Electronic commerce , commonly known as eCommerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over internet. Electronic commerce is sometimes referred to as e-business which in other words is transacting of business electronically vs. paper or face-to-face methods.
Before starting any business you need to weigh your pros and cons which for an e-commerce venture are quite different from traditional business. The best way to assess your risks is to be aware of what you need to succeed.
First you need a product or service that can be sold online.Then decide on funding to get your business going.Next focus on customers and how to market those products to your customers. Services are generally less risky because you aren’t buying inventory that needs sold to recover costs. However, it is very difficult to have a service that can be sold online so product e-commerce is much more commonCreate the backup of a strong customer service.You also need to manage several things like purchases by customers, finances, staffs and other resources.In other words you require an “online store” to be an “e-tailer” which will have a “merchant” account, or the ability to process your customers’ credit card transactions over the Internet. Being able to accept payment is the most important factor in running a successful e-commerce business.Develop the ability to accept credit or debit cards.Use an online service that allows customers to pay through e-checks. These payment services are also the easiest way to accept credit or debit cards because they do all the technical stuff for you for a small fee.There is a danger in accepting credit card payment that new businesses are not aware. If someone buys something from you with a stolen credit card and when the card is reported stolen there will be a charge-back to your account. Usually by the time this happens the order has already been sent out. This means you are out with your product,plus the money that was in your account and also the fees charged from processing credit cards.The best thing to do is try to find a company that offers protection from fraudulent customers.Also ensure connectivity to a “secure server”, or on a computer system which ensures that customers’ credit card numbers are not subjected to fraudulent activities.There are online order forms that can be filled out every time to purchase your products which may even include processing the customers’ credit card numbers right away while they’re still online and connected to your Website.Risk minimizing steps should be taken in order to increase the consumers’ confidence in your product
Ecommerce websites have many advantages over the usual shopping ways. First of all it is an online process where there is no rush to sell by persistent salesman trying to meet their sales target. The customer can select the products in the website in their own time,research, compare and when satisfied completely, buy it. So one can view,make apt comparisons between specific products and then purchase the product of their choice just by sitting at home.Buyers get huge collection to choose from where the overhead is often reduced through online shopping.Setting up an ecommerce website is always cost effective and easy rather than setting up a shop. The costing for storage and insurance is also relatively low.In comparison to offline marketing online marketing is easier and economical and several tactics are available for internet marketing eg. search engine optimization, pay-per-click, article submission, back-up links, directory submission and so on. The trick is to select the right ones that meet up your ecommerce website demands.
There are some features that are unique to e-commerce.Select a product that can be sold on the Internet.Always make sure that you are in control of your ideas, or “intellectual property”. The next thing is to design and promote a Website that requires to be updated and maintained regularly.Prepare to give it some time as it will require constant ongoing attention.
Your site should work at generating great customer satisfaction and security to win consumers confidence.It is seen that if the first time buyers are satisfied with the products, pricing and online services they are most likely to return to your website for future purchases.Try adding personalized touch to the shopping process as customers always appreciate if there is personalized communication or if they get the chance to speak to the concerned person.Developing a strong marketing strategy ensures loyal customer base and encourage good publicity of your website.Prior research and clear understanding of your target customers, their expectations and perceptions helps a lot in developing the marketing strategies.Maintaining quality of service and product at par with clients’ expectations definitely score high with the customers.
E-commerce comprises of an online business, so obviously you need a website and may need to purchase a domain name too.This is needed if you want a specific “.com” This will be a annual bill, but not usually a huge one. It only gets expensive if someone else already has the website domain name you want and you have to buy it from them. In that case you may want to consider renaming your website and business. Then you have to purchase web hosting. This is what gets your site on the internet and keeps it there. Most web hosting comes with technical support, which can be extremely useful if you run into problems along the way. Now to create a website many people hire website or graphic designers, but there are computer programs that can help you design your own. These usually offer pre-made templates, so if you do want a completely original and creative website then hire a designer.Also consider building an e-commerce through an already existing website such as antique site.In this case you will need to very carefully consider the fee policy of the website. These can be listing fees, final value fees, even store fees. Whatever they are, take these into careful consideration. The most risky are listing fees. You will only receive that money back if you sell the item. Final value fees can be configured into your price. Therefore this fee is hardly risky at all because you only spend that money if you sell the item.
Shipping is a popular way customers can scam businesses. They can claim that they never received your order, whether or not it really did. If you are using one of those online payment services, they can force you to send a refund or suspend your account. That is unless you can prove you did send the order. The easiest way to do this is with Delivery Confirmation. It costs a little more than a stamp (in addition to the postage). This provides you with a number code that you can either go to a website or call an 800 number to verify that the package was delivered including the time of delivery. That way if any customers have any disputes you have that delivery confirmation number as proof that you indeed sent the order. You can also buy a tracking number which is similar, but more detailed on where the package is but also more expensive. Also, shipping itself is yet another expense. Be sure when charging your customers shipping and handling you figure in all of your expenses so they will be completely covered.
Following are the top 10 myths associated with ecommerce.
Creating an e-commerce site enables businesses to trade with no hassles.
Ease of site navigation is not a major factor.
Acceptance of credit cards and PayPal guarantees your e-commerce becoming global.
E-commerce will enhance the finances or profit ability of any business.
Businesses cannot market products aggressively online if they sell their products through a reseller
E-commerce is a project for the IT department and requires little involvement .
Aggressive marketing will create bad vibes with customers
Potential buyers will automatically assume that a company’s site is legitimate.Companies cannot sell directly to the SMB market via websites.
There is no need to do additional marketing or merchandising as customers will stumble on a company’s site easily.