|
|
| E-commerce and Drinking Water |
| Posted: 4-05-2006 |
| Author: Jon M. Stout |
E- Commerce is
coming of age with millions of new customers from internet
sales for a wide variety of products. Advances in web
site design, payment mechanisms and delivery systems have
met the increased demand for online ordering.
With the advent of on-line ordering firms like Amazon
and E-Bay, what started out as a small business has morphed
into a multi-billion dollar industry. The key to success
in the field of E Commerce ist he offering of high quality
products coupled with state of the art technology to ensure
ease of ordering and secure payment mechanisms.
The bottled water industry is an ideal beneficiary of
e-commerce technology because of the large number of customers
served and the frequency of transactions and purchases.
E-commerce Defined
E-commerce is similar to other forms of commerce except
that it involves the buying and selling of goods over
the Internet. E-commerce sites range from a simple web
page highlighting a single item to dynamic fully developed
on-line catalogs featuring thousands of products.The common
theme and benefit in e-commerce sites is instant purchase,
instant payment (if desired) and instant gratification
for the customer.
Over the years, the e-commerce web has blossomed into
a multi-billion dollar industry yearly, with significant
growth projected over the next 5 years. A defining characteristic
is that all ecommerce web sites accept a type of online
payment, whether through a third party or directly with
a merchant account..
E-commerce: The Wave of the Future
The internet is changing world view of shoppers. Instant
gratification is a reality. Utilizing e-commerce allows
customers the ability to quickly take delivery of the
goods they require and desire.In addition, the Internet
is perhaps the best sales tool ever invented as it allows
customers to browse endlessly in privacy. They can return
and order again and again without ever leaving their home.
Most experts agree that it is only a matter of time before
all sales-oriented companies will have some sort of e-commerce
presence in order to remain competitive and the development
of software and tools to improve the productivity of e-commerce
sites remains strong. As more and better technology is
developed, e-commerce will greatly expand.
Secure Payment and SSL(Secure Socket Layer): The Heart
of the System
SSL(Secure Socket Layer) has been the de facto standard
and heart of the system for e-commerce transaction security,
and it's likely to remain so well into the future.
SSL is basedon encryption. SSL encrypts data, like credit
cards numbers (as well other personally identifiable information),
which prevents unauthorized use. An SSL protected page
is identified when the address begins with "https" and
there is a padlock icon at the bottom of the page.
SSL Certificates
The SSL certificate resides on a secure server and is
used to encrypt the data and to identify the Web site.
The SSL certificate also helps to prove the site belongs
to who it says it belongs to and contains information
about the certificate holder, the domain that the certificate
was issued to, the name of the Certificate Authority who
issued the certificate, the root and the country it was
issued in.
In general,e-commerce users are urged to avoid sites that
fail to use and display proof of SSL Ceritifcates.
The Bottled Water Industry and E-commerce
The bottled water business is actually two lines of business:
Local delivery water and private labeled water and each
is an important subset of the total business.
Local delivery water is defined geographically and usually
comprises rental or sales of coolers and delivery of 5-gallon
and small package (12, 16.5 and 20 oz.) bottles to customers
located within a limited distance from the water source.
This business includes a customer base of consumers and
businesses in the defined geographic area who take periodic
delivery of water. The key to success in this line of
business is the production and efficient delivery of the
highest quality pure water.
Private labeled water involves the development and production
of high quality custom labels with a clear branding message.
This line of business is national in scope and includes
a strong element of branding and advertising. The key
to success in this line of business is the design and
production of a label of the highest quality with a clear
branding message.
Each line of business has different requirements for e-commerce.
For the local delivery business, establishing and meeting
delivery schedules is critical with the most advanced
sites offering delivery programs that offer the customer
choice of delivery schedules and the ability to modify
deliveries as conditions warrant.
For the private labeled line of business design flexibility
in the form of interactive tools for the development,
proofing and production of labels is critical. Another
critical aspect of the private labeled line of business
is fast and cost effective delivery through national carriers.
A Culture of Customer Service
The best e-commerce site will not produce results without
support of an effective customer service organization.
E-commerce tools and capabilities must be complemented
by a customer service culture that includes rapid customer
feed back, human (as opposed to voice mail and e-mail)
interaction and clear communication. It is presently impossible
to totally remove the human element from e-commerce and
the human element is a critical part of the customer satisfaction
process..
Best and Powerful Features
There are many varieties of e-commerce sites ranging from
the simplest static site that offers very limited features
to full featured dynamic sites based upon the latest database
technology and access. No matter what the level of technology
however, the site should combine ease of use with the
most powerful features available. An effective bottled
water e-commerce site should include the following minimum
features.
General Features
•Multiple-Recipient Ordering
(allows multiple user shipments in a single transaction)
•No Shopping Cart “Shoving“ (gives the user maximum
flexibility before check-out)
•Login Systems for
Wholesale and Retail Customers (with remembered billing
and recipient party data)
•Code Maturity (provides
for reliability and stability of the site)
•Future
Arrival Date Provisions (mandatory for scheduling deliveries
and shipments)
•Order History and Fast Loading of
Orders
•Automatic Shipping for Retail and Wholesale
Accounts
Private Label Features
•Interactive and Customer
Friendly Label Configurator (allows for user development
of labels and artwork)
•Proofing Capability (allows
the user to repeatedly review label design before purchase)
•Multi Layered Design ( allows for choice of color,
shading and label features)
E-commerce lends itself to rapid fulfillment of orders
and increased customer satisfaction when the site utilizes
powerful state of the art tools and features coupled with
a culture of customer satisfaction. On a user friendly
powerful site, water orders for both local delivery and
private labeled business are safe, convenient and fast.
E-commerce vendors that maintain a culture of customer
service will guarantee customer satisfaction.
Jon Stout is the Chairman of the board for Element H2O,
a bottler in Chantilly, Virginia offering only Ultra Pure
bottled water products and private label opportunities
for small and large businesses in all 50 states and Canada.
Elements H2O’s clients include businesses in the health
and fitness and hospitality industries, fitness centers,
gyms, large and small hotels, day spas, catering companies,
and many others.
You can reach Jon Stout at 1-866-4-PURITY, or by email
at jon.stout@ElementH2O.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
