E-Commerce: Do You Need It?
Added on: November 29. 2005
There has been a lot written about ecommerce in the past couple months. Articles have appeared in BusinessWeek, Inc. magazine and Newsweek, among others. Generally this type of buzz starts in the computer magazines, and if it sticks around long enough, the general trades pick it up.
Since I read a number of computer magazines each month, I get a view of the coming storm when it's just a butterfly's wing flapping. Some times these ideas come to fruition, most times not. Does anyone remember the hype surrounding Push Technology? Micro-payments? How banner ads would pay for content on the Web?
All of these things have fallen short of expectations or died entirely. The only type of Push Technology you see now is email. Micro-payments didn't even get their 15 minutes. Banner ad rates are plummeting as Web surfers are maturing and less likely to click on every ad they see.
So what to make of ecommerce? Well here's my .02: it's here to stay. What shape it will finally take or even what it will look like a year from now I don't pretend to know, but technology costs money, so businesses need to make money off of it. Two years ago every consultant worth their salt was saying that companies needed a Web site to survive. Last year these same consultants told businesses they needed content to increase repeat visitors. This year it's ecommerce.
Let me tell you something you already know: every business is different. Every business's Web site is different. Some do not need ecommerce. Some do. Even if you have something to sell, ecommerce may not be the best option for you. If your best customers and clients use you because of your "hands on" approach, maybe ecommerce isn't where you should be investing your time and money. If your work is mostly customized perhaps face-to-face or even over the phone might be your best close.
However, if you have something to sell that only needs to be seen or described, ecommerce could be a good option. If you have a product that can be utilized throughout the country or even the world, ecommerce could bring you lots of business. If you have big enough margins, high enough prices or plan on selling enough product, ecommerce could become a major part of your business plan.
Ecommerce allows people from all over the world, (or wherever you're willing to ship,) to purchase products from you day or night. It can bring extra sales to your business and not cost you any more in salaries. If nothing else, it could help bring down your monthly cost of being online.
Ecommerce is not as inexpensive as setting up a Web site. Your hosting service must have a secure server so people can feel confident in putting their credit card information over the Internet. (Aside: it's easier to steal someone's wallet and use their credit cards at a gas pump or a store than it is to steal their card number of the Internet, but people are still leery.) In general this costs extra money for your hosting service, and thus for you.
You must set up forms using scripts that will handle your order taking; these scripts are more difficult to create than simple HTML; even if you can get your hands on generic scripts, reworking them to your needs can be a nightmare if you don't know what you're doing.
Your business must also have a merchant number; a number you can get from a bank or credit union that will allow you to accept credit cards both online or in the real world. Some of these institutions are uncomfortable dealing with online transactions and set high premiums and costs as a result.
There are also banks and other companies that put together "store front" or "shopping cart" packages for you, handling much of the headaches. These vary in price, but plan on spending over a thousand dollars to set it up and $500-1000 and up per month in costs. If you plan on doing a lot of business, these options can be a good choice. However, they may not be your first choice.
As always, there are a few companies out there who will do some of this for free. iCat allows you 10 products to sell over the Internet for no fee, at least for now. More products than 10 and you have to get an account with them. Also, there is still a certain amount of work involved and you should be comfortable with HTML and general Internet knowledge if you don't have someone doing it for you.
In the final analysis, (as of today, tomorrow might bring another answer,) ecommerce can be very beneficial for the right sites. It allows your doors to stay open 24/7 so you never have to turn away a customer. It takes orders when you're sick as a dog, or on Christmas or your highest of High Holidays. But don't include it on your site if it's not needed. If the goal of your site is to be brochureware: a place for people to learn more about your company without pressure, don't worry about it. Certain sites will be commerce sites and certain sites will be advertising and marketing sites. I myself have no plans to add ecommerce to my site.
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Sg Web Designer 
