Camp Beaumont are the adventure and activity holiday for kids in the UK. With a wide offering of holidays and different excursions whilst on each holiday, it was always thought that it was to complicated to book online and best done over the phone with an advisor. That was until dotCommerce came along.

Camp Beaumont realised that a growing proportion of customers would prefer to start and complete their booking online, without needing to speak to an advisor. In return, by allowing customers to book online, Camp Beaumont could reduce their costs, speed up processes and benefit from a more efficient and streamlined booking process. They started looking for an ecommerce solutions provider.

dotCommerce was the right fit for Camp Beaumont. Powering a separate shop on a sub domain, dotCommerce offers Camp Beaumont and their customers the flexibility required to complete a very complex booking process online without the need for a customer services advisor.

Parents can book multiple children to multiple camps, selecting different activities and excursions for each child in one smooth booking process. Now that’s some complex logic behind the shop, but dotCommerce delivered Camp Beaumont’s online shop within a speedy 2 weeks,  well in time for parents to book their children on an exciting summer holiday after an exhausting half term.

Check out Camp Beaumont

Figures* released from the Centre for Retail Research today show the opportunites for online sellers are continuing to mushroom.

Not only do online sales now account for close to 10% of total UK retail sales, but spend per transaction has jumped significantly.

As consumer’s confidence in online shopping grows, so the proportion of them spending £1,000 or more in a single transaction is growing – up t0 25% in 2009, against just 12% in 2008.

The key for online sellers in this exciting climate is 2 -fold.

Firstly to continue to build on the growing trust and confidence that exists amongst online shoppers.

And secondly, to ensure upsell oppportunities are being maximised.

Building trust

Incorporating web2.0 content such as user reviews and ratings into ecommerce solutions helps to do this, but don’t forget the basics, including:

1. About Us page -this page should include relevant information about the company including its contact details, history and how long it has been trading

2. Company registration number – it’s a legal requirement under UK Company Law to include this on your website. Don’t hide it away. Let users see if you are a UK registered business

3. Including an About Us link in the top or main navigation menu and a visible link to Delivery information and Contact Us information on each webpage will help to build customer confidence

4. Delivery terms page – if you need something for a certain date – a present, for example – it’s crucial to know how long delivery will take

5. Returns information page – for many products, customers will be more willing to buy if they are assured that they can return the item if it is not required

6. FAQ – a help or FAQ page online will encourage visitors to find the answers to common queries themselves and can help reduce the number of calls into your customer service team

Loads of advice and guidance on building user trust and on driving upsell in dotCommerce’s ecommerce benchmark report: Hitting the Checkout. Download it here.

*Source BBC News Channel