 WebProWorld eCommerce Forum |
Do I have to go to a different site for payment?
I am going to have a go at making a shopping cart from scratch using php and mysql. I'd rather have complete control over the product. I don't want to store credit card details on the database as this is not secure, and the same goes for emailing the details too.
E-commerce
Is E-commerce really worth it? Can someone please give me some feedback on what is the best way to make the most money with E-Commerce! I found a website where they give an overview of E-Commerce and actually create a customized site for you!
Google to start new payment system
Online search-engine leader Google Inc. is preparing to introduce an electronic payment system later this year in a move that would pose a financial threat to one of its biggest advertisers, Internet auctioneer eBay Inc.
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| Recent Articles |
Google Wallet to Fatten Google's Wallet
This week, Google leaked information about another very smart thing they've done. Google is about to introduce an online payment system to help facilitate e-commerce.
Snap, Crackle, Click!
If only pay-per-click campaigns were as easy as a snap of the finger, then every web page could strike it rich at the first try.
Google May Add PayPal To List of Competitors
Reports are going around that Google is considering launching an online payment service that would compete with PayPal. An anonymous online retailer told the New York Times about it.
What Does the New Internet Mean for Business?
Perhaps the most fascinating conversation I've had in recent weeks was with Kevin Werbach, Janice Fraser (CEO, Adaptive Path, recently authored A Whole New Internet) and Philip Evans (SVP at Boston Consulting Group, author of Blown to Bits).
Selling through Auction Marketplaces
Consumers are increasingly feeling more comfortable in buying products through the Internet. According to a report released recently by the Department of Commerce first-quarter retail sales rose...
7 Ways of Building Customers' Trust With Your Web Site
When I purchase something from a web site I first check who is behind this site. If there is no contact information or anything about the owner of the site or his/her company I move on.
Microsoft and China: The Cost Of Doing Business
Everyone knows right China is ripe for business, particularly the e-business. The population of China has number of well over 1 billion people for some years now and they are growing by leaps and bounds.
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| 06.23.05
Will Google Destroy EBay And Amazon?
 By Cory Kleinschmidt
Battelle again points us to an ever more prescient article (looking forward, looking back) about how "Google beat Amazon and eBay to the Semantic Web" in the year 2009, so I think that automatically means that the rest of us search bloggers are obliged to pick up on it.
Well, consider it picked up on. I think the revolution is under way, in light of Google's e-payment revelation late Friday night.
Every time Google announces another foray into some new area, this futuristic article looks all the more likely. It's hard to distill the article down into a quote, but it talks about four intriguing concepts that the author thinks Google will naturally evolve toward: Google Marketplace Search, Google Personal Agent, Google Verification Manager, and Google Marketplace Manager.
If you want to know what the future of Google looks like, look no further. Can Google Matrix be far off?
About the Author:
Cory Kleinschmidt is co-founder of Traffick.com, which offers a unique analysis of search engine and eBusiness trends. As Webmaster of Traffick, he designed the site, and continues to maintains it and contributes informative articles for webmasters and internet professionals. |
Conference Calling Evolved
 By Richard Keir
Originally the conference call was limited to businesses paying exorbitant fees to the telcos. For business, it still made sense economically because the costs were less than the travel costs involved in bringing the people together. Additionally, significant time savings are involved, both in terms of travel time and in being able to communicate fairly rapidly to an extended group.
Telcos then extended their market by providing conference calling services to home consumers for an added fee. For some, it made sense to be able to bring a family or group with common interests together easily, usually to plan some physical event.
With the expansion of the internet, and in particular, the increasing availability and decreasing pricing for high speed internet access, conference calling has expanded far beyond its original uses.
For business, it remains a vital tool and has, actually, become far more useful as prices fall and the ease of use increases. Real time audio/video conferencing is already in use (and in some organizations has been for quite some time). As the cost of bandwidth decreases and the technology underlying audio-video transmission over networks improves, true real-time video conferencing will increase dramatically.
With the growing sophistication of the typical surfer and the expansion of internet marketing, audio and video have become hot items. Within the internet marketing community, conference calls - usually known as teleseminars, have become a standard feature. Offering the opportunity to reach a large group of interested prospects in a relatively simple and inexpensive format, teleseminars also offer the marketer an opportunity to create an instant product. A recording of a teleseminar can either be sold as a stand-alone product or used as a marketing tool for back-end products.
Marketers are using both free and paid teleseminars. Generally there is a higher level of injected sales content in free teleseminars, but it does vary a great deal.
Solutions available now range from the rather expensive to essentially free. Your choice is going to depend on exactly what level of service you require. There are a number of providers which offer an introductory pricing scheme (I've seen it as low as a $1 for the first month), which gives you the opportunity to see firsthand how their service works at a very modest cost. You do need to make sure you understand just how your users will access the conference. Solutions which use telephone call-ins are generally more restrictive and/or expensive than those utilizing an internet connection or VoIP softphone connections.
True real-time audio/video conferencing hasn't arrived yet for most. The bandwidth requirements remain excessive and the quality of the video, in particular, is fairly low. If you ever done live chat with audio and a web camera, you've seen the limitations.
Most online presentations which involve both audio and video generally use static images which change either rarely or slowly, such as charts, website images, topic outlines and so on. This can be extremely useful for teleseminars, of course, because it makes it easier to demonstrate certain points and provides a visual as well as an audio focus for participants.
The combination of audio and visual elements is particularly useful in training situations where one can reinforce the other. Plus, you have the advantage of reaching those who learn better through visual means, as well as those partial to audio.
For those of you doing eCommerce the evolved conference call can be an incredible tool. Consider how much impact regular teleseminars about your area of expertise could have on future sales. You can provide buyers with instructional teleseminars. You can introduce new products. And in each instance you'll be generating recordings which you can either sell or make available on your sites, or use as added viral marketing tools.
With the increasing sophistication and usability of the tools for conference calling, the possibilities are virtually unlimited and well within the reach of every entrepreneur. You'll be hard pressed to find another tool that offers you the impact and potential of the conference call.
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