The ease with which a customer is able to use an e-commerce site is an important part of its success. It's also an important part of your online brand image.The design of the shop front should make shopping intuitive, with the customer knowing at all times what stage of the buying process they are at.
Always give the end user the ability to search your site to locate the product.
Shopping cart
This is the software that facilitates easy selection and payment for products purchased by a customer from an e-commerce website. Once the goods have been selected, the customer should find the checkout clearly signposted, so that they can proceed to pay for the goods.
The system should process the order speedily and provide you with a summary, including any packing and shipping requirements. It should also generate a printable receipt and allow you to send a confirmation email to the customer.
Payment software
Most customers will wish to pay for their purchases with credit or debit cards. There are three options for accepting such payments - you can:
- use a payment processing company
- set up an online shop within a virtual shopping mall
Trading partner relationships
As well as offering new ways of doing business with customers, e-commerce also provides new ways of building closer links and improving business relationships with key trading partners.These internet-based technologies and processes also allow you to improve your own business efficiency. Some of the key technologies are listed below.
Intranets
These are private internal company networks that use the same browser-based technology and network protocols as the internet. Intranets:
* are protected from unauthorised use by a firewall
* improve efficiency by enabling employees to search the business' knowledge and information store from their own desktop, regardless of location
Extranets
This is a shared intranet that allows users to share key trading data such as inventory levels and sales trends. Extranets can:
* be made available to selected external partners, such as vendors, contractors, suppliers and key customers
* be used for exchanging data and applications, and sharing specific business information
* improve supply chain management
See our guide on the benefits of intranets and extranets.
Supply chain management
The concept of supply chain management revolves around having the right product in the right place, at the right time, and in the right condition.
The key aspects of supply chain management include the ability of businesses to:
* exchange information on stock levels
* fulfil orders more quickly
* minimise excess inventory
* improve customer service
* use a networking infrastructure to ensure good response times and speed
E-marketplaces
There are many online exchanges that enable suppliers, buyers and intermediaries to come together and offer products or services to each other, according to set criteria. Buyers and sellers work interactively with bids and offers. When a deal is made, it is a match between the buyer and seller on variables such as price, volume and delivery costs.
Reverse auctions are buyer-controlled events and are used to attract bids, with the lowest bid winning. Buyers post details of the goods they want to buy and suppliers compete to provide them.
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