Sell Online
Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce whereby consumers
directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet without
an intermediary service. An online shop, eshop, e-store, Internet shop,
webshop, webstore, online store, or virtual store evokes the physical
analogy of buying products or services at a bricks-and-mortar retailer.
The process is called business-to-consumer (B2C) online shopping.
Like many online auction websites, many websites allow small businesses
to create and maintain online shops (ecommerce online shopping carts),
without the complexity that involved in purchasing and developing an
expensive stand alone ecommerce software solutions.
A successful webstore is not just a good looking website with dynamic
technical features, listed in many search engines. In addition to
disseminating information, it is about building relationships and making
money.
Businesses often attempt to adopt online shopping techniques without
understanding them and/or without a sound business model, producing
webstores that support the organizations' culture and brand name without
satisfying consumer's expectations. User-centered design is critical.
Understanding the customer's wants and needs and living up to promises
gives the customer a reason to come back and meeting their expectations
gives them a reason to stay. It is important that the website
communicates to the customer that the company cares about them.
Customer needs and expectations are not the same for all customers. Age,
gender, experience, culture are all important factors. For example,
Japanese cultural norms may lead users there to feel privacy is
especially critical on shopping sites and emotional involvement is
highly important on financial pensions sites. Users with more online
experience focus more on the variables that directly influence the task,
while novice users focus on understanding the information.
To increase online purchases, businesses must expend significant time
and money to define, design, develop, test, implement, and maintain the
webstore. It is easier to lose a customer then to gain one and even
"top-rated" sites will not succeed if the organization fails to practice
common etiquette such as returning e-mails in a timely fashion,
notifying customers of problems, being honest, and being good stewards
of the customers' data. |
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