What the heck is e-commerce!

We have all heard the calls, about e-commerce, comments such as the following that I found online today, "Companies that sell on-line experience increased revenues. In today's world, you need to sell on-line in order to stay competitive". While e-commerce is a great tool for today's business, and something I recommend that every business has a close look at, it is not necessarily a magic wand that will transform your business into an overnight marketing success story!

Many people feel e-commerce is something that is just too difficult to contemplate, or that it will be just another unnecessary expense to add to their existing tight marketing budget. We also have the problem of the IT generation gap. What I mean by this is that many of our business managers are in a similar age bracket as myself or older, and we did not grow up with computers. So is it any wonder that just the thought of having to use a computer for our financial records is enough to give us the shakes, let alone having to worry about all the e-com stuff! And then there are those who are concerned that they may be missing out on the online action, but do not know where to turn for honest, common sense advise that they can understand. In this article I hope to cover some of the basics of e-commerce in laymen's terms, and along the way answer some of those questions you may have.

Ok what is e-commerce? E-commerce refers to buying and selling goods online (using the Internet). It can be as simple as using email to contact a supplier for placing an order. It does not necessarily mean that those goods will paid for via the Internet or that the company selling the goods even has a website. So without realising it you might already be partaking in e-commerce. Consumers and businesses can use the Internet and e-commerce in many ways, such as finding out some info about a particular product or company, maybe researching an item you want to sell, does someone have a patent on it already? Others might simply want to be online as doing so, is a very cost effective communication tool between clients, employees, and other businesses any where in the world.

The major reason why businesses get into e-commerce, is as a marketing tool. There are two ways to market online, and you can partake in one or both methods. One method is the selling and buying of goods at online auctions, such as www.ebay.com.au or www.stuff.com.au. To be involved you do need some experience with using the Internet and e-mail and will have to sign up with the auction site. If selling you usually pay a fee of around $3.50 per item. If you are a buyer it will only cost you the cost of the goods you buy and the delivery. There are pitfalls and steps you need to take to protect yourself and to also assure online auctions are the place for you. The best way ascertain this is for you to visit one of the two web sites I have mentioned and have a close look at what happens. Maybe have a look for a similar product as yours and see what prices are being paid for that product.

The other way to market online is to have your own web site! Again some experience in using computers is an advantage, especially if you plan to create, and/or update the web site yourself. However even if you only have very basic experience you can still have a web site of your own. Your best option would be to find a web developer who can create and maintain the web site for you, and by doing so, take away all the hassle and confusion. To find a web developer you can use the yellow pages, looking under Internet web Services, or by using the internet search engines by using wording such as, Web Design, and then type the name of the area or town you live. However word of mouth is usually the best option, so ask around to get some personnel recommendations. Do you know of any businesses in your area that have a web site? if so it wouldnt hurt to ask the proprietor of that business how they went about having their web page developed. The costs for having someone else develop and host a website for you varies greatly, and you will have to do some homework to make sure you are getting a good deal. One thing to check is that the fee quoted covers all costs such as the hosting of the web site and the cost of the domain name. The domain name, is what your actual web site name will be. In many cases this will cost around $75 for two years registration. But then again you might get a web address for free, if your site is to be hosted as part of another web site, such as with your Internet provider.

Another option would be for you to do all the work yourself, and to undertake this is not difficult for someone who is experienced with using computers and the Internet. Today there are many programs that make the task as easy as using a publisher program, and email. If this option interests you, and you have an Internet account, ask your ISP (the company that you have that Internet account with) for some details on them hosting your web site. You might even find that your internet account will already entitle you to some free web space for your web site.

One concern a lot of businesses have is that if they get a web site, how are they to know people will find them out there on the Internet? Good web designers can put into place on your the web site what is known as meta tags. These tags that are part of the html coding (the language of the Internet) and will enable search engines to find those web sites more readily. Search engines by the way are web sites that any one can use to find specific information. For example if you wanted to find out if anyone restores cast iron beds in Victoria you would simply type into a text box provided, your request. Using our example above I would type, Cast iron beds, restoration, Victoria. Then by clicking on the search button I would be presented with a list of web sites that contains the information I requested. If you had a business restoring cast iron beds, and your web designer has done the job correctly, your web site will be among the top 10 or so on that list. Meta tags are only one of a bag full of tricks a good web designer can use to make sure that your site can be easily found online. If you are thinking of hiring someone to design your web site, ask them who they have designed web sites for, then do a little web searching yourself to see how easily you can find those web sites online, not using the actual address the web site developer gave you, but try using words that relate to that web site.

I will finish the article on what is most likely the biggest concern for someone thinking about actually selling or buying goods online. How safe is it to do financial transactions online? No form of financial transaction is absolutely safe, how often have you given your credit card number to someone over the phone. Are you absolutely sure that the phone line wasn't bugged? Or how about the employee you gave you credit card details to. Is she or he of such excellent character, that you can be absolutely sure they will not divulge that information to some one else. Internet security is not rock solid, and it would be unwise for anyone to guarantee it as so. Without going into all the technical jargon of encryption and the like, the chances of you getting ripped off while making financial transactions with a company who has what is known as a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption, is very slim. With the millions and millions of bits of data being transmitted on the Internet every second, it would be a case of very bad luck that a unscrupulous PC user would be able to get your info, let alone be able to decipher it. Today it is common place for millions of people to pay their bills and do their banking online. If you are still hesitating to deal with finance online, you can resort to methods such as direct debit, and the old fashioned credit card number over the phone. It would be just a matter of setting up your web site to take orders that would be emailed to you, and for you then to phone your new customer for credit card details etc. One word of warning though, when buying online, as with all financial transactions, read the details before committing your self and pressing that enter key.

Do you now have more questions than you did before reading this article? I hope not. If you would like to learn more about e-commerce contact a local training organisation and ask if they are to be holding any classes on web design or e-commerce. There are also organisations such as the e-commerce association of Central Victoria, and Internet Access Centres that will be very happy to help you. If you would like to learn how goldfieldsonline can help you, read the article below about our Central Goldfields Community website.

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