Dr Fang's new clock shop is a fully functioning Pay Pal-linked store with terms and conditions and even a returns policy. Ok, it only has one product (a rather hastily snapped and not particularly remarkable clock that hangs on the office wall – not for sale!).
We are not promoting the software we used. We read about Tictail for the first time yesterday and covered it in the Blog. We have had no contact with the company but it,
and others like it, are clearly thrusting smaller traders into a brave new
world.
First you need to have an email
account. Pay Pal, Facebook and Twitter accounts would be useful too but not
necessary for the start-up process.
From then on its mindbogglingly simple. Enter a
shop name; then products if you have photos handy (see below) - but again not critical for the initial start-up. Link to your
Pay Pal account which you’ll need before you can trade. Twitter and Facebook will help you promote the site and you'll be prompted to alert your followers as you go along and add new products (if you have any followers, better known as potential customers - finding some is another story altogether, I'm afraid).
I've glossed over some of the complexities here. For example, everything we know about online shopping suggests photos are key. Get a decent camera, use a decent background in a well-lit room (not so well-lit it wipes out all the features of the product) and remember this is critical information on which your customer will base their purchasing decision. Don't take photos of products on your coffee table or on a table in your cramped stockroom. They will look awful. My photograph was taken for speed and I would not dream of using that on an actual site.
If you really want a swift start, you can take photographs with a decent smartphone and email them straight to your PC or laptop. If that statement confuses you, you may have to go back even further and come back here when you've figured out what a smartphone does....
Products can be divided into menus. We created a menu for ‘clocks’, then a sub file for ‘white’ clocks and another subset for white ‘round’ clocks. But it seems you could
pretty much go sub-categorising until your heart’s content.
By the way, in the example below, our clock here is marked 'not available' just in case someone tried to buy it while we were setting up the site!
You are also invited to add a returns policy
and other terms and conditions but these are suggested for you (please note, we
have no idea how comprehensive the offered policies are or how far the t's & c's will protect you
legally).
In next to no time (as we said, 13 minutes) we're looking at Dr Fang's Shop front
with no phone calls, emails or any contact with the outside world whatsoever.
It’s not the most beautiful thing in the world but at this stage in your online retail career, who cares. The fact is your lovely products are now finding a whole new audience. We then went back to visit as a shopper. You can then click on the clock, add it to your shopping cart and you are then invited to enter your details and pay via Pay Pal.
Tictail is, on first impressions, a chunky and hardly beautiful opportunity for the digitally averse. Like a set of Duplo bricks for those of us too scared to play with Mechano. I’m sure there are ways to finesse your Tictail site but that's between you and them. We're also absolutely sure than some retailers would prefer do do things differently. But the point is, in 2013 there are options that are quick and will meet the needs of those who feel retailing, not software programming, is their calling.
That’s it. Now go and find some customers.
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