|
Home / Business / E-Commerce
The Internet: Have You Cashed In Yet?
By:Matthew C. Keegan
The recently ended Christmas/Holiday 2005 sales season is returning some good numbers for retailers, well above figures that some thought would have been unattainable in light of the many hurricanes that wreaked disaster on parts of the U.S. this past year. With consumer sentiment good, early figures suggest that sales climbed at least 4% over last year’s figures with a number twice that amount also being mentioned. Still, the greatest increases have been in an area that has seen double digit growth for years: the internet. With sales climbing 30% over last year’s torrid rates, online shopping is here to stay…and growing bigger every year. Have you started your online site yet? If not, why not?
Brick and mortar retailers are discovering that in order to remain competitive, they must have an online presence too. No longer does your customer base have to be restricted to a one or two county area where you live. The internet provides a great way to expand that base to include your entire state, your country, or the world! For example, Wal-Mart not only sells well at the store level, but their online sales do very well too. If Wal-Mart can do it, you can too.
Isn’t an online presence expensive? No, thanks to web sites that are easy to upload and manage. Depending on the company you choose, the web hosting portion of managing a site is negligible. Hosting fees and annual domain registration should cost you less than $125. per year. The better hosts also have extra “somethings” to whet your appetite: like easy to download open source storefronts that can help you set up an online presence.
Speaking of storefronts, OS Commerce software continues to help make an online presence possible for many retailers. With easy to use [and free!] software, everything you sell in your store can be sold online or at least those specialty items with high mark ups, right? With OS Commerce, you can use your existing bankcard relationship to bring in the cash or you can use Paypal, whichever works best for you.
Yes, Holiday 2005 is one for the record books. If you missed out, do not despair…you can get your site ready in time for the Valentine’s Day crunch and begin reaping tremendous sales increases immediately!
Digg
del.icio.us
Blink
Stumble
Spurl
Reddit
Netscape
Furl
Article keywords: e-commerce, online shopping, Wal-Mart, Amazon, web design, web hosting, online retail, shopping, win
Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com
Copyright 2006 -- Matthew Keegan is The Article Writer who writes on a variety of topics including: advocacy, automobiles, aviation, business, Christian themes, family, news, product reviews, travel, writing, and more. Please visit Matt's blog for absolutely stunning and humorous writings from the master himself!
|
|
| Top E-Commerce Articles |
- 1). The e-Commerce Revolution By : Michael Hehn
The Growth of E-Commerce
It's amazing all the changes in the way people do business in the short time since the beginning of the e-commerce revolution. The e-commerce revolution was predicted in the early stages of the internet. Those who predicted the sweeping business changes brought about by the world wide web knew what they were talking about.
In the early days of the e-commerce revolution customers were reluctant to give their credit card information to somebody on the internet.
|
|
|
- 3). Chain Emails, Hate’em! By : Ricardo d Argence
E-mail is one of the most used Internet tools, and it’s a real shame to fill it with trash that only wastes people’s time. This is one of the main reasons why some companies limit internet access to employees, because instead of raising productivity, web hosting servers get loaded with trash.
|
|
|
- 5). Protect Your Auction Business By : V. Raposo
One thing about eBay that a lot of people don't know is that you can have multiple user id's. Which means you can have more than 1 eBay account.
Here is why I feel it's important to have more than one user id. When you're selling on eBay with a certain id, you can focus it to a specific niche. You can keep it to the same products you use on your website.
|
- 6). More heads are better that one By : Dijana Dimitrovska
No matter how you are looking at things, if another person looks - he will see them differently. So, to be sure you are doing the right things on the right way, you should not only think systematically yourself, but also provide channels to get feedback and other opinions.
"The manager of one car-service company phoned all his daily customers after the working time to make sure they were satisfied with the service and to ask them if they could have done something better.
|
- 7). Merchant Accounts 101 By : Dwayne Garrett
For all of the new webmasters out there that have recently established a business and are looking to accept credit card payments online, here’s a little Merchant Accounts 101 course for you! In understanding how merchant accounts work, you will be better able to operate your online business smoothly and effectively.
|
- 8). Credit Card Processors By : R.S. Chawla
As per 2005 statistics released, on line trade grew more by more than 22% over previous year. To accept credit cards for online trade, you need a merchant account. Getting a merchant account is not easy for all. It does involve a lot of money. To solve this issue, another fast emerging choice is use of third-party factoring services, also known as credit card processors.
|
- 9). Selling on ebay? Find a reliable wholesaler. For free. By : Mike @ TheTraderHub.com
If you want to make money selling on ebay, you should look at finding yourself a wholesaler in the field you are selling in. A wholesaler is the 'bridge' between the manufacturer and the retailer. Quite often the manufacturer doesn't want to deal with individual retailers because of they may only sell hundreds of their product, whereas the wholesaler can sell thousands.
|
- 10). The Pros and Cons of Online Commerce By : Sezer Bozkurt
As the Internet comes of age more and more people and buying goods online. This has becoming a growing trend that looks like it will continue to grow. But what are the pros and cons of buying goods online?
There are several things to consider. Let’s start with the pros. As competition for online business keeps growing exponentially the prices of goods are being driven down.
|
| New E-Commerce Articles |
- 1). What to Look for in a Watch Wholesaler By : Dustin Cannon
When searching for a watch wholesaler, there are many details that you should look into. If you take the appropriate steps during this process you will end up doing business with a highly professional company that is willing to work with you to meet all of your needs.
|
- 2). Ordering Wholesale Watches By : Dustin Cannon
After you are set up with a watch wholesaler your work is not done. In fact, it is only just beginning. It is great that you have found a wholesaler who you can trust, but the fact of the matter is that you are just at the beginning of the process at this point.
|
|
|
- 4). Selling Watches On Ebay By : Dustin Cannon
Anybody has the ability to make money online with eBay. The great thing about eBay is that you can sell any item you wish (within reason) without having to spend much.
|
- 5). Wholesale Watches: Buy Online By : Dustin Cannon
If you are looking to buy wholesale watches there are many options available to you. But just like any other item, the internet is a great place to start your search.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- 9). Finding Products To Sell Online By : Obinna Heche
Billions of dollars worth of products are sold on eBay and other online merchants every year. Where are people getting all these items to sell? Surely, they have emptied their closets and garages by now. Even if they have, finding stuff to sell online is still relatively easy.
|
- 10). Ebay Store vs. Ecommerce Website By : Michelle Waters
Many times a new product seller is torn between creating an eBay store and setting up a web store on your own domain. This article will help you decide if an eBay store is the right choice for your business.
|
|
|
