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Webcare have decided to showcase some excellent online stores from our customers.  Each month we will interview a client who has had an ecommerce website built with us, to share their experience and advice.

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At a glance:

Type of site: ZenCart

url: www.toddlertucker.com.au

Add Ons:

Ajax Cart Function – allowing for orders to display instantly without being logged in

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Our very first interview is with Kim Berkers, owner of Toddler Tucker.

Q.  Hi Kim, thank you for agreeing to talk with us.  To begin, can you tell us the name of your website, and when it went live?

A.  The business is called Toddler Tucker, and the web address is www.toddlertucker.com.au, and it started in August 2009.

Q. What is the niche you are targeting?

A. I am targeting parents and carers of toddlers and babies that are finding it difficult to feed their kids either due to lack of time or ability and they really want to feed their children the best that they can.

Q. Can you describe what your business is?

A. Nutritious home cooked meals for your toddlers and babies, frozen for your convenience and delivered to your door.

Q. What online and offline marketing methods have you been using?

A. Online- I have used Google Adwords .  I am also just about to embark on SEO .

Offline, I have advertised in Melbourne’s Child, had an article in The Age epicure which featured Toddler Tucker, and am just about to do my first Baby show.

Q. Of these, which ones have you found the most successful?

A. As far as driving new business leads, Google Adwords has been very successful.  The article in The Epicure created quite a bit of interest and Melbourne’s Child supplies a steady stream of potential buyers.

Q.What is one thing you wish you had done differently?

A. I wish I had had more time (and money!!!) in the set up to get things 100% complete before starting – it was such a huge learning curve though, that I don’t think I would have ever felt totally ready.

Q. What part of your website do you feel works particularly well for your business?

A. I get many comments back from customers saying that they not only love the look of the website, but they really love the ease of using it.  Once registered as a customer, you can place an order in as little as two minutes – and the whole reason for Toddler Tucker is to save parents valuable time so I really feel like I have achieved what I set out to do with the design of the website.

Q. Do you know how many visitors you get on your website?

A. The amount of traffic to the site varies quite a bit.  The day the article in the Epicure was published, I received over 1500 hits!  I generally get approximately 200 hits a day.

Q. What optimum income to you think you will be able to make from your site, and how are you tracking?

A. As far as drawing an income from the site, I absolutely plan on this being able to replace a full time income.  Currently, just 6 months into the business with not a lot of time to spend working on promoting the business, I am about a quarter of the way there.  I am hoping that with a little more time this year, I can work on the business rather than in the business and be able to get half way to my target by the end of the next 12 months.

Q. What advice would you give to someone about to start an online business?

A. Set yourself clear expectations and goals of what you want the business to achieve.  Find a niche market and really study it to find out what it wants.  Don’t just assume that because you think something is a good idea, that everyone else will.  Have a clear idea of what you want your business to look like in 6 months, 12 months and 5 year time.

Thank you very much for your time Kim – I know lots of online store owners will be very interested in your experience.

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Tags: Ajax, Babies, Baby Show, Carers, Convenience, E Commerce Website, Ecommerce Website, Epicure, Glance, Google, Home Cooked Meals, Marketing Methods, Melbourne, Monney, New Business, Niche, S Child, Showcase, Steady Stream, Time And Money, Toddlers