Introduction

E-commerce systems such as your website can be used to market and sell to customers, and to provide after-sales support. E-commerce can also be an important part of strengthening relationships and improving the efficiency of your dealings with suppliers and other key trading partners.

This guide looks at the key issues to consider when planning for the introduction of e-commerce. It provides advice on how best to identify the opportunities for e-commerce within your business and the solutions available.

Identifying e-commerce opportunities

There are several different ways you might use e-commerce for your business.

Direct sales

Many businesses use e-commerce for the direct selling of goods or services online. For some businesses such as those selling music etc, the actual sale and delivery of goods can be made online. However, for most the supply of goods will continue to require a physical delivery.

If you plan to sell online, you may need to rethink many of your business activities. This is because you will fundamentally change the way in which you interact with your customers - for example, if customers place orders online instead of talking to a salesperson. You will also need to work out how every aspect of a transaction is handled - including order confirmation, invoicing and payment, and deliveries and returns. 

Pre-sales

You can use your website for pre-sales activities - exploiting the widespread use of the Internet to generate sales leads. At its most basic this can be through having an online version of your promotional materials on your site. Other options include email campaigns or online advertising to attract visitors to your own website where you can promote your products.

Post-sales support

You can also use the Internet to automate aspects of your customer support to reduce the number of routine customer service calls. This can be achieved by using your site to answer the most frequently asked questions, or by putting technical information online.

Your expectations

However you decide to use e-commerce, it is important to define your expectations from the outset. What level of sales are you hoping to make? How many sales leads are you looking to generate? Ensure that targets are put in place so that you can measure the success, or otherwise, of your e-commerce facility.

Specification

The website specification should clearly identify what the site is trying to achieve and how its various components will contribute to this. An understanding of the intended user audience is required for both technical and marketing purposes.

Domain name

Domain names are an enormous help in the branding of a business. Your domain name should be easy to remember and spell, and should show what your business is all about. If not, then potential customers will surf elsewhere and possibly find your competition.

Website hosting

If you purchase your own domain name you can either host your own website or have an Internet service provider (ISP) host it on your behalf. If you choose to host the website yourself, you will require a fast Internet connection and a suitable PC.

The type of Internet connectivity and the available bandwidth will be an important consideration, irrespective of which hosting solution is selected. Most businesses choose some form of broadband connection.

Software options

An important decision to consider is whether to use a "shop" package or build the software from scratch. Shop packages allow you to configure product information and the look and feel of the shop. However, they can provide limited opportunities for tailoring them to suit you individual requirements.

Who is involved in an e-commerce project?

E-commerce impacts upon almost every function within a business. Externally, a variety of suppliers will also need to be involved within an e-commerce project, and the range of specialist skills required will be dependent upon the scale and complexity of the proposed e-commerce system.

By Martin Huckle

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