E-Commerce

If you listen to the media the next big thing on the internet is e-commerce. The fact is that this one word encompasses a number of technologies and strategies.

Breaking it down there are basically 2 main areas; Business to Business and Customer to Business

Business to Business is where your company is dealing directly with another organisation. Both are usually trusted organisations and have built up a trust and understanding over a number of years. The types of transactions that could be handled are scheduling and ordering or payment for goods and services received. To undertake B2B e-commerce requires a great deal of coordination and cooperation on behalf of both parties. This is where all the activity is taking place at the moment.

A typical Business to Customer transaction is where you are providing goods for sale on an Internet web page and the business provides a secure online payment method (usually credit card). There is a certain amount of trust on behalf of the customer and a fairly large commitment by the Business that it can dispatch or deliver within a specified time.

Regardless of which scenario you see your business fall into, you will need to set up some arrangements with your bank. Usually there is the actual online account and a separate Merchant Account. Often the operating conditions of these accounts will require you to process and dispatch each order within a certain specified time, if you do not meet these targets (e.g.. 2 working days) the goods can be given to the customer or returned.

This is where we come to the most important consideration in e-commerce. Are your current business practices able to meet these new conditions? By this I mean; Do you have enough items in stock to fulfill your online orders? Are your internal ordering systems computerised and linked to your web site? Do you have transport and delivery arrangements in place?

Just as important is, why should a visitor trust you? Have you provided details on things like your Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions, Order Fulfillment, Delivery, Customer Support

In my opinion many small to medium sized Australian businesses will not be able to afford or justify an e-commerce site for some time. This will be because of the number of transactions they average and/or the cost of setting up and the cost of each transaction to them.

But all is not lost there are a number of alternatives, that are quick and simple for visitors to your website to use and easy for you to administer. Check out my Online Ordering page.

Below I have provided a list of Australian Banks, links to e-commerce pages and a summary table of the costs that you will incur.

Applications

Macromedia Drumbeat
Sausage Software - Business in a Box

Consumer Confidence

TRUSTe Privacy Program

Merchant Services

You need to have an e-commerce agreement with your bank and all banks now have them. New businesses must provide a business plan, financial projections and proof of incorporation and will pay slightly more than existing businesses. NOTE: this is for Australian currency only. I you wish to accept currency from other countries, you'll need to set up agreements with banks in those countries. Standard fees will be something like $500 setup then $100 per month and anything between 1.5% and 4.5% per transaction.

Schemes

Institution	Scheme	Set Up Fee	Monthly Fee
ANZ	Online Brochure	$0	$39.95 pm
ANZ	Online Catalogue	$0	$79.95 pm
ANZ	Online Store	$0	$149.95
ANZ	Custom-Built Site	$variable	$variable

E-Commerce

List of Banking institutions in Australia

Credit Companies

Merchant Facilities

Secure Pages

Digital Certificates

Applications

Consumer Confidence

Merchant Services

Schemes