Starting An E-Commerce
Site

July 1999

Stationmaster's Note: This story was first posted two years ago. But much of the information still has value. One update from this article and the report which followed, Starting An E-Commerce Site, is that CStation now recommends all businesses should have some kind of web presence. During the last two years the Web has gone mainstream and people expect you to have a site every bit as much as a phone number in the phone book. The number of companies now offering free web service to businesses has almost vanished since the great dot bomb of 2000.

Communication technology, thanks to recent developments with the Internet, is sweeping over us like a mile high tidal wave. In just the last five years computers and Internet connections have gone from something desired mostly by eggheads to must have items for just about everybody.

What this means for small businesses in Northern Indiana for the near future is uncertain. There can be little doubt that e-commerce, that phantom phrase which describes people buying merchandise by computers on the World Wide Web, has become another visible competitor for local merchants. E-commerce is growing at rates outpacing the most optimistic predictions of industry experts. With Christmas just around the corner, e-commerce will grab an even larger chunk of market share.

But does this mean local business should rush to start their own e-commerce sites? Probably not. And if they do, they'd better develop and understanding of the challenges doing business over the Net requires.

Communication technology is a fast flowing river moving through a windy thunderstorm. Web time is much faster than standard business time. In the months it would take a normal business to plan, raise capital, and build a place of business, web commerce will have advanced 25 years. Four years ago Amazon.Com was a new  company hoping to sell books over the Web. Today Amazon has a greater corporate worth than Sears & Roebuck. Yet Amazon doesn't own one store.

At last count there were something like 800 million web sites and no real way to find them. The best Web search engines only list between 17 and 25 percent of all web sites. So is there a place for local small business on the World Wide Web today? I think so. As long as these businesses don't try to take on the world.

Developing an e-commerce site is becoming less expensive and easier to do. Right now companies are falling all over themselves to help merchants who want to sell something get on the Net. Unless local businesses already have experience with Web commerce, however, creating a simpler web presence probably holds more promise for success. (In the second article in this series we'll look at some of the opportunities available to businesses who want to get involved in e-commerce.) 

Local businesses should focus on reaching local people. Forget about trying to get new business from England, focus instead on Elkhart County. And, to start with at least, even forget about trying to get large amounts of new business. Worry about providing better service for your core customers first.

You don't need to spend an arm and a leg to develop a fancy web site with flashing artwork. What you need is a web site that looks good, has a simple design, is easy to use for your customers, and makes them feel at home. You should at least have an email address that you check several times a day. These emails should be answered within a few hours if not sooner.

Make sure you get a domain name. We have  www.cstation.org because www.cstation.com has already been reserved for another company.

How are you going to build such a site? There are three alternatives, one do it yourself, use one of the template systems some sites offer for free,or outsource to a firm which designs web sites. If your the adventurous type, most web browsers like Microsoft's Internet Explorer or Netscape's Navigator, have simple web program's built into their applications. For a little more money, between $100 and $200, you can purchase FrontPage 98 or its recent upgrade FrontPage 2000, which can create professional looking web pages fairly easily. (In fact we use FrontPage here at CStation.)

Of course, you'll need to find some Internet Service to host your web site. Expenses for web site hosting range from for free, at sites like www.geocities.com, to about $50 a month or more. Local Internet Service Providers like www.maplenet.com, in Goshen, and Brightnet, www.bning.net, in New Paris, also rent web site space. MapleNet's parent company, Maple Tronics, will soon be offering full service business web development. We recommend find somebody local even if you must pay because you'll need the close working relationship.

Some web sites, like www.inc.com,  and www.bigstep.com, will help you put a web site on line for free with templates that do most of the work. 

If all this sounds like more than you want to deal with, contract to have your site developed. You can find some local web developers on CStation's Local Web Directory. (Let me add that Blackcoat Communications, cstation@cstation.org, CStation's parent company would charge about $100 to develop a simple web site listed above.)

This kind of site is a baby step for you in the world of on line commerce. About a year ago it might have been good enough. But baby's need to grow up fast on the Web. Today's commercial web sites are offering much more. Still, its better to start small with e-commerce and build. In a real way, you will be starting a whole new business. And don't think you can just put a web site on the Net and be done with it. Better to not be on the web at all. 

The site needs to be actively promoted. Print up business cards with your site web address and give them out to all your customers. Even the ones who say they don't have computers or an internet connection. Within the next three years they will. While computers may never be in every home, within the next five years Internet connections will be linked to telephones, cell phones, TVs, gas pumps, and just about everything else.

Print up posters of your internet address and place them on windows or other very visible places of your business. Whatever other kind of advertising you do, on stationery or anything else, get that domain name address promoted. And don't forget to let CStation know about your new web site so we can add it to our Local Web Directory.

Structure anything you do around providing better customer service. Customer service is the small businesses' secret weapon against the e-commerce big boys. You also have another secret weapon, people don't like to use the credit cards over the Internet. This means they'd probably be willing to pay more to buy locally.

Does every local business need a web site. Of course not. But I believe that those who use new technology to provide better customer service and to connect more personally with their customer base face a better future than those that don't.

For those interested in more information we've included some links to stories you might find useful. Other information can be found at CStation's Web Creation Station.

Web Advice From Experts
from E-Commerce Times

Setting Up Shop On The Net: How Much Does It Cost? 
from E-Commerce Times

Planning The Perfect Online Store
from E-Commerce Times

Suggestions For A Successful Online Presence  
from IBM's Electronic Commerce Site

Consumers Don't Trust Web Sites 
from 8/19/99 Internet.Com Site

On The Web But Why?
from 8/16/99 USA Today

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Some of the Nets Best Business Sites at CStation's Business Links