Four Essential Elements For Internet Commerce
Among the clearest advantages of an electronic channel, represented by e-commerce web sites, is the ability for the company to get in touch with their end-customers without an intermediary.
This implies the ability to recognize and treat each customer individually in a personalized way (mass customization). Many bank websites ask to their customers to specify their needs or interests; as an example, a customer may very well be interested in financing services, others in asset management services and so forth. The result is a customer "profile", which produces a corresponding profile for the commercial offer: consequently the web site reconfigures itself on the basis of the interests declared by the customer and shows only offers that will be presumed to be compatible with his needs.
Direct contact with the market also allows companies to provide better technical details about the products or services. This relieves sellers from having to reply to to customer's questions and permits the product's features and functionalities to be properly presented to customers, something that was not absolutely assured when product illustration is performed through intermediaries, due to wholesalers and shop assistants.
Through e-commerce, web pages marketing messages are presented correctly, the strengths of the products are clearly highlighted to customers and different features in comparison to competing products can be adequately emphasized.
An important benefit from direct contact with the customer is the fact that the company can receive real-time feedback from the market.
By studying online purchases made by customers, the web page pages most frequently accessed by users or email messages sent by customers, the company will immediately realize how the market has seen a brand new product. They can react with a brand new advertise campaign. The collection of this information may be used to quickly correct any errors in marketing. Instead of using the old information channels, companies should anticipate to have more possibilities to catch weak but worrying signals.
Through e-commerce Websites trading operations may also be performed more quickly and effectively.
A price change, if approved, may be seen by all at once, avoiding sales clerks or sellers mistakes. A commercial campaign, published on a web page, becomes immediately operational for the entire market, without spending time for you to align the sales forces to the new directives.
In the example of digital products, the electronic channel ensures the immediate delivery of goods without the need to produce a physical copy of the product sent to the customer. Even in the case of physical products sellers can achieve considerable benefits if you take orders using the web. Requests on the net arrive in real time for you to sales management, which alleviates the necessity for one or even more central warehouses, saving in the storage of goods in periphery warehouses.
An extreme effect of electronic commerce may be represented through the reorganization of the commercial sector, with the disappearance of some figures like commercial intermediaries as well as the restructuring of the supply chain upstream from the manufacturing company.
A computer company that receives orders from customers only by an e-commerce website could quickly get replenishment orders of computer components to its suppliers and taking delivery of what is only required to meet its commitments to customers. This would generate an extremely efficient supply chain by reducing inventory and work-in-process.
A digital commercial network allows for greater flexibility with respect to a physical network. A crowded shop can not attract other customers, which will keep away from it.
The Web sites, if properly dimensioned, can handle spikes of visitors without visible degradation of response times (sites such as Microsoft or Yahoo handle several million hits a day).
The e-shops may also stay open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, answering questions from all around the world without worry or timetables or holidays. Flexibility is also with regards to ability to respond to marketplace. Using information gathered in real time through its web sites, the company can modify its proposals, promoting products that have difficulties, making more attractive deals if users indicate weakness in respect to competition. Compared to a conventional commercial network through which the company proposes more products than the market's demand, for e-commerce it is the opposite. The market "pulls" and the company follows, trying to stimulate demand, but only from the inclinations observed within the market.
The e-commerce also brings new business opportunities
The ability to sell directly online to a wide audience of customers could very well generate new areas of business. It's, as an example, the situation of financial information within the evolution of financial markets (stock exchanges, foreign exchange, etc.). There are actually several Internet providers who joined this business that sell quotes, financial news in real time, or offer opportunities to work online through the stock exchange. In general it's possible to produce many information selling services, which customers are disposed to pay. Currently you may subscribe to a market research firm so that you can receive studies and research reports from their Websites. One area where new services are developing rapidly is tourism. Inside this area, you can find numerous Information Providers that allow you to get details about tourist destinations and make reservations at hotels. For example, just click the up coming website subsector for skiing holidays is developing a very strong competition online between French regions, Swiss cantons and Italian valleys, with very interesting opportunities from tourist point of view.
