December 12, 2007 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – Web host Netcetera (http://www.netcetera.im) is offering e-tailers advice on how they can most benefit from the Christmas period, which this year is expected to be a record period for online sales. IT industry analysts Forrester Research have predicted online sales of “in excess of £13.8 billion ($28.1 billion)” – an increase of around 42% the same period last year. The company is offering a list of “Top 10 Tips” to enable e-tailers to maximize revenues.
“This phenomenal growth is not surprising when you consider that some 61 per cent of UK homes are now connected to the Internet, and that 84 per cent of online homes are using high-speed broadband,” explained Netcetera's Chief Operating Officer, Dave Boswell. “In addition, confidence in website security is up with more than 75 per cent of people saying they trust the sites on which they make purchases.”
Netcetera's top 10 tips include the use of GeoTrust SSL security certificates to give customers “visual security reassurances”. In addition, the company advises having enough server capacity to cope with unpredictable spikes in traffic. They also advise processing online payments in realtime, keeping page design simple and easy to navigate (and avoiding “Flash imagery”), and adding “festive cheer” to a website to “get the shopper in the mood”.
Netcetera goes on to recommend showing links to related items to “inspire impulse buys”, using clear, quality product images, and ensuring all out of stock items are clearly identified as such. Netcetera concludes its list by suggesting websites should clearly outline shipping prices, times and the deadlines - especially important in the run up to Christmas, provide clear and comprehensive information on returns procedures, and offer an alternative invoice and delivery address with gift-wrapping as a value added service to customers.
Established in 1996, Netcetera is registered as a business in the Isle of Man and operates from the British island. A Microsoft Gold Certified partner, the company provides web hosting services to customers in more than 60 countries. The company recently invested £10m ($20.3m) in the Dataport, a data centre located in the Ballasalla Freeport, which offers advanced and cost-effective facilities for housing IT infrastructure available anywhere offshore including colocation services, managed network services, managed security and managed hosting.
