Internet use is growing year to year, and as more and more people have access, more and more companies are recognising the importance of integrating some form of ecommerce as part of their marketing portfolio. The internet never goes offline, and sites are accessible every hour of the day - there are no opening and closing times on the internet. For the average working person, the ability to be able to do their shopping in the comfort of their own home is welcome, and is becoming a very popular method of purchasing goods. Even for customers who still prefer the reality of a high street store, the internet provides a way of researching the product they are after, to compare different prices from different outlets, and to gain a little bit of prior knowledge about what they want that they can be armed with when listening to the sales patter of an overly enthusiastic salesperson.

Another advantage of the internet is its worldwide reach. Retailers no longer have to have stores in many different locations to become a national brand - by selling through the internet, they can get their product seen by thousands more people. However, it is not as simple as setting up online and customers automatically flocking to your site; a lot of hard work needs to go into promoting your online store, in exactly the same way as a standard shop. The only difference is cost, in that whilst you may end up paying a couple of thousand pounds in total to be listed permanently in online directories such as Yahoo and Google, you will still make savings on start up fees, rent and other overheads that accompany a traditional store. These savings can then be passed on to the customers, who then get the products at a much cheaper rate than they would in the shops.

The disadvantages of having an ecommerce store lie with the security and privacy element. There has been an increase year to year in the amount of online fraud, which does nothing to calm the nerves of customers who are unsure whether to hand over their personal details over the internet. There is still a big difference in the number of customers who would use the internet to research a product and those who would actually make the purchase over the internet. Whilst above it was mentioned that running costs are a lot lower online, companies still need to employ a web team to keep the site up to date, and make any necessary changes. These workers would need to be more qualified and more skilled than the average shop assistant, for example. Finally, a lot of customers still need that reassurance of being able to touch the product, and see it in full 3D before they decide to buy - pictures can be deceiving, and no matter how high the quality of the image, products can seem entirely different in real life perspective.

Undoubtedly then, businesses would be foolish to overlook the power of the internet, and should do their utmost to incorporate some form of ecommerce into their current marketing portfolio, but be aware of the major differences between selling online and selling in real life, and build up a high level of trust with their customers.

Article Alley is one of the UK’s top article sites, best for Internet Articles.

Please feel free to republish this article provided a working hyperlink remains to our site.

1. It’s not going to rain while you do your shopping anymore is it?

2. Does going from shop to shop drive you mad and do your kids claim that they have the dreaded “leg ache”. Not anymore they don’t.

3. When you find an item you’ve been looking for, I doubt you’ll hear the words “I’m sorry we don’t have any left”. the internet doesn’t run out …ever.

4. Shopping online is now more secure than ever and you wont get mugged by the local crack-head.

5. If you have kids, you need to do more shopping on the internet. And if you don’t have a car …Bob’s your uncle.

6. Do you feel that technology is passing you by at a rate of knots?

Start now, and enjoy it. Ordering online is much easier than the “video timer”

7. Have you ever lost your purse/wallet or had an argument over wether it was a tenner or a twenty?

Not anymore - if only you tried it just the once.

8. Remember the last time you went shopping and the kids were moaning about having the shopping all over their feet in the back. you guessed it. These days even when you do your grocery shopping they deliver it to your door. No more loading and unloading if you do it online.

YOU NO LONGER HAVE AN EXCUSE - SO GET WITH IT - THE 21st CENTURY NEEDS YOU IN IT

Try it now and see how you feel at http://www.discountonlineshopping.co.uk

E-tailers are simply retailers who use the internet to sell their goods/services to their customers, rather than actual stores. There are two types of e-tailer, one category whereby e-commerce is the only operation undertaken by the company; examples of such organisations include E-Bay, Amazon, and Dell. The other type includes e-commerce as part of their overall marketing strategy, whilst still having a physical, ‘bricks and mortar’ tore, whereby customers can still go in and purchase the good/service. Examples of this type of e-tailer are Dixons, Tesco and WH Smith.

Those companies who operate purely as ecommerce stores are able to achieve greater profit margins, due to their set up and operational costs being much lower than that of a traditional store. They do not have to pay any rent on a building - whilst they still often have to pay for their Web Hosting, the cost is much less, there are no added rates for such overheads as water, electricity, gas, etc. Labour costs are significantly less, where one person could realistically run a website, package goods and answer enquiries via email; this is unlikely to be the case where a full time store is involved. On top of these price differences, an online store can be viewed/accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from only one location. Shoppers in China, for example, can purchase goods at the touch of a button from a UK based e-tailer, but would struggle to make the 10,000 mile round trip to go to the actual store!

It is becoming essential for retailers to have at least some form of internet based access, whether this is a site whereby goods/services can actually be purchased, or purely informational, so customers can preview products and gather information on the store in general (for example, their nearest retailer or company phone number/contact details) before they visit.

E-tailers must realize that it is not enough to simply have an aesthetically pleasing web site, which is full of product information alongside great photos and detailed product reviews; this is all well and good, but useless without sufficient knowledge of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in order to target the necessary traffic towards the site. Even something as simple as an appropriate domain name can have a big difference on the number of people visiting your site - they should be kept small and concise, preferably without a hyphen, as people tend to forget these and this could lead to them being sent directly to your competitor! Word of mouth advertising is priceless, so by using an address that sounds exactly how it is spelt can work wonders for spreading positive information.

SEO and SEM practices change regularly, and there is no guarantee that any particular methods will work. The best way to ensure a good ranking on the search engines is to employ an ‘expert’ to work full time at increasing the chances of traffic being directed to your website. Whilst many web designers may claim to be adept at SEO, there a relatively few personnel currently in the UK with any real in depth knowledge of the subject, so it is worthwhile spending the extra time/money on making sure your company is well represented within the search engine rankings, and chasing that all important #1 spot.

Article Alley is one of the UK’s top article sites, best for Internet Articles.
Please feel free to republish this article provided a working hyperlink remains to our site.

Friends have been asking, “What shopping cart do you recommend for online retailers?”. My personal favorite would be osCommerce, but it might be too advanced for beginner. From hosting, installing, tweaking and beautifying, it sure takes a lot time and effort for a beginner. However, people might enjoy the freedom of tweaking osCommerce because it is an open source project.

So, a stand-alone shopping cart is not in your option list. You do not know a thing about web hosting, FTP file upload, and server-side scripting. Hiring a programmer or a technical support is something you do not want to invest, you have doubts on your own products, is it going to make it online? Well, thanks to Internet, some people out there are ready to solve your problem.

Shopify.com
Cost: Free
Charges: 3% for transaction below USD$10,000 , 2% for over 10K.
Shopify.com is a young service, launched in year 2006 by Canadian company Jaded Pixel.

2checkout.com
Cost: USD$ 49 one time registration.
Charges:5.5% plus USD$0.45 per transaction.
2checkout.com is a very famous merchant service since 1999. After you sign up, you can choose to use it as a payment gateway, or have your products listed in their marketplace.

CafePress.com
Cost: Free
Charges:They take the base price, you take the markup price deduct base price.
This is a whole lot different than the previous two services. CafePress focuses on print-on-demand sales, which means the products have to be “printable”, namely T-shirts, hat, bag, and other apparels. You as a seller, actually share your creative designs with CafePress, they will deal with the printing and delivery.

These are the services you can consider when stand-alone shopping cart is not an option for you. Please bear in mind, every online business takes time and effort, don’t expect a lot while you can’t invest both.

Yien Bin is a part-time tech blogger. He is a freelance php programmer and interested in making money online. Debian GNU Linux is his favorite operating system.

His blog can be found at http://www.nixser.com/

The internet is revolutionizing the world of retail, both in terms of the way we shop and the prices we are paying. There has been a great surge over the last few years of people buying their goods/services online, and it has become a recognizable and successful sales/distribution channel for many businesses. More and more stores are beginning to realize the vast potential of the internet and what it can do for their business, and this has seen a big increase in the number of retailers who are now offering their customers the chance to do their shopping over the internet.

Shopping online provides customers with a number of advantages over in-store retailing, primarily centered on convenience. Online shops never close, they are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, which means customers are able to pick and choose when they browse, and how long for, at their own leisure. Most importantly, all this can be done from the comfort of their own home, without having to find the time to travel to various stores, leaving them free to pursue other interests and hobbies they are interested in. Shopping online is quick and easy, with no checkout queues or other time delaying factors involved. Consumers are under no pressure from store assistants to make a purchase, and are able to go back and view the product(s) as many times as they feel necessary before making a decision. Finding particular products is a lot simpler, with help from ’search’ tool bars found on most home pages, and everything is under one roof - if not on the same website. Also, consumers can easily compare products they may be contemplating purchasing, in terms of price and features, before they make a decision.

The most important factor and the one most consumers are interested in where internet shopping is concerned is to do with price. Companies selling their products online do not need to incorporate overheads such as store rental, electric/water/gas bills, shop fittings/equipment, etc, which means they are able to produce and sell their products at a lot less cost to themselves. They are therefore in a position to pass this saving onto their customer, so shopping online is not only more convenient, it costs a lot less too. As well as this, businesses will still have to compete with the other market players in order to secure new customers and retain existing ones, which means prices are likely to fall further still.

Currently, most companies are integrating online stores with their existing retails shops, however over the next decade we may see a huge migration over to solely internet based operations, which will bring prices down even lower. Coupled with the fact that the internet is becoming more and more widely available to socio-economic groups that previously would have had no access, and the new generation of internet-literate consumers coming through, modern shopping methods are sure to take a new lease of life thanks to the World Wide Web.

Article Alley is one of the UK’s top article sites, best for Internet Articles.
Please feel free to republish this article provided a working hyperlink remains to our site

I remember the first time I shopped on eBay. I was looking for the absolutely “Perfect” comforter for my first child. I had found one that was perfect for the room but of course, as anyone who has ever shopped for baby items knows, the price was absolutely outrageous in the department stores.

So someone reccommended eBay to me to search for a better price. Not really ever using the computer and unaware of really what “eBay” even was, I decided to take a try anyways.

Within seconds I had found what I wanted for a price that was unbelievable. And to think that I had spent all of that wasted time driving around these stores trying to find a better price, when I could have it shipped directly to me for 40% less and the seller offered Free Shipping. I was hooked immediately.

Since that time, I have educated myself and feel like I know waay too much about both online shopping and eBay. It is amazing how easy it is to find a deal on almost any product imaginable. Office Chairs for example can be entered into the search box of eBay and returns hundreds of different office chairs and office furntiure products.

I decided to try a test and start comparing prices and it turned out that no matter which model I looked up for an office chair, whether it be the Herman Miller Aeron or the Office Star Matrex collection, eBay ’s prices were lower and actually amazed me at how low. It seems like they are selling office chairs on eBay for below the cost to make them.

When ordering on eBay most of these office chair suppliers, at least the ones who know what they are doing and are powersellers, all offer Free Shipping and a money back guarantee. Now how can you go wrong ordering an office chair for half the price, wih free shipping to your home and with a guarantee in case you are unhappy. Making sure to purchase from a seller who is on reputable and has a good status as a Powerseller and happy customer feedback is also important.

Whether ordering office chairs, baby comforters or the average basketball hoop, it is always amazing to me how much product is out there for sale on eBay and what great prices they have even to this day. Having been an eBayer for a long time now, almost since the start of the mammoth company, I have always been impressed with both prices and service for the items I have purchased.

Just make sure which eBayer you are buying from and you are bound to get a good deal and find out how easy it can be to shop at home and never have to stand in line one of those department stores again.

Author, Amy Pedersen is penned as Sit On This Ergonomics featured Ergonomic Insider. Having worked in the ergonomics and office industry for over 10 years now, she is currently co-founder of Sit On This Ergonomics, operating a number of Ergonomic Sites dedicated to office chairs and the practice of good workplace ergonomics for better seating and productivity.

Featuring a wide variety of executive, leather, mesh and task office chairs with an online sales catalog, their website also provides detailed ergonomic information on proper work chair positioning.

Office Chairs and Furniture:
href="http://stores.ebay.com/sitonthisergonomics">Office Chair Catalog

Ergonomics Detailed:
href="http://stores.ebay.com/Sit-On-This-Ergonomics/Ergonomic-Positioning-Explained.html">More Ergonomic Info

We all have something that somebody else want’s to know. And this is where Free IQ comes in. They provide a platform where you can share your expertise. You can share free content as well as paid content. You can sell your instruction videos, audio files, pdf files and even physical products.

Let’s talk about the different features of Free IQ.

First it is a marketplace for people who are looking for more information about a special subject. Free IQ provides a search engine where you can search for this information. The search results will display free content as well as paid content. That’s the basic feature of Free IQ, a sort of Google search engine.

But where people are looking for information there has to be information. And that is where the second feature kicks in. It’s a marketplace where you can sell all your expertise, whether it is in video, audio or pdf format. So you can make money by placing your content on Free IQ! And you know what? Placing that content on Free IQ is always free! Just sign up (you’ll find a link on my Free IQ weblog which can be found at the bottom of this article) and start sharing your content!

And then there is this unbelievable affiliate feature! This is where you can make money. Free IQ has an advanced affiliate program system, just like clickbank. You can promote products, the affiliate system or just the Free IQ website. If somebody then buys from Free IQ you’ll get the commissions, and you know what? The cookie sustains for a whole year. So not just 30 days but 365 days!

Free IQ is going to be a great website and I’m pretty much sure that this is going to be the “thing” of 2007!

On my Free IQ weblog you’ll find more information about Free IQ and how to sign up. You can also check my personal weblog about internet marketing (Dutch).

Copyright 2007 - Karel Geenen. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way.

Setting up the website is the easy part, generating customers and sales is the hard part. You must look at your online store or auction site as a real store front in the market place.
Look at it from the shopper’s point of view. Is it an exciting place to shop and will shoppers want to come back? Or is it boring with the same items on display week after week. Does your store front look unprofessional and badly laid out? Imagine a shop window; the products should be laid out to attract the customer’s attention.

You ought to have special deals or sales and discount to entice your potential customers to buy. Maybe create a forum so your customers can meet up. A great place for you to advertise your new product ranges and receive feedback from your customers.

Once you sites are set up and you are happy with them, its time to open the doors to the public.

You will need traffic; a good tip is to list your products on the big auction sites. List your products but carefully filter and steer customers from the big sites to your own auction site or eCommerce site.

IMPORTANT! Save the details of customers who have bought from you! These customers are ‘GOLD DUST’; they have bought from you before, showing a willingness and confidence in buying online.
Also they are interested in your products and may be repeat buyers. They may also spread the word of your great products and service. So whatever you do, save their contact details! I can not stress this enough.

Creating an email list is also very important. Send out mail shots often.
Just as you receive flyers posted through your letter box offering home delivery or takeaway food etc, Emailing your customers with new products and lines will keep the buyers aware of your online presence and help to advertise your websites. It will keep them aware that you are still out there and still trading.

Another tip is to create an Excel or similar document with your customer’s postal addresses, and then maybe a few times a year and especially early Christmas time send out postal mail.
Christmas cards are not so expensive these days. Send them out early to your customers and add a small flyer with a list of your new Christmas range and gift ideas. But do make sure you send them out early enough to fulfill your customers Christmas orders.

Another excellent way to drive customers to your website is to advertise in local newspapers. They don’t have to be national papers but just small regional papers where advertising rates are small or if your lucky free.
Just place small few direct worded ads in the papers. For example, You have a website store selling refurbished laptops, You could advertise in the local press in any area and add something like “Cheap student laptops for sale visit www.CoolBidz.com”. All roads lead to Rome or in your case your store front.

One last tip to remember is ‘Customer is King’ and always will be. Without them you have nothing. Keep them informed always. If there are delays in postage tell them, don’t let them have to email or call you. It looks bad and is bad. Don’t loose you customers that you worked so hard to get, keep them. One of the best ways to advertise your business is word of mouth, the easiest way to kill it would be bad word of mouth.

Nick Dobson is the owner of http://www.coolbidz.com he provides information to new online auction users and writes regular articles about auction tips and advice.

You can contact him at info@coolbidz.com

Starting an internet business is easy but making it profitable is NOT… profit is a very elusive term. The more you chase it the further it will go away.

There is a give and take principle in business. You must learn to give first before you can take. Ironically, many people when starting their business focus on the reverse side. They try to reap before they sow. That’s why most people fail.

Building a profitable internet business is a process and the process demands you to sow first before you can reap! Just ask any successful entrepreneur how he/she achieved success? Success requires hard works, dedication, perseverance and persistence. Unless you’re inherited with millions of dollars, no one achieves success overnight. If you come across an internet guru promising you success overnight, please ignore him. He is out to con and get your money.

Just think about it… what is the purpose of your internet business? Yes of course you want your business to give you lots of profits but before it can give you what you want, you must first give what your customers want. Right?

What your customers want is INFORMATION. That’s the reason they visit your web site. They’re looking for useful information that can help to solve their problems. This logic is very simple to understand but surprisingly most people when starting their internet business don’t focus on this. Instead they focus on how they can earn a lot of money quickly.

You see if you can provide great service and quality information, the money will come. You don’t need to chase them!

Therefore the first step to internet business success is to focus on your site contents. Don’t just slap up your web site and hoping people come and visit it, they won’t. Think through it, what is the objective of your site? What message do you intend to convey? Build your web site with a clear theme and unique
proposition. That’s the right way to start your internet business.

Leon is an infopreneur dedicated to sharing his online discoveries across the net.

Dropship wholesale distributors can be gems or gangrene to your online or eBay auction internet business. Good dropshipping wholesalers can grow your business quickly and make your business a success. However, finding a good and trust-worthy wholesale dropshipper can be difficult.

But there is a setback that can happen when you least expected it. You find a few suitable dropship wholesalers but your working relationship with them is short-lived when the dropship wholesale distributors or their direct suppliers decide to make policy changes in their dropshipping operations. Worst still, they may take seize the opportunity to increase pricing of their merchandise when they see your business growing and your dependence on them. Your orders with them would tell. eBay or auction resellers often have to face this situation and move on to find another good dropship wholesale distributor.

Fortunately, help is available for eBay resellers and internet marketers who make a living through online auctions. There are dozens of reliable and informative product sourcing directories or websites online. These companies basically do all the research on wholesale dropshippers and check them out through trade fairs, interviews and reviewing their track records, dropship policies and inventories. With the information they have, they categorize and collate them into useful directories and listings of quality dropship wholesale distributors that offers the best and cheapest deals globally.

If your search for reliable dropship whole distributors has been a frustrating and time-wasting experience, these directories would be gems to your business. However, not every directory is worth the salt and you really have to look around carefully. There are a few things to look out for when sourcing for a reputable, user-friendly and detailed directory of dropship wholesale distributors that you can rely on.

First thing is to see if the website or company is registered with Better Business Bureau (BBB). It is great if they are, but you are not done yet. Do a quick check on their credentials and find out specifically if there have been complaints lodged against these directory sellers.

Another check is more crucial for your online reselling business. Look through the directory and see if they list the dropship wholesale distributers that dropship internationally. This is important as you can reach a larger market. This can boost your online business beyond your current levels by a wide measure.

eBay power sellers are running thriving businesses all thanks to the liaison they have with excellent and dependable dropship wholesale distributors that play a fair game. If you want to succeed your business, long term and lasting relationship with your wholesale dropshippers is key. Of course, you can go the arduous and uncertain journey of searching one by one on your own, or you can take the shortcut by using a directory of dropship wholesale directories offered online. It is entirely your choice.

Look out for useful tips on the wholesale dropshipping business at my blog and get in touch with global dropship wholesale distributors. This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website. The author’s name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.

Davion is a successful webmaster, author and reseller. Discover how you can supercharge your profits and grab deep wholesale discounts from the best dropship wholesale distributors at his blog http://Drop-ship-Wholesale-Distributors.blogspot.com.