An Introduction To The Different Types Of Ecommerce Platforms

There are a number of ways a business can transact online. It can set up its own dedicated website with integrated transaction functionalities so customers can complete orders and payments online. It can also take advantage of different types of ecommerce platforms, where businesses can promote their brands, products and services and transact with customers who are users of these online platforms.

There are a number of different types of ecommerce platforms, each designed to serve a particular type of business. If you are a business owner, you can decide which type is most suited for helping you conduct your business online.

Contract Sites

Contract sites are platforms where people looking for freelancers or need help with short term projects can post their project requirements and have service providers bid on them. It lets buyers compare and select the professionals based on prices and reviews. It is ideal for services companies like plumbers, builders, web designers, software engineers and SEO professionals. From the business perspective, these websites provide a large source of work. They will always be able to find people who are in need of their services.

Marketplace

Everyone should be familiar with online marketplaces. They have been around since the introduction of the internet. These are sites where people can find almost anything to buy and buy directly online. The items you will find on a marketplace website are not being sold by the company that runs the marketplace but instead by independent sellers who join the marketplace website and set up their own virtual shops to sell their products. There are a number of well known international marketplace websites. For online sellers, these marketplaces provide a large pool of potential customers. Setting a virtual store on these marketplaces is like setting a stall or a shop inside a busy shopping mall. The sellers benefit from instant exposure to millions of virtual shoppers.

Ad Exchange

Online ad exchange websites or ad marketplaces are websites designed to help content publishers sell advertising on their websites. Content publishers that have built up a large audience can't always find advertisers to fill up their ad inventory. Unfilled ad space can't be recycled so it is better to try and sell them at a lower rate than to let them go to waste. These ad exchanges allow publishers to advertise the spare capacity on their website and the ad buyers can bid on these ad spaces. It means publishers no longer need to cold-call potential advertisers to try and sell their ad space and they can just advertise on these online ad exchange websites and ad buyers from all over the world will be able to see it.

Price Comparison

Price comparison websites are websites that help consumers find the best deal on a range of things from insurance, flight tickets to hotel rooms and credit cards. Customers like to use them because they can get the prices from a large number of vendors by entering their details only once. As a result of this convenience, price comparison websites often can attract a lot of virtual shoppers. Businesses can't afford not to be listed on these websites because if their customers use it and they are not listed, there is a good chance the customer will go with their competitor instead. Those businesses that participate on price comparison websites benefit from instant exposure to millions of virtual shoppers. It is a great way to gain access to new customers and steal customers from competitors.

Setting Up an Ecommerce Store: The Basics   The Benefits of an Online Store   Got $20? Why Not Start Your Own Business?   Online Shopping Carts That Are Safe and Reliable   Where Does E-Commerce Go?   

An Introduction To Different Types Of Internet Business

Before the telephone was invented business used to be done in person between the buyer and seller. Terms were agreed and money exchanged face to face. After the telephone was created, it created a whole new way to do business - over the phone and by fax. Terms can be agreed over the phone, contracts exchanged by fax and money sent over the wire. New technology brings new ways to doing business. It helps businesses reach new customers and make transaction simpler and faster. Now we have the internet, which lets people conduct more and more transactions online. It is far more powerful than the telephone because of the amount of data and the range of data that can be transmitted online and the speed of data transmission. It can bring new opportunities to businesses who figure out how to take advantage of it and threaten those that do not. It is very important for every business to have a good understanding of how to do business online. It is not just about buying and selling online. The internet can be used by all kinds of businesses.

Online Bookings

Businesses that provide services to customers can use the internet to promote its brand, services and take bookings online. It doesn't cost anything to have a booking system hosted online and it can be accessed by customers anywhere 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It is like having a booking agent who doesn't need to rest, who doesn't make mistakes and who doesn't ask for a penny in salary.

Online booking service allows customers to reach you at their own convenience even outside of normal office hours. Even if a customer couldn't honor his booking, his/her information is stored in a computer system, where you can easily organize and manage customer data for future marketing activities.

Online Selling

Everybody should be familiar with the idea of selling products online. It is very straight forward. The seller can create a website or a virtual store on an online marketplace, load their products and sell directly to customers. Payments will be completed online. Once the seller has received the payment, the item is dispatched by post. As online gaming industry grew, it created a new segment of ecommerce revolving around the selling of in-game virtual items.

Online Advertising

Online advertising is the forte of new media companies and content publishers. It works the same way as traditional media businesses such as newspapers and magazines, where the publisher makes money through advertising. Online advertising is paid based on cost per 1,000 ad impressions (CPM) so the higher the CPM and the greater the ad impressions a website can generate the more money it will make. New media companies therefore focus entirely on creating attractive and engaging content that will attract more people to the site and generate more page views (ad impressions). The most popular types of content include games, news, celebrity gossip, jokes, forums and how-to guides. Although a few independent bloggers have also been able to create big enough followings for their personal blogs that they can make a decent living out of online advertisements.

Setting Up an Ecommerce Store: The Basics   The Benefits of an Online Store   Got $20? Why Not Start Your Own Business?   Online Shopping Carts That Are Safe and Reliable   Where Does E-Commerce Go?