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eCommerce and the Small Business Enterprise |
| The Internet has had a profound effect on doing business as we know it. Geographical boundaries being constant as always, personal and commercial boundaries are now virtually non-existent. This, combined with the sheer amount of information on the internet has changed consumer behaviour vastly. While there are other changes, in this article, these will be the prime focus areas. | How does eCommerce affect the SME? eCommerce and the Internet affects small businesses by: - Potentially reducing customer loyalty
- Increasing information available to customers
- Increasing customer price and transparency expectations
- Reducing margins due to more competition
On the plus side: - Increased online spending
- Lowered transaction costs due to reduced overheads
- Access to larger customer base
- Level playing field - the Internet
What do these mean to the small business owner?
For the small business owner this implies a shift from the traditional methods of doing business to eCommerce and Internet enabled business. Requirements include: - Framing of information based business and customer policies
- Setting up an eCommerce enabled website
- Shifting from reactive to proactive
|  | What should the SME do?
This change in consumer behaviour is here to stay. Businesses must make suitable changes to the way customers, products and the competition are perceived. Based on this changed perception, SMEs need to change the way they do business. - Implement an eCommerce enabled website
- Communicate regularly with customers
- Regularly analyse the competition and keep up with pricing trends
- Keep in touch with worldwide/regional trends in product and service specifications
- Update the website regularly
- Increase transparency of pricing, warranties and product specifications
- Never *ever* assume customer loyalty
The website must be responsive and intuitive enough to empower the business and become a new way of doing business, rather than become an ‘accessory’ to the business. The website isn’t just an accessory to the business, it is a new way of doing business. Apart from ecommerce functionality the design of your website is extremely important. Spending a little extra on a good website designer can well be considered as an investment in your new ecommerce business. An experienced website designer will ask the right questions and suggest the right technology all while delivering a superb and intuitive design for your ecommerce site. A well maintained website will return many times its initial investment in profits and grow with the enterprise. |
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eCommerce for SMEs
