ABSTRACT
Building on the basics of web presence development, this chapter concentrates on selling goods online – be that to the end user or to another organization. E-commerce was the term used to describe any business conducted online – including sales, marketing, recruitment and logistics. Websites delivering e-commerce services can be divided into two main categories: Pure-play – where the organization trades online only and multi-channel– where the firm sells goods both offline and online. As with its offline equivalent – commonly referred to as logistics – fulfilment is often the neglected element of e-commerce. The success of Amazon and eBay owes much to the effort committed by both to the delivery process and its cost – and they have set standards that serious e-commerce sites have to match if they wish to attract, and keep, customers. Research from Episerver provides an insight into online consumer behaviour which may be a little disturbing for e-commerce sites in particular.
