"Web Marketing for Women in Business -
E-Commerce Programs

The number of options for e-commerce today are expanding rapidly. Corporations like IBM and Microsoft are facing increasing competition from small e-commerce-focused corporations like iCat and Viaweb. Price is often a factor in the race for e-commerce dollars, and the more affordable e-commerce solutions seem to be gaining ground. Since most of the giant corporations have already developed their on-line solutions, it will be the medium to small businesses that will increasingly demand more flexible and more affordable electronic commerce programs.

Complete Automation from E-commerce

Reducing the bottom line is the driving force behind e-commerce. On-line media costs less than traditional printing and mailing of catalogs and reaches more people. Look at some of the advantages:

		Produce a full color on-line catalog with the same images as your print media catalog at a fraction of the price.
		Offer your products to anyone in the world with a credit card and your customer base has no limits.
		Take orders 24 hours a day without paying the 1-800 number costs or the employee costs for data entry.
		Securely capture and authorize credit card orders in real time, eliminating the need for a person to enter the data and obtain authorizations. The funds are automatically deposited in your bank account.
		Easily use the data obtained from an on-line order to build a targeted database of potential repeat customers.
		Include sound and video clips in your catalog to enhance the shopping experience.

Hot On-line Business Now

The numbers of on-line shoppers have doubled from last year. The word got out that on-line shopping was convenient and cost-effective. Any business that retails to consumers needs to start building their on-line store now so that it is fully operational by the peak shopping months this year.

What do people really buy on the web? The most popular shopping sites sell electronic items and software. These sales have historically been the largest on the net. Traditional retailers have gained a lot of ground by using the web to compliment their retail efforts.  For example, companies like LLBean, Lands’ End, Barnes and Noble, and a number of music stores have sales that are exploding due to e-commerce.

Almost anything can be sold on the web now, allowing for products to be marketed in a whole new way. Imagine buying a car over the Internet.  Auto-By-Tel (www.autobytel.com) , the largest on-line marketplace for car selling and buying, has over 7 million customers in the United States.  And their business is growing rapidly.  Homes can be sold at HomesThatClick.com.  The Internet is built with new ideas everyday – what’s yours?