E-commerce and International Markets

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E-commerce and International Markets
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Key topics

• What is e-commerce?
• Why should small businesses trade online?
• How can it help a small business reach
  international markets?

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What is e-commerce?
Using the Internet to trade and communicate with
customer and suppliers
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How e-commerce can be used

• Pre-sales
• Offer product information / frequently-asked
  questions
• Provide samples
• Customer testimonials
• Making the sale online
• Customer places order to meet requirements
• Take payment delivery instructions
• Allow customers to track status of order
• Post-sales
• Customer support post sale questions
• Adjustments / returns / complaints
• Follow-up sales, upgrades

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Making the shop-front work

• Professional e-commerce software packages can
  build credibility of small businesses
• Important for products to be displayed out
  intuitively (including search)
• Pricing and product information has to be
  sufficiently detailed
• User-interface is crucial customers need to
  know where they are in the buying process

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Clear explanation of what the website sells
Sales promotions to encourage purchase
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Allow potential customers to search easily
Intuitive use of categories to group products
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Taking payments

• Customers expect to be able to pay for goods
  services online
• Online trading requires dedicated banking /
  payment set-up (merchant account)
• Credit / debit card account
• PayPal is a popular alternative for start-ups
• Online sales generally good news for a small
  business cash flow

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Reaching an international market

• Online trading allows even the smallest business
  to reach a more global audience
• The products still have to be relevant and priced
  competitively
• Likely to be achieved using paid online
  advertising search engine traffic
• Care needed on
• Payment security
• Shipping delivery handling returns

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