Irish wolfhound puppy sleeping 😴
Graphedia helping your company make sales while you sleep, having a little fun with one of the new members of the family here
Enjoy
https://youtu.be/HMST5mCig-k
Category: E-Commerce
On September 1st the VAT rate in Ireland will temporarily change. Below is a guide describing how to change the VAT Rate on your eCommerce (WooCommerce) Website.
Log into the backend of your WordPress website as you normally would.
On the left-hand menu go to your WooCommerce settings page
WooCommerce > Settings
On the General Settings tab, check to see if Taxes are enabled. If taxes are not enabled (if the checkbox is not ticked) you have nothing to worry about and you can ignore the rest of the tutorial.
If Taxes are enabled, you should be able to see and Tax tab within the settings, click this to view the tax settings and continue with the tutorial.
Note: If your products are priced excluding VAT, changing to the new VAT Rate will change the final price of the product. If your products are priced inclusive of VAT, changing the VAT rate will have no bearing on the final product price on the website.
There are two ways which taxes might be enabled on the site, below is the explanation of how to change the rates depending on the way taxes were implemented
Scenario A:
If your website has one tax rate, this can be found (and changed) by clicking on the Standard Rates tab.
The Rate % can be changed here to 21% and then the change saved.
Once this is done, the new tax rate will be visible throughout the various pages on the website.
Scenario B:
If your website has more than one tax rate, for instance if you sell to multiple countries and wanted the option to change the tax rates for each, the process is similar to the above but you will have to change the rate in multiple areas.
Click the Standard Rates tab and change the Rate % along with the Tax Name for each row in the table that this applies to.
In this instance, we have another Tax rate section and a Shipping Taxes section, we need to change the Rate % here also and the tax Name as required. We can implement the same process as before and then save the changes.
Once changed, the rates will be saved to the site and this will be reflected on the site.
Government Announcment today
Online Trading Grants extended with grants available up to €2,500 to get your business selling online
The support is available to cover 90% (previously 50%) of the costs of an online initiative and recipients can claim up to €2,500
The vouchers are targeted at businesses with the following profile:
- Limited or no e-commerce presence;
- 10 or less employees;
- Turnover less than €2m;
- Applicant business must be trading for at least 6 Months;
- Business must be located in the area covered by the LEO to whom they make their application i.e. LEOs cannot accept applications from businesses located outside their jurisdiction.
Graphedia can take your business to the next step and trade online. Contact us today>>
Does your Business Need a Greater Online Presence? Graphedia are here to help!
Did you know that sales from websites have increased by over 400% in the past few months?
Your doors may be closed but customers could still be ordering from you ….on line…. easily & securely. Graphedia.com will fully create, design & launch your Ecommerce website. We are trusted providers for Ecommerce Industry for the past 20 years, so our experience can get your business selling on line immediately.
If your business has availed of a Trading Online Voucher in the past, you can still apply for a second voucher to upgrade your website.
STAY SAFE, SELL ONLINE
Check out some of our work
To get 10,000 Irish businesses online for the first time and to get a further 2,000 Irish SMEs trading online over a period of two years, the Government have introduced a “trade-online” voucher scheme as part of the National Digital Strategy.
This allows businesses to secure funding for 90% of their projects spend, up to a maximum reclaim of €2,500.
We have hundreds of customers selling online throughout Ireland and we would look forward to working with you too. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Us.
Click here to view some of our recent Ecommerce work
What the vouchers can be used for:
- Development or upgrade of an e-commerce website
- Implementing Online payments or booking systems
- Purchase of Internet related software
- Purchase of online advertising
- Developing an app (or multiplatform webpages ?)
- Implementing a digital marketing strategy i.e. Social media marketing
- Consultation with ICT experts for early stage adopters of online strategy
- Training/ skills development specifically to establish and manage an on-line trading
- Activity
What the vouchers cannot be used for:
- Businesses that are not already trading
- Development of brochure websites
- Purchase of non-internet related software
- Anything other than online trading related activity
The vouchers are targeted at businesses with the following profile:
- No online presence or companies seeking to improve their online presence
- < than 10 employees
- < turnover of €2m per annum
Contact us today for a consultation
This is a new security measure to cut card fraud and is fast approaching.
It is important that you act on this, if you do not it is highly likely that customers will start experiencing problems paying online after September 14th
At present the only information that is required when making an online payment is the credit card number, expiry date and CVV number. If you are already using 3D secure payments, you may be providing much of this information already, If not you will need to take action.
The new requirements are being introduced to provide greater protection against fraud and are called Strong Customer Authentication or SCA for short. These are part of the Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) published in 2018, Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) is intended to make payments more secure, requiring online sellers to implement more stringent methods of ensuring the payments they are taking are genuine.
The system is designed to protect consumers, retailers and card issuers from fraud, but genuine transactions were inevitable collateral damage. Not every retailer used the additional layer of security but new regulations coming in the next few months will require most online payments to be subject to stronger authentication.
The main requirement for business owners
Under SCA, companies will have to verify a customer’s identity by two of the three following elements: something the customer possesses – i.e. the credit card, mobile device or smart card; something only the user knows, such as a password or PIN; and something that the user is, which means biometrics such as a fingerprint or facial scan.
In order to do this a significant amount of additional information is required by payment processors to be able to deal with these new requirements and your website will have to provide this information and make sure that it is in the correct format prior to sending it to the payment processor.
The main requirement for the customer
There will now be an extra step in the checkout process where customers will have to enter codes or use biometric authentication through their banking app to approve the payment.
- Payments Over €50 will be Subject to the new regulations.
- While smaller payments may not be subject to SCA, if you are taking payments larger payments > €50 the new requirements will apply.
The following must be provided by your customer when trying to make a payment:
- Customer’s Phone Number
The customer’s phone number must be provided and must be correct including country code (The user will have to have the ability to receive a text message). - Customer’s Eircode
The customer’s eircode must be provided and correct. - Customer’s Billing Address
The customer’s billing address including country must be provided and correct.
If the above information is not provided and correct it is very likely that payments will start failing authentication and you will start experiencing customer service problems.
Many payment forms collect much of this data already, but some do not validate the format of the data and many currently do not transmit this data to the payment processor.
We would recommend that you get this checked with us to avoid issues on September 14th.
For more information
- about SCA Stripe have a great article here https://stripe.com/ie/guides/strong-customer-authentication
- About 3D Secure 2, stripe also have an article here https://stripe.com/ie/guides/3d-secure-2
The Clanard Court Hotel in Athy, operators of Santas Magical Trail has scooped top ECommerce award at the Kildare Business Awards 2017.
Santa’s Magical Trail – a fun filled and action-packed experience for children young and old!
Now in their 9th year Kildare’s Santa experience was recognised for its ECommerce excellence.
The awards took place in The K Club in November to a full house of over 300 local businesses.
The new ECommerce Website was designed and developed by Graphedia Kidlare, with a host of custom built features to help people book the event and hotel rooms online. The success of the site meant that dates with hotel rooms were sold out within hours.
Event booking engine features
- Allows the client to load multiple places by date and time
- Allows the client to create multiple products or events
- Coupon code and private booking features
- Extendable reporting module
- Realex payments integration
- PDF ticketing with QR codes
- REST API to allow external integrations
Hotel booking engine features
- Allows the client to load bedrooms by type
- The system automatically assigns rooms based on occupancy
- Timer on checkout like Ticketmaster to ensure tickets are sold fairly.
- Newsletter integration
- Financial reports and stats
- Full room and occupation report
You can visit the website here
https://www.santasmagicaltrail.ie/
When you think of major holidays for eCommerce websites, you probably think of Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day. Most people wouldn’t think of St. Patrick’s Day as a holiday people spend a lot of money on. However, according to the History Channel, more than $4.14 billion dollars are spent on St. Patrick’s Day in the U.S. alone. With some 80 million people around the world with Irish ancestry, this holiday is one online retailers simply can’t afford to ignore. Sure isn’t it great to be Irish.
But what can you do to make sure you don’t miss out on your pot of gold?
Here are a few tips for getting your eCommerce site (and customer base) in the St. Patrick’s Day spirit.
Be Creative
While millions of pints of Guinness are consumed between St. Patrick’s Day and the night that follows, it doesn’t mean you need to focus solely on a few aspects of the celebration to create a hit. What would customers outside of Ireland like to buy, some authentic Irish item, novelty items, Irish Gift Hampers, Handmade Irish Goods etc etc. Advertise anything you can that works with the celebration, from fun hats and shirts, to gadgets
Think about how many people are going to be buying clothes, gadgets, and party favors to celebrate the night, before the celebration even begins. Use this as inspiration to bring people to your eCommerce site.
Green is Good, but Don’t Overdo it
What do you think of when you think of St. Patrick’s Day? For most, the color green comes to mind immediately. Of course every business out there is going to be going green in early March to show that they’re embracing the Irish. While adding green accents is certainly a good idea, don’t overdo it. Changing your website’s entire color scheme is probably a bit too much (I know we do it, but we are different ). Instead, add splashes of green here and there where it fits. Likewise, you don’t need leprechauns or pots of gold all over the place (Unless you are doing something really clever & Creative with them, like what we do, we convert all staff images into Leprechauns, and then use these as part of the marketing message).
Use Words and Numbers Related to Luck
Being lucky is associated with St. Patrick’s Day, so try to work that in somewhere. Luck is considered a positive attribute, and connecting that to your brand can help increase sales. Use the keyword “Lucky” for your discount code or work in the number seven, which is considered a lucky number. Offer seven percent off or put some products on sale for €7. Four Leaf Clover, Buy three items get the Fourth for Free
Run a Sale
While people may not buy as many gifts on St. Patrick’s Day as they do for Christmas or Valentine’s Day, a sale is still going to bring in extra revenue. Have a weekend sale featuring anything related to St. Patrick’s Day. Remember to advertise that sale on all of your social media, too.
These are just a few ways you can increase your sales on St. Patrick’s Day.
Don’t be afraid to get creative and come up with unique ways of celebrating this holiday!
Some of our St Patrick’s Day Marketing we ran on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram, Don’t forget to follow us to see all our shenanigans
Some top tips to help you promote your business Online for the lovers out there
Do you Know Shoppers are surfing for cards, chocolates, flowers and jewellery for their loved ones.
Don’t forget to check what is trending among hotel breaks and candlelit meals.
Searches for romantic gifts soar by 427% in February as people get ready for valentines day
Source Google
Think about it
What do we all order, Flowers, cards, gifts and Chocolates. Some of those lucky couples even go out for a meal (romantic meal for two, maybe an expensive meal for two) in a location close to home and the luckier ones get to stay over night in a “5 Star Hotel”, or “Luxury Hotel” in a location not so close to home. Is your business targeting any of these Key Phrases, enticing couples to your store, or your town or your country.
What would you type in to find your service.
Think what would a man type in to google lying off on the sofa and maybe 1 or 2 nights before Valentines (possibly on the day) searching on his mobile phone last minute.
Then Think what a woman would type in 1 week before valentines (it is true, women are better prepared at these things )
Top Tips for AdWords for this month
Keep Budget uncapped and increase mobile bid adjustments by at least 30% between 5pm and 10pm.
As we are authorised PPC Google Adwords Partners , Sign up for a new Google AdWord campaigns Contact us today
If you are looking for Gift Ideas, we have put together a few sites that might help
Flowers
- www.lilybloomflorist.ie
Flowers with Flair looking for something special, say it with Lily Bloom Flowers
Dining Out
- www.thesilverfox.ie/
Excellent Seafood Restaurant and Homemade Products - Mary Barrys
Seafood Restaurant in the Heart of Kilmore - Sebz Restaurant
Gift Ideas
- www.beveledge.ie
Handcrafted Wooden Lamps, Clocks & Chopping Boards - Splate
Gift ideas for Him & for Her - www.barkers.ie
For all Homeware Gifts, Jamie Oliver Sets and more - www.joyces.ie
From dyson hair dryerss to TV’s (cheeky we know but they have everything electronic - www.thewoodturningstudio.ie
For handcrafted Truly amazing looking Bowls and lamps - www.shanetubridfurniture.ie
For Some handcrafted Furniture Ideas - https://hairandbeauty.gainfort.com/
Hair & Beauty Products - https://www.faro.ie/
Professional Hair Products
All of us here at Graphedia are conscious of security when it comes to using the Internet. They say that practice makes perfect, and we completely agree. That is why we are constantly improving on our techniques to practices to be bets at what we do. That’s how we can spot a dodgy site from a mile away. Yet, we understand that some of our customers and even our customer’s customers may not have the time to keep up with all the security changes that are going on.
We are not the only company who think this way, Google are also very proactive in protecting their customers from threats on the Internet. One of their latest protection ideas revolve around their web browser – Google Chrome. Beginning January 31st, they are making some subtle changes to the way Chrome recognises websites and how secure they are.
What Is An SSL?
SSL stands for “secure sockets layer” and is a form of security for sites that handle sensitive information such as customer names, phone numbers, addresses and credit card numbers. It creates a secure connection between a customer’s web browser and the server of the company they’re interacting with. Here’s an example. Let’s say you need to talk to your friend about some personal conflicts going on within your life. Would you rather talk to them in public where you run the risk of people overhearing you or would you rather have your conversation in private? An SSL gives the company and the customer the ability to communication and share information, in private.
What Changes Are Going To Be Made To Chrome?
On current versions of Chrome, when you visit a website without an SSL certificate you will see a very discrete exclamation mark beside the website address (picture below).
This is not overly obvious to the end user, but changes being rolled out in version 56 are a little more obvious. As you can see from the below picture, the basic exclamation mark has morphed into a more obvious “Not Secure” message.
Google are not stopping there, in future versions, they plan on making more changes to Chrome. One of those changes will see the new “Non Secure” message being made even more prominent by making it a bright red font to grab your attention.
Will This Have Any Implications For My Website?
Yes, I’m afraid so – it will have implications for all websites that do not have an SSL certificate (only when users are using Google Chrome 56+). While your sites will continue to function normally, your users will see these security notices in their browser. Some users may choose to ignore them, but the fact of the matter is, everyone is concerned about security. This means that as time goes by, users will start to get uneasy when visiting your site and eventually avoid your site altogether.
Are There Any Major Benefits To Having An SSL Certificate?
Loads – absolutely loads.
- End to End encryption
- Prevents eavesdropping on user data (ISP’s, Not Nice Governments etc.)
- Prevents man in the middle attacks and phishing attacks.
- Should always be used when accepting credit cards.
- Improves your SEO rankings in Google.
- Improves customer trust.
Is There Anything I Can Do?
There sure is, but it will involve the obvious – purchasing an SSL certificate for your website.
Contact Niall here in Graphedia and he will fill you in on how to go about getting one for your website.
Source: Google Security Blog
Other Links of Interest