Business online

"LO1 - Range: aims and objectives of

user; direct online selling of services;
government services; information;
internet services; advertising and
marketing; education"
Online Business or e-business is any kind of business
or commercial transaction that includes sharing
information across the internet. Commerce constitutes
the exchange of products and services between
businesses, groups and individuals and can be seen as
one of the essential activities of any business. Electronic
commerce focuses on the use of ICT to enable the
external activities and relationships of the business with
individuals, groups and other businesses, while e-
business refers to business with help of the internet. The
term "e-business" was coined by IBM's marketing and
Internet team in 1996.
The main objectives for establishing an online presence
are:

• Promoting a service or product online.

• Selling a service or product.
• Providing product support or customer service.
• Providing corporate information.
• Establishing brand awareness and corporate identity.
1. Service or product advertising:

The main purpose of a business site is to promote company’s products,

services or events on the Internet. There are two main aspects to discuss.
First, there are websites that don’t directly sell anything but their
objective is to create “buzz” or awareness. An example would be, let’s
say an event - a trance music performance taking place next month. The
purpose of the site is to generate interest so the people will attend the
show. This kind of website might contain recorded presentations from
previous shows, images with the performers, more details on the
performance, etc…
Secondly, there are websites that both promote and sell products or
services and this aspect is discussed below.
2. Selling a product or a service online:

This is basically the main reason behind the existence of any business
website. Selling products and services is the most common objective.
You have to provide full and comprehensive information on what you
sell, allowing prospective customers to easily order from your site. The
information must refer to:
- Features of the product or service
- Payment methods
- Return policies
- Warranties
- Shipping options
- Product or service F.A.Q.
If you sell directly from your website, you must consider additional
security issues (example: SSL encrypted connections - https), and to
address them in an adequate manner for a safe and pleasant user
experience.
Benefits of selling physical products online:

Compared to selling from a physical location, there are several benefits

to selling your goods online. First of all, customers can check out your
product offering without having to go to your physical location (if you
even have one).

Customers get to see all of your options including things like customer
reviews, ingredient lists, and related recipes or uses. Videos and photos
of your product in use and FAQ sections can give customers more
information than they would ever have in a brick and mortar store.

Finally, as more and more consumers are switching their buying habits to
online, you'll be able to reach more people and increase sales from an
online presence.
Drawbacks to selling physical products online:

You have to actually make something. And warehouse it. Then ship it.
Physical goods can spoil and are time-consuming to produce, inventory
and ship.

And then there are the returns. With physical goods, inventory control is
a challenge. If you make too much and it spoils, you lose. If you make
too little and you run out of stock, you lose potential sales and maybe
clients who will look elsewhere for a more reliable supply.
Benefits of selling a service online:

It can be much less expensive to capture leads and customers via a well
built and marketed website than through traditional, offline methods.
Customers receive lots of information about your product and don’t have
to travel to check out their options.

Well-built sites with lots of content will outperform weaker competitors

every time. Regardless of whether you use a brochure or storefront
platform, this business model is faster and easier to set up than one selling
physical goods.
Drawbacks to selling a service online:

There are high levels of competition, especially for specific keywords. If

you are a plumber in Seattle, you might have a hard time ranking for the
keyword “Seattle plumber”.

A typical Google search on these keywords returns over 2.5 million results.
Because of this, you’ll have to consider an aggressive content marketing
plan. Because you generally don’t get the chance to establish an in-person
relationship with your customer, an engaging blog with videos plays an
important role in this business model.

One of the most effective ways to promote a service-based business is by

using Facebook advertising. You can target your audience by geographic
location, demographic information, and targeted interests as well. And the
good news is that compared to other advertising mediums, Facebook is still
relatively inexpensive and cost-effective for small businesses.
3. Providing product support and customer service:

Due to its world-wide nature, the Internet is a flexible structure allowing

users to choose from thousands of similar products they are just one
click away. What actually makes the difference between similar online
businesses are the price and the customer support they provide, which
can also generate sales while communicating with prospective clients,
answering their questions and offering all the necessary information they
need. By offering your clients the possibility to solve their problems in
an easy way, you increase loyalty of actual customers and build a solid
base of prospective customers - so placing a new order is just a matter of
time.
Benefits of selling information products online:

Many of these online service vendors provide ongoing information

which means a recurring billing model. With monthly or annual billing,
you’ll require a much lower number of clients to be successful.

This business model requires very little maintenance time, once the
product is actually created. Because of the scalable model, you can
easily handle large numbers of buying clients without hitting the typical
bottleneck that is common in product and service businesses.
Drawbacks to selling information products online:

Information vendors struggle with conveying the real value of their

material. With so much free information available online, it is a challenge
to convince someone to pay you for your content. Also, digital content is
easy to copy and steal. You will need to think about how to protect your
content - and how to handle the theft of it.

A key skill you will want to develop especially when it comes to

marketing and selling information products is copywriting.
4. Providing corporate information:

Almost all big company websites have a section featuring pertinent

corporate information for potential investors. The information in this
section usually refers to: corporate background, company officials,
different articles and editorials written about the company along with
related images as well as contact information and links to personal
profiles of company’s representatives charged with management,
customer care, advertising, etc…
5. Establishing brand awareness and identity:

Establishing brand awareness or company identity is an ongoing process

with the purpose of branding products with memorable names, eye-
catching logos and maybe a slogan. In order to establish brand identity,
your website must address these elements in a unitary manner. The
product logo must reflect the design of your website in terms of
graphics, colors, font types and sizes (example: Coca Cola website). The
slogan must be unique, original and appealing so the customers easily
remember it. All these elements contribute to establishing a strong brand
identity.
Brand awareness is important for both online and offline advertising, so
all offline promotional items like banners, posters and leaflets must
follow the same line as their online counterparts.
Definition of Direct Selling:

Direct selling refers to selling products directly to the consumer in a non-

retail environment. Instead, sales occur at home, work, online, or other non-
store locations.

This system often eliminates several of the middlemen involved in product

distribution, such as the regional distribution center and wholesaler. Instead,
products go from manufacturer to the direct sales company, to the distributor
or rep, and then to the consumer.
Types of Direct Selling:

Single-level Direct Sales: This type of sales is done one-on-one, such as through
door-to-door or in-person presentations. Sales can be done online or through
catalogs, as well. Generally, income is earned on sales commissions, with
possible bonuses.

Host or Party-Plan Sales: This type of sales is done in a group setting, usually
involving the distributor or rep doing a presentation in their home or another
person's home. In some cases, a company might sell to individuals in a business.
For example, a real estate software sales rep might do a group sales presentation
to a group of Realtors (R). Income can come from commissions from sales, and
sometimes through the recruitment of other reps (see multi-level marketing
below).

Multi-level Marketing (MLM): Sales in multi-level marketing are made in a

variety of ways, including single or party presentations, but also through online
stores and catalogs. Income earned through MLM is commission on sales, and
the sales made by other business partners the distributor recruits into the
company.
Brochure ware refers to Web sites or pages that are produced by
taking an organization's printed brochure and translating it directly to
the Web without regard for the possibilities of the new medium. In
extreme cases, all the copy in the brochure will be used as-is and
visual images will be copied as well. The result will almost always
be static and uninteresting.

Web designers usually suggest making a fresh start, using existing

printed material as possible source material. While a Web site can be
thought of as an "online brochure," most designers suggest taking
advantage of the Web's interactive and dynamic capabilities,
including hypertext, built-in programming, and streaming video.
THANKYOU!