How soon did you get your first order?

And how did you get it?

[lschmidt]

I went live 2 days ago, have 10 very targeted PPC clicks so far and no orders. The site looks professional, toll free number is given, shopping cart is easy to use, buy button is big...can't think of what is stopping people.

So, how long did it take for your first order, and how did you get it (PPC, SE, friend, etc.)?

And how quick did it progress in the first few months?

[Morgenhund]

What is you visitors statistics?

If you went live 2 days ago, your site is porbably not indexed by SEs, therefore these 10 clicks are all what you have?

Taking even pretty good 1% conversion ratio (newly launched sites usually have much less), you still have to have 100 visitors to generate a single sale. Will your single sale profit cover these PPC cost?

Think about your site marketing, have a plan, and have patience (a LOT of patience: it is the webmaster's most important tool :-)

We had a couple of weeks passed till our first sale, but this does not mean anything...

[pbradish]

10 visitors isn't enough to start a trend. After you have a few thousand visitors, then we'll be able to put our collective heads together and assess the situation.

That being said, we have a new ecommerce site going live today and our first "order" was yesterday. The very first organic Google hit we receive and we get an order from it. Sometimes luck is just on a person's side.

With my last ecommerce launch, it took nearly two weeks to get an order, and then another two weeks before the second. One thing to keep in mind is that even though those 10 visitors may have not placed an order right then, they may be planning to re-visit your site soon (after they receive their paycheck, etc.)

Conversion rates can also depend on the industry - there are many, many variables in this game but by the sounds of your post you are certainly on the right track. PM me if you want me to take a look at the ecommerce site for constructive criticism.

[krolik]

We went live 2 months ago. We got first order after 3 weeks, online.
So far we got 10 orders.
You have to build traffic, it takes time and a lot of marketing / SEO work. Be patient and good luck!

[vincevincevince]

lschmidt, just a check... how do your prices (including and excluding shipping) compare to other online outlets? In some sectors, price is pretty-much 99% of the buyer's decision.

[Rugles]

Way back in January 2000, it took about 7 days to get our first order.

Its framed here in our office.

We sent the guy a thank you card and a small gift with his order. He placed another order about a year later.

[algari]

krolik
How 'lot of marketing' one should do?

[sleepy_eye]

Becarefull of your 1st orders, they could be fraud

[pbradish]

Well, any order could be fraudulent, not just the first. ;)

[Ant_C]

On my latest site I finished getting the shopping cart live at 1.30am, went to bed and woke up to find an order has been made at 2am! The site had been up for 2 weeks before that however, just no way to buy anything. I think this was down to luck more than anything else.

Conversion rates can vary a lot in my experience but to get a sale from 10 hits would be very good going. Also some people take a long time to make up their mind, they could still buy.

Give it time and things will start to snowball - the first year is the hardest.