This year, according to eMarketer, one billion people worldwide will have Internet access and nearly 250 million households will have broadband. Although, Asia accounts for 56 percent of world population, but only 10 percent has access to the Internet at present. With the rapid economic development of Asian countries this figure will increase dramatically in the coming years. This ubiquitous presence of the Internet is forcing companies to embrace the Internet as a marketing and sales channel aggressively. Many companies have adopted Internet based technologies to streamline their crucial business processes and benefiting enormously from it.
Import Export companies are no difference! Most export import companies are using the Internet to augment customer base, tap into new markets, research competitors, find new products and evaluate country opportunities. However, many of these same companies are still slow in implementing eBusiness features in their daily business activities and, as a result, fail to garner true value from the use of the Internet. Trading companies – those which are still not doing online business transactions – should follow the examples of their retail counterparts and adopt eCommerce strategies.
According to a recent study conducted by Forrester Research, retail sales are expected to rise 20 percent to US$ 211.4 billion – a two fold increase from only three years ago. Whether you are in exporting or importing business it does not make any difference, by using eCommerce and adding some of the basic eBusiness functions to your website you can also profit from this trend.
Electronic commerce is the process of selling products through the Internet. There are two distinct segments of eCommerce – Business to Business and Business to Consumers. Retailers are mostly involved in B2C and import export traders are often more in the B2B sector. That’s why you need to realize that the components of eCommerce you may need in your website will be based on your business specifics. In general, all eCommerce sites are a combination of some of the following business functionalities:
• An eCatalog so that buyers can browse through the products you have to offer
• Product specification that gives detailed technical and delivery information
• A feature that allows sending request for quote online (RFQ)
• A product order placing system – normally a shopping cart
• Ability to view order status
• Sending a notification if a new product added to the catalogue which was requested by a prospective buyer
• At least one payment method. For small orders you should have a merchant account.
• Purchase order sending ability. Buyers should be able to send PO for the products readily available or the contracts already negotiated with you.
• Billing system should generate invoices automatically
Once you implemented these features there is virtually no geographic restriction on where you can sell your products. If you are an export company you may consider translating your eCommerce site to the language of your targeted market. This gives you an extra ability to leverage your sales endeavour.
Benefits of eCommerce
Increase revenue: By implementing eCommerce you are opening a new sales channel. Study shows, a well prepared eCommerce strategy can increase sales from mere 10 percent to several times within the first six month of implementation. There is a possibility that order size per customer will also increase thanks to some eCommerce functionalities like advanced eCatalog, Notification service, order status viewing system and ability to offer related products.
Expand client base: Depending on the exposure of your site, you can acquire customers from every corner of the world. You are no longer confined to any geographic area.
Reach niche market segments: You can market your eCommerce site by pin pointing a specific market segment with the help of the Internet.
Lower operating costs: Your eCommerce site will eliminate or reduce workloads of sales and support force. Marketing on the Internet is significantly cheaper than in offline world. You will also benefit from lower telecommunication costs, losses incurred from document errors, inventory and sales management costs. This will have direct impact on your company bottom line.
Better customer service: The ability to provide decisive information, real time interaction with customers and customer relationship management functionalities allow you to serve your customers better and help increase customer retention.
Enhance your company image: A well-managed, robust and user-friendly eCommerce site enhances positive image of a company.
Are you ready for eCommerce?
Before you implement an eCommerce plan, you need to figure out as an exporter or importer how viable it is for you right now? Are you going to receive the benefits mentioned above? Will the customers from different geographical location benefit from your new service channel? How critical is a well-described product specification for your customers?
Any company no matter how small or big it is from an eCommerce site no doubt it will benefit immensely from an eCommerce site. But the question is, are you ready to commit enough time and money to make your new venture successful?
Developing your eCommerce site
Depending on the type of eCommerce site you are planning to build it might take somewhere from three months to over a year.
There are several ways of starting an eCommerce site.
Building in house: You should consider developing your eCommerce site in house only if you have significant experience in this field. In order to build a successful eCommerce site you will need a team of experts in programming, designing, copy writing, and, most importantly, a project manager with the knowledge of your business model, enough technical proficiency and experience so that the system gets developed on time with expected business functionalities.
Outsourcing: There is no doubt that outsourcing is more cost effective and less time consuming for most of the companies. The only thing is you have to choose the organization which will build your site carefully and professionally.
Using web stores: If you are constrained by time or would like to take advantage of eCommerce immediately you can also get eCommerce site from online service providers. These web stores have all the needed functionalities for a true eCommerce site. Some of them are also capable of providing supply chain management and other key business automation abilities. Check out sites like Rusbiz.com.
While implementing eCommerce strategy you need to remember that eCommerce just enhances and complements your present business model but the fundamentals of your business remain the same. However, eCommerce with it’s innate flexible nature may open new business horizons for you with all the risk and reward implications.
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There’s something about ecommerce shopping cart solution…
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It is something that everybody ought to know, if they want to succeed on their online internet business. In this modern world, where ecommerce had already become a hot portal for making good money with less effort, many internet marketing services company clash to get the sales of people. This is also happening in choosing an ecommerce shopping cart solution. That’s why you have to be very careful in choosing it.
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So, what is it we need to know about web shopping cart that is very crucial for every online business? It is definitely the “how-to” of choosing the best. How can we say that we’ve got the best ecommerce hosting company for our shopping cart? What are the criteria that we need to need to consider? Here are some important questions we need to ask:
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How quickly can you use your ecommerce cart?
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The accessibility of your shopping cart for the moment you’ve order it is important. Shopping carts must be quickly available and provided by the shopping cart web hosting company you have deal with. More importantly, it must be quickly to be use. Being accessible and being able to use is different. What I mean in being able to use, is that the shopping cart software should be easy to use and understand by the merchant ecommerce in a quick span of time.
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Is the autoresponder good?!
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One important factor in choosing the right web shopping cart is the autoresponder. The ability of the shopping cart software to automate the sending of newsletter or emails, and managing your mailing list well is very important in an online business. It is a good internet marketing strategy to send emails regularly on your mailing list and establish a connection between you and them. In this case they your customer will feel they are important and they will love you. There are a lot of benefits when people say good thing about a business.
Can your shopping cart offer affiliate opportunity to others?
Your shopping cart must have a service of having an affiliate. It must have an affiliate module. An affiliate module is a very effective way of internet marketing online advertising your products. It can handle the signup process, provide you with the statistics streamline communication paths and help you to keep track of payments to be made to all your affiliates. Having an affiliate network is very beneficial to you because people will help you broadcast your product in the internet world.
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How fixed is the security? Is there a Technical Support?
Practicality no script is completely secure, but a good script can at least deter numbers of hackers who would try to hack into yours. Choose a software cart that is proven to be secured by recent user, and offer a great variety of passwords for your online business. In addition, technical support is also important, not only for the customers but also for your ecommerce merchant account. You’ll never know whether something might go wrong. Check the kind of customer services they provide. You can test this by sending an e-mail to the ecommerce hosting site with a few queries. Scrutinize the quality of their reply by checking if they have responded you satisfactorily.
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Can it be customized and can be upgraded?
Your ecommerce software cart must allow you to customize it, change the design of it or anything that will make you feel comfortable with it. Check if the specific shopping cart can be customized to match shopping cart website or not and if the integration of different functions of the shopping cart to your site is possible. Also, your shopping cart must be able to upgrade. In this internet era, there’s a lot of online business opportunity around and it is better if you are always on the “trend” of breakthrough happenings, in order to get ahead of your competition. So, you must ask, Is it possible to add additional features in your web hosting shopping cart that are not in standard package?
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Does the payment method provide you with choices?
And last but not the least, you must ask if the payment gateway of your hosting merchant account is working well. Easy shopping carts must provide merchants as well as customers many choices in paying what they purchase. They can by credit cards, by paypal and many more. The availability of the payment access is a big advantage of an online internet business.
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The competition is tough indeed. And if you do not have the right internet marketing tool and strategy, you’ll probably will not be able to cope up in the ecommerce world. Having an online shopping cart solution can pave way to your success, that’s why you need to choose the best that suits you. Because on the long run, it is not just your ecommerce shopping cart solution that will matter, it is the way that you will handle it.
The potential for access to customers and high profitability are what drives ecommerce on the web. But with ecommerce comes a special set of needs and responsibilities. These can be managed quite effectively by utilizing the right Drupal ecommerce tools as you develop your Drupal design. In most cases, getting Drupal ecommerce right leans seeking the help of experts—Drupal experts.
Better Drupal Design With The Experts
One of the things that has a large bearing on the success of any ecommerce site—whether based in Drupal design or not—is the clarity and functionality of the website. In this aspect the success of any given ecommerce website relies heavily on the design of the website itself. A profitable business website needs to be
• Attractive and inviting, visually speaking
• Unique and cutting edge, offering the visitor something much better than average
• Utterly clear and simple in use, while still fulfilling the visitor’s needs for attractiveness, information, and functionality
• Friendly to search engines so that it also can be ranked and found
• Secure
Successful ecommerce sites give all the elements the visitor needs them to in order to convert hits to sales. But achieving all of these things and finding a way to package them nicely—and still maintain that high level of function that visitors need to complete the sale is an awful tall order. It takes a very talented and knowledgeable Drupal developer to cohesively design a profitable Drupal ecommerce site.
Your Drupal Designer—Your Key To Profitable Drupal Ecommerce
The core Drupal installation is not designed to fulfill the needs of Drupal ecommerce sites. For that, added functionality must be used. This means selecting and applying the right Drupal modules and customizing them to suit your site’s needs.
If you look at the available modules that can be used with the core Drupal application, you’ll see that there are more than 3300 modules available for use and website development. How, then, can you know what to choose and which applications are best suited for your particular flavor of ecommerce?
The only real way to be sure is to work with an expert Drupal designer who is familiar with the system, and capable of customizing the system by modifying the source application and its modules. And of course, it is imperative that that professional be able to do so without compromising the safety and security of your crucial information, or that of the visitors who are relying on you to protect them.
Drupal ecommerce adds a whole new dimension to Drupal design. As important as the safety, security, functionality and performance of Drupal ecommerce sites are, it is imperative to make sure that you work with Drupal experts who can deliver the product that will be all that you need it to be and more. Choosing Drupal designers carefully takes on a whole new level of importance when you enter into the realm of Drupal ecommerce. Do be sure that the designers and experts you choose have the knowledge, experience, and credentials behind them to deliver.
Author bio:-This article was written by Steve Morris. Mr. Morris runs New Media, a drupal web design Company located in downtown Denver, Colorado (http://www.NewMediaDenver.com). Newmediadenver offers Web design denver, drupal web development , Web development, Internet marketing.