Small Business Owner Breaks Into Online Gifts and Collectibles

eCommerce on a budget, Mom and Pop are taking on the "big guys". How one store took selling candles and bears online.

(PRWEB) November 5, 2004 -- With eCommerce growing at 17% to 25% each year, the question of whether or not to sell your products online is a no brainer. But, it takes more than the "build it and they will come" business plan. You need to be able to provide your customers with something that sets you apart from the "big guys".

Dana, owner of Bearstuff and More decided to do just that. "It all started with a bad experience on a big name gifts and collectibles site." explains Dana. "Not that all big name gifts and collectibles online stores are bad. They're just too big to provide the level of customer service you get from your local gifts and collectibles shop."

Bearstuffandmore.com sells The Boyds Collection, Bears and Home Accents along with Scentual Candle bun candles and Crazy Mountain Imports. You might think that this would be a fairly safe market to get into. Dana soon found out however, the competition for resin and plush collectibles online is pretty stiff. Not to mention, the perceived investment needed to start up an eCommerce site can be enough to deter the most willing small business owner.

In order to keep overhead to a minimum, a solution for a shopping cart was needed that would cost very little to implement, while keeping reoccurring monthly costs as low as possible. The solution was provided by an open source project developed by small business owners like Dana. osCommerce allows the small business owner to customize their store front to suit the style and needs of the business. Because osCommerce is open source, the cost of implementation was the time required for customization.

Including the cost of web hosting, domain registration (www.bearstuffandmore.com), an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) and the initial cost of setting up a Credit Card Processor, Bearstuff and More was able to sell online for under $750.

With website and product online, Bearstuff and More began to build the customer base needed to succeed. By offering promotionals such as free gifts, discounts and free shipping, Bearstuff and More made it appealing for new customers. As a personal touch, Bearstuff and More began sending gift cards, the kind you can spend, to its customers on their birthdays. Bearstuff and More also has a policy of contacting customers if there is a problem with their order, like forgetting to choose a free gift. Rather than waiting for the customer to notice the problem or send the customer an email, Bearstuff and More simply picks up the phone.

This is the type of service the "big guys" have over looked. This is the kind of customer service that Bearstuff and More customers appreciate the most. "It makes me feel like Im doing it right when a customer lets me know how great our service is." says Dana.

Visit www.bearstuffandmore.com to see small business eCommerce in action.

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