The Internet is great at leveling the field for businesses. Where else can you put up a site and immediately compete with huge companies on an international basis?
E-commerce, clearly termed as web commerce, basically means selling of merchandise or services over the Internet with electronic transactions and also through a secure network. E-com is not merely buying and selling or providing services but it is also a method of advertising and marketing through an electronic system as well. E-com also means facilitating the progress of commercial transactions electronically. Right now e-com is a well-established technology in all major countries. In most cases internet marketing requires you to have your own E-commerce store for maximum return.

Building an online store is not an easy job. Software is required that can manage customers as well as their needs. E-commerce software should be able to handle inventory, shipping and handling costs, taxes, dispatching and payment processing of client’s orders. You may encounter many options when setting out to build an e- commerce store. Technical requirements might include coupons, tracking systems, customer login options or any number of other things. Other requirements include what type of impression you want to provide to your valuable clients.
Before you opt for any of solutions for building e commerce store, study the basic model of e commerce that represents the entire sales and marketing cycle.

The first building block of this cycle is audience in which you define what type of customers you will target. Second are commodities, in which you characterize the types of products you will put on the market. Third is customer support where you will answer the questions and offer solutions to clients’ or potential clients’ problems. Next are advertising, marketing and endorsement where a business promotes the products or services. Then there is transaction processing, the most important technical phase of the cycle, which will handle orders, taxes, payment processing and order delivery. Transactions may be automatic or manual. In manual processing you have to enter credit card information manually through an offline terminal. In the case of automatic processing a client’s order form will be setup with a program that processes and charges the credit card for you. After that there are post-deal services regarding how you provide solutions and services after the sale. Last but not least is brand name with which you will create a distinctive business image to correspond with customers. Nobody is going to pay attention to your online store unless something catches his or her eye.

There are two basic paths you may follow when building an e-commerce store – either buy ready made software or build a custom system with components and parts according to your requirements and budgets.

Some business firms offer gifts and well placed impulse products for better marketing approaches. Also, if your product comes in a variety of models or styles, with different options and different prices then you must communicate these factors and portray them distinctively in your online store. Web statistic tracking tools can be a great help to this end.

If you choose a very simple solution now, then require a more robust solution down the road, you will lose time converting your store. If the URL structure of your store is not consistent, you can also lose search engine rankings by changing e commerce solutions. Therefore, it is important to choose an e commerce solution that can grow with you. Some stores may also have limits on number of products, inventory control and tracking that down the road will be very important.

Of utmost importance to online stores is transaction security. The priority for any business firm should be secure transactions. Thanks to Netscape for introducing SSL (secure socket layer), data can be protected by online store owners. SSL is an encryption technology that encrypts a message and the receiver decrypts it by using RSA security. To enable SSL on your web server you need a digital ID (a form of identification that will recognize you). Many web hosts provide SSL installation for anywhere from a few bucks to a few hundred bucks per year.

Overall, you want flexibility, ease of use, security and scalability in your store. Research your options before you make a final choice, and whenever possible, get a free trial of your solution before you buy.

Promoting your products and services in a catalog can be very beneficial indeed for your business. Well designed catalogs are often the best ways to promote and expand your products’ reach.

Print catalogs are great for instant reminders and users can read it time and again. Your product’s visibility is made available for weeks and months depending on the durability of your catalogs.

But combine your print catalogs with the wide reach of the internet and you’ll have a very powerful marketing campaign strategy to be sure. A tangible reminder plus a 24/7 online store can work well to provide your business with a complementary marketing tool.

Both your catalog printing project and your online store can be combined to work for a common goal: to reach as many audiences as possible to promote your products and services.

Each marketing channel has its strengths and weaknesses. Your chances of reaching out to as many clients would be limited to only those who have a need for your listed items. The catalogs can have a space where you may insert the website’s address so the client can go there for more information. Likewise, your online store can also promote your print catalogs by providing target clients the method to ask for a print catalog.

Your catalog printing pieces should work side by side with your online store. When utilized effectively, both marketing tool can be a strong method to convince your prospective clients to try out your products and services.