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25 Jun 2001, Nigeria

Dear Dr. Ecommerce:

I am thinking of bringing up the idea of setting up an E-commerce department in my company, we are an Internet service provider. The fact is, when it comes to e-commerce, I am like a baby and would like to be guided so I don't make a big fool of myself.

Thank you,

Deeollu

 

Dear Deeollu:

I think this could be a very good idea. E-commerce is, of course, a wide field. But you will clearly want to offer e-commerce services that are relevant to your current customer base (it's easier to sell to existing customers and people like them).

Assuming your business customers are mostly small to medium-sized business, you will probably want to provide an on-line shopping-mall where your customers can set up shop and sell their products. This should include, at the very least, these features for shopowners...

  • a simple interface that allows shopowners to create their on-line shop

  • a simple catalogue tool that allows shopowners to put their products on the web.

  • a shopping cart system that allows customers to buy products from the shopowner

  • a payment system that allows customers to pay shopowners.

The best thing to do would be to look at some on-line malls, such as Yahoo Shopping, 123Plaza and others. In addition, you should look at other ISPs, in Nigeria and elsewhere, to see what kind of e-commerce services they offer their customers.

On the other hand, if your customers are big companies, then you will probably need to develop customised solutions for each customer. In this case, you will really need one or more expert e-commerce consultants to work with your clients, determine their needs and define solutions.

In any event, you will eventually need to hire some e-commerce experts to help get your new service up and running.

Good luck,

Dr. Ecommerce

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