Internet and small businesses

Essay by johnnie December 2008

download word file, 8 pages 0.0

The internet has had enormous effects in businesses, not only in Los Angeles, but the world over. Internet usage has favored small businesses in many ways. Theoretically, all sites on the Internet are equal, and the small businesses can launch complex sales programs and implement effective globalization strategies on the Internet just like the bigger companies. However, certain guidelines must be observed by owners of small businesses in order to enjoy the benefits of the Internet commerce. This study provides some practical implementation strategies to work at each stage of the Web site life cycle in an effort to help small businesses implement successful Internet commerce programs.

Electronic commerce pertains to a wide variety of business activities, which are conducted electronically. It covers a range of electronic interactions between organizations and their up and downstream trading partners (Steinfield, 1995; Umar, 1997). Many technologies can be used in support of electronic commerce.

As described by the Electronic Commerce Association, it may involve streamlining processes, interconnectivity, Internet, electronic data interchange (EDI), electronic funds transfer, e-mail, security, electronic document management, workflow processing, middleware, barcoding, imaging processing, smart cards, voice responses, and networking.

Among those technologies, the one which has recently become the focus of attention from all business management is the Internet. The potential of the Internet and in particular, the World Wide Web (WWW), has gained incredible notoriety as commercial mediums and markets (Alhadeff and Cohen, 1997; Hoffman et al., 1995; Indermaaur, 1997; Seeley, 1997; Senn, 1996). The tremendous growth of the Internet and the WWW has led to an enormous amount of consumers and firms participating in a global online marketplace. The rapid, and somewhat unexpected, adoption of the Internet as a commercial medium has forced firms to experiment with new ways of marketing to and doing business with existing...