Doing Business on the ‘Net

1. The Effects of E-Commerce on Entrepreneurship Chapter 9 Doing Business on the ‘Net

2. More people accessing the Internet, more often during the day. • 44% of Americans get on the Internet daily, as opposed to 36% in 2002. • Those that do tend to work 14 hrs per week on it. • Other 50% tend to ignore the Internet • 1/3 of Americans do not have Internet at home and do not plan to get it. • Only 8% of Americans fully use the interactivity and connectivity of the Internet and their cell phones (are “wired”). • Information overload! Changes in Our Society

3. Expectations of businesses regarding e-commerce • People expect, at the very least, for businesses to have an informational web site • Becoming a measure of quality • Place to pay/buy online • Nearly 10% of the world has shopped online at least once. Changes in Our Society

4. New sales channel • 72% of companies selling online say it increases sales • International possibilities • Unmanned sales time, 24 hours a day • Information opportunity • New business opportunities Why Get on the Internet?

5. 70% of small business owners have an online presence • Others say their products aren’t suitable online or they don’t see any benefits to selling online. • Every company should have a plan for integrating the Internet SOMEHOW into its operations. • Creating long-term relationships and long-term success on the Net could take more time than doing the same thing face-to-face. Getting Prepared for Doing Business on the Net

6. We have a cheesecake store, called Tennessee Cheesecakes. • What are some of the applications that the web could offer us? • What are some of the considerations that we need to keep in mind while developing those applications? Let’s Take a Small Example…

7. Questions to Ponder • What is it that the Internet is supposed to do for our company? • How much are we going to be able to put into this? • Will our products sell on the web? How? • How will you handle spikes in orders? Visits? • How are you going to host the site? • How are you going to guarantee security of customer information? • How do you plan to market your site? • How will you set up your site? • Who will you get to design your site?

8. Myths About E - Commerce • What do you know about doing business on the web? • Expensive or inexpensive? • Hard or easy to promote? • Technology or business model advantage? • Customer service and support? • Order fulfillment? • Is the Web over?

9. Some Suggestions for Success • Focus on serving a market niche. • Develop a community with common interests. • Don’t use people’s information to spam. • Somehow tie into a partner’s community. • Promote, promote, promote! • Get onto the best search engines • Yahoo!, Google, MSN,

10. Web Analytics • Tools that measure ability to attract customers, generate sales, and get customers to return. • Commerce metrics, segmentation information, content reports, process measurements • Recency, click-through rate, cost per acquisition, conversion rate • Log analysis software How to Track If the Web Is Working

11. Privacy • How your company uses the data customers give it. • Security • 40% of companies experience hacking • Properly developed firewall and intrusion detection software • Credit card payment acceptance Privacy versus Security