.com