I just wanted to send this email to you to update you on some interesting news and information in the world of online retailing that may be of benefit to you.
: Legislation: Distance Selling Regulations (DSR) – do you know where you stand?
: Legislation: Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) – does it apply to you?
: Web design : CSS vs Tables – what does it mean to me?
: Actinic : Actinic Version 9 in BETA
: teclan : Internet Sales expected to reach 15%!
: Actinic : teclan are the largest provider of Actinic themes (V8/V9)
Distance selling regulations – do you know where you stand if a customer returns goods?
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We merchants who trade online should be aware of the distance selling regulations which are in place and overseen by the OFT (Office of Fair Trading). These regulations are put in place to ensure suitable and effective guidelines are in place to protect both the consumer and the merchant during remote transactions i.e. selling online.
Some points to note:
– Business to Business contracts are not covered by the DSR
– Notable exceptions to the DSR are online auctions (eBay etc) and rental agreements (that have to be in writing!)
– The right to cancel does not apply in many situations e.g. perishable goods, betting services, unsealed CDs or DVDs, personalised goods
These are just a few of the pertinent points to note. Please make sure you are aware of them of have at least read them if you are trading online. More info can be found here:
http://www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/resource_base/legal/distance-selling-regulations/
PCI – DSS compliance – does it apply to you?
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The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) was originally developed by Visa International and MasterCard Worldwide, and endorsed by other payment providers including American Express, Diner’s Club, JCB and Discover Financial Services.
The PCI DSS must be met by all organizations that accept or store information from credit/debit cards issued by the PCI payment providers/credit card companies.
Note – it is not law, more a contractual obligation applied and enforced by Payment service providers themselves. They can impose fines and restrictions of their guidelines are not adhered to.
If you collect credit card details to process through a terminal or other process then you should be aware of the criteria you should be complying with. See the following link for more info:
http://www.itgovernance.co.uk/pci_dss.aspx
Web design – CSS vs Tables – what does it mean to me?
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There has been a lot of hype surrounding web design using CSS rather than older, bloated HTML tables. At teclan we now only design in the main using CSS layout and styling techniques.
This helps us design better looking websites which: load faster than their HTML counterparts, are more accessible to different media types (PDA etc), allow for greater design flexibility for future changes, lower your hosting costs
You can see a nice presentation on the benefits here:
http://www.hotdesign.com/seybold/index.html
If you have not already taken advantage of CSS design on your website then let us know – we can help you with your own CSS design requirements
Actinic Version 9 in BETA
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Actinic have released the public beta of their long awaiting next release of their award winning software. Actinic V9 is currently being tested by many within the Actinic community. You can download the BETA for testing purposes from here:
http://www.actinic.co.uk/about/Beta.php4
Key new features include:
Tax-inclusive Pricing – Gives you the ability to enter all your prices including tax, to allow more accurate pricing and eliminate rounding errors.
Product Options Wizard – Stepping you through the creation of options that are priced and stock-managed
Google Analytics – Automatic integration and ecommerce tracking with Google Analytics
‘New Order’ Tab (Business only) – Allowing you to quickly and efficiently enter telephone orders into Actinic
Offer for V7 and earlier users – Upgrade to V8 now and receive a FREE upgrade to V9 when the production version is released.
Internet Sales expected to reach 15%!
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Analysts are anticipating the growth in internet retail to continue through 2008 with approximately 15% of ALL retail sales being undertaken online. Christmas 2008 is expected to see a boost of 50% from previous years.
Many analysts say that the 24/7 availability, not having to wait in queues and especially competitive pricing are all driving more and more consumers to shop online.
The 30 – 40 age group are the most likely to buy online, however one of the main markets that retailers can focus on are the 40+ age group whose online purchasing power is expected to grow and grow as more and more in this age group adopt the technology.
teclan are the largest provider of Actinic themes
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teclan have become the largest provider of pre-built custom themes for the Actinic V8 software – the UK’s leading ecommerce solution. This puts teclan at the forefront of design and building for the Actinic software and we want to make sure that all of our customers know about this exciting new development for the company.
Our custom web design service has grown and developed, utilising specialised knowledge of design closely married with sound internet retail know-how, and is still our most popular service.
We have developed the Themes for the people entering the Actinic ecommerce field or people who feel trapped by the basic Actinic themes that come with the software and feel the cannot afford the quality, custom service of an Actinic web designer.
Come along and have a look if you have not already!
https://www.teclan.com/acatalog/Actinic_Themes.html
That’s all for this month.
I hope some of this information was useful. We shall sent through another update next month.
Until then – many thanks.