Why e-commerce?
For retailers,
e-commerce is the new frontier, offering a potential gold mine of new customers. In 1998,
online marketers sold about $1.5 billion worth of consumers goods over the Internet.
Predictions are that the figure will more than double - to $3.7 billion - by the end of
1999.
E-commerce growth is likely to continue as more people use the Internet and become
comfortable with the online shopping concept. Selling on the Web is a relatively untapped
market. Sixty-five percent of current Internet users have used the Web to check out
products and services, and to compare prices. But only 14 percent have actually purchased
anything online. By the year 2000, it's predicted that 92 percent of Web users will do
product research online, while 45 percent will actually make purchases. Online retailers
expect the Internet to account for 9 percent of total retail sales by 2001, up from 1
percent today.
Business-to-business ecommerce, meanwhile, is expected to grow as more companies discover
the convenience and cost-savings of procurement online. As one of the leading the Website
creator, World Information Pages is the ideal place for you to start your
e-business venture. Internet is a network of networks. Local area networks or LAN's are
deployed nowadays in most offices to share information. If some of those LAN's in
different offices are networked via telephone lines using Internet Protocol, it becomes an
Internetwork. The world's largest Internet work is called Internet which consists of
20,000 networks, 7 million host computers, 50 million users in 180
countries and is growing at a phenomenal rate of 100% a year. With these statistics, we
have to realise that the Internet is a tidal wave that we must either learn to
ride or be prepared to be swept away.
The Internet has many advantages over conventional telephone networks as the Internet is
an interactive and multimedia network which transmits colour graphics, audio, video along
with information at a fraction of the cost compared to the telephone system. Moreover with
the World Wide Web or WWW service introduced in 1993, Internet can be used very
effectively for commercial purposes as well. Companies use television, radio, and print
media to disseminate information about their products and services. These media have
provided limited information to consumers and usually don't offer a convenient way to get
additional information. If a customer has a comment or question about an advertised
product, he or she has to take a direct initiative to communicate with a company. The
Internet has an incredible potential to solve this problem. The key to the Internet's
potential is its ability to interactively communicate information. Presently the Internet
has become a marketing dream. The Internet will create a significant advantage for
businesses that learn how to use it effectively. A business may not make millions in sales
off the Internet today, but the business that procrastinates learning how to market itself
on the Internet will have to catch up later. Electronic commerce is a term broadly used to
describe commercial translations that are carried out with the help of computers and
networks. The main advantages of electronic commerce are: Ability to reach global markets.
Fast transaction and quick settlement. Higher volume due to automation. Low cost per
transaction. Time saving and reduced personal involvement. Integration with commercial
applications. Hence we observe that these benefits are significant enough to offer your
business a competitive edge and hence investments in systems and efforts to introduce
electronic commerce will be rewarded. It is estimated that by the year 2000, 25% of the
world's business will be transacted electronically over computers networks. |
|
|
|
