E-commerce helps businesses grow

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From bath products to cars, just about anything can be purchased via the Internet these days.|ret||ret||tab|

As a result, businesses of all sizes should have a presence on the Web, according to Denny McCorkle, Southwest Missouri State University professor of marketing.|ret||ret||tab|

McCorkle, who teaches e-marketing for graduate and undergraduate students, defined e-commerce as the buying and selling of products on the Web. E-business is a broader concept that involves doing any aspect of business on the Web, including providing information and prices, McCorkle said. |ret||ret||tab|

"There's a certain percentage of people who look to the Web for information," he said. They gather information, compare prices, and then often go to the retail location to buy the goods. Another group of people, those who are time-conscious and who used to shop from catalogs, now shop online because of the convenience, he said.|ret||ret||tab|

Having a Web site increases the efficiency and accuracy of Nixa-based Country Bunny Bath and Body's business transactions, said owners Ron and Nancy Bogart.|ret||ret||tab|

When the business was a year old and growing rapidly, a Web site was created, not so much as an advertising source, but as a tool for sales representatives to use. The Bogarts' 2,200 reps in 48 states can go online to place their orders rather than phoning them in. Mistakes are fewer, and the process is quicker and easier, Ron Bogart said. |ret||ret||tab|

"That was the reason for us choosing e-commerce for our business," Bogart said. "And now, probably 85 percent of our volume comes in on our Web site. That's a lot higher than a lot of companies in direct sales, because we started out training our representatives from the very beginning to use the site." |ret||ret||tab|

Ten percent of Country Bunny's online orders come directly from customers, Bogart said, and the rest are from sales reps. Having reps use the Web site saves the business the expense of employing operators to take phone orders, he said. |ret||ret||tab|

Technical issues posed the biggest problem when they initiated the Web site, Bogart said. Country Bunny recently hired a full-time, in-house information technology expert to maintain the site. |ret||ret||tab|

"That has made my life so much easier," Bogart said.|ret||ret||tab|

Before hiring an Internet person, finding help when their site was down proved to be a challenge, Bogart said. |ret||ret||tab|

During the company's first year online, the site was only down a total of about 36 hours. "But 36 hours are awfully stressful when they come one at a time, especially at a busy time," Bogart said.|ret||ret||tab|

Bogart said a Web site can be a good multipurpose tool that is useful for both new and existing customers. However, he warned business owners not to expect an immediate increase in business once their site is launched. "The other thing is to remember to tell people about it. You have to put (the Web site address) on everything you do." |ret||ret||tab|

Kirk Wheeler, owner of Wheelerauto.com, an Internet-based automobile business, said the majority of his customers are both time- and quality-conscious. |ret||ret||tab|

"A lot of my customers just don't have time to go car shopping," Wheeler said.|ret||ret||tab|

Wheeler has been selling cars online for about four years. |ret||ret||tab|

He receives "cream of the crop" vehicles from lease companies and captive finance companies, and obtains vehicles from car auctions in the Midwest.|ret||ret||tab|

"If somebody would have told me five years ago that I would be buying a car over the Internet without seeing it first, I would've told them they were crazy," Wheeler said. |ret||ret||tab|

He remembered the first car he bought via a cyber lot, and the nervous anticipation he and his sales manager felt. |ret||ret||tab|

"We had the mouse on the buy button, and we sat there and talked about it for a half hour before we actually clicked the button. It scared me to death," Wheeler said.|ret||ret||tab|

When the car arrived, they carefully inspected it and didn't find even the slightest problem, Wheeler said.|ret||ret||tab|

Second to buying a house, buying a car is the largest investment most people make, Wheeler said. Wheeler predicted that e-commerce will continue to gain acceptance, and eventually consumers will be making some of their largest purchases online. |ret||ret||tab|

"The next step will be buying a house over the Internet without seeing it. It will happen," Wheeler said.|ret||ret||tab|

Business owners should take advantage of e-commerce and seek help if needed to start the process, Wheeler said. |ret||ret||tab|

"The sooner you get into it, the better off you're going to be," said Wheeler.|ret||ret||tab|

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