The Revolution of Volusion eCommerce Software: A Hands On Review

---

• The Revolution of Volusion eCommerce Software: A Hands On Review
• Microsoft Will Change the Name of SkyDrive
• Sole Proprietorship Revenues in Long Term Decline

The Revolution of Volusion eCommerce Software: A Hands On Review Posted: 05 Aug 2013 03:30 PM PDT I recently migrated a small business client to Volusion for their eCommerce solution. Going into it, it seemed like it would be the right decision based on their budget and needs. However, it’s hard to know for sure until you actually put the eCommerce software through a real life test. With this review, I’d like to give you the benefit of what I discovered. Before getting into the conversion, I prepared myself and the client for future sacrifices we would be making that were common with leaving a custom eCommerce shopping cart to a plug-and-play eCommerce shopping cart solution. We anticipated some loss of flexibility. However, what we discovered was a strong trade-off, because we gained features and certain activities became much easier using Volusion. Why did I move a customer from a custom cart to an out-of-the-box solution? Here is a quick summary. As a small business, the reasons will look familiar. The customer could not afford a programmer. Things were starting to break from lack of TLC (i.e., there was deferred maintenance and enhancement of the site needed) The site was NOT mobile friendly … this is an understatement and the need was non-negotiable. It took me less than one month to launch the replacement store. My client is ecstatic about the new store including the look and feel (their greatest concern). The store has been live for over 3 months with no major issues. Below is my list of pros that makes me a Volusion evangelist, as well as the realistic list of cons. Pros of Volusion eCommerce Software Design My client's greatest concern was the look and feel of the new store matching their existing site. I had no budget for custom design or a premium template.  While I am sure a custom design from Volusion would have made the difference seamless, the free version was a success for my client. Mobile Store It is simple just as all mobile stores should be. In other words, it works – out of the box. Reviews The ability for customers to submit review is automatic and comes with a follow up email after each order. Product Catalog Insertion I simply exported out my old store and put it into the new store. There was still quite a bit of manual work to be done but that was only because of the new features we wanted to take advantage of. I wanted to take full advantage of the SEO capabilities. Payment and Shipping Options Very easy to initiate. It was nice to see PayPal and Google Wallet as standard options. Pricing There are several add-ons with additional charges, but nothing I didn't expect based on my experience with other store launches. For instance, I knew I would have to pay extra for an SSL certificate. What was a nice surprise is when they refunded me the SSL cost when the client needed to change to a different sub-domain. There are no transaction fees. Customer Support This is the best feature of Volusion. Their phone customer support is great.  If I had any questions, they were answered within minutes. There was not one single negative experience with their phone support. You will understand why I emphasize phone support once we get to the cons list. Cons for Volusion eCommerce Software User Interface The user interface is not intuitive. This is why I had so much experience with their excellent support team. I highly recommend upgrading to the Gold Premium Support even if it is just for the first month. Exports Unless you are a programmer, you will not be able to create custom exports/reports. I was able to hack my way to success for Quickbooks, an affiliate data feed and fulfillment house file. Quotes from a programmer were over $5,000 … certainly not in my client’s budget.  You will want to be creative when it comes to exporting data to other applications. Technical Support Technical support can only be reached via email. My experience with technical support was negative. There was a delayed response time. I experienced push back on each email. Quickbooks Integration I ended up creating a custom export as the existing solution was not robust enough for my client. eNewsletter My client is sticking with Constant Contact for the email newsletter. I was hoping to save money by using Volusion but the email marketing functionality is not there yet. Bottom line:  No solution is going to be perfect.  Everything involves tradeoffs.  But considering all the features gained for the price, as well as the speed to implementation, Volusion was a good solution. I hope this hands-on review provides you the insight to make your shopping cart decision. I recommend Volusion if you are a small business owner with no IT personnel and are willing to stay 'in the box.' The post The Revolution of Volusion eCommerce Software: A Hands On Review appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Microsoft Will Change the Name of SkyDrive Posted: 05 Aug 2013 11:20 AM PDT If you’re a regular user of Microsoft’s SkyDrive cloud storage, you may notice a name change to the service soon. Microsoft will be forced to change the name after settling a trademark case with UK television broadcaster BSkyB. Confusion Over Cloud Storage Service Though Microsoft’s service offers cloud storage and BSkyB is a satellite broadcaster, telephone company and broadband service provider, the use of the word “sky” by both companies is causing customers in the UK some hassle. BSkyB had apparently offered cloud storage until 2011 and still offers broadband and video streaming products. The BBC reports a judge found customers having trouble with Microsoft’s cloud storage product were actually calling BSkyB’s helpline. No Challenge From Microsoft Though Microsoft originally planned to appeal the decision, it has now decided to simply re-brand its cloud storage worldwide. There may be deeper business reasons behind this change of heart. The BBC reports users of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 game console in the UK can already access BSkyB channels through the device. A closer tigh-in may be planned for the XBox One due out later this year. The Verge reports it isn’t the first time in recent weeks Microsoft has faced a re-branding issue. The company announced it is changing the “Metro” name it has been using for Windows 8 user interface and applications. The change is the result of an unconfirmed complaint from German retailing giant Metro AG. There is no word yet on what the new name for SkyDrive will be, but Microsoft has apparently been granted some time to make a smooth transition. Image: Wikipedia The post Microsoft Will Change the Name of SkyDrive appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Sole Proprietorship Revenues in Long Term Decline Posted: 05 Aug 2013 10:10 AM PDT Source: Create from data from the IRS Statistics of Income Here's some sobering news for those people thinking of going into business for themselves. The average revenues of sole proprietorships has been trending downward for the last 50 years! As the figure above shows, the average receipts per U.S. sole proprietorship has dropped by two-thirds in inflation-adjusted terms since 1966. Because three quarters of all U.S. businesses are sole proprietorships, this trend is not good for small business. Revenues at the average sole proprietorship appear to be dropping because their numbers have been growing rapidly. The count of proprietorships has been increasing faster than the population for several decades, driving up the per capita number. In 1957 there were 4.6 sole proprietors per 100 Americans; in 2010 there were 7.5. In 2010, revenues from sole proprietorships were very similar to what they were in 1957 – down only 5.3 percent in inflation-adjusted terms. Relatively constant revenues are being spread across more and more businesses, it appears. The increase in the per capita number of sole proprietorships – and the corresponding decline in the revenues of each – is troubling because of what this decline is correlated with: a drop in new employer firm formation. Between 1977 (when employer firm formation figures are first available) and 2010 (when the latest recent sole proprietorship numbers can be found), the new business creation rate and the average revenues of a sole proprietorship correlate 0.75 – a correlation of 1.00 means that two numbers move in perfect concert. As the revenue of the average sole proprietorship has trended downward so too has the per capita rate of new employer business creation. While correlation does not imply causation, the sizable decline in both measures should prompt policy makers to ask what's going on. From 1977 to 2010, the per capita rate of new employer firm formation declined by 50 percent and real revenues at the average sole proprietorship dropped by 58 percent. Other forms of business don't appear to be making up for the decline in the average revenues of sole proprietorships. A similar decline appears to be present with corporations. Between 1977 and 2009 – the latest year for which data on corporations are available – the number of corporations increased by 159 percent. Over the same period, the inflation-adjusted revenue of the average corporation dropped by 36 percent. While much more detailed investigation would be necessary before drawing any firm conclusions, the data suggests that rapid growth in the number sole proprietorships over the past 50 years might not be as beneficial as it appears at first glance. The post Sole Proprietorship Revenues in Long Term Decline appeared first on Small Business Trends.

You are subscribed to email updates from Small Business Trends To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610