Setting up a shop on the internet.   If this is the first time that you have looked into selling on the internet, you may have questions that we hope to answer here. Things to consider. A perfect start. It is important to establish a presence online and get your feet wet than try for a perfect start. Many of our customers have started a website and then improved or totally redesigned their sites as their business's have grown. During the course of a two or three year period you'll find your business requirements evolve. You may change your website designers, your bank and your suppliers so you need to be able to manage these sorts of changes without upsetting your customers who will come to rely on certain services that your business website supplies. Single or Joined?. Will you operate a single website that is your online business or do you operate an exising stock or sales system that needs an internet shopping website joining to it? Some retailers have found that many e-commerce shops or web designers may not be able to join systems to other systems such as your suppliers pricing files and your stock files and this has effected the overall cost and efficiency of their internet businesses. The Google issue. We haven't met anyone who doesn't want to be on page 1 of Google. A large part of your success online depends on either servicing an existing customer base more profitably or building a new one by marketing your services more effectively that your rivals. Attracting customers to your site is a significant and competitive activity that you must be prepared to undertake. Tech soup. The first thing that you'll need to find is someone that can help you match your business needs with something that works for you. There are many ways to trade online and many off the shelf shopping carts are very capable of displaying your products and linking to secure online payment systems, if you have no major investment in your internal systems then you are free to explore web based trading, otherwise you have to make the 2 work seamlessly or start again with something more fit for purpose. The business. For many businesses starting off there is little point in starting from scratch and developing an e-commerce website when a suitable alternative is often available for a fraction of the cost. This is where an existing catalogue shopping cart has it's part to play in the early development of your business and as your business needs change you may want to add new features to it or replace it entirely. The important thing is to communicate your needs clearly with your web development company as you move your business online and start planning your internet marketing! Do you have questions? Back to tinto®