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Where to Start There are so many web-store and payment processing sites around that it's difficult to know where to begin looking for the software and services you need to put your business on-line.
Stores There are many stores to choose from and the success of the store you choose is important. Look on the "Handy Links" page on the navigation bar to find helpful links to some of the best online stores. Payments For your website to be suitable for credit cards and eCash you may be charged outrageously. To look at some good deals go to the "Handy Links" page. Shipping Order To ship your products across to the customer, the lowest price but quickest service needs to be used to ensure customer satisfaction and a larger profit. There is a helpful link to a shipping business on our "Handy Links" pages. Customer Service Your website needs support so customers seeking help can get the assistance they need. There are handy links available on the page on the navigation bar. Marketing The marketing appropriate for any business will be used for web marketing but the web comes with new marketing tools which should be used to complement traditional marketing methods. Electronic commerce offers a bi-directional communication with customers that can be used as a marketing tool to create a new marketing channel. The cost of delivering information over the web is far less than traditional methods (mail or phone etc.). Customer service should be improved by giving detailed product information online and intelligent agent software can answer customer queries by standard email in seconds without supervision. Each customer can get the feeling that they are in control of the product by using customisation of the product to meet the needs of each customer, e.g. Dell computers can be ordered with various configurations and the cost is shown for each variable. Other examples are personal stationary and jewellery or gifts. This is lending to a one-to-one relationship or direct advertisement which can be much more effective than any mass advertisement. Orders can be taken over the web which can reduce the error rate and improve the speed of dispatch. Electronic commerce is reducing the cost of distribution as orders can be sent direct to the customer rather than to a wholesaler or retailer first and then passed on to the customer. Some products save packaging and other costs by being delivered across the web e.g. software, music and computer games. As the transactions use an electronic medium collection and analysis of sales and costs are made much easier than in most traditional sales methods.
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