E-COMMERCE

The new in word on the Internet is "e-commerce" the e standing for electronic.
If you already have your own Website then you have already started delving into the world of electronic trading.

With your own Website you are setting out your wares for the world to come and view as they will.  By providing email addresses, telephone numbers etc. you are inviting the world to make contact and, hopefully, buy from you.

This then is the first stage.  Customers visit your site either because they have found you on one of the many search engines or they have seen your other forms of advertising which, of course, detail your web site address.  You can encourage contact by putting an electronic order form on your site.
Great, you have got the order but how do you get paid?  If you are dealing with known customers, then this is not really a problem as you are probably already supplying goods and services on account.  Initially, you could restrict the electronic form for existing account customers only with unknown customers posting the order with their cheque.  This might be all you need.

However, companies are now waking up to the fact that the days of prolific Internet credit card fraud, if in fact they ever existed outside of the popular press, are now long gone.
In point of fact, with the current systems that the banks have put in place, it is probably now safer to give credit card details to a secure site than to give those same details over the phone.  In many cases the company being paid by credit card does not get to see the number as it is handled by one of the main banks who process the card carrying out all their security checks prior to allowing the trader to proceed.

If you are serious about bringing your business into the 21st Century, then our advice is to take things stage by stage

Stage1

Buy your Domain Name - preferably with fully configurable POP3 Mail Boxes Sort out your email addresses and a single page website Start using the emails and find out what your staff think of your website. Tell your customers about your website and ask their opinion.  What would they like to see on your site?

Stage 2

Expand your site, add some more pages taking in to account what your customers want. Always view your site as if you were one of your customers. What would they want to see? Remember the object of the exercise is to generate more business and profit not just to have a pretty site.

Stage 3

Evaluate the potential to increase business and allocate funds as appropriate. Talk to IT'S THE BIS about secure sites and shop software.