Jerome Locson

Over the years, e-commerce gained tremendous recognition and still going across the globe even to the remotest country ever. Dealing business through e-commerce entails fundamentals to succeed in this business approach. Of course, when speaking of e-commerce, this means customers are purchasing products or services online through a portal or website, so called e-shops.

Establishing a successful online gateway for your targeted customer needs some internet elements established for the market. This may not only be limited to the physical server where the files are stored but may be detailed as far as visibility, accessibility and security concerns.

Commonly, sites are created and needed to be noticed by customers. To do this marketing, we can apply these approaches:

• Search Engine Placement and SEO – Search engine is a standard way to find any Internet site and of which includes online shopping sites. A large number of online shoppers utilizes online search engines (e.g. Google, Yahoo!, MSN, etc.) to find their products, services and any desired information about a thing.
• Conventional Advertising – this may include advertising in TV, newspapers, etc. Using this type of advertising may not seem soothing with the Internet address as its statement. Apparently, still online business recommends this traditional way.
• Exchange Links – Outbound links from other relevant site referrals can boost you search engine rankings and exposure. Links are included on a variety of other sites with a variety of deals being done.

It is also important to consider the website usability; this should conform to the web standards which will allow customers browse the site with ease. Order processing should also be processed online, and is usually linked with a back-office system. Payments for orders can be done in different modes – cash, check, or credit cards. Considering payment processing, security is now a primary concern since online payments are offered. This ensures customers that the transaction online will be secured and confidential. This will help them increase trust and confidence in doing business with you.

The necessity of these elements is of high importance but marketing can be less of a priority if you already have established offline valued-customers. They can later do the referral marketing and you can do more online marketing later on.

The approach to e-business is another avenue for firms to apply to increase the range of customer’s reach and therefore revenues. In a business’s perspective (B2B), e-commerce can create value by improving efficiency of delivering services. Many competitive business sectors use e-commerce to reach customer and enhance business transactions. For customer’s (B2C), this approach can provide them with extreme convenience, speed and personalization. And, for employee’s (B2E), e-commerce gives firms the opportunity to reduce operational costs for their employees