E-commerce. Is it necessary? You bet it is!

Nowadays, the Internet is called "the world's largest mall." Electronic commerce is today's most recent commodity, with newcomers buying more and more every day. You may be thinking, is the Internet for me? The answer is yes. It is for everyone. Your competitors are there or planning to be there, because the Net is where the business is. If you are still doubtful, you may want to know that according to a local research by a private university in the Island, there are over 300,000 Internet users in Puerto Rico, of which 42% bought products or services during the last year for the convenience and time savings the Net provides.

As a businessman, ask yourself, am I out there? If you are not, you better start thinking in joining the superhighway in one the newest activities available: E-commerce. Whether selling products or announcing your services, e-commerce is not as complicated as you may think. Although it may seem intimidating, it is a process that step by step will allow you to have a presence on the web without changing everything within your company.

Experts in the industry see e-commerce's growth as exponential. Why? Because it is creating new ways to sell, advertise, communicate with customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, government officials, and the community, among other users.

CPAs and other financial professionals play a crucial role in the development of their client's e-commerce presence. Investors already balance the risks and rewards of an investment in e-commerce, placing a rich premium on their potential value.

Your first step in getting into e-commerce is to call an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to evaluate the company's operation. If you choose to the ISP can serve as the "host" of your e-commerce operation, having most of the responsibilities in the e-commerce process.

In many cases, with a minimum investment, almost any company can get into e-commerce. But consider reengineering, graphical user interface (your Web page) and back-end operations (order processing and inventory) costs. Although in some cases an entry-level e-commerce investment can put an entire business at risk, it is also truth that companies should start with projects that will reduce costs and increase profits rather than generate new revenues by conquering new markets.

Let's see how e-commerce processes a typical transaction:

Clients enter your Web site attracted by the products or services offered by you. The prospective buyer browses around checking your products or services, and adds them to the shopping cart. This shopping cart maintains an electronic list of all items that will be charged later to the customer. Once the client has finished the buying process, and is ready to pay, the Web site proceeds to request the customer's personal information, such as his name, address, phone number and credit card number.

The proper use of encryption technology provides assurance that the customer's personal information is secured, that is, it will only be accessed by the company to whom the client made the transaction; no one else. The client can check this assurance on-line. The ISP then verifies the customer's credit card information, gets the bank's approval and proceeds with the payment. Shipping and handling charges can be added to the service. Later, the client gets a receipt on-line, as an e-mail that can be printed at home. The company gets the buyer's receipt and proceeds to send the package to the buyer's address.

InternetPR.NET, Perdomo Ferrer & Company's Internet division, has designed three alternatives to make this process an easy and fast way to get clients into e-commerce:

Option 1 - The very basics

For simple business operations that do not wish to invest a lot of time and money, this option applies to companies that sell few products or services. The Web site is designed based on the company's corporate image. This Web site is hosted by InternetPR.NET's e-commerce platform, as in www.yourcompany.InternetPR.NET. When a customer makes a purchase, the company receives the information through the e-mail or by fax. It is not necessary for the company to have a dedicated Internet connection. This type of site also works with established forms of communications, such as the postal service, telephone or fax, referring clients to place orders through one of these ways.

Option 2 - For larger inventories

This works better for automated operations whose products frequently change in quantity and price. It also applies for larger inventories. A Web site is developed or modified to work with the company's e-commerce platform. In this case, the Web site must operate from the company's location. The e-commerce process does not change, but it must become an integral part of the company's daily operation in order to update automatically the inventory, as well as prices, whether the sale was made through the Internet or not. The ISP still provides the security assurance during the transaction, but it is necessary to have a web server and dedicated dial-up connection to the Net.

A dedicated connection is a reliable and faster way to acquire information from the Internet. Dedicated dial-ups bring the commodity of a constant flow of information with no interruptions, using any analog or ISDN connection. This service is ideal for business and offices that wish to connect their networks to the Internet without having to go through the hassle of waiting for digital lines or paying the leased lines fees. Transmissions speeds of 56Kbps, 64Kbps(ISDN), 112Kbps up to 128Kbps(ISDN) can be achieved with this service.

Option 3 - A vendor and sales representative

This is the perfect option for those companies that wish to sell more than products. Services can be offered on-line as well, such as frequently asked questions, customer service department, inquiries and comments, among others. The customers receive answers regarding their product's operation. For this purpose, a Web site is designed not only to serve as a vendor, but also as your company's sales representative. This type of site can be managed either from the ISP or the company, but it requires trained personnel to supervise it periodically.

A dedicated line or fractional T1 is the best solution to connect your corporate LAN or WAN for Internet/Intranet access. Dedicated Internet access range from connections of 64 KBPS through 1.54MBPS. These provide your company with a high-speed service ideal for global e-mail, web presence, inter-company communications, virtual private networking, e-commerce, high bandwidth demands and your corporate Intranet.

The costs of an investment in e-commerce are not so difficult to evaluate. But consider all aspects, such as web site planning, design and implementation, ISP evaluation, security measures, enterprise/customer interaction suite, accounting/business management software and marketing. When you are ready to get into e-commerce, one of your immediate decisions is to determine how much disk storage space your site will need or the data-transfer volume it will generate. These two variables will determine the cost of anything but the simplest site and, in fact, are the two variables almost impossible to forecast. You need flexibility: room to grow and change your plans.

Security Considerations:

When opening your storefront on the web, take care of the security system as well. Still over 32% of Puerto Rican Internet users refuse to buy through the net for security reasons; they do not have the information to know if the site if safe for commercial transactions.

The security system is important to protect both the site itself and the company's other computers -which a hacker might be able to access through the Web site. It also should protect customer information. Customers will submit information via the Web only if they are confident that their personal information, such as credit card number or financial data is secure. The available security may include: encryption to protect the customer's data when they order on-line; firewalls to keep out unwanted visitors; and a level system to provide different access to people within the company.

VeriSign is the industry leader in security services for e-commerce. By installing a VeriSign Secure Server ID on your server, you can securely collect sensitive information on-line, and may increase business by giving your customers confidence that their transactions are safe. Immediately after installing this ID, any customer using a web browser from Netscape or Microsoft can establish secure communications with your company. This proven technology is in use now by 95 of the Fortune 100 companies, and 65,000 other leading e-commerce sites.

Market Your Site:

After creating your site on the Web, don't assume the world will now beat a path to your door. Let prospects know you exist by announcing your company in the newspapers, magazines and company literature. Add your Web site address in business cards, stationery and all type of print materials. Also, be sure the leading search engines sites have you listed. Your host or ISP generally offers this service. The leading search engines are: AltaVista, Excite, Infoseek, Lycos and Yahoo. You will have to negotiate the listing order, that is, the priority you are given when the search results are flashed on the screen.

The Tool of the Century:

Consider e-commerce the most important marketing tool of the century. It is anticipated that during the next three years, the growth of e-commerce will reach astounding numbers, as every day, more people gain access to the Web, and every day, more of them are shopping on-line. Are you ready to deal? At InternetPR.NET we are ready to help you join the Information Superhighway and boost your sales with a storefront on the web. &

If you are interested in exploring how you company can profit from the Internet, please contact us