ProStores makes photographic lighting and accessories seller smile
ProStores helps us deliver a simpler, faster, better customer experience, while reducing labor costs. It just makes life so much easier
Steve Kaeser, Owner of www.skaeser.com
How ProStores helped Steve Kaeser build a thriving online business
Back in 1989, Steve Kaeser was an avid photographer, frustrated by the search for equipment he couldn't find locally. Finally, he stopped looking and started painting backgrounds himself. He began selling some extras, and this soon evolved into importing, exporting and selling photographic lighting and accessories. In 2001, after years of selling out of a local warehouse, Steve branched into the online arena by selling on eBay. A year-and-a half later, he heard about ProStores through eBay, and opened his ProStores Web store, www.skaeser.com. Now Steve has the whole world at his doorstep: his ProStores Web store is pulling in $54,000 in a slow month, and $90,000 in a good month.
ProStores saves time and hassle
Success on the Web didn't come right away for Steve. Before he tried ProStores, Steve had another Web store that was difficult for customers and time-consuming for him to use. "I had another Web store in the past that I had someone set up for me and it just didn't work very well. People would end up calling me because they couldn't check out. Now with ProStores I save a lot of time. I get lots of phone calls from repeat customers, which make up at least 20–30 percent of my orders, but now we tell them they can order online for faster service. When they place an order through ProStores, it goes straight into shipping, instead of the three- to four-hour delay we have on phone orders. We've reduced our phone calls by about 30–40 percent, and shortened the calls that do come in by referring people to the website for checkout. ProStores helps us deliver a simpler, faster, better customer experience, while reducing labor costs. It just makes life so much easier!"
A better value for the money
Steve shopped around when looking for a Web store, and found the costs and fees were high, without providing all the features he wanted. When he compared what ProStores offered, he knew he had found the great value he was looking for. "We've looked at the other options out there for websites, and ProStores costs 60–70 percent less than anything else we've researched. I don't know of another Web store provider that offers what ProStores does for near the cost. We're saving lots of money … it's very economical. The successful transaction fees are only a half percent–that's very low compared to the other website options we looked at. It's just a very cost-effective way of getting your product up in front of people. We're very happy with everything–it's so simple to use."
Easy setup and great tech support
Steve gives ProStores high marks for customer service, tech support, and ease of setup. "It's easy to put merchandise up on the site–you don't need to be real computer-savvy. And PayPal makes payments simple. There's a bit of a learning curve, of course, but tech support is very fast and thorough. Whenever I've had an issue, I always get an answer to my question very quickly … they're great!"
A customer-friendly site
When comparing his choices, Steve noticed that many websites were slow. He knew that in today's busy world, many customers won't wait for a slow-loading page. So he's been checking the speeds of his ProStores Web store carefully, and has been very pleased with the speed and performance. "Everything loads really quickly for my customers. Other Web pages I've visited often seem to take forever to load, but ProStores pops up right away. These days, customers don't want to wait around, so if your Web store is slow, you'll lose customers. I like that the site doesn't confuse anyone or put up hurdles to purchase. Checkout is very simple and easy for customers, especially compared to other sites I've looked at. ProStores keeps my customers clicking … and buying."
"The bottom line about why I like ProStores? It's simple, it's quick, and it makes money."
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