|
<%=Header%> |
eCommerce Introduction
E-commerce, a definition: --"E-commerce is any electronic exchange of data between a business and its customers. This includes fax, telephone, voice-mail, EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), e-mail, extranet, Internet, to name just a few."
This is about as sweeping a generalization as it gets. However, this is just the introduction. The following series of articles will narrow the focus to what the majority of business' think of when they hear those enticing words "E-Commerce"(ec) and zero in on the Internet.
It's important to note that there is a chronological sequence of events that occur when taking your business on-line. The intent of this series is to provide you with a global understanding, rather than give you step-by-step instructions. E-commerce is one of the most "integrated" solutions you can possibly attempt in terms on taking your business to the Web. That is to say, a multitude of different applications and service providers will be working together in unison to enable your e-commerce site. The choices you make in terms of applications and services are in many cases proprietary; this means if you choose to have "X", you must have "Y" and cannot have "Z". This is not as ominous as it sounds. Simply keep this in mind as you review each article. After this series you should be able to choose a solution that fits your needs. It may be viable for you to attempt an in-house do-it-yourself approach, or you may determine to out-source the entire project. In either case, this series will help you to communicate your needs more effectively.
Most of the answers provided will be relatively general in nature. However, this series should provide you with enough information to set up an on-line store yourself, or allow you to communicate effectively with your IT department or web development company whom you outsource to.
Indeed, there is a lot of ground to cover. Nonetheless, taking your business on-line is no different from opening a physical storefront in another city.
Suffice it to say that, after you have gone through this series and have the information you need to begin choosing software, hosting providers, merchant account providers, etc. your business will be well on it's way to e-commerce success.
|
|
|
|
