WWW.Yourcompany.Com
Stanley Zarowin · Journal of accountancy online/Journal of accountancy · 1999
Now's the time to get your business in the Web. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * NOW'S THE TIME to consider launching a commerce site on the Internet. You can bet that many of your competitors--at least the smart ones--are either on the Net already or are rushing to get aboard, because that's where the business is. * THE INTERNET IS providing new ways to sell, to advertise, to communicate with customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders. It's not only creating new business, it's creating new ways to do business and to be in business. * DON'T ASSUME THAT the Internet is just a venue for selling goods and services. It's also where a business can post its financial statements for investors and product catalogs for potential customers. In addition, it can be a place to gather inventory data and messages for out-of-the-office salespeople and other staffers, and where suppliers can receive purchase orders and submit invoices. * WEB SITES COME IN multiple styles--from a simple billboard-like design to a flashy interactive, customer-friendly store. Your job is to find the style that meets your unique business needs. The basic styles: * Static billboards, which are simple display ads that describe an enterprise's products and services and list prices, hours of operation and phone, fax or e-mail information. They are easy to set up. * Dynamic billboards, which are sites that contain information that needs frequent updating. * Database site, which links to a home-office database--provides inventory-status information to remote sales staff. * Virtual stores are sites where products can be displayed and sold. Detailed information is only a click away. * IF YOU'RE WAITING for the Internet to develop before you join this fast-moving trend, you may be waiting a long time. The Net will continue to grow and change, so get a move on. If your business hasn't launched a commerce site on the Internet or, worse yet, hasn't even considered one, it may be on the path to obsolescence. You can bet many of your competitors--at least the smart ones--are either on the Net already or are rushing to get aboard, because that's where the business is. Forecasts of Internet business--variously called e-commerce or e-business--are so astronomical that, frankly, they strain credibility. For example, Internet sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas this past year were four times that of the comparable 1997 period and double the forecast for the season. Whether last year's sales totaled $2 billion or $22 billion or whether next year's sales will be triple or sextuple that volume isn't the point. The point is Internet commerce is growing, the growth is exponential, and it's creating new ways to sell, to advertise and to communicate with customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders. In short, the Net is not only creating new business, it's creating new ways to do business and to be in business. For those who aren't plugged into the Net and are chary about the move, the following may provide incentive to suspend skepticism and hang out a new shingle: www.yourbusiness.com. CLICK UNTIL YOU DROP One of the Net's success stories is amazon.com (see exhibit 1, at right), which has become an icon of e-commerce innovation. In just a few years, this David of retail booksellers has made the publishing Goliaths tremble and then, wisely, clone their fast-growing competitor's e-commerce methods. [Exhibit 1 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Amazon site is more than a virtual store that sells books: It tracks customers' buying habits; greets each log-on by name; offers a custom menu of titles based on past purchases; and, finally, when customers have made their selections, processes each order with a few mouse clicks. In fact, once you become a customer, all your essential data (reading interests, shipping address and credit card information) are stored in Amazon's computer, and a sale can be consummated with just a single mouse click. …