| |
| |
|
|
|
Web Store - Why Do You Need One?
Internet has opened a new era of business opportunities. Each day, thousands of new consumers are joining the Internet. More and more companies are adopting Internet as their primary sales and distribution channel. According to Forrester Research -The survey of 130 U.S. companies indicates consumers spent $76 billion shopping on-line in 2002. This represents a 48 percent increase over 2001, and projections for 2003 come close to $100 billion, representing 4.5 percent of total retail sales. As a business you probably understand that in order to stay competitive you must integrate ecommerce to your present business strategy. A little research will show you that there is an extensive array of technology and solutions for enterprise and web store building available in the market. You also perceive that ecommerce sites can cost you from a mere couple of hundred bucks to hundreds of thousand of dollars. How to choose something from so many options that will exactly fit your present need? Although, this might look like a daunting task, a little preparation will definitely help you taking the right decision in your quest for an appropriate ecommerce solution. To understand your requirement better and create a proper ecommerce strategy, you have to ask yourself a number of questions. Below I jotted down some of the questions that, hopefully, will spur your imagination.
If building an ecommerce site from scratch feels too overwhelming to you and you are a small business, my suggestion is - to build a web store with one of the providers similar to Yahoo, Bigstep, Rusbiz etc. The web stores that you can build directly on the Internet have all the necessary features like shopping cart, product catalog and payment gateway as any regular ecommerce site. In most of the cases, you construct web store online from templates and easy-to-use editor and you hardly need to know html or other script languages. You can order your Web Store from Rusbiz right now. The benefits of using a web store that you can build online are enormous. Quick to build: If you have all the materials handy, you can build a web store within a day. Easy in use: You don't have to be a rocket scientist to build a fully functional ecommerce site. Step by step procedures of making pages from templates allow anybody to create a professionally looking web store in no time. Affordable: Although, some of the providers charge commissions on your sales, as Yahoo does, in most of the cases your expenses are less than US$ 100 a month to have a good web store. The only disadvantage you have with this kind of web stores is you might not be able to give the customized look and feel to the site as you intend to. Then again, once you start generating enough sales through your web store, if you must, you can always build an ecommerce site by hiring web design companies. If you are still hesitant in starting online business using web stores I would suggest you to read the following eventual benefits that you may have from ecommerce. Increase your sales & profits If you are a brick and mortar company, online commerce will definitely increase your sales and with it profits. Enhance your company image Today, even small companies understand the importance of having a website. Planned, sophisticated and professional website creates positive image of the company and help building brand name. Reduce costs and save money If required features are available on the website practically all business processes are possible to carry out on the Internet, which allows you to reduce overhead costs, costs incurred due to documentary mistakes, document processing costs, etc. Improve customer service Frequently Asked Questions pages, forums, Internal Messaging Service, chat lines, etc. all these features help you effectively running your customer service. Become a global player Thanks to the reach of Internet you are no longer confined to a certain geographical boundary any more. You can sell products to any place of the world 24 hours a day. Add sales channels By joining e-marketplaces and B2B exchanges you can significantly increase the number of sales channels available to you. Reduce supply chain cycle If you automate supply chain processes through Internet, you will be able to shorten the entire cycle from months to days. You will be even able to eliminate certain phases of your supply chain process. Market products and services There are numerous ways of getting traffics on your site and popularize your products. In fact, you can get more people in your web store than it is physically possible to accommodate in a bricks-and-mortar shop. Compete with large companies On the Internet you may successfully compete with the behemoths of your industry and even curve market shares out of them. Low start-up costs Normally, starting a brick and mortar business requires significant cost involvement. On the Internet - opposite is true! To start a business online you hardly need any major investment. No entry barrier As you know, many businesses in real world are tightly controlled by certain groups. On the internet there is no such barrier! Anybody can start any business of his choice. No need to close existing sales channels By adopting Internet as a sales channel you do not loose anything as your web store only complements existing sales conduit. If you are new to ecommerce world, I would advise you to go slow! First create a plan with long term and short term objectives. Try implementing your plan gradually. Make sure that you do not spend too much money on your initial ecommerce project. Remember! Over 80 percent of all software projects do not finish in time within the budget; and do not work as planned! About The Author Nowshade Kabir, Ph.D., is the founder, primary developer and present CEO, of Rusbiz.com, a global business to business e-commerce portal with feature like storefronts, aggregated catalog, e-marketplace, trade leads, internal messaging system supply chain solutions, etc. With a doctorate in Information Technology, Dr. Kabir has worked an advisor to government projects and has over 12 years experience in International Trade. An author of many B2B and business related articles; he publishes a bi-weekly E-zine for online business community. You can subscribe to his newsletter free of charge from http://www.rusbiz.com.
MORE RESOURCES: Buy Website Internet Traffic. Website online advertising. Buy full page popunder advertising and increase website traffic to your sites. Bad Credit Loans - Loans for people with bad credit. Access online government grants and financial credit services instantly online. Digital Streaming Radio On Your Mobile Phone - La Vella Mobile Radio. La Vella Mobile Radio Gives You Access To Over One Hundred Of The Hottest Streaming Radio Stations From Around The World And Brings Them To The Palm Of Your Hand, Right On Your Mobile Phone. Get Streaming Radio On Your Cell Phone! Audio And Video Streaming For Multimedia Purposes. This Is A Complete Step By Step Guide To The Beginners Who Want To Install And Setup Audio And Video Streaming For Multimedia Purposes On The Internet.
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Chinas IT Industry to Maintain Fast Growth China's IT industry is expected to see a sales revenue of 2.68 trillion yuan (US$322. How To Find the Best Merchant Account For Your Business What a great idea! Start accepting credit cards and watch your profits soar. Nothing could be simpler. How To Sell Websites Fast ! This article will explain in depth the steps needed to sell your website fast in today's marketplace.Step 1 Establish a Reasonable Price for Your SiteHow Much Can I Get?Before you sell, it's a good idea to know how much the domain is worth. Credit Card Processing - 7 Things You Need to Know Before Opening an Online Merchant Account When considering opening an online merchant account to accept credit card orders, there are a lot of things you need to keep in mind. The best thing to do is learn all about credit card processing before you open your online merchant account so you can handle everything from the beginning rather than having to go back and make many changes. 6 Steps to Attracting Black Customers Online by Jamila White, "The E-Commerce Diva"In the rush to keep up with technology, many African-American business owners are so busy trying to add the latest bells and whistles to their Web sites, get to the top of the search engines, and learn the latest database technology that they often forget this simple fact: people do business with other *people*, not computers. Understanding the importance of relationships is key to attracting African-American buyers online. Accept Credit Cards Online Without a Merchant Account There are two major ways to accept credit cards on your website. The first and most expensive is to have your own merchant account. Overcoming Frustration with Technology For whatever reason, when we get a new boost in productivity, whether that be from a tool, technology or technique.. The Five Steps of E-Commerce You set up a retail business, you advertise in your local newspaper, you get customers coming into your store, and you receive payment at the cash register. Create an online store, and. The Check is in the E-mail Have you ever had someone who owed your business money say, "the check is in the mail." Well now there is an answer to that old tired way of brushing you off and not seeing that check come in the mail week after week after week. Web advertising e-Marketing Places! Overview:What is web advertising?Internet Advertising is popularly known as web advertising. Internet webadvertising giving Opportunity to the advertiser to target geographic country wise, subject wise, targeted Customers only from more than 200 countries worldwide. What Does It Take to Make Money Online? What a loaded question! Let's narrow that down a bit and take it from the perspective of someone who wants to work from home and make money online in a home business. That will make it an easier question to answer. Outsourcing Your Ecommerce Order Fulfillment When your eCommerce business grows to the point where you can no longer package and ship the orders yourself, it's time to begin outsourcing your order fulfillment. Although all order fulfillment centers offer the same basic services, their individual methods and costs will help you choose one over the other. Electronic Commerce and WTO The Internet may not be useful for all businesses, nor do all have to develop an Internet information strategy. Some businesses are concerned with the start-up costs of connecting such as purchasing hardware and software, subscribing to an Internet connection or service provider, and training staff. Do Your Online Brokerage Business With Zero Down If you have little or no capital but you want to do big international business; if your small business is not doing so well; or your capital is low, why don't you turn to the Internet? The Internet is the fastest and most efficient method for the newcomer and the struggling businessperson to become an international broker of goods and services.To start, you may order directories of importers; but they are not absolutely necessary: importers can be found on the business portals too. Working With Drop Shippers Drop Shippers, the manufacturers or distributors who are willing to ship their products to your customers, bring a powerful benefit to ecommerce. Online businesses that engage in the wholesale-retail trade can cut down on all the hassles of shipping their products by simply establishing business relationships with drop shippers, and using them as part of their business model. Are You Making These E-Commerce Excuses? (part 2) Last time, we started to take a look at the most common reasons why most people don't make progress on their e-commerce and Internet marketing goals. Today, we continue the discussion. Accepting Credit Card Payments Online Being able to accept credit cards and other online payments is crucial to the success of your business and profits. Your customers are more likely to buy from you if you offer them a secure and convenient way to order goods and services online at your site. The Plain Man's Guide to Making Money Online I'm a plain man who uses plain thinking in devising strategies for making money online.I do not spend obscene mounts of money attending high ticket web conferences nor do I rush to purchase the latest collection of web casts at outrageous prices. The Essential Christmas Web-store Makeover Ten great tips to turn online holiday shoppers into eager buyers - and satisfied customers.When meeting potential clients, you wouldn't dream of showing up late in a mismatched outfit, hair disheveled, with food on your tie and no business card, would you? And if they asked for testimonials or explanations about your company policies you'd hardly say, "Sorry, I don't give out that information. Say Something Worth Talking About I recently published a short e-book called 'One Thing I Know About Doing Business Online'. Seventeen people contributed - including Seth Godin, Jeffrey Zelman, Danny Sullivan, Jared Spool, Gerry McGovern and Ann Handley.
|
