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E-commerce has become so widespread that it is difficult to remember that it is still in its relative infancy. Out of the rubble of the dot.com bust came a variety of surviving business models that worked. These business models typically integrate all elements of doing business into an electronic platform, including marketing, sales, supply chain management, order processing, customer service, and accounting. Best of all, with proven models already in place, the barriers for new businesses to join the growing world of e-commerce have been considerably lowered.

While a company could build a rudimentary e-commerce presence via its own web site, e-commerce solutions providers have much to offer in terms of established platforms which offer economies of scale and customer familiarity.

Benefits of E-Commerce

While e-commerce solutions can be seen as performing a series of discrete functions, from a planning standpoint they should be viewed more broadly as supporting key strategic business goals. The following are some examples:

• Reducing start-up costs for a new business. Many successful businesses operated on a shoestring budget in their early days, and e-commerce solutions make that more possible than ever by eliminating many of the physical costs of establishing a sales presence.
• Lowering personnel costs. Wages are only part of the story when it comes to personnel costs; what really challenges employers is the rate of healthcare cost increases. E-commerce solutions reduce these costs by providing a viable alternative to a range of functions that previously had to be staffed.
• Reducing operating costs. E-commerce solutions reduce the need for office space and sales outlets, lowering real estate, rental, and utility costs.
• Widening geographic footprint. It used to take years before a business could even think of going global. E-commerce solutions make the logistics far more readily mastered.
• Going green. An e-business is a green business, from eliminating commuter and shopper travel to enabling more direct shipping (warehouse to customer, rather than via a retail outlet).

 Range of E-Commerce Solutions

A range of e-commerce solutions vendors can provide the benefits listed above. They may work in concert with a company's own Web presence, or provide the electronic equivalent of shelf space on their own Web sites. In any case, e-commerce solutions vendors offer the advantage of having already worked through the considerable logistical challenges of doing business online. The following are some of the specific functions they perform:

• Order taking and processing
• Customer data security
• Payment
• Providing sales platforms

Regarding the last function, the nature of e-commerce sales platforms continues to evolve, even branching into the interactive virtual world of Second Life. Different vendors provide different capabilities, so companies who compare information from a range of vendors are best positioned to find the right fit for their strategic needs.