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The Evolution of
Internet Commerce
Moving beyond a ‘window-shopper's paradise'
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Business New Haven
9/8/1997
By: Steve Chrystone
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Everywhere you turn today, people are talking and writing about the Internet. People are signing up for Internet accounts in record numbers and each little hiccup in the network gets covered in the media. Still, the question remains: What does it all mean for my business?
How and when do you add the Internet to your mix of your customer contact tools: mail, phone and the tried and true face-to-face contact?
First, take a look at your customers and your business. Not everyone can benefit from a Web presence. If your customer base isn't there, then there isn't much value in your being there.
If you've identified the need to be on-line, then it's well worth your time to take a good look at how the technology of Internet commerce is emerging.
Internet Publication: The First Wave
The World Wide Web grew out of a networked repository of computer files, an on-line library of sorts. As this evolved to an easy-to-use point-and-click interface, more and more people have started publishing Web pages, posting information from corporate profiles to hobbies and “fanzines.”
This first wave of Internet technology is not unlike the printing press. It allows individuals to easily publish and share information. Deadlines disappear with “continuous” publication, and Web pages are updated as information changes.
The Web allows businesses to place their information in front of interested customer's eyes, and make sure that information is timely and easy to update.
Internet Transactions:
The Second Wave
After putting a beautiful, easy-to-update product catalogue on the web, why not go a step further and make it possible for customers to order on-line with a credit card? That need is driving the current wave of Internet commerce, Internet transactions and electronic commerce.
Businesses know that customers can be brought to the point of buying via their Web pages. But when they stop, perhaps to hang up their connection to make the call, you can lose them. That's why more and more companies are accepting credit card orders directly over their Web sites. With a few clicks, they've ordered and are on their way.
Security, both real and perceived, has been the greatest hurdle to overcoming. Realistically, all buyers accept some risk associated with using credit cards. With heightened awareness on Internet security, instances of card-number theft have been reported, but for the most part the new software-encryption technology provides the necessary security.
Internet Communications: The third wave
The first wave of the Internet allows people to bring text and images to the world. With Internet transactions, the door's now open: They can come in and buy, but the last part of the equation is missing:
Enter Internet call centers, the next and emerging wave of Internet business technology. It is now possible to put a button on your Web page which, with a click, allows customers to talk to someone without ever needing to leave the page or hang up the phone.
Using Internet telephony technology, the very same connection that the customer is using to browse the Web can be used to carry a voice call to a customer service representative.
The service of a live person combines with the flexibility of the Web to produce a sale. And catalogue sales are just one application for this emerging new technology.
Wherever you are in the life cycle, you should be keeping a close eye on its potential implications for your business. Internet presence can make a small company look big and allow it to compete in new markets and reach new customers. It can turn a regional company into a national, or even international, one. Just like the telephone, the Internet has the potential to transform the way we conduct business. BNH
Steve Chrystone is sales manager for Lucent Technologies' business communications systems division in Connecticut.
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