establishing and promoting a virtual store

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Establishing and Promotinga Virtual Store



The marketer as the merchant should investigate the pitfallsbefore he begins to extol the potentials of e-commerce andbecome blinded by its advantages

To avoid “commerce overconfidence,” the general strategy

of setting up commercial units should not be any differentfor e-commerce activities

Traditional organizational responsibilities for establishingfinancial affairs, production concerns and marketing actionsshould be determined in the same manner for virtualcommerce companies

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The virtual marketer must arrange for financing to purchasehardware and software material

Establish an office

Arrange for personnel and business necessities

Rounding out the triangle of finance and operations is themarketing function working to investigate consumer wantsand the proper, highly-exposed delivery process for thosebundles of benefits

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One of the biggest decisions, particularly for the smallcompany or individual, is how to set up the online store

The decision usually revolves around the answers to thefollowing questions:

How experienced in business is the person responsible forsetting up the online storefront?

How technology-savvy is this individual?

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Intangible qualities in establishing a virtual storefront

Finding a niche to fill

Attracting and training good people

Creating an attractive company culture

To establish an electronic presence, it will also require sometangible equipment to access the Web

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Whether or not the e-marketer employs a developer or doesit herself, the storefront must have reliable access to the Webas well as these elements:

Virtual store-building software

Virtual online information sources A 500 MHz or faster PC

A large hard disk, perhaps 20 gigabytes of storage or larger

128 or more megs of ROM memory

A large color monitor

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Reliable access elements continued…

Cable or ISDN modems, or a 56.6 Kpbs modem at minimum

A browser

Printers

Scanners

Telephone service and an Internet Service Provider

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Service companies have evolved to produce the entirevirtual storefront in a turnkey fashion

The marketer supplies the developer with a marketing plan

He directs the company according to his understanding of the

target market The developer should design the site for the most popular

browsers and specify the necessary equipment to implementthe design on the Web

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It is easy to be dazzled by graphics; however, themarketer must ask himself the followingquestions: Does the design and copy fit the objectives for the online marketing?

Is the design attractive, memorable, and motivating?

Does the design ask or require the viewer to do something, such asclick through a site, register for a promotion, or visit a dealership orretail store?

Is the site reflective of other company marketing materials?

Can the site be produced for the budget allotted and within the timeframe allowed?

Do the site strategies match the corporate strategies of the company?

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After the site is created and the meta tags are tested, the nextdecision for the marketer is how to maintain an optimal

awareness for the site Step one - register with a variety of search engines so that the

consumer can locate merchandise and offerings Step two - assess maintaining a stand-alone site as opposed to

participating in the “bundling” of cybermall retailers

The cybermall is a virtual collection of sites, usuallybringing financial, insurance, or automobile sites togetherthat offer the shopper many hyperlinked addresses tofollow from one page

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The major benefits of signing on with a cybermall are:

Expanded exposure over and above the efforts of a singlesite

The selection to be found at the cybermall’s address

The site maintenance services by the cybermall operator

The major disadvantages are:

The cost of joining and “renting” space monthly

Heavy competition

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What are the necessary elements to begin setting up an onlinepresence? A detailed study of the Internet and the Web as well as the

peripheral promotions and communications capabilities nested onthe company desktop

Proficiency at a word processing program

An understanding of advertising procedures, graphics, and copy isalso helpful

Communicating effectively with advertising suppliers

Being cognizant of technology changes in hardware or software

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Elements for setting up online presence continued…

Being able to judge if new equipment or applications wouldimprove a site’s performance

Familiarity with HTML editing, linking hyperlinks, andacquaintance with frames and tables page construction

An appreciation of customer service and conflict resolution arepluses

A general proficiency in basic communications

The Web master has many duties in maintaining the e-commerce site, and a sense of organization is absolutelynecessary

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An ISP is a company that can provide you with aconnection to the Internet as well as Internet-based services

There are also many types and levels of ISPs: ISPs can be part-time hobbyists who are inexpensive

but not well equipped to handle a business Web site

Some ISPs are small businesses that are quite successfuland can be well equipped to handle a business Web sitethat receives moderate traffic

Large ISPs often provide many services to businessesand can have in-house technical support The downfall to using a large ISP is that they may not be as flexible

Large providers will most likely have the equipment and the fastestconnections to the Internet

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A commercial provider such as AOL, CompuServ, MSN,and Prodigy These services may not be flexible enough to run the business

the way the marketer wants and within the approved budget

To find an ISP: Search on the Web

Ask others in your area

Look in the yellow pages

Check an ISP reference service

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Considerations when investigating which one to use willdepend primarily on why the marketer wants an ISP

If marketer wants one for personal use, a local small businessmight be better as they may be more helpful

If marketer wants one for business purposes, reliable service isgoing to be a major issue

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Some questions that the marketer might ask when looking atISPs:

Are you able to communicate with the service representative ofthe ISP?

Are personal and business goals understood? What type of reputation do they have?

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More Questions…

Are you able to do everything that you want with this ISP?

E-mail access

Host Web sites

News groups

Scripting

What is the pricing structure?

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More Questions…

What type of connection does the ISP provide?

What software is provided by the ISP?

What type of technical support is available?

Make sure support is available when and how it is needed See if they offer on-site support

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Once the marketer has chosen an ISP to host the Web pages,there are still a few things the marketer needs to be awareof: What are the limitations set by the ISP on the size of the Web

site?

If the site is accessed often, check for limitations and additionalfees for excess hits on your pages

How will the files be transferred to the ISP and what type ofaccess will you have for editing those pages once they are inplace?

See if scripts are allowed, or if they are provided by the ISP

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Things to be aware of continued…

Is the provider capable of handling the security necessary foryour type of site?

What statistics are available from your ISP, how easy are they

to obtain and in what form will they be provided? Make sure that you have ownership of the design and content

of your pages and that you have thoroughly read the contract

your ISP should happily provide you

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The twist in online promotion is that no one has a longhistory doing it right and doing it well, so muchexperimentation in promotion is ongoing

The confusion in promotions is that the Web:

“Reads” like a newspaper, but it is not. The Web is like television, but where are the programs?

It has sound like the radio, but where is the music?

Promoters of Web advertising speak of billboards, but try tofind one of the huge structures along the information highway.

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Prepare a solid marketing plan focusing on the promotionalelement to expose the product and display the discipline tofollow

What are the elements of the online communications

marketing plan (your road map to marketing on the Web)? Online marketing plan

Online promotional program

Identify your consumer or business-to-business targets

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Means of communication continued..

Conferences venues

“Cookies”

Sig files

FAQs Usenet newsgroups

“Cross fertilization” between your Web site and yourtraditional marketing media to increase the success of yourWeb presence

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The marketer can increase visibility through the followingactions:

Register your site with Web search engines, listings, andcatalogs

Participate in discussion lists and Usenet newsgroups and theuse of informative .sig files

Make online announcements and use news releases

Study FAQs

Use cross-linking of your page to other relevant pages

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After the initial visit, activity and interactivity willencourage your visitor to return to your site

Curiosity

Item turnover

Indispensable tool or resource Unique event or resource

Stickiness

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The Internet gives advertising and marketing professionalsmany resources that are very dynamic, helpful, andinformative.

NetPlus Marketing Inc.

http://www.netplusmarketing.com/resources.cfm Advantage Solutions

Dataquest

NetMarket Group

Modem Media Poppe Tyson Advertising

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What are the trends in consumer purchases that e-businessesselling online should be aware of for the immediate future?

Computer and accessories

Entertainment Securities trading services

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E-commerce markets with the best growth potential are thoseclosely tied to shifting demographics such as

Financial instruments

Health Travel

Gardening for aging Boomers

Apparel, music and entertainment for GenXers

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establishing and promoting a virtual store

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