The Internet: An Opportunity for Businesses Worldwide

The Internet: An Opportunity for Businesses Worldwide

Amazon, the most popular book store on the Net, provides more than 1 billion books and discounts best sellers up to 30 percent. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has authors post comments about their books, and readers are encouraged to post reviews. Customers also fill out a profile and are alerted by e-mail of books about favorite subjects or authors. Sales have increased 34 percent a month and 44 percent from repeat customers. Bezos said annual sales are estimated at $17 million (Gongora) One thing that made Amazon possible? The Internet, and businesses worldwide are taking advantage of the benefits that it can offer. The Internet has had rapid growth in the past twenty years, an increasing number of businesses are starting to offer products and services online. Doing business online promotes products to be sold all around the world and communication can be easier than traditional postal mail. Doing business online can be more convenient for consumers. Companies have turned to the Internet to assist them in broadening their horizons and to maximize profits.

The Internet is being used to assist million of people in the selling and purchasing of items daily. Although estimating the number of people using the Internet is nearly impossible, Internet growth is exploding at extraordinary rates. Current estimates place the number of web users between 200 and 240 million. (Liflander)

Carvin, Andy. "Andy Carvin's Waste of Bandwidth." 31 MAR 2006. 1 Feb 2007 .

The web is becoming a global phenomenon, seventy percent of Fortune 1000 companies are doing business online, along with twenty five percent of small businesses. (Lifander) With this growth, and the increase of households using the Internet, doing business online can be beneficial to any company.

Having products and services offered online gives companies a global audience, and can have more effective communication. Companies are no longer limited to selling products in their own communities as they have been in the past, companies are establishing a global market place and are making customers from around the world. Communication can be more effective than postal mail, office supplies and cost can be lowered, and contact is immediate. Business men and woman are preferring to be contacted by e-mail more often than in the past. Having business newsletters, catalogs, and updates being sent to a potential business customer by e-mail can be more effective and less expensive than a full catalog brochure. (Tyson) It is important for businesses to establish a good reputation and credibility. Customers want to do business with companies that are reliable and dependable. The appearance of a website and the communication that the website provider makes available can be vital for the success of a business. Having a high-quality site goes a long way. (Gangemi) To succeed in online sales businesses need to consider all the options that there are available in creating and maintaining a good reputation, establishing credibility, and offering the best communication to their customers possible.

Some consumers prefer to do business online rather than in store business. Convenience, avoiding crowds, and saving time are three of the top reasons why consumers do their shopping online. (Carroll) Doing business online is convenient for customers because it can be performed anywhere. Customers like being able to have the freedom to purchase items at home, work, anytime of the day, and virtually anywhere customers can gain access to the Internet. Avoiding crowds creates less frustration for customers and makes shopping a better experience than the traditional in-store shopping lines. Also customers save time when shopping online. Items tend to be easier to find, in stock, and many online businesses make check-out fast and user friendly. Most Internet shoppers these days expect shipment of their order within 24 hours. (Kennedy) Business that are able to guarantee fast shipment of their orders can boost customer satisfaction and sales. Customers turn to online purchasing because of its convenience, crowd saving, and time saving methods, the more these methods improve the more customers will turn to the Internet for their future purchases.

In conclusion, the Internet has changed how business is done.