· Menopause Center
· Trade Finance Providers
· 1st Design
· Neonic Signs
· PDF Inc
· Garage Media
· Print Legend
· Signs 360
· Monogelato
With the growth of the Internet, companies have discovered that they can have not only a 24 hour-a-day showcase for their products, but also deliver superior customer service.
What is e-commerce?
In its most fundamental sense, e-commerce or electronic commerce is the
buying and selling of goods and services over the Internet. Sometimes
referred to e-business or e-tailing, all kinds of businesses – from
clothing shops and supermarkets to banks, airlines, car hire companies,
real estate agencies and signage companies – can operate successfully
online.
Some of the more dominant e-commerce businesses include Amazon.com, Compudataonline,
CDonline.com and Ebay, who have managed to achieve global reach and show
phenomenal success and competitiveness.
Why use e-commerce?
By having an active website and an online catalogue of products and services,
companies are able to have a virtual storefront where customers can search,
view, order and make secure credit card purchases online.
Having access to a functional website can save clients the time and energy
of sifting through newspapers or driving through busy traffic to find
the products they want or need. E-commerce also allows business-to-business
transactions, where manufacturers can communicate with their suppliers
with ease. Moving a business to the Internet is a sound strategy for growing
a business and interacting with a global marketplace.
How to get ‘e-commerce-ready’
Before setting up an e-commerce website, it is important for a company
to do the requisite market research and target audience mapping and planning.
A company should be able to test the design of its software applications
to ensure efficiency, and facilitate transactions so as to provide front-end
service excellence and achieve long-term success. A website must also
be search engine-optimised or part of an affiliation programme to draw
in clients.
Benefits of e-commerce
As a form of direct marketing, an e-commerce website provides an economical
form of advertising and communication. If a website is well-designed and
informative, it will reduce a business’s costs on printed marketing
and promotional materials and entice a customer to visit a ‘real-time’
location if need be. A successful website which is updatable and provides
price guides and quotations will attract new customers and retain the
old.
Bottom line? An e-commerce site can be the best and most effective form
of signage for a business in our online and technology-enabled society.
