Volusion Aims to be a One-Stop-Shop for SMBs

The recent rise in ecommerce shops has created a huge demand for ecommerce business solutions. Digitally, an online store has many needs in order to run a successful operation. They need a safe and secure website to protect their business transactions and their customers’ information, and a payment processor that can securely handle numerous transactions. Successful ecommerce shops need a user-friendly website builder to design their website, company logos and graphics. Finally, it’s also necessary to have a team of marketing and customer service professionals.

With so many ecommerce platforms offering different services, how do business owners determine where to go for all their business needs? That’s exactly why Kevin Sproles founded Volusion: to become a one-stop-shop for ecommerce businesses. Volusion provides ecommerce solutions for thousands of small to medium-sized businesses (SMB) every single day.

Volusion’s success is the product of Kevin Sproles’ entrepreneurial spirit and scrappy work ethic. Volusion was founded in 1999 as a web design business while Sproles was still in high school. He handled all business operations from sales to support to product design. Early on, Volusion offered solutions for both enterprises and SMB’s, but Sproles felt the company needed to hone in on their approach to be successful. “Since our refocus to SMB in early 2017, Volusion’s average annual store revenue is up over the past year and equates to 2.95x more than what’s driven by a leading competitor,” Sproles said.

As the only all-in-one ecommerce platform on the market built specifically for the needs of SMB’s (which currently accounts for more than half of U.S. sales), Volusion is the perfect solution to running a successful ecommerce business.

Volusion Payments Streamlines the Payments Process

In late 2017, Volusion partnered with WePay and Chase to offer Volusion Payments, allowing SMB’s to get up and running almost instantly. Volusion Payments powered by Chase provides businesses with a seamless way to accept, process, organize, and dispute chargebacks all while having access to technical support and customer solutions.

“With this partnership, the small- and medium-sized businesses we work with will be able to get up and running instantly, with next-day settlement, competitive rates, and all of their payment processing tightly integrated within the software they’ve already chosen for managing their online stores,” explained Sproles in the press release.

Volusion Payments also helps business owners save money with each transaction. Credit card processors typically charge about 2.9% of the transaction, but Volusion will be offering tiered rates as low as 2.4% per transaction.

A major concern for business owners is the availability of cash flow on a day-to-day basis. If their funds are tied up in inventory, assets, operations, or chargebacks, they won’t be able to continue operating a successful business. Fighting a chargeback costs time and money that should be spent on other aspects of business operations. Volusion Payments increases cash flow with next-day settlements and fast resolution chargebacks.

Volusion Offers Top-notch Marketing and Creative Services

Other than Volusion Payments, Volusion offers other marketing and creative services, which really sets them apart from the competition. Volusion customers can have access to the following:

• Search engine optimization
• Pay-per-click advertising
• Social media engagement and advertising
• Consulting
• Marketing audits
• Marketing plans
• SSL site certificates
• Reporting
• Documentation help and generators

Merchants can also access and manage their ecommerce store from any device at any time, allowing them access to real-time data and information. Volusion is really focused on their customers and providing them with the support they need to be successful. “Providing excellent customer service is the most important piece of data in learning about customers,” he said.

Volusion Provides Website Security and Works with More Merchants

Volusion prides itself in providing site security and seamless experiences. They were also one of the first platforms to reach the highest level of certification from Visa’s PCI security standards Level 1 compliance. The company provides a secure and seamless checkout experience on the SMB merchant’s domain instead of a shared checkout feature.

“Shared checkout opens merchants and their customers up to security risks, and this often impacts sales conversions since merchants appear less trustworthy,” he said. Volusion offers valuable technology to protect the merchant from fraudulent activity prior to processing the transaction.

Volusion is more flexible than competitors because they work with merchants that competitors won’t work with. Some reasons merchants are considered “high risk” are products such as digital goods, service businesses, jewelry stores and some wholesalers. “There are a lot of legitimate and important businesses that can’t seem to get approved for a merchant account, and that’s because a lot of other providers haven’t modernized their thinking to truly understand the merchant’s business,” he said.

Sproles explained that because they maintain an intimate business relationship with the merchants by running their e-commerce presence and helping them grow, they’re able to help a larger pool of merchants who couldn’t otherwise find a partner willing to understand their business. “Our risk team is top-notch and able to underwrite more than our competitors and offer the best rates,” he added.

Kevin Sproles said he anticipates 2018 to be a very exciting year and has plans to develop numerous integrations and new applications for their platform, all while providing seamless incorporations of users’ profiles and payment processes.