| Word
Version
Plan
for it
If
you are thinking of going down the route of e-commerce, this has
to be integrated into your overall business strategy.
Consideration
needs to be given to marketing, promotion and sales, the order
taking and payment mechanisms, order processing, the logistics
of delivery, after-sales service, information management and resource
planning in general.
While
the Internet may offer a tremendous business opportunity, it is
important - as with all new endeavours - to consider first things
first.
Adding
a credit card billing component to a web site is not something
to be undertaken lightly. Leaving aside the cost of the technology
there are other issues to consider first:
- Can
you immediately deliver the product a web visitor selects and
pays for? Once a visitor pays for a product or service on a
web site they have the legal right to expect delivery in a reasonable
time frame. They will expect immediate delivery even if your
site only promises 7 days, say.
- Do
you have the business infrastructure ready to deal with orders
arriving electronically (email) and act immediately?
- Do
you have the capacity to deliver if they place a large order?
- Have
you worked into your plans the cost of setting up a mail-order
side to your business?
- Are
you confident your site will get enough visitors to warrant
the effort of getting everything in place?
So,
having planned and implemented the necessary resources and procedures
within your business, the next step is to get a web site capable
of accepting orders.
Your
e-commerce web site
Your
web site must:
- Provide
sufficient details of your products on offer for people to make
a buying decision.
- Provide
an easy way for people to place orders.
| |
Order
taking without card processing
If you
aren't ready to have a web site with card processing facilities
you can still ask for orders to be placed.
Either:
Have a
web page laid out like an order form and tell visitors to
print it, fill it in, and send it with their cheque.
Or:
Have a
page with tick-boxes for selecting products. The visitor Submits
the page and the information arrives with you by email. You
phone them back and take card payment by phone (if you have
the facility).
Or,
simplest of all:
List products
on your site and tell the visitor to place orders by telephone.
When they phone you can jot down what they want and say it
will be delivered as soon as their cheque arrives. The nice
part about a phone method is your opportunity to give advice
or sell extra items. |
Large
companies turning over thousands of orders a day can justify the
expense of having a web site programmed especially to meet their
requirements.
Such
a system can link directly with their existing stock database
for product information and availability details. It can also
pass messages to packers and despatch staff and trigger re-ordering
from suppliers.
Naturally
it will have the technology in place to transfer the purchasers
money straight into the company's bank.
Such
a comprehensive system will cost more than buying a house - a
mansion even!
You
may one day grow your trade to that kind of capacity but it makes
sense to start with something simpler.
Online
shops
For
a start-up online shop with card processing this is the usual
way it's done:
- Employ
a web development company to set up the initial site and sort
out the technicalities for you unless you have very strong computer
skills already. They'll do it more professionally than any amateur
and make sure you don't accidentally leave the site open to
abuse.
- Purchase
and install on your web site an off-the-shelf shop program.
(This may be you or your web developer who does this.) Such
programs can be tailored to fit in with your usual corporate
appearance (logo, colour scheme etc.).
- Prepare
pictures of products and type in the details of size, weight,
delivery charges and so on. (You will be able to do this personally
on your PC you, once you get the hang of it.)
- Upload
the product information to the web site. (You'll be able to
do this, once you learn how.)
[Note:
Such programs are not linked to existing stock databases, so always
remember to remove any products that are no longer available.]
The
shop program will be pre-configured when it arrives to integrate
with any of the popular card payment broker web sites on Internet.
In
essence, having chosen products on your site, the visitor is then
transferred to the broker's web site and they take the payment
for you. They tally up all the payments and transfer the total
to your bank monthly. Each time an order is placed you receive
an email with the details of what to deliver to whom.
To
make the above work you first have to sign-up with a broker (such
as WorldPay, Netbanx, Cybercash etc.) who make financial checks
on you and your business before connecting their systems to your
web site.
Cost?
You
can start taking orders on the web for very little. All you need
is a simple web site with details of your products and a way for
people to place orders. An easisite is sufficient for this
purpose.
A
more sophisticated web site - with an online booking form, product
database etc. - will cost anything from a few hundred to several
thousands pounds.
Off-the-shelf
shop programs cost anything from a few hundred to several thousands
pounds, depending on which you choose and the capabilities you
want. Let your web development company advise you as to the most
suitable choice.
Signing
up with a card broker will cost a few hundred pounds or even nothing
at all. They all take a percentage of the transaction (e.g. 5%)
and those that charge less for sign-up take a higher percentage.
Again, discuss this with your web developers.
Charge-backs
As
with any mail order business you can expect a number of buyers
to return goods and ask for their money back. Your card broker
will give you a web page to visit in order to refund customers.
This
won't be a rare event. Some businesses get as much as 15% of online
sales coming back. (It's less than 1% for storefront sales.)
This
should tell you that you need a decent profit margin on each sale
or you could soon be losing money rather than making a profit.
If selling books you can re-sell them to somebody else, but what
about perishable goods?
Card
brokers have begun to offer insurance against fraudulent web visitors.
If a bogus purchase is made (i.e. someone with a stolen card number),
the broker suffers the loss, not you. They will charge a premium
for the insurance that depends on the rate of fraud in your market
sector.
|
