Firstly we must understand why companies are being drawn towards selling their products online. An e-commerce site that is implemented well can significantly lower both order taking costs up front and also customer service after the sale has been made. For example being located on the Internet means that place does not enter into the marketing mix of an e-commerce company. As its customers will not visit the business, it means having a prominent high street location is no longer of importance; in fact a business can be set up in someone's home (if space for storage allows!). Also when considering mail order companies there is no longer the

The increase in the ability to undertake market research has inevitably led to the reductions in prices as more suppliers are able to compete in an electronically open market place. This increase in competition has lead to better quality and variety of goods through expanded markets and the ability to produce customised goods. When the motorbike company Dukati recently launched their online site they sold their stock within 31 minutes of opening with a popular feature being giving the customer the opportunity of designing the exact colour scheme of the bike.

For an e-commerce business to be successful it is essential that the sites are given thorough pilot tests so that faults can be found and also customer behaviour patterns can be learnt. It is possible that such a venture can take off as an amazing success however there is also the danger of overselling. This can cause potentially lethal consequences as if the server used is not big enough to cope with the demand then the site is likely to crash or be severly disrupted through overload. Indeed any e-commerce system should have some sort of early warning device to notify the programmers that there are problems as soon as possible.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1415
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)