Do I need SSL or not (I've read the FAQ but still not clear)

[schoolboy]

Often claimed. Never proven.

We have meticulous tracking and analysis of sales performance, relative to all functional tweaks and on-site promotional messages and are confident that our message to visitors regarding SSL - as I described in my earlier post - contributed to a 12% jump in visits to checkout_success. The on-screen advisory has a popup link which explains SSL. 58% of outbound traffic from this popup go to either the shopping cart, or checkout_process, confidently followed by checkout_success.

To me... that's all the proof I need. Again... it's more about what customers want, and how to make them feel as comfortable as possible when they shop with you.

Simply installing SSL still means nothing to most people - but if you approach this with a MARKETING OBJECTIVE and let them see that shopping on your site is much safer than on a site with no SSL, then there is a much greater chance of the sale being concluded with you rather than with competitors.

It was not SSL, per-se, that made the difference to sales increases. It was the degree to which people felt safer and more confident, and that was achieved by telling them WHY it was better to shop with us than with many of our competitors.

Had we not bothered to leverage the installation of SSL with a marketing message, there would perhaps have been a less significant a jump in successful checkouts.

Now here in the UK (and we're many light-years ahead of the colonies in eCommerce and online shopping), significant numbers of online shoppers know the purpose and value of SSL. Many schools now teach web security as part of the compulsory Information Technology curriculum, and the UK government goes to huge lengths to promote all aspects of online security. Perhaps in Australia this does not happen because (relative to the UK) not much online commerce is happening there. The value of annual online sales in Oz is achieved in just 2 and a half days in the UK.

The UK (per capita) has the highest number, and (per capita) value, of online shoppers in the world - even more than the USA. The UK is the No.1 country for online shoppng, and we have a very savvy population of internet users.

So while SSL may be an alien concept out there in the colonies, here in the first world a lot of people know what it is, and why it's important.

[schoolboy]

... much of the reason why the UK is the world's leader in ecommerce and online shopping is that the logistics backup is hyper-efficient. (One advantage fo being geographically a small country).

I have 5 main suppliers, all in different parts of the country. With all of them, if I put my orders in for stock before 10:00AM, I can have it at my warehouse before 5:30PM that same afternoon. The number of online retailers offering SAME DAY delivery is increasing exponentially. Everything from small trinkets to household appliances (see AO.COM).

When I sell stuff on my websites, if I post it 1st class before 6:30pm, there is a 94% chance that it will get to its UK destination the next day by 2pm. On many occasions, where customers have chosen 1st class post, if the goods don't arrive within 36 hours I have them on the phone asking why things are taking so long.

I have customers in Oz, and just this weekend had an Oz customer ask what had happened to their order (placed nearly 4 weeks ago, but dispatched the day the order came in). I know for sure the hold-up is in Oz. Just where is a mystery, of course, because all our packages to non-EU states have appropriate customs declarations on them, and legitimate invoices. Our customers in Canada and the USA get their stuff within 5 days... but Oz is still fast asleep in this area...

[RodG]

It was not SSL, per-se, that made the difference to sales increases. It was the degree to which people felt safer and more confident, and that was achieved by telling them WHY it was better to shop with us than with many of our competitors.

Bingo.

I've nothing more to add. :-)

Cheers
RodG

[schoolboy]

We're off-topic now, so best we curtail this line of thinking - or perhaps start a new thread...