E-Commerce
The Small Business Opportunity
Today, small businesses (defined as those businesses with less than 100 employees and/or those with sales less than million) account for more than 23 million businesses in the United States, but less than 10% have their own web site and less than 5% have ecommerce sites. Large corporations, however, have a greater involvement/interest in the Internet and Ecommerce. Why? Large companies have more resources and easier access to the latest technology.
Now, the playing fields are levelled for small businesses through access to a global marketplace at a substantially reduced cost.
What Sells Online?
In the past, computer hardware and software sales comprised the largest piece of the online marketplace. Other markets, however, are now making great strides in this arena. In general, the more difficult and/or time-consuming it is to purchase a product, the more likely consumers will prefer to use the Internet over the traditional shopping experience.
The following statistics from Forrester Research show the projected shopping revenue by category:
