Interview: Jenny Seddon’s E-Commerce Experience

Jenny has been an Avactis customer for several years. In this interview she shares her experience using Avactis for her online stores and e-commerce experience.

Emily: Please tell us a little about your business. Are you a web developer?
Jenny: I’m not a web developer (although I could now confidently create an Avactis store for pretty much anyone). I’m a graphic designer, but wanted to build a store in my spare time. So I decided to sell gift hampers (www.alderwoodhampers.co.uk) because I enjoy creating interesting and unusual gifts. I can also use my design and print knowledge to economically produce marketing and packaging materials for the business. For instance, our hamper boxes are just plain regular shoe box-size boxes; however, we dress them up with beautiful sleeves which the customer can choose themselves to create a stunning and original gift. Our products have evolved over the last year or so to include individual gifts as well as hampers. The prevailing themes, though, are gourmet cuisine, kitchen giftware and hampers.

Emily: What is your favorite thing about Avactis?
Jenny: My favorite thing about Avactis is that it’s remarkably easy to achieve a functional website – whether you’re a rank amateur or a real geek. Once the software is installed, you can actually have your site up and running in an hour or two using the pre-installed site templates. It’s that easy. And you can make as many (or as few) adjustments to the layout and design as you like.

Emily: How did you hear about Avactis? Why have you chosen it for your websites?
Jenny: I came across Avactis by chance – there was a free trial included in an e-commerce magazine. I downloaded it, loved it, and the rest is history! Since then I have created around half a dozen e-commerce sites using Avactis.

Emily: Was it hard to start using the Avactis Shopping Cart?
Jenny: I found it reasonably simple – despite the fact that I NEVER read instructions or technical manuals! I created my first e-commerce site purely by the seat of my pants 🙂

Emily: How would you rate Avactis compared to other shopping carts?
Jenny: I only have experience with OSCommerce, which frankly I found bewildering.

Emily: What do you think should be improved in Avactis software?
Jenny: Hmm, that’s a tricky one, really – the software is getting better and better all the time. Whenever I do come across any problems, I just visit the Avactis Live Chat and chat with one of the techies – they’re VERY knowledgeable and can sort out most problems.

Emily: What are the main things to know when you start an online business?
Jenny: Take advantage of the Avactis installation service: it saves a lot of stress and doesn’t cost much. Keep an eye on your competition’s websites and make your site better than theirs. Give serious thought to how you’ll DELIVER your products, and to how you plan to accept PAYMENT for your products.

Emily: Do you have any advice to those about to open an online store?
Jenny: Be realistic – just because you have an online store, it doesn’t mean that you’ll automatically receive orders overnight. Even though Avactis software has excellent SEO capabilities, you have to generate targeted traffic independently, so you’ll need to budget for some PPC, too. Keep adjusting and updating your home page offers, just like a real shop window does. Make the navigation as SIMPLE as possible to avoid abandoned sales.