Internet Facts

Internet Commerce Growth is Immense:

It's important to understand the Internet commerce marketplace. One of the most important facts is how fast the Internet is growing overall, and the rate of user growth is an astounding fact. It has taken only 4 years for the Internet to grow to 50 Million users. That's 10 times faster than Radio and even 4 times faster than TV, and is the fastest growing communications medium in history. Currently, the World Wide user base doubles every 3 - 4 months.

It is predicted that the largest percentage of sales growth will continue to be Business-to-Business sales, but Consumer Purchases are expected to accelerate sharply for the 1998 holiday season to $600 million!

An estimated 2.5 million businesses were online at the end of 1997, either through Web Sites or via simple accounts with ISP's or online services. A total of 1 Million more businesses are expected to be online by end of 1998, bringing the total to an approximate 3.5 million businesses on the Internet in America alone.

Predictions for continued and accelerating growth in the total dollar value of online commerce vary widely, but on the optimistic side, the Internet commerce market can be worth a up to $400 Billion in the year 2002.

Key Points to Increase Sales that can be Utilized on the Internet:

Accepting major Credit Cards increases sales. Credit Cards can easily be accepted right online.
Easy-to-use payment systems increase sales. A simple form is filled out online with all necessary Credit Card, Billing and Shipping information.
Decreasing the time lag between the customer's decision to buy and his payment increases sales. There is no waiting for a sales person with online commerce.
Streamlining the flow of the sale process increases sales volume. Again, there is no waiting online, and multiple sales of the same product at the exact same time can occur with online shopping systems.
What use is a store that cannot accept any payment nor deliver any product? No sales at all. A Web Site without online commerce is just that — a useless storefront. The visitor must seek further to procure product delivery. This principal also applies to any functionality now possible on the Internet such as Stock Market quotes, travel ticketing, the checking of available inventory, status on deliveries, access to requested and deliverable information, etc. ad infinitum.
Speed of cash flow increases sales. As opposed to a slow billing system by mail, sales online are paid immediately back to the merchant and thus funds are available to invest into new inventory.
Ideally a merchant would be able to make sales at all hours to anyone in the world with little or no manpower. The Internet is open for business 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Merchants can make sales at all hours, and can sell automatically — to anyone in the world.
Marketing in a market where buyers can afford to buy, increases sales. The Internet has the highest concentration of more-able-to-buy users of any market anywhere.
Buying low then selling high increases profits. Buying low also allows for discounts to the buyer, thus increased sales. The Internet can be one of the lowest priced markets to buy from.

Businesses need to increase their Internet Commerce Capability:

This applies to the small office, the home office and to the small-to-medium businesses. In the past few years, development for online businesses has been focused on expensive web sites and costly technology only really affordable by big corporations. While others could get a basic web site on the Internet, the more productive and capable sites were limited to the larger cash-rich companies who could afford leading edge development costs.

As the technology has matured and evolved, prices have declined, but smaller businesses are still extremely under-powered on the Web. Most don't have the capabilities (Internet Commerce and database interactivity, etc.) that are coming to be considered "basic" for larger business sites. 80+% of merchant sites have only fundamental web pages. Browse the Internet and look closely at what capabilities businesses have been able to afford for their online storefronts. You will probably find that 80+ percent of online businesses have simple web pages with very little commerce capability.

It is imperative that businesses upgrade their online commerce capabilities - soon!
One of the most crucial business activities is getting paid while the customer is in the store and ready to buy!

Good News for Qualifying for Credit Card Merchant Accounts:

Many business people agree that a merchant account can be relatively difficult to get because of the difficulties of getting qualified by typical sources such as banks. Although debatable for many reasons, Internet accounts are considered by Banks to be a higher risk merchant account.

In recent years, a new type of merchant account provider has come into existence. Thanks to these companies (called Independent Sales Organizations), who contract with banks to sell merchant accounts, it is possible to offer merchant accounts to many different types of businesses including businesses on the Internet. Now, it's much easier for businesses, especially small office, home office and small-to-medium businesses to get very competitive merchant accounts.

This is good news for businesses looking to develop a new Web Site or upgrade their Web Sites to perform online commerce functions. This is also important for businesses whose current merchant accounts may not be specifically Internet approved. Many businesses may need a new account approved just for Internet use.

Tips Vital to Merchants preparing for Internet Commerce:

The ability to accept real-time payments is vital to the success of an online business. By "Real-Time" is meant that the buyer's Credit Card is debited at the time of the sale. This allows the merchant to be paid immediately, and eliminates the risk and delays of monthly billing.

Web Site components, including Internet Commerce systems, should be "portable," meaning the merchant can change Internet Service Providers, Web Site locations and Web Site architecture, and take their payment system with them. They are not "locked in" to a payment or other system provided by their Internet Service Providers.

Choose an online Commerce system that supports recurring transactions such as subscriptions.

And choose an online system that will adapt to a growing Web Site.

Summary — Internet Commerce is Here to Stay:

Internet Commerce is here to stay, and its growth is assured. Facts show us the wave of business coming in the next few years is immense. The recommendation to merchants is to have a productive way to participate, promote it, and hang on!

Each business has different needs and businesses don't always know what they need. It's the integration of solution(s), not "A Solution" that pulls together a workable online business.

B&B Systems, well experienced in Internet Commerce design and installation, is here to help.