Other than the fact that Mickey Mouse is always fun, there’s another good reason to talk about Jerry Leigh’s new Volusion store: it’s not a retail outlet.  It’s

Read More]]> Jerry Leigh is one of the largest producers of licensed souvenirs & apparel in the United States.  Based in Orlando, Florida, they’re well positioned to serve their target market: tourist destinations.  That’s right – they make the things that cause your suitcase to be dramatically overstuffed on the way home from your vacation.  The next time you’re jumping up and down on your Samsonite in an effort to squeeze in that Donald Duck water bottle, you can thank Jerry Leigh.

Other than the fact that Mickey Mouse is always fun, there’s another good reason to talk about Jerry Leigh’s new Volusion store: it’s not a retail outlet.  It’s a wholesale site that can only be utilized by preregistered clients.  That’s not necessarily earth-shattering news (that a wholesaler would use Volusion to better serve their clients) but it’s worth pointing out when it happens simply because there are far too many wholesalers out in the world that have failed to recognize what a useful tool an ecommerce site can be.  There are wholesalers out there (you know who you are) who still take orders over the phone while working from a printed catalog.  We know the old ways can be comforting, but come on!  It’s the 21st century for crying out loud!  Put down the invoice pad and pick up your mouse!*

*Don’t actually “pick up” the mouse or it won’t work.  We’d like to assume that you already knew that, but if you’re a wholesaler without an ecommerce site, there’s a chance that the operational subtleties of the personal computer are entirely baffling to you.

… but maybe you don’t think you need custom development

Read More]]> Brand Labs is about a lot of things, but our real bread & butter is custom ecommerce development.  Yes, we design Volusion sites.  Yes, we build ecommerce apps.  We do a lot of things for a lot of online merchants, but custom development is the one thing we do that gives our clients an undeniable edge.  We say “undeniable” because when your store has something that your competitors don’t have, you’re ahead of the game before the shoppers even arrive.  By definition, you’re more prepared to serve their needs.  You’re more prepared to earn their trust.  You’re more prepared to win.

… but maybe you don’t think you need custom development on your site.  After all, Volusion does a good job of providing a feature-rich platform.  Why not just do what you can with what you’ve got?  Well, off the top of our heads, we can think of ten reasons…

1. You’re unique.

   No matter what Volusion introduces, they don’t know you personally.  They don’t know the exact thing that you need to express your individuality properly.  They don’t know your particular value proposition.  That’s not a failing on their part, it’s simply a fact.  You are uniquely qualified to identify your store’s specific needs and to act on those needs.

2. You’re not doing everything you can with your Volusion store.

   You know that smart phone in your pocket?  You’re currently using about 4% of its total capabilities (we may have just made that figure up).  That phone can do amazing things and you’re using it primarily to text people that you’re running late.  Your Volusion store is like that.  It can do amazing things that you’re currently not using.  Are you using the Deal of the Day function?  Is your mobile store set up properly?  Are you doing everything that Volusion allows you to do out of the box?  Probably not.  So, if we may continue to use the smart phone comparison: even though your phone is capable of doing a lot of things that you aren’t using, you still paid extra to download Angry Birds because it was a specific need that you were able to identify and address (i.e. your deep need to throw birds at pigs).  Custom development is like that.  You should definitely try to use all of the great functionality that’s built right in to Volusion, but just because you’re not, that doesn’t mean that you can’t add some features of your own.  Custom development for your Volusion store is just like apps for your iPhone.

3. You’ve got ideas.

   Just because we’re ecommerce experts (and Volusion is filled with ecommerce experts), that doesn’t mean that we (or they) have thought up every single thing than could ever possibly be thunk.  You have insight.  You have a plan.  You know things about your business that we don’t, but we definitely know how to act on your ideas.  Don’t let your ideas die in your head.

4. You’re probably right.

   You know that one thing that you think you know better than anyone else?  That one annoying thing that seems so simple and would make your life as an ecommerce merchant so much easier?  Or make your store more successful?  You’re probably right. Why not fix it instead of just letting it drive you insane?

   Read the rest of the list after the jump…

5. Your store needs it.

   The biggest misconception about custom development is that it’s strictly for huge businesses.  After all, if you could have built a store from scratch, you would have, right?  Not necessarily.  A lot of huge businesses (including some of our clients) have chosen Volusion as a base to build on, essentially creating custom stores that utilize Volusion as a robust content management system.  On the other hand, we’ve also worked with tiny mom & pop shops that want to use Volusion for all it’s worth, but also want to distinguish themselves by taking that extra little step to serve their customers better than their competition.  Custom development is for everyone.

6. Your competition is doing it.

   The ecommerce marketplace is completely saturated.  No matter what business you’re in – no matter how unique your personal business model is – you have competition.  In some cases it’s just sort of general, big-box competition (like Amazon & Target.com) but it’s far more likely that there’s someone out there doing nearly the same exact thing you are.  Ecommerce is becoming a game of degrees, so you have to exercise every advantage you can.  If you don’t have an advantage, make one.  If you can’t figure out how, find someone who can.  Don’t lose the game by not playing it.

7. You want it.

   Having something that you can call your own is empowering.  There’s just something about personal ownership that satisfies in a way that’s difficult to describe without sounding shallow, but you know that if your website did that ONE thing that you really wish it would, you’d feel better.  You’d show it off.  You’d explain it to people who didn’t understand it.  You’d go out of your way to find people who did understand it so that they’d be properly impressed when they saw it.  From a business standpoint, this is the absolute worst reason to engage in custom development on this entire list, but you also know that it’s true.  The website that you’re currently on is loaded with good information and useful features, but one of our very favorite things about it is that little rollover banner at the bottom of the page that lets you know with very little effort that we’re Google Analytics and AdWords Certified.  It’s so simple, but it does what it needs to do very gracefully and it’s one of the first things we want to show people when we’re showing off the site.  Custom development doesn’t need to be big to be satisfying.  It just need to fill a need and be ever so slightly awesome.

8. You’re losing sales.

   Chances are that if you’ve ever had an idea about improving the service on your store, it’s been as a reaction to a client need (or at least to a perceived client need).  So you’ve recognized something that your clients expect or want from you.  That’s an important step, but if you don’t act on it, you may as well close up shop and send your clients off to find your replacement, because that’s just how fickle the shopping public has become.  It’s not even that they’re fickle, actually.  It’s just that it’s become incredibly easy to shop elsewhere.  In the olden days, if you were shopping in a store and you reached some sort of hurdle, you’d probably just overcome it and finish your purchase because backing out would require physically leaving the store, locating an appropriate alternative using the meager resources available to assist your search, physically go to the new store and hope that the shopping experience was better.  It used to be a pain in the butt to switch stores mid-purchase.  Now it’s a click away.  One, single speed bump and the customer is gone.  They won’t even think about it.  They’ll just leave and never return.  If you know where those speed bumps are and you’re not removing them, you should probably just put up a page full of links to your competition because it will be more useful to them than your store is.  (Man, that sounded harsh, but it’s a cruel world and we wouldn’t be doing you any favors by coddling you – but still we feel bad about it.)

9. Your favorite stores do it.

   There’s a darn good chance that the online stores that you visit frequently are the ones that are doing everything right.  You’re in the business, so you’re savvy.  You can recognize the difference between a standard template and one that was uniquely crafted with care, knowledge and understanding.  There are people out there who aren’t quite as savvy about the ins and outs of ecommerce – we call them customers. They don’t necessarily recognize the tiny minutia of thoughtful template design, they just know that a well-built one inspires confidence and brand loyalty.  When they find a unique feature that’s intended to ease the transaction process, they respond by transacting.  They respond by returning.  They respond by adding that store to their mental list of personal favorites – just like you do.

10. You will do it eventually.

    If you’re clever and lucky enough to stay in business for years at a time, you’ll develop a better understanding of your customers’ needs and desires.  That knowledge is meaningless unless you act on it.  We can guarantee you (based on years of experience with hundreds of clients) that those needs will involve custom development.  It’s simply inevitable.  It’s a product of being smart about your business.  You will simply know what needs to be done and you will know that in order to be where you want to be, you will have to make that thing (or things) happen.  You’re going to do it eventually and if you’ve been in business for a while already, there’s a really good chance that “eventually” is actually “now.”

For all of these reasons and oh so many more, you should consider your Volusion store’s custom development needs today.  After all, the best time to fix a problem is before it becomes a problem.  Wait!  That’s an 11th reason!  And it’s a really good point!  Proactive is better than reactive!  Dang it.  We are not going to rewrite this article.  Just trust us.  There’s a ton of reasons to get your custom dev on.  We even have a handy list of case study examples of custom Volusion programming that we’ve done for our clients.  We guarantee that if you click through and read the page, you’ll have at least one Ah-Ha Moment.

… wait!  That page has 13 more reasons.  Dang it!  Okay.  Let’s just all pretend that this article is called 24 Reasons Your Volusion Store Needs Custom Development.  Agreed?

We’ve said it a bazillion times: a website is a living

Read More]]> You’re an ecommerce merchant.  Let’s say that your store has been up and running for a while.  Let’s also say that it’s doing well.  Of course, it may not be doing as well as you’d like, but if that’s the case, you sure don’t need a list of reasons to reexamine your site.  If your store isn’t doing what you’d like it to do, you should be going over it with a fine-toothed comb.  On the other hand, if your store is doing well, it’s easy to get complacent.  If you fall into that group, this article is for you.

We’ve said it a bazillion times: a website is a living thing. You have to nurture it – help it grow. If you neglect it, it’ll die… or worse. It’ll grow beyond your control until it’s a huge, rambling jumble of awkward navigation, dead ends and baffling content. Still unconvinced? Check out the list for the scolding you so richly deserve.

Read the rest after the jump…

10 Reasons to Reexamine Your Ecommerce Site

1) Your site is old

This one’s simple.  If your site is more than a couple of years old, it may as well be gas-powered.  There have been twenty-three major innovations in online commerce since we started writing this sentence.  Seventeen of them apply to you.  Do you really want to get out-maneuvered by a competitor just because they have a new site?

The correct answer is “no”.

2) You’ve changed business model since your site launched

When you launched your store, you had an idea – a value proposition.  Of course, because a website is a living thing (there we go again), that value proposition has changed .  Maybe you’ve added products.  Maybe you’ve removed products.  Maybe you’ve deleted entire product categories.  Regardless of the size of the change involved, there’s been a change and it’s likely that your original store is failing to capitalize on your current value proposition.  If people don’t know what your value proposition is, you don’t have one.

3) Your competition is working on their site

Your competition already read this article.  They know how it ends and everything.  Even if they didn’t read this article, they read one like it… or they’re just super-vigilant in general… or they’re just bound and determined to smack the crap out of you and your site.  Regardless, you should always assume that your competition is trying harder than you, because they probably are.

4) The Internet never sleeps

Search engines are looking for you constantly.  They found you the day your site launched.  They found you again ten minutes later… and then again, three minutes after that.  If your site isn’t changing, they’re gonna stop looking.  Okay, they may not actually stop, but they’ll definitely be less interested.  You have to change it up to keep those unpredictable search algorithms engaged in you and what you’re doing.

5) You’re boring your customers

You’ve put a lot of effort (and probably money) into getting your customers to visit your site.  You want them to stay and shop – and more importantly, you want them to come back.  If you’re lucky enough to convince them to return, they’ll want to see something different.  If nothing’s changed since their last visit, why would they ever come back again?

6) You’re smarter now than you used to be

Remember when you first launched your site?  Those were the days.  You were so young and naive.  You’ve learned a lot about ecommerce since then.  If you don’t apply what you’ve learned, why bother learning it?  Knowledge that doesn’t affect behavior is trivia.

7) You know what your problems are

You know what’s wrong with your site, you’re just ignoring it.  You know what’s broken, what’s inadequate, what’s just plain wrong.  Even if you don’t know the specifics, you sure have a sense of what’s working and what isn’t.  Recognizing a problem and not addressing it is like ordering a pizza and not eating it – sheer madness.

(Editor’s note: Suddenly we want pizza.)

8) Your customers are feeling neglected

Ecommerce is a two-way street.  It would be awesome if customers just bought and bought and bought, expecting nothing in return (except for their merchandise, of course).  Unfortunately, that’s not true.  With the wide range of choices available these days, the modern consumer has become pretty jaded.  They want a lot.  They want quality content.  They want compelling promotions.  They want to connect with you.  Can you honestly say that your website is doing everything that it can to serve your demanding clientele?   If you can say that, then clearly, you are not as demanding as your customers.

9) Ecommerce is also mcommerce

If you’re not thinking about mobile commerce you should be.  The number of purchases completed on mobile devices is growing at an alarming rate.  Actually, it’s only alarming if you’re not prepared for it.  If you’re ready, then it’s not so much “alarming” as it is “frigging fantastic”.  Your customers are discovering new ways to spend their money and if you’re not one of those new ways, then you won’t be getting that money.  Pretty simple, really.

10) You want to reexamine your ecommerce site

If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have read this far.  You’re looking to be convinced of something you already believe.  If you were looking for a second opinion, here it is: your site needs attention.  We barely know you and we can see that.  Don’t worry.  It’s nothing to be ashamed of.  Everyone’s site needs attention.  You know how Facebook has a whole new layout coming?  And Amazon?  And pretty much everyone else?  That’s because you’re never too successful to rest on your laurels.  You can always do better.  There’s always more money to be had – more customers to woo.

So, in summary, th… wait.  We just realized there’s an eleventh reason:

11) If you ever stop reexamining your ecommerce site, you may as well pack it in and open up that cupcake shop you’re always talking about because the Internet is gonna smack you around like you stole somethin’

We hate to be blunt, but we also hate bad ecommerce.

… a lot.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the acronym, RFQ stands for “Request for Quote”.  It’s the process that you’ll go through when you come to us with a custom programming need for your Volusion store.  Of course, every need is as unique as the website it’s attached to, so there will be differences between what you experience and what you see here, but if you’ve never gone through the custom programming quoting process, this will give you a general idea of what

Read More]]> As a part of our continuing effort to make the custom Volusion development process more transparent (and therefore, less intimidating) we offer this Custom Volusion Programming RFQ Workflow.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the acronym, RFQ stands for “Request for Quote”.  It’s the process that you’ll go through when you come to us with a custom programming need for your Volusion store.  Of course, every need is as unique as the website it’s attached to, so there will be differences between what you experience and what you see here, but if you’ve never gone through the custom programming quoting process, this will give you a general idea of what to expect.

The most important part of this entire process is in the big fat circle in the upper left corner of the chart.  That’s the conversation (or series of conversations) that you’ll have with your account manager before the project moves an inch.  We know a lot about ecommerce and we want to know a lot about your business before we start any custom Volusion development project.  We want that info so that we can look at every possible solution available to you.  You may well have an idea of what you’d like to do, but it’s more important for us to know what you’d like to achieve.  If we know and understand your end goal(s) we can explore solutions that may not have occurred to you.  We want to solve your problem in the best possible way, even if we have to build the solution from scratch.

So, if you’re considering taking on a custom Volusion project, we’d like to help… and now you know how we plan to do it.  Of course this chart can’t answer all of your questions, but we can.

Unichip wanted a single landing page that offered a side-by-side comparison of several different aspects of several different products.  They also needed the ability to associate live links and video to the chart itself, making for a potential infographic nightmare.

Our custom-developed solution resides on Unichip’s existing Volusion site and allows the user to simply roll over each intersection on the chart to see a

Read More]]> As we take on more and more eCommerce clients who are also manufacturers, we find an ever-increasing need to express a lot of information on a single page.  Recently, Unichip (a manufacturer and distributor of custom car tuning products) approached us with just such a need.

Unichip wanted a single landing page that offered a side-by-side comparison of several different aspects of several different products.  They also needed the ability to associate live links and video to the chart itself, making for a potential infographic nightmare.

Our custom-developed solution resides on Unichip’s existing Volusion site and allows the user to simply roll over each intersection on the chart to see a informational pop up.  Some windows contain explanatory text while others contain links or video.

Click here to check out the custom Unichip landing page.  We’re pretty happy about it and we think Unichip is, too, if this direct quote is any indication: “You all rock to no end”!  So do you, Unichip!

We recently completed an iShop USA integration for Sorella Jewelry’s Volusion store (shown in the lower right corner of the screenshot).  For those who don’t know, iShop USA is a remarkable service that allows any retailer to sell their products worldwide without having to concern themselves with all of the pesky details involved in such a transaction: customs paperwork, international shipping and returns,

Read More]]> This blog tends to talk quite a little bit about website design, simply because we like putting up pictures (pictures are pretty) and some of our other services are difficult or impossible to show visually.  Well, that’s not going to stop us today…

We recently completed an iShop USA integration for Sorella Jewelry’s Volusion store (shown in the lower right corner of the screenshot).  For those who don’t know, iShop USA is a remarkable service that allows any retailer to sell their products worldwide without having to concern themselves with all of the pesky details involved in such a transaction: customs paperwork, international shipping and returns, currency conversion… all part of the integration.  It’s like a dream for online retailers, allowing you access to potential customers all over the world, with one little hitch – it doesn’t integrate natively with Volusion.  We can fix that.

With our integration, your international clients will have a nearly seamless shopping experience and you won’t have to learn a thing about exporting, currency exchange or international shipping.  With one move you can expand your potential client base from 300 million to 6 and a half billion.  That’s billion with a “b“.  So, if you’re interested in having about a gazillion more customers, it’s something to consider and we can help.

Also, it pays to remember that we can do pretty much anything you’d like to do with your Volusion store.  Just ask…

In addition to designing the site and the logo, we created and developed a unique search refinement tool, specific to Dealer Direct’s business model.  You see, they’re a network of dealer-authorized parts dealers and as you can well imagine (with the huge number of different makes and models) it could be pretty damn challenging to search their site in the hope of finding a specific part for your car.  That’s where we came in.

Read about our solution after the jump…

What you see here

Read More]]> We recently had the pleasure of launching Dealer Direct Parts‘ brand new Volusion store!  This was a big one and we’ll tell you why…

In addition to designing the site and the logo, we created and developed a unique search refinement tool, specific to Dealer Direct’s business model.  You see, they’re a network of dealer-authorized parts dealers and as you can well imagine (with the huge number of different makes and models) it could be pretty damn challenging to search their site in the hope of finding a specific part for your car.  That’s where we came in.

Read about our solution after the jump…

What you see here is our custom-built search refinement tool.  Placed at the top of the category header, it allows the customer to narrow the search by make, model and year.  That’s handy enough on its own, but wait… once you’ve made your choices, they’re reflected site-wide!  So let’s say you choose a 2004 Honda Accord.  Now, no matter where you go on the site, you’ll be shown nothing but parts and supplies for the 2004 Honda Accord… AND the category header changes to show you that fact… AND, should you leave the site, when you come back, the site remembers your choices and retains your search options, simplifying the browsing process and adding a welcome bit of speed to the conversion process.

Of course, there’s always the chance that the customer may want to switch cars, which is why there’s a prominent “Change Vehicle” button in the header.  We’re clever that way.

Now, imagine the possibilities of this tool.  Let’s say you’re an apparel dealer.  Your customer could narrow her search to women’s size 8 and see nothing but the choices actually available to her.  She won’t see anything she can’t buy.  Imagine being on a site and knowing that everything you see is available in your size.  It would be like having your own, personalized store.  Now pretend that we never said “apparel” and instead, pretend we said, <insert your product category here>.  Now imagine the possibilities.

This is just another example of our mad Interweb skills.  We can do things for your Volusion store that you can’t even imagine.

Now, Carnal DaMMAge’s customers will be able to shop (and buy) on a mobile-optimized Volusion site, eliminating one more barrier between browsing and conversion.

You, too, can have an iPhone-friendly Volusion store for less than a thousand dollars!  (Okay… it’s $995, so not a lot less than a thousand… but still, it’s less.)

If you’d like to capture some of the ever-expanding mCommerce market (quickly and affordably) check out iVoloo.  On the other hand, if you’d like to beat the tar out of someone, but

Read More]]> Carnal DaMMAge, one of the leading online retailers of MMA-related goods, took a big step forward today with the launch of their iPhone-friendly website.

Now, Carnal DaMMAge’s customers will be able to shop (and buy) on a mobile-optimized Volusion site, eliminating one more barrier between browsing and conversion.

You, too, can have an iPhone-friendly Volusion store for less than a thousand dollars!  (Okay… it’s $995, so not a lot less than a thousand… but still, it’s less.)

If you’d like to capture some of the ever-expanding mCommerce market (quickly and affordably) check out iVoloo.  On the other hand, if you’d like to beat the tar out of someone, but you’d like to be sure you’re properly outfitted first, check out Carnal DaMMAge.

The above-mentioned deep love was a big part of the reason that we introduced iVoloo – the first iPhone friendly Volusion store, back in July of 2008.  Back in those days (it seems so long ago), iVoloo was a novelty.  We developed it for a client who sells iPhone accessories, then (drunk with iPhone affection) decided to offer it to the Volusion community at large. 

Read More]]> We loooove our iPhones.  We’re aware of the stereotypes.  We’ve heard the haters and the trolls.  We don’t care.  Our love is pure and magical and could never be diminished by the nattering nabobs of negativism (we so rarely get to quote Spiro Agnew).

The above-mentioned deep love was a big part of the reason that we introduced iVoloo – the first iPhone friendly Volusion store, back in July of 2008.  Back in those days (it seems so long ago), iVoloo was a novelty.  We developed it for a client who sells iPhone accessories, then (drunk with iPhone affection) decided to offer it to the Volusion community at large.  In all honesty, back then, the need for iVoloo was debatable.  There were absolutely excellent reasons to have a mobile-friendly store, but it wasn’t a critical need.  Those times have changed.

Do you remember back when the internet was still in its infancy?  It wasn’t that uncommon to search for a huge brand name, only to find that they had no web presence at all.  You’d just shrug and grab the phone book (remember those?), look up the store and call them to get your questions answered.  However, as time went by, an insufficient web presence became harder and harder to tolerate until finally it seemed like a personal affront to go searching for a store online and come up empty.  We’ve now reached the point where even the humblest of mom & pop operations are virtually required to have a website, lest they risk the wrath of their constantly-connected consumers.  That’s the future of mobile commerce.  You can go ahead and ignore it… for now.  You can ignore all of the research (here, here and here) that shows that consumers are quickly (very quickly) becoming comfortable with mCommerce.  You can frustrate your mobile customers by failing to offer them what they are rapidly coming to expect from their online experience.  You can put all of your eggs in your standard site and hope that your customers are tenacious enough to navigate your teeny-weeny little site in search of what they need.

… or, you could get ahead of the curve (and your competition) for less than a thousand bucks.  Give us a call.  It’ll be easier than you can imagine.