ecommerce course - dan bond - dec. 2011
DESCRIPTION
eCommerce Course sponsored jointly by Downtown Delaware, the Delaware Emerging Technology Center, Delaware State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship December 5-7, 2011.TRANSCRIPT
eCommerce:Sales and Marketing
Lead Facilitator - Dan Bond
Sponsored jointly by Downtown Delaware, the Delaware Emerging Technology Center,
Delaware State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship
December 5-7, 2011
Outline of Topics
•Overview of eCommerce
•Website Design & Development
•Search Engine Marketing & Optimization
•Legal Issues
•Social Media
•On-line & Off-line Marketing•Shopping Carts/Shipping/Credit Cards•Inventory Management
The Most Important Parts:
• Finding your niche
• SEM & SEO
• Continually expanding your market with Social Networking and other tools
What is eCommerce?
Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce, consists of the buying and selling products or services over the Internet.
What is eMarketing?
Internet marketing, also referred to as i-marketing, web-marketing, online-marketing, or eMarketing, is the marketing of products or services over the Internet.
Business to Business eCommerce
Business to Consumer eCommerce
"Click & Mortar" Business Model
Total retail eCommerce sales were $185 billion over the past year & are growing at
twice the rate of other retail sales.
Unique Benefits of eCommerce
Low startup cost
Unlimited market size
Much greater freedom of location
Portability of business
Anonimity
24-7 Sales
Many successful eCommerce businesses started here.
The eCommerce Market ... as soon as FedEx gets there.
As long as there is high-speed internet and package delivery service available...
Relocating - Take it with you.
Neither rain, nor sleet, nor dark of night ... ...keeps the orders from coming in.
Key Drivers of eCommerce
• Internet & World Wide Web
• Low cost PCs & mobile devices
• Search engines
• Pay per click advertising
• High speed internet services
• Secure Internet credit card use
• Digital photography & video
• Social media
• Growth of niche marketing
Source: http://blog.templatemonster.com/2010/09/08/history-of-ecommerce-timeline-infographic/
Niche Marketing
Finding Your Niche
• Identify an interest -- ideally one related to yourself, your experiences, your talents, your location, etc.
• Identify a niche with sufficient market demand.
• Discard niches where there is already too much competition.
• Make sure that the niche can become a profitable business.
Profit Margins
• Wholesale price• Location of supplier• Price points• Price competition• Information value added• Weight to value ratio • Shelf life• Market trends• Supply constraints
How narrow is your niche?
Tools for Researching Niches
Google Search Results
Google Product SearchGoogle Trends
Google Alerts
eBay Groups
Website Shopping Cart
Equipment
Products
Payment System
Delivery Services
Photography
Information Management System
Accounting System
Product Sourcing
Drop Shipping
The Good:
• You don't invest in inventory.
The Bad:
• You have no buying power.• Competition will drive down your margins.• Drop ship wholesales do not provide products for
niche markets.
The Ugly:
• You can work a lot, sell a lot and make no money.
If you must try drop shipping take a look at:
New York International Gift Fair
Equipment, Software, Communications
Domain Names
www.ladybug-shop.comwww.turtle-treasures.comwww.mispillion.com
Domain Name Selection
• Short
• Memorable
• Easy to spell
• Discribes your business or product
• Contains key words
• Has best name extension possible
.com.net.org.edu.gov.mil
Top Level Domain Names
Domain Name Selection Aids
Domain Name Registration
Websites
Website Options
Rent it
Build it yourself
Have it built for you
Rent Your Website
Build Your Website Yourself
Website Development Companies
Website Hosting
Usually best to have your website built and hosted by the same company
Make sure that they have on-site supervision 24-7
Make sure they have good telephone technical support service
Explore their up-grade potential
Choosing a Shopping Cart
• Product capacity• Photo capacity• Inventory tracking• Affiliate program links• Discounting & customer loyalty programs• Search-engine friendliness• Shipping Options• Payment Processing Options• Report Generation • Technical Considerations• Support• Cost
Payment Options
Credit Card Processing
PCI DSS Payment Card Industry Data Security
StandardBe informed. Got to:
www.pcisecuritystandards.org
Failure to understand the PCI compliance standards could result in higher merchant account fees and fines from the credit card issuers.
What to Secure:
As a small merchant, you are responsible for protecting cardholder data at the point of sale, and as it flows into the payment system. The best step you can take is to not store any cardholder data. You also need to protect:
• Card readers
• Point of sale systems
• Store networks & wireless access routers
• Payment card data storage and transmission
• Payment card data stored in paper-based records
Essential Photo Euipment
Carriers
SKU
WARNING!
Internet sales are not always tax free.
There are over 11,000 sales tax jurisdictions in the United States.
Ecommerce merchants located in a state without a sales tax do not have to collect sales tax unless they have taken some action to create a physical presence in another state.
"If you build it, they will come."
Search Engine Marketing
Search Engine Optimization
Comparison of SEM & SEO
SEO You Can Do Yourself
Use your keywords as much as possible.
Have good, well written content.
Establish back links from popular websites.
Maintain a blog.
Use Social Media to promote your site.
Social Media
Avoid the Hard Sale
WARNING!
SOCIAL MEDIA TAKES TIME & CONSTANT ATTENTION.
Alexa.com
Sources of eCommerce Information
www.practicalecommerce.com
www.business.gov
