Practically anyone who hears of the word “ecommerce” knows that it is any business whose processes are transacted via the Internet. There’s a storefront that displays the items and services, but a brick and mortar store or warehouse is not required. There’s a shopping cart that takes orders and provides details on shipping, availability, payment method, etc. There’s a payment processing system that may be a third party credit card processor or an in-house merchant account software. There’s customer service staff to take care of after-order issues and buyer loyalty.
But when it comes down to it, ecommerce is just a concept that is slowly growing in popularity, considering that Internet use has only mushroomed since the last one and a half decade. So, businesses that sprout here and there are only beginning to see the light of day in accepting online transactions. Most of these ecommerce stores engage in products that can be easily shipped, services that are in demand for the modern society, and items that are easily transferred through the Internet (i.e. digital products).
The bottom line is that although the medium has changed, the goal and techniques remain the same. An entrepreneur wants to make money, wants an interesting way to make money, and wants to fulfill his life with the money he makes off his business. It can be done in any manner, with the Internet as the cutting edge medium.
Lucky are the merchants who have done their share of selling way before the Internet has blossomed, because they have learned how to make it in their niche with certain success. But for startups, the learning curve can be steep, although swift success is not impossible.
What if merchants who are out to make money buying, selling, or franchising items (perishable or not) found a way to make their store extremely efficient that it changes their customers’ buying experience? What if I can order a Big Mac or a roast turkey for Thanksgiving within minutes by simply clicking online?
If you are a food business owner, you may be initially stumped. Why not just give the nearest store a call or simply order drive-thru?
But the point is that in this concept, ordering is done strictly through the Internet. People can’t call when they’re busy, they can’t drive to order and pick up the item on the store. They are ultimately Internet-dependent. Can fast food get any faster than what it already is?
I am on the road but the nearest Pizza Hut is 5 miles away. I want an all-meat pizza but I cannot drive to Pizza Hut because I am doing an urgent photo shoot on a children’s event. I have my phone but my battery is dead and needs to be recharged first. Or it doesn’t have mobile browser capability. There’s no phone booth anywhere near.
I want an ecommerce store where I can see what’s the latest on the menu and is programmed to take food orders from any place where I am, right from my laptop/PDA/mobile browser. I want an ecommerce store that automatically generates a response whether my food is available and on what time I can get it. In fact I want an ecommerce store that makes clicking ultimately more convenient than making a call.
Can an ecommerce store give me the option to order my pizza from my laptop? Not a bad idea. If this is another avenue for ecommerce merchants to look into to increase profits because people can buy more and often online, then why not give it a try?
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