A Business Guide to eCommerce

Sections:

Developing an eCommmerce strategy
Rules of Thumb
Issues to note
Questions to Answer

Developing an eCommerce strategy

Before you invest in a web-site, it is crucial that you come to grips with an appropriate eCommerce strategy for your business. You may decide at the end of the process that the best way forward for your business is NOT to engage in eCommerce. Common sense is your best defense against the hyperbole.

Depending on your business, the extra work involved in maintaining a web-site and product delivery systems can be great.

If you are clear that, in order to compete in your market and maintain your current market share, you must offer your goods and services on the WWW, then your first step is to decide on your strategy.

Stage One: Decide on Goals

Is your goal:

to survive?
to grow?
to capture a new market?

The above are all good reasons for considering eCommerce. Poor reasons include:

Modernising your image
Desire to retire early/ to work less

Stage Two: Get Advice

In order to work out a successful eCommerce plan, several areas of expertise are necessary:

Information and Communications Technology
Project Management
Business Analysis
Advertising
Marketing
Graphic Design
Web-Design
Content Writing
Programming

If you do not have this knowledge/skill-set within your business, take professional advice at the planning stage. Weak plannning invariably leads to failure in eCommerce projects.

If you are hoping to increase turnover through eCommerce, your ability to handle this new business must be examined. If you are already experiencing difficulty with supply or distribution chains, what effect will increased demand have on your business?

Stage Three: Your on-line Customers

Some of your potential customers will be searching for your product/service when they discover your web-site. Others will already know your web-site address. You must also target those potential customers who had no intention of visiting your site but who might be interested in what you are selling.

This latter group require a lure in the form of useful or interesting information. This is where content becomes particularily important. On the internet, 'content is King'.
The primary reason people use the internet is to find information.

If you are lucky enough to have a product or service that is interesting in itself (estate agents, stock-brokers, hardware retailers, book-sellers, auctioneers, travel agents, hoteliers all sell something inherently attractive to the customer), an up-to-date catalogue or brochure will be the main draw.

Stage Four: Design

Once you have decided who your potential customers are and the purpose of your web-site, you need to find a suitable web-designer.

Good design skills cost money in any field. Choosing a designer primarily on price is generally not a good idea.

The best way to design a web-site is by prototyping: This means that the first draft of the web-site is a rough approximation of the layout and structure you discussed with the designer. You use this model as a discussion piece to clarify your requirements. The designer then modifies the first draft (prototyope) and discusses it with you. This prototyping process continues until the final approved web-site is produced. This ensures that you get the web-site you need.

It is a good idea to designate a member of your staff responsible for the web-site at this stage so that they can watch the site evolve. However, management involvement in the design process is crucial to success and should not be avoided.

Stage Five: Testing

Once the prototype is working, you need to test it with real users. Find people who buy your product/service and ask them to use your web-site. (Ideally, you should have people in the group who are experts at using the WWW and others who are novices). If they have complaints or criticisms, take them on board and modify the prototype. Test again, to make sure you got it right.

Stage Six: Implementation & Marketing

Once uploaded, the web-site must be marketed. Your headed paper, forms, visiting cards, phone directory entries, vans etc should all advertise your web address.
The site must be indexed by all of the major search engines and search results tested to see if you need to modify the code on your web-pages (specifically, the metatags). You should also register your business details with on-line directories. Get a link to your site added to as many other related web-sites as possible. Finally, if your goals for this eCommerce business justify it, get an advertising agency to produce a campaign (traditional and new media).

Stage Seven: Up-dating and Maintenance

Issues to Keep in Mimd:

Advertising
eBanking
Back-office
Content Creation
Content Management
Cryptography
Database Management
Domain Name Registration
Electronic Transactions
eMarketing
eSecurity
Human Resources
Internet Service Provider
Market Research
Marketing
Network integration
Network Security
Search Engine Submission
Technical Support
Training
Usability
Web Design
Web Hosting
Web-site Maintenance

Rules of Thumb :

eCommerce and business goals should be aligned
Keep it simple.
On the internet, content is King.
People scan web-pages, they rarely read on-line
People use the internet to find information
Frequently updated content is best.
Avoid wish lists, stick to what you really need.
A complicated web-site has more things to go wrong, is harder to maintain and is harder to re-design.

Questions to Answer

Do you really need a web-presence?
Do your potential customers use the internet?
What happens to your business if your web investment fails?
What will happen to your business if your eCommerce strategy succeeds?
Can you afford the web-site you need?
Can you afford to maintain the web-site you need?
Have you reduced your needs to the essential and eliminated the unnecessary?
How will your eCommerce activities affect your current business activities?
Do you have a reliable source of technical support?
Can your staff handle the extra work?
Does your staff have the skills needed?