What is E-Business?

The number one objective of E-business is to deliver a unique level of customer service that could not be delivered as effectively, efficiently and at as low a cost as by using Internet technology.

An E-business web site enables users to conduct transactions and access information online at any time. This can mean selling products or services but it certainly isn't limited to this.

Your Customers

So clients can view regularly and inexpensively updated online product catalogues and place orders.

They can also keep track of the status of current orders and shipments, view account information, purchasing history and a host of additional information which is relevant to them and to their ongoing relationship with the vendor.

They might also be able to access your customer service system on line, you might have a help desk available for monitoring incidents.

You might also run a customer forum to create a sense of community within your customer base.

Increasingly you will see requirements from your customers that you can interact via your web site or accounts system directly with their procurement system or accounts system. Such services are sometimes termed Web Services, and use technology such as SOAP and XML.

Your Sales Team

In the best of systems your sales people can access whatever information they require at any time from anywhere in order to provide customers with better service and to encourage increased sales.

Marketing staff are better able to present and promote products, services and special offers through the web site, as well as being able to track user activity on the site in order to determine which products and offers are generating the greatest amount of interest.

Your Admin Team

Accounting and Shipping staff greatly benefit from the automated processes which are an integral part of any true E-business operation thereby increasing efficiency, productivity, customer service and more, while substantially decreasing the chance of costly and annoying errors.

An increasing number of large customers are demanding their suppliers submit invoices electronically.

There are many advantages to sending information electronically. Once you have prepared and proofed information on a computer it is far less expensive to send it electronically than to print the information onto paper and send it by post. Even if sent by fax it requires handling and other delays.

The real benefits begin with information received being interpreted and filed by your computer automatically - saving man hours and eliminating human error.

At the lowest level a new sales order is received electronically, automatically validated for accuracy by the system, immediately stored in your order progress system and acknowledged to the customer. Finally the goods are quickly and accurately dispatched to the customer.