WELCOME
The
WEB as a market place
A
short quick guide to using the web as a market place.
Contents
of this page ;
What is selling on the Web these
days.
How to put your stall out.
Paying and receiving payment.
Getting goods from the seller to the
buyers.
Drawbacks to using the Web.
Market Research
Guarantees.
Links
Acknowledgements
1 What is selling on the web
these days;
Houses,
Motorbikes, Pornography, Music CDs, Books, Comics, Plants,
Computer Software, Food, Theme Hoildays. Anything that you will
see advertised for sale in newspapers, magazines, billboards or
on TV will be advertised for sale in cyberspace.
2 How to put your market
stall out;
In
cyberspace web pages are your market stall and just like down
there on dear old Earth your sales patter consists of words and
images. To convince your customer that you are reliable and
compentent you learn to look and act the part. You do the same
thing in Cyberspace.
Web
space and web design services are available from many many
companies. If you can afford to use them then pay them and let
them do the hard work. BUT>>>>.............>>>>>>don't rush in.
OTHERWISE;
Get youself a web page author, many are
free and come with the browser, and learn to put up a web
page. If you find that dfficult then check out your local
education institutes. All sorts of web and computer related
courses are available.
Many ISPs offer Web Space as part of
their deal. Companies such as fortunecity and geocities offer
free space with the condition that you must have their
adverts as part of the site. At some stage you may decide to
get a domain name but this is not absolutely necessary. This
page is in a fortunecity domain.
When you have your page up here in
cyberspace then you must figure out how to attract people to
it. In particular you must attract the kind of people who
will become your customers. Again you will find companies
willing to submit your site to various search engines for a
price. Or.;...............
......................................................
.do it yourself. Most
search engines offer easy to follow step by step instructions
so that you can easily submit your site. Most do it for free.
But there are many many many search engines. Yahoo and Alta
Vista are the most popular but check out other search engines
which may specialize in your area. If there is a specialist
area for your product go and find it....................................... your customers already
have.
You should also be aware not only of your
competition but of the nature of the Web itself. The web is
so volatile that only through continous effort will you be
able to drum up an audience.
Do consider the ways you would attrach
customers back on Old Earth and adapt them to the market
place. A free gift is often a way to attract attention. A
free gift up here in Cyberspace may be a simple interesting
item such as......
this.
Tell people about your site. Do this by e
mailing related sites and newsgroups. If you know people with
Web sites get them to link to yours. Use your 
CLASSIFIED
ADDS. These sites will accept your item to sell in much the same
way as a Earth newspaper would. Some will charge a fee, some will
not.
3 Getting goods from the
seller to the buyer;
There
are a number of methods.
The Earth based mail is a long
established supplier of services. Commonly called
snail mail to distinguish it from e mail. Since the
advent of e mail, snail mail may seem a little old
fashioned. BUT.............................................you can send almost
anything to almost anywhere with snail mail. .....................................................................There are of course
different types of snail mail. ......................................................................Some quicker than
others.
......................................................................Some Cheaper than
others ..................................................................... FIND THE ONE THAT
SUITS YOU ; ............... this may not be as
difficult as it sounds. Remember the post office has been
in business a lot longer than you, me or the web. They
know their business and it is their business to help your
business. But don't let that stop you from shopping
around. Make sure the price of goods covers all aspects
of delivery. .................................................................................
Personally deliver the goods. Some suppliers such
as TESCOs will deliver your goods to your door, Local
delivery is a major under developed aspect of web
marketing. At the moment this sort of service
is only offered by the big supermarkets. As time goes by
I don't think it will be long before the local corner
shop realises that they too are just a phone call away.
- Arrange to
have the goods collected in person..
........................................................................................................................
- If the item
you are buying is software of some sort such as computer
programmes, music, stock information or access to
particular areas of the web then the goods are usually downloaded as soon as your
credit card is verified.
4 Paying and receiving
payment;
The major method of
payment is through credit card transactions. Talk to your bank and
consider some of the web companies who offer to handle these
services for you. All of these companies will offer some form of
guarantee and security.
AS A
SUPPLIER YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS this applies down there on
Terra Firma as much as up here where the cyber streets are paved
with cyber gold. This means if you get ripped off or your
customers get ripped off because they use your shop you are
responsible. ............................. ..eyes open
Another way of
payment is cheques or bank transfare. As cheques do take several days to clear
and goods can take several days to be delivered this is a method
with less risks for all parties involved.
Let them pay cash. If you are using the web
just to advertise your goods then include location details and
instructions, such as a good map, opening times, email, fax
numbers, etc , so that people can visit your Earth bound stall.
5 Drawbacks to using the Web;
- Cost.
It
seems that Hull is the only place in England with free
local phone calls. This is because Hull has it's very own
telephone system. Otherwise the various companies
offering telephone services also offer access at local
rates or cheaper under certain conditions. In many seller
and buyer premises the telephone is a luxury as much as a
necessity. Some of your customers will not be able to
afford to come to your stall. The Web may be the greatest
technological event in current human history. It may be
the greatest library ever. It may be the biggest shop
ever. BUT ..............................................................................................
you
HAVE to pay to use it. .........................................................................................
- The
web is difficult to use. Dispite of, and also because of,
the plethora of search engines available. When you type
in a theme or word it can take a long sometimes boring,
sometimes interesting, but always a very easily
distracting, search, to get what you want. And it's very
very easy to give up. Quite simply at the moment and for
the forseeable future the web is indexed very badly. ................................................................................................................................................................... ................. A possible solution
is the free access being offered by such companies as
HMV, WATERSTONES and TESCOs. They offer free access to
the Web in the hope that in having their site so easy to
hand you will shop with them rather than search the Web.
It will be interesting to see how this aspect of web
shopping develops. ........................................................................................................................................................
- The
web encourages duplicity. You cannot see who you are dealing
with. People are concealed and choose concealment by
using false names. By it's very nature concealment is
encouragement for people to do activities which they
might not do if they thought they could be seen. This
encouragement may simply manifest as people playing
pranks or as more serious events. ......................................................
- The
Web encourages suspicision. Concealment is also a fertile groud
for suspicion. Web usage calls for people to submit
information. But people are suspicious of submiting any
information. In particular personal information that if
messed about with by any one, even for a joke, will have
life threatening implications. People do not trust
submiting information to people they cannot see via a
process they cannot see.
6 Market Research;
In my own
market research suspicison and general ignorance about the web
was the major reason for not using the web as a market. But my
research also indicated that more than half the people surveyed
actually had expericnecd buying on the web.
I conclude that
with time and continous research and positive marketing people
will become less wary of dealing with credit cards over the web.
BUT there are companies dealing on the web who do not take credit
cards. In other words if you want to deal on the web then put up
a web page and start.
7 Guarantees;
All
business runs on trust. You trust that the information on this
page is acurate. You trust that the goods you buy in normal
transactions are what you ordered. In this same way you put your
trust in the web sellers to supply your goods. You also trust
that the information you give is treated confidentially and in a
proper manner.
If you are
dealing with a reputable or Earth established company you will have
as good a chance of getting your goods as if you had ordered the
same goods through normal Earth methods.
If you do
get bad service complain
to the company in question and every search engine where you find
any information about them. And don't forget you can always call
the police. But above all remember this; MOST PEOPLE ARE HONEST
and MOST TRADERS WANT TO BE HONEST AND ARE HONEST. But, just like
Earth, Cyberspace has it's share of crooks and fools.
LET THE BUYER BEWARE
8 Links;
crash course in credit card
processing ; This is as it says if
you're interested then it's a starting point. It explains the
processes involved quite well but it is a commerical site.
MERCHANT ACCOUNTS - For
Online E-Commerce - Pre-Approved : I've never used this company but I
include it just as a starting point. If you are seriously
interested in setting out a stall then this is just one of many
such companies. Take your pick and pay your money.
the plant people ; An interesting site with
a lot of plant information concerning a subject that you might
not think would sell on the internet. A company that supplies
plants to offices.
Yahoo! - How to Suggest Your
Site : A
good easy guide to getting your site advertised on what is
probably the most popular search engine. But my experience so far
is that it does take a bit of time and continual checking to get
any sort of audience and do try more than one engine.
Beaucoup Search Engines main menu. A vast
collection of engines covering a vast range of subjects. Worth
sticking in your favourites or bookmark.
Baxendale Bulletin Board : Leo Baxendale was the man
who created The Bach Street Kids, Minnie The Minx, and The Swots
and The Blots among many many great and very funny characters.
One of the greatest comic artists in the world. Pick up any comic
today, paticularly The Beano, and you'll see his influence. His
web site also offers a CDROMIC which is a comic on CD. Well worth
a visit if only to stir old memories.
The Beano : The Beano was recently voted The Greatest
Comic Ever. This site is worth a visit as it has some multi media
presentations of known Beano characters and is designed to appeal
to kids of all ages. It also offers some history.
I'm Mark e mail me
9 Acklowledgements;
The clip art came
from ; CLIPART.COM
The Site came from
: Fortunecity
If you are
interested in further education you might also like to check out
this site ;
The Open University
This page was
created as part of a group completing an on line delivered
course, a part of an Open University course. Check out the rest
of the group click here