| If you have not decided whether the fanfare over
conducting business online is hype or reality and you are
holding off developing a Web site for your enterprise,
you could be missing out on a powerful business tool. The
Internet is proving to be a significant business leveler,
allowing small and medium-size companies to compete with
the giants on the same global playing field.
Whether you are a consumer or a business-to-business
resource, some of the most efficient marketing and
selling tools are available via the Internet, and the
potential of reaching a vast audience is open to you
through the World Wide Web. Consider these facts:
Forrester Research, Inc. estimates that 47.3 million
North American households have online access and 43.9
percent have browsed online. Of the 43.9 percent, 65
percent have made purchases.
Time-starved consumers are becoming more comfortable
using credit and bank cards to make purchases from
security-backed virtual retailers. They comparison shop
over the Internet for the best quality and cost, and
purchase a range of goods from groceries to high-tech
products.
As electronic-consumer trade continues to soar,
business-to-business e-commerce will be even stronger.
Forrester Research, Inc., projects that
business-to-business will become a $1.5 trillion market
by 2003.
Many larger corporations already have mandated the use
of online transactions to their downstream vendors.
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration
(SBA), the introduction of electronic commerce in federal
contracting is moving ahead, and small business owners
must adopt this new business strategy to remain fully
competitive.
Until recently, developing an e-commerce Web site
meant dealing with multiple companies: one to develop the
Web site, one for e-commerce integration, one to
"host" the site and yet another provider for
secure payment processing.
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