E-Commerce

E-commerce means exchange of goods and services over the Internet. Through e-commerce the buyers and sellers from all around the world could transact without meeting each another. E-commerce gives the customers a wider choice in products to choose from and the sellers can get unlimited customers for their products. Through E-commerce people could interact and transact from their homes and thus makes life comfortable and saves a lot of time. It has provided so many opportunities for businesses to exploit.

It is one of the rapidly growing segments of our economy. Thorough E-commerce, even the smallest business could reach worldwide audience in each and every country with its product and services. If we take a look at the following facts regarding the usage of Internet and the popularity of online shopping no doubt is left regarding E-commerces effectiveness in any kind of business, this is the reason why each and every business, whether it be small or big, have its own website and sell through the net.

Worldwide, more than 250 million people are using the Internet.

In the last 90 days around 69 percent of the Internet users have made at least one purchase. It is estimated that by 2007, two-thirds of U.S. households will be doing online shopping.

According to the January 2005 Trend/Forecasting report of The Dilenschneider Group, in the United States, in the year 2004 the online shopping increased by more than 25% from 2003 and in 2005, again it increased by another 25%.

The average income of an Internet user is above $66,790, which makes the Internet user a very attractive prospect for businesses.

So, if you are going to start a small business then E-commerce should form an essential part of your business plan and if you are running a small business and are not trading online then you should start doing that, as it may turn out as a new currency and add up to your profits. Selling on the web is not a huge task. To start selling on web you will have to follow just these five easy steps.

Step 1: Website Creation

The first step in selling online is creating a website for your business. Finding the right host for the new venture can be one of the most difficult tasks in the entire process. You should research and plan well before choosing the host for your site. You will have to decide the number of pages on your website, the type and number of products to be sold and the prices of these products etc. Assess accurately the requirements of your site and then choose the host accordingly. Always choose a host with 24/7 support, because it is going to generate revenues for you and needs to have perfect uptime. The site should be attractive and eye-catching otherwise customers may never visit the site.

Step 2: Setup your storefront

Storefront software helps in building a user friendly online store which is competent of managing the financial dealings. Storefront software comes in many forms, and each one of them has their own features, the software that suits best to your business needs should be opted for. Some shopping carts have the capacity of handling greater number of products and some are suited for fewer products. Hosts may offer a variety of carts. Through the shopping cart the sale of the product is going to be managed so it is extremely important that the user can use the shopping cart easily. The decision should be made after taking care of all the considerations in mind as once a choice is made; its very difficult to change your storefront without some downtime that may leads to loss of valuable sales. The storefront software should be chosen keeping in mind the size of the business and the estimated quantity of sales that a customer may do.

Step 3: Setting up a Merchant Account

Having a store full of products means little if the customers cannot pay for them. The most secure way to receive payments by the trader on the net is through a merchant account. Merchant account allows the seller to accept credit cards and thus, they can charge the customers account directly for the products bought by them. Payment gateway provides a safe and secure transfer of funds from customers account to the merchants account. Always be sure that the shopping cart that you have selected is supported by the payment gateway. The payment gateway service provider provides a list of the shopping carts supported by it. You can also use Pay Pal, in which a third party mediates between the merchant and the customer.

Step 4: SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)

The main problem while trading on net is that customers are hesitant to buy products online because they think that their personal and credit card information is not secure. This is where SSL certificates enter the picture. A SSL certificate first encrypts the customers personal information and credit card number and then sends it through net, to the merchants account. This security builds trust of customers on the store and they will feel comfortable while doing online business with the store. The cases of identity theft and credit card frauds are rising day by day, thus there is no way for an online store to succeed without a security certificate. A security certificate protects the online transactions and interactions between the merchant and the customers.

Step 5: Promoting the store

With all the elements in place, the final part is making sure that all the potential customers turn up to your store. Site promotion should be a continuing process to make the site better. The website host selected should provide tools to help the promotional process. For promoting the store you can use the search engine marketing method and advertising the store method. Search engine marketing helps to force extremely targeted visitors to your site. Advertising relates to a direct approach of promotion, like buying banners and ad-space on websites whose customers would be interested in buying from your store. A combination of these tactics should be used for increasing the chances of your store getting noticed on the web.

E-commerce has emerged as an effective tool for all businesses to market their products. E-commerce helps shrink the competition gap, provides an unlimited market place, it helps in lowering the cost of doing business, eliminates middlemen, and helps in maintaining more efficient business relations.

Recent trends have shown users of E-commerce are increasing, and security on the net is improving. Each year sales over the Internet has been increasing. Thus, we can say that there is a lot of potential in this area of marketing and selling goods.