[August 8th, 1998]

See Also   Why You Need an Add URL Page   A Tale Of Two Sites   Don't Duplicate...Differentiate!   The Continuing Battle Against Online Fraud   Taking Care of the Pennies   How To Recession-Proof Your Business   Your Fulfillment Choices   The Silent Thief - How to Get Rid of TopText   A Checklist for Accepting Credit Cards Online   Five Questions That Will Help YOU Succeed Online   Back To "E" Basics   Beyond SET: Enhanced Security for Online Transactions   Just How Serious is Online Fraud?   Your Direct Channel to Customer Service   Online Customer Service: Best (and Worst) Practices   How to Survive the Dot.Com Shakeout   Step-by-Step to Your Own Profitable Web Business   Where Do Average People Find Business Success?   What's REALLY Required To Start An Online Home Business?   CRM in SmallBiz: Disappointing Misconceptions

Like many of you reading this, I make a living out of Web commerce. I run a consulting company that helps SME's sell online as well as publishing and editing Sell It!. However, Web commerce is more than just a job for me - it's a passion. As a result, I spend a considerable amount of time visiting and shopping in Web stores.

Why? For a start, it's more convenient. I need to fit shopping around my major priorities in life – my business, my clients and my family. So I rarely have time to visit a bricks-and-mortar store during their limited opening hours. Also, being based in the UK, buying from abroad can save considerable sums of money even once the import duties and carriage costs are accounted for.

Now over the last two weeks I have been making some capital purchases for my business. Based on the above, you would no doubt assume that I bought it all on the Web - but you'd be wrong. All my purchases were made over the telephone, and here's why.

One of the oddities of the UK tax system for small businesses is that we are able to write off against profit 25% of the cost of all capital purchases made during the year, even if the purchase was not made until the final day. The end of my financial year is imminent, and in order to maximise the tax advantage I needed to ensure that the equipment I was ordering was invoiced and shipped before it finished.

And that's what dissuaded me from buying on the Web. For, at the risk of sounding too much like an IBM e-business ad, the majority of Web stores do not currently have ties in to their legacy inventory systems. And therefore when you place an order there is no guarantee that the goods you requested are in stock or will be shipped by a certain date.

So in view of the time constraints I faced I needed to speak to a real live person, to confirm the goods were in stock and that they would be despatched immediately. I also needed the reassurance of an order reference number and a name I could call the next day to confirm the goods had actually left and to get shipping details.

So does this mean I'm turning my back on Web commerce, that I'm some kind of traitor? Absolutely not! There are no doubts in my mind that Web commerce will grow to become a significant new sales channel, even here in Europe.

Although I did not place my orders online, I did use the Web for researching products and prices. And I'm in good company here, according to CyberDialogue's American Internet User survey. They reported that 36% of people who retrieved information on the Web eventually went to a local store to make their purchase.

My experiences though, have served to remind me of two very important factors about Web based commerce.

First, those of us working at the Web commerce "coal face" can all too easily become blinkered and forget just how immature Web based commerce really is. Sure it has many benefits and is growing rapidly. But the underlying technologies and support infrastructure still have some major shortfalls.

And secondly, we need to remember that customers will use our stores in different ways. Too many stores are structured to reflect the way their designers think the customers ought to use them, that is display the goods, populate a shopping cart and then move on to the online checkout.

The reality is that many online shoppers will choose to use our stores in a radically different way, to research product details, to request further information and to purchase using more traditional methods.

So here's my challenge for you. Put yourself in the position of an online shopping novice. Imagine that you're someone who's scared of giving your credit card details online and very reluctant to give out personal details. Then visit your store. Now how does it look? Can you find all the information you need without having to give out any personal information or without first taking out a shopping cart? Is it easy to request further information? And are more traditional purchasing methods given equal prominence with your online checkout?

Do you agree with me? I'd love to hear your comments.