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E-Commerce Web site For Your Existing Business? 

Is an e-commerce web site right for your “bricks and mortar” business? 

An e-commerce web site may or may not be right for your existing "bricks and mortar" business. In order to anticipate whether existing and potential customers would accept a proposed e-commerce web site for your business, you may need to poll them to gain a better understanding of their access and use of the Internet.  Before creating an e-commerce web site, you may ask your customers a few basic questions: 

• Can they access and use a computer?
• Are they connected to the Internet?
• Have they visited a web site to get information on services or products in the past?
• Have they ever purchased a product from e-commerce web site?

If the answer to all of these questions is a resounding “no” you may want to reconsider whether an e-commerce web site would be a nice adjunct to your existing business.  However, there are also other things to consider in making this decision, including whether your business has the opportunity to expand to a larger audience and possibly even an international community.  You should do some basic research of your customers yourself or have your sales representatives do so, or even hire a research organization to conduct a study on the feasibility of expanding your existing operations on the Internet.  You should then conduct a study every three to six months to be aware of any changes in the feasibility of expanding your business with an e-commerce web site. 

E-commerce websites for business to business transactions:

An e-commerce web site may be a wonderful addition to your business operation even if you are involved in business-to-business transactions.  However, you may need to find out whether your customers have access to the Internet at home or at work.  With the Internet being relatively new, many companies are relatively cautious about allowing employees access to the Internet at work.  Companies are beginning to recognize how to integrate business use with employee responsibility on an increasing basis. With each successive year, a higher number of companies are providing their employees with access to the Internet. 

Other impediments to your e-commerce web site success will be your customer’s comfort levels buying or ordering online.  If they are uncomfortable with the online buying process, it may take a while longer for their comfort level to increase in order for you to receive a higher amount of your revenue from an e-commerce web site.  Also, because you may have trained customers to purchase over existing channels over a period of many years, you may need to retrain your customers to begin to use your online services. 

E-commerce web sites in the future: 

Because e-commerce web sites are still new, many people and businesses still feel uncomfortable buying online, but this will probably continue to change in the future.  In creating an online presence today, you may begin to familiarize your customers with your online services anyway, including online shopping and purchasing options. Even if they are not purchasing online at the present time, you should continue to monitor them to see whether there is a shift in their behavior as time goes on.  It is always wise to stay right on top of your customers when providing services, looking for changes in behavior.  If you don't provide an e-commerce web site, or online services, eventually your competitors probably will. 

Some information from The E-Commerce Question-and-Answer Book by Anita Rosen 

Additional information and web page by Paul Susic M.A. Licensed Psychologist Ph.D. Candidate CEO/President Susic Psychological Consulting P.C.