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Is ECommerce Right for Our Business?
If your business features products or services for sale, undoubtedly the topic of eCommerce has come up. What is eCommerce? Literally defined as "the conduct of financial transactions by electronic means," it refers to purchases made over the Internet. There are popular slang terms such as ebusiness, click and mortar, dotcom, cyber-mall and multiple spellings (eCommerce, e-commerce, E-Commerce), but they are all basically the same thing. Don't let the different phrases confuse you, it all comes back to the same principle: selling online. So how do you know if selling online will be beneficial for your business? There are a few basic questions that can help you with this decision. First and foremost, can you afford to develop a professional eCommerce storefront on your Web site? You've heard the phrase "if you can't do it right, it's not worth doing at all". This is especially true in regards to eCommerce because people will not purchase from your Web site if it looks amateur and is poorly done. Custom developed eCommerce sites can cost tens of thousands of dollars, but pre-built shopping cart solutions such as WebSolutions' Marketplace can provide your business with a professional eCommerce storefront for a fraction of the cost. Another benefit of a program like this is whereas a Yahoo or eBay store may be less expensive to get going, it's going to be less customizable, and as your business grows, you'll outgrow the site and need to start over again. An option like the Marketplace provides a great starting place with unlimited building potential and growth. After the cost issue is addressed, you need to evaluate the potential of selling your product or service online. Are any of your competitors selling online? If not, have a brainstorming session and try to think of any logical reasons why they aren't. Could it be that they tried and failed or is it that they just haven't thought about selling online yet? One key to remember is that once you make the decision to sell online, your product and pricing is now available 24/7 to anyone that stumbles upon your site. After evaluating your competitor's Web sites, you need to look at your product line and determine your target audience. Who buys from your now? Are you selling to businesses or individuals? If the answer is businesses, are they generally companies that are active on the Internet or businesses that don't rely on the Web as much (such as mechanics, restaurants, etc.). If the answer is individuals, what demographic(s) are you advertising your products or services to? You need to be sure that the people you want purchasing your product have access to the Internet and are willing to shop online. Few businesses realize that over 80% of the world's Internet access speed is still dial-up, so loading huge catalogs, Flash files, and large graphics will deter a prospect from purchasing. Finally, you need to determine how you can make your business stand out from all the rest. If you're selling copier supplies, why is someone going to come to your site versus the other millions of copier supply Web sites? Are you going to sell based on price, location, quantity, quality of service? Are you going to provide online shipment tracking, account management, wish lists, real-time credit card authorization and processing, and other advanced eCommerce applications to make your site more professional? These are all issues that need to be addressed before you start designing your first product page. Taking the next step of selling online is a big decision for your business and isn't to be taken lightly. There is significant cost and risk involved, but there is also significant reward waiting to be had. Be sure to consult with your Web developer to find out which options are available to you and do your research ahead of time. Not every eCommerce site is profitable, but if you prepare, there's no reason yours can't be. WebSolutions is a professional Web site design, development, and hosting company based near Chicago. Their expertise in eCommerce has been highlighted in print and television and their custom developed solutions and pre-built shopping cart application (The Marketplace) has been successful for businesses nationwide. Jon Kee handles all sales and marketing related activities for WebSolutions and can be reached by phone at 630.375.6833 or email @ sales@wsol.com. Visit us online: http://www.wsol.com
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RELATED ARTICLES
Accepting Credit Cards For Your Online Business Did you know that one of the best ways to increase sales for any online or offline business is to offer your customers the convenience of paying by credit card? As a merchant, you have several options available when it comes to becoming part of the credit card acceptance and processing chain. Here's a quick guide to get you thinking. E-marketplaces from Sellers Perspective What is an E-marketplace anyway? Intranet Portals ? Collaboration through Team Rooms Knowledge Management for beginners The Internet and Customer Care: Aid or Anarchy? It was reported in 'Marketing' magazine this month, that Britain is becoming a "disaffected nation", with each adult apparently making an average of 12 complaints to service providers each year, based on a "Service in Britain" survey by ASR (Andrew Smith Research). 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To fully understand Internet Commerce you really only need to monitor your "clicking habits" for a few days to see where you are going and what if anything you are buying. The modern Internet Consumer is there and gone, in a click of any eye, if you do not grab us with good stuff, SEE YA, we are out of here and the speed of light. However you can also make money on that fact and Google AdSense is just one way. Before you go hog wild on the Internet concept of making money in a virtual world you need to educate yourself a little; one of the books I recommend is: Your Affiliate Web Site Is Built ? Now What? When I first got my web site built, I thought I finally had a presence on-line. Wrong! I soon found out that I needed someone to host my site, and I needed a domain name. How To Accept Credit Cards Without a Merchant Account To increase sales on your website, you must accept credit cards. To process credit cards, you could apply for a merchant account through your bank or other financial institution. Electronic Commerce Tax Jurisdiction and Principles of Permanent Establishment The principle of "permanent establishment" is very important for avoidance the conflict of law of matter connected imposition of taxation. In the absence of a permanent establishment, a country where goods or services are sold has no jurisdiction to tax the resulting profits. A permanent establishment means a "fixed place of business through which the business of an enterprise is wholly or partly carried on. " The notion "fixed" means attachment of physical property to a geographic location where the territorial jurisdiction of a state can be exercised. The concept of e-business permanent establishment means attachment of various components of computer or other devices having attached to earth. The concept of permanent provide the foundation for imposition of taxation and limits the ability of a state jurisdictions to tax profits derived from sales or service performed by electronic commerce means through a Web site or their electronic devices. But the establishment of servers and other computer technologies do not meet the physical requirement, but only to the extent that they are established in the jurisdiction in question. The application of this principle of permanent establishment has been clarified by the OECD in its Commentary on Article 5 of the OECD Model Convention, which provides that a web site in itself does not constitute a permanent establishment and a server where the web site has been uploaded can only regarded as permanent establishment. How To Turn Any Product You Sell In To Residual Income The concept of this is for you to offer a subscription type product as an upsell or backend product. 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It seems the numbers game is popular not only with the accountancy profession, but with just about anyone running a website who is interested in more sales from anywhere in the world. The internet has proved to be the great leveller, even a grandmother I know has made hundreds of thousands of dollars just from publishing a couple of e-books, business of that magnitude is not now confined to those people with large sums of investment capital, teams of accountants, planners, secretaries, swanky offices etc. Anyone, even you, can make money regularly on the internet, just aim for a goal and 'go for it!' The costs of setting up have never been lower, the ease of making web pages has never been easier, ( I make my web pages in Notepad, which is on every Windows computer), and the potential audience for your web pages has never been larger. So what are you waiting for? The sheer mountain of information available through e-books on any subject and especially on setting up a business on the internet would take you a lifetime to read through, so just be selective and read only what you need to know about and get started in that business. Businesspeople who have 'been there-done that', have written up an enormous amount of e-books to pass on their knowledge and experience, pitfalls to avoid, how to spend your advertising dollars, and just about everything else you need to know about to ensure success. So profit from their experience, avoid the pitfalls, do what they say you should do, and you should be in a profitable business in no time, just the way they did it. No large sums of investment are needed, just time and dedication. If you provide an excellent service that benefits all your clients, they will recommend you to their friends,if on the other hand you want to be a 'scammer' and a 'fly by night' operator determined to 'rip-off' as many people as possible, you will come to grief. You will find your web hosting account rapidly terminated, your e-mail account likewise, and your name plastered all over the forums and newsgroups. You get out of life exactly what you put in. There are still mysteries about life we still don't understand and this is the reason we come to grief, but on the other hand, if you work for the benefit of others, this 'mystery of life', for want of a better name,cuts in and helps us along, we go with the flow and good things start to happen. I could tell you of many experiences I have had, both good and bad, which I have learnt a great deal from, but space precludes that, maybe one day. All right, you win, I will tell you of one particular incident more recently and then move on with this article. I carried a St.Christopher medallion on a gold chain in my wallet for six years, given to me by the wife of a good friend overseas, 'it will keep you safe' she said. I received a new wallet for a Christmas present and changed everything in the old wallet into the new one, except the St. Christopher medallion, it was looking a bit 'worse for wear' and I decided to put it in the cupboard. That day I lost my mobile phone! For two whole days I felt a loss which can only be described as a 'bereavement'. I had lost touch with the network I was attached to night and day, seven days a week, I felt bereft. I did not know if someone was trying to ring me, whether something was urgent I had to know about, my sense of loss was total. Was this to do with the St. Christopher medallion? I thought surely not. 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What do they expect to see, or learn, or buy? How will they benefit from visiting your site?. Will they buy a good product, or learn something, or get some amusement or entertainment from it?. How to Receive Payments for Your Online Sales Once you decide which products you are planning to sell on the Internet, and what type of web store you are going to use in order to display your products, next vital decision that you have to take is to figure out how your customers are going to pay you. Whatever you plan to sell online, accepting credit card transaction is a must! A full 90 percent of all online sales occur through credit card payments. E-Commerce Is Back On The Fast Track How much holiday shopping did you do on-line this year? If you are reading this, then chances are good that you made at least one purchase on-line. Over 54% of all Americans did it [1]. A much higher percentage (>80%) of Internet users did it. 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Other ingredients also exist to cook the broker an unpalatable soup. Creating Legal Framework for E-commerce Taxation; non-tax statutes We have to make amendments in existing substantive and procedural laws to make it compactable with changing technological advancement of e-commerce? Accept Credit Cards Online Without A Merchant Account It is often assumed if you want to accept credit cards on your website that you must have a merchant account. This is not the case. You can accept credit cards with a Third Party credit card processor.
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