Net sales

Just a few years ago, business web sites were little more than a novelty.

Now they're becoming a strategic necessity

The first year we had an Internet site our sales doubled, and I attribute 70% of that increase to our presence on the Net," says Roswell James, president of Roswell Cyberspace Computer Book Store in Halifax and one of the early pioneers of online marketing. His was one of the first commercial ventures on the Internet, back in the 1980sin the days when you could get "flamed" just for posting an ad on the Net.

Things have changed since then, and business on the Internet is now considered to be a strategic necessity. Today, James's store has a modern web site at www.roswell.com, one of the more successful commercial sites for his line of business. The company is thriving, and continues to sell computer books around the world from its Halifax location. James's online accomplishments were achieved by following the sort of common-sense strategies that could be applied to almost any business.

Less than four years ago, web sites were little more than a novelty. The first generation of business site was informational: a site provided "brochureware" to clients, and companies hurried to convert their existing documents, brochures and data into web format. If a business had a web site, it was usually a labour of love created and managed by computer gurus. The presumption at the time was that a site offered no strategic importance to the business.

Now, however, businesses recognize that a web site provides a major link with customers, a powerful marketing tool, and even a "transactional" vehicle, enabling visitors to make purchases, design their own products, consolidate financial information, and share information with others in discussion groups. In other words, the web site could become the main storefront as electronic commerce gains in popularity.

With the advent of transactional web sites, companies have begun to change their business models to fit the new purchasing process. Today, it's not unusual to see "design and build" applications on the Net: the customer specifies his or her preferences; the order is then transmitted to a supplier, who builds the product or service according to the customer's design. Levi Strauss & Co. created a site that enabled customers to design their own jeans, which were then custom-manufactured and delivered by courier. The site was a success, but it was short-lived: pressure from retailers (the entrenched intermediaries) forced Levi to discontinue the practice. More common are consumerdesigned information services, such as CRAYON ("create your own newspaper") or the PointCast news network. Sites like this need to be secure, robust and available - to attract visitors, they need to have the look and feel of a small-town store.

A key factor in successful small-town commerce, and one that still exists today in web-site commerce, is location. After all, potential customers have to at least pass by the door if a business is going to make a go of it. Of course, success depends on more than that - the business needs to find a way to get them to stop and look at the merchandise. It also needs to find a way to get these customers to spend their money.

None of this has changed with the genesis of business web sites. While there are plenty of people wandering around on the web, a business still needs to make it easy for them to find "the store"- particularly those consumers who are most likely to buy what's on "the shelves." Whether it's a computer book store - or a firm of CAs - the goal is to make people stop, come in and look around, and purchase some of the goods or services available. These realities underlie some of the crucial strategies in designing and creating web pages.

STEP 1. DESIGNING A SITE

The first step is to assess the purpose: do you want to provide information or enable customers to purchase goods or services? Will you require a site that can execute sales, cash receipts, accounts receivable and the movement of inventory? It's important to decide on the business objectives for the web site before you commit yourself to the actual design. If you arrive at several objectives, start off with a site that meets one or two of your goals in order to gain the initial experience start small but think big.

Part of your planning will also involve some cost-benefit analysis. Keep in mind that developing a site need not be very expensive, but the rewards can be hard to estimate. Learning HTML code to format your information is no longer necessary, but basic computer skills are. Several good, user-friendly development tools are available to help build a site and keep your costs down (see "Author! Author!" on p. 15).

Site maintenance is going to be an ongoing cost. An outdated web site can actually do more harm than good, and does not enhance the image of your operation. Site maintenance can be contracted out to freelance specialists or assumed by staff, but there's no escaping the need for regular support. "How much" will depend on the site's complexity and the type of information to be maintained.

STEP 2. POSITIONING THE SITE

Establishing a web site doesn't necessarily mean that people will be able to find it. True, they might stumble on it, but the challenge is to make it easy for potential clients or customers to locate it. Thinking about how people use the Net and the World Wide Web helps when you're designing a site of your own.

When people search for things, they usually do it by using one of the search engines, such as AltaVista, Lycos, Yahoo and Excite. Any new web site should be registered with the major search engines. Since most of these tools pick up the title and the first line of a web site, it's important to think of which words people might use in their search, and to make sure these words are included.

Roswell James wanted to sell computer books, so he made sure that the name of his store included the words "computer" and "book" - Roswell Computer Book Store. (He added the word "cyberspace" later.) You also need to consider registering your own domain name. This enables your Internet address to be more closely identified with the company name. James has his own domain, called roswell, so the name shows up in the web-site address of www.roswell.com. Familiar examples include www.microsoft.com, and www.ibm.com.

Some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) allow an organization the use of a "virtual" domain name. If your ISP does not support a "virtual" domain, then the address will also include the name of the provider (such as www.istar.com/companies/private/~roswell). Having your own "virtual" domain name makes it possible to change the ISP without having to change your site address.

Although many ISPs will register your domain name for a fee, you can also do it yourself. Obtaining a domain name involves making an application to InterNIC through the associated web site (rs. internic.net) and paying a registration fee of $100(US) to cover the first two years. Names are gradually being used up, however, and more than one organization has tried to register a name only to find that someone else has beaten them to it.

STEP 3. ATTRACTING CUSTOMERS

How do you get customers to stay a while? "The key to building a successful site is putting yourself in the shoes of the shopper," says James. "We designed our site saying `Now I want to buy a computer book and I've come to this computer site, how am I going to find what I want?"' His answer was to design a simple "home" page that displays all the basic information a customer would want: Who am I dealing with? How do I order? How do I pay for it? Where can I search for the books I want? All of these questions are clearly addressed by the "menu" on the home page. A general rule in web design is that a visitor should never be more than three mouse clicks away from the needed information.

James took care not to overlook his local customers either. Information about the store in Halifax was displayed on the web site, in recognition of the fact that many local customers would access the web site in order to learn about the physical location where they could go to talk to the staff, browse through the 8,000 books in stock and buy them onsite the old-fashioned way.

STEP 4. MAKING THE SALE

According to James, the next step was to recognize that he was starting a mailorder business. "I needed to identify the customer's concerns. If I was watching television and a commercial came up selling a music video, would I call and give these people my credit card number and buy it?"

Even though a particular server may have enough security to handle creditcard purchases, customers will have concerns regarding such transactions. That's why it's important to provide them with an alternative means to buy the good or service. One approach is to allow them to set up an account, and have them guarantee payment with their credit cards "offline," by filling in a form which is returned by regular mail. Another method is to use one of the online payment services, such as DigiCash. Here the service establishes an account with a customer offline, enabling a business to direct charges to the service for payment much like a business would use a Visa or MasterCard account. Still another approach is to take the order online and simply bill the customer for subsequent payment. While this represents some credit risk, it may be an acceptable degree of risk for certain types of transaction, such as paid magazine subscriptions.

Orders are relatively easy to process on the web. Facsimiles of standard order forms can be placed on the site, and customers can submit their requests by e-mail, "snail mail," or fax. Telephone numbers -- especially 1-800 numbers should also be displayed on the site.

STEP 5. SECURITY

Security is always an issue when monetary transactions occur, and, while it's improving on the web, there are still some risks attached to online purchases. It is possible to create secure sites, using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) or S-HTTP techniques. Under the latter, customers can identify a secure site using Netscape Navigator: the small key in the lower left corner of the browser screen will close. Most sites display a key with a break in the middle, denoting no particular security precautions.

When establishing a web site on a private server, it may be important to install a firewall - a special computer configuration that will provide one controlled entry point into the server. If you are going to publish your web site on an ISP's server, make some careful inquiries about the security precautions taken by the ISP There have been some well-publicized cases of hackers getting into sites and leaving their mark. Security will always present some risk, but the degree of risk that is acceptable will vary depending on the type of operation and the client or customer base.

STEP 6. KEEP IT SIMPLE

Web-site designers love to dress up their creations. Smiling faces, jumping beans, scrolling menus, blinking graphics, pictures, video, sound, and colour may be eye-catching, but that doesn't mean they're necessary. Re-examine the written objectives of your site before implementing too many fancy techno-tricks. A welldesigned web site should be:

Clean and attractive. It should balance aesthetics and content, and ensure the contents are in context.

Simple. View it from the customer's perspective, to ensure that it will meet their expectations.

Local. Don't forget the "three click" rule. Responsive. Make sure that the visitor's questions receive answers and post them to a FAQ ("frequently asked questions") list where appropriate.

Excellent. Cutting corners on site development and maintenance may not result in the site (or the image) you want. Visible. Advertise your site name, both on the Net and off, through business cards, brochures, advertisements, newsletters and other announcements.

A web site may provide your operation with new opportunities. Calculating a business case for potential benefits like increased sales, reduced costs or improved customer service will help you decide whether building a business web site is a strategic solution for you.

[Author Affiliation]

Jonathan Andrews, CISA, CA, FCA (England and Wales), is president of Full Circle Management Ltd. in Winnipeg, and provides IT consulting and training services.

Gerald Trites, CISA, FCA, is an assistant professor with Saint Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and has written extensively on IT.