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Thursday, October 27, 2011

The Business of Doing Business

Yesterday, blogger Hesham Zebida wrote a blog post about a contest that Vendio, a leading ecommerce software provider, is holding in an effort to find someone to write for its Vendable blog.

Since the blog is about one of my favorite topics--e-commerce (aka shopping!), I figured I would give it a shot.

According to Miriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, commerce is defined as "the exchange or buying and selling of commodities on a large scale involving transportation from place to place." From the trading posts that sold fur pelts in the 1800s to the grocery store that sells milk; from the computers that Michael Dell sold out of his college dorm room to the tchochkes that can be purchased for a quarter from any garage sale in America, it's all commerce. Put an "e" in front of it and it opens up a frontier so vast, so ripe for opportunity and scams, so infinite in its scope that it's almost hard to grasp.

According to researchers, e-commerce makes up only 4% of all retail sales, but it's a big 4%, topping $155 billion in 2009. Is there anything you can not find online? Name the most outlandish thing you can think of and I'll bet you can find someone somewhere who's selling one. In past last week alone, I've ordered cosmetics, books, and DVDs online. Today, I needed tongue depressors for a craft project and discovered that I could buy a box of 500 on Amazon for $8. Who knew?

The appeal is simple. It's convenient. Nothing beats being able to shop in your pj's at 3 a.m. It's ecologically friendly. Imagine if catalogues for everything you searched for online came to your house. (A scary thought in my house.) And, most importantly, it's relatively safe.

Some would argue that e-Commerce has eliminated personal customer service from the shopping experience, but I disagree. I think e-Commerce has enhanced it.

At the Internet Retailers Conference 2011, Dealernews.com reported that "e-Commerce is a behemoth to be reckoned with", but goes on to say that it in no way means the end of the brick and mortar store.

Far from it.

A study by BIA/Kelsey found that 97% of consumers do research online before making a purchase while Forrester Research found that 75% of those consumers prefer to buy local.

“So there’s a new type of commerce that we’re seeing,” says Ed Stevens, CEO of Shopatron, which calls itself  the No. 1 retail-integrated e-Commerce solution for branded manufacturers, distributors and multi-channel retailers. “It’s not online stealing from offline, but it’s an online-offline hybrid. We’re seeing more growth in that area. It’s growing faster than just pure online commerce.”

Take Amazon, for example. When you make a purchase, you have the convenience of 1-click ordering (so, let's say you're ordering books, inflatable party sheep, and 1500 live ladybugs--all real listings, you don't have to place the orders separately.), plus you can see what else the other customers who bought what you're buying bought and you can read reviews  of those purchases. You're also protected by Amazon's buyer protection plan, so you don't have to worry about whether you're doing business with a con artist.

Vendio is one of the companies making e-Commerce a no brainer by enabling online merchants to sell on Amazon, eBay and a variety of other sales channels from one place thus reaching buyers wherever they are shopping.


The takeaway here is that the business of doing business has changed. If you don't have an online presence, you probably won't be around for very long, but the importance of personal customer service has not changed. If anything, it's just gotten bigger. Now, whether you love something, or hate it, you can let a few million others know via  social media.