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5 Oct 2000, Singapore

Dear Dr.E-commerce,

1.) What would be the compelling reasons for successful old economy SMEs to set up web shop fronts, when e-commerce itself is subjected to variables such as availability of internet connectivity, computers, backend servers and knowhow of surfing skills etc.

2.) What are the recommended ways to make one website stand out from others when, in time to come, millions and millions of websites jamming the information highway?

Thankyou,

KK

Dear KK:

1) There can be a number of reasons for an old-economy SME to set up an e-shop front. Some reasons depend on the nature of the business. Products which can be delivered digitally, such as software, music, text, etc can obviously derive tremendous logistical advantages from e-commerce. More generally, companies can benefit by expanding their reach. This is particularly true in small countries like yours which have a limited local market. Singapore has long had a reputation as being (among other things) a great place to shop. Singaporean e-business can e-market with a slogan like "now you don't need to come to Singapore to take advantage of our bargains" (but for goodness sake, don't tell the tourism promotion board I suggested this!). Also an important reason to go on line is because the competition may already be on-line or making preparations to do so. Finally, setting up web shop fronts enable businesses to serve their customers better and in new ways, from providing on-line product information to allowing customers to design their own products to establishing communities for customers; all of this depending, of course, on the nature of the business.

2) Just as shops on Orchard Road (main shopping area in Singapore) need to market themselves, so too do e-shops on the web. Methods of promotion include listings in search engines, banner advertisements, advertisements in e-newsletters, press releases, traditional advertising (ie. TV, radio, print, etc) and having a domain name that people will naturally use to find particular products (such as www.car.com). Moreover, it is important to have a good web site that keeps people on the site and has them coming back again and again. Providing useful content on the web site and developing communities around the web site are methods of doing this.

My associate Michael Richter of Michael-Richter Marketing provided input for this answer.

All the best,

Dr. Ecommerce

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