If you're new to E-commerce, you might find our "7 tips for a successful e-commerce business" useful:

1) Provide the same high level of service as you would in a high-street shop. Just because you are online, people still expect prompt contact and resolution when things go wrong.

2) Fast and well packaged delivery. The era of 'allow 28 days for delivery' is long gone. People want it immediately, and the quicker they get it, the more chance they'll be back for repeat business.

3) Set your price right. Unless you have a unique product, to compete with other online retailers you will probably have to sell at a lower price than the high street. Do your competitor analysis first.

4) Promote your site online. You need to bring customers to your site, so put aside a budget for online marketing such as search engine optimisation, pay-per-click, perhaps an affiliate scheme and get a proper link building programme in place - well targeted ones will not only bring you new visitors but increase your search engine positioning.

5) Promote the site offline. Put your website address on all your printed literature and advertising to drive traffic to the site. If you have a shop, advertise in-store - just because someone has walked in today, they may want to order again tomorrow in the middle of the night!

6) Make the customer feel secure. Start with basics like a privacy policy so they know what you'll do with any personal data, a terms and conditions of sale for when they make a purchase, and a terms of use for the website. Also make sure you use an SSL certificate to get a secure encrpyted connection for processing and personal data and payments.

7) Keep in touch. Properly designed and targeted email marketing is very cost effective. If a customer is happy to let you keep them informed of latest products and offers make sure you make the most of this and send out a weekly or monthly mail with useful information.

Copyright Simon Melaniphy - http://www.refreshedmedia.com