Posted on: 07 December, 2001
Author: Stuart Martin
A study released by research firm "Gartner Group" predicts 75% of ... projects will fail due to poor planning and ... of ... In order for any company to conduct s A study released by research firm "Gartner Group" predicts 75% of alle-business projects will fail due to poor planning and unrealisticexpectations of technology. In order for any company to conduct successfulbusiness on the Internet, a process of evaluation must be utilized. Oneframework to which companies often compare their business is "The SevenPillars of E-business equation".Pillar 1) Online Marketing has been in existence since around 1994, when thefirst wave of mainstream companies jumped onto the web displaying theirrudimentary html pages containing product information. Still today, somecompanies do little more than place their information on the Internet usinga pleasing layout; in hopes that someone will stumble upon their site andbuy the product. Many companies have not yet reached pillar one. Accordingto the Yankee Group, only 31% of small business and 51% of medium-sizedbusinesses in the United States have a website.Pillar 2) Online Ordering is the process of allowing a customer to submitorder information through a company website. Online Ordering is quite easyto set up through an online web-form created in static html. When thecustomer clicks on "submit", the information is forwarded to a company emailaddress. Customer follow-up and billing occurs offline through traditionalbusiness channels. Many tourism companies are at this level, receiving arequest forma and even a credit card number. They think that they are now inthe online business. However, all of the information has to be processed bythe vendor. In reality, this is another form of fax ordering.Pillar 3) Online Selling takes the Online Ordering process one step furtherwhereby the customer's transaction is actually conducted online. For theease of the customer, credit card information is recorded and throughtraditional business channels, the company provides goods or services to thecustomer. Credit card information is authenticated directly online andcustomers are supplied with proof of payment. The vendor receives paymentdirect to its Merchant Bank.The third pillar is a stage most companies cannot seem to master. Itrequires sophisticated database-driven websites, intensive strategicplanning, a large programming and insurance budget, and a bank that allowsonline credit card merchant accounts.This is where www.TravellersMall.com and its services becomes the enabler.We provide all of this capability without the individual problems that thevendor would encounter, at a very low cost.Pillar 4) Online fulfillment happens after the customer has been marketedto, placed an order, and the financial transaction has occurred. This stepis divided into two categories:a) physical products that cannot be distributed over the internet;b) non-tangible products and services that can be delivered to the customeronline.For the travel and tourism industry the fulfillment process is theconfirmation of the reservation, booking and backroom movement of theinformation to the Vendor Databases.Pillar 5) Online consumption is possible with only a few types of companies.It is not synonymous with travel. The closest use would be a virtual tour ofthe experience and the use of travel articles to satisfy the consumer'sinterest for information on destinations, activities, etc.Those selling information can actually have customers consume purchasesonline. For example, someone subscribing to the Wall Street JournalInteractive Edition can browse various newspaper articles online.Pillar 6) Online Support can be offered regardless of whether the product orservice is fulfilled and consumed by the customer online. Many companieshave an online support process in place. Customers can email or visit aspecial section of the company website for support. More sophisticateddatabase-driven company websites will allow users to track orders online andreceive support information through the use of a password or other form ofidentification code.Pillar 7) Online direct one-on-one marketing. Once companies have got tothis level of use of the Internet, they should be using their customerdatabase and market data to continuously communicate and market theirservices to their customers. This requires planning and marketingmanagement. An example of this would be an online last minute club targetingspecific customers on seasonal or regional specials.The power of being able to deliver direct marketing programs at the press ofa key has enormous cost saving implications versus the more traditional mailor general advertising mediums. It makes the necessary analysis of thereturn on investment of these types of programs much more favorable.As you can see, there are several important steps in the equation to sellingonline. When planning an e-business strategy, it is necessary to take theseseven pillars of e-business into consideration. Ask yourself thesequestions:How far do we want to take the e-business equation?How far will our business model and the nature of our product offerings andservices allow us to take the e-business equation?www.Banff.com - The Canadian Rockies Internet Guide features the e-businesssolutions provided by www.TravellersMall.comVisit us to streamline your e-commerce solutions today! Article Tags: Online Ordering, Credit Card Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com