How an e-commerce Consultancy Saved a Business

By: James Walsh Posted on: 2008-01-08 Downloads: 49 ** Print Article ** ** Copy Article ** Please Rate this Article 5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5  Not yet Rated

Article Summary: David and Jane had a small but well stocked shop of stationery items in the middle of their city. They ran the shop under the name of David and Jane’s. The shop did a comfortable volume of business over the years.

Nevertheless, both David and Jane weren’t completely satisfied. They realised that there was immense scope for them to expand their existing line of business. One day, both of them sat together to take stock of the situation.

They had quite a few ideas up their sleeves. It was a long time before they realised that they were not coming to any concrete conclusion but instead were only moving around in circles. Then, one of them suggested that maybe they should go in for an e-commerce model of business.

After giving it some thought, they both came to the conclusion that it may be a good idea to give it a serious try. They did not wish to waste any more time and so decided to tackle the issue first thing in the morning.

The next day they took time off from their varied chores to finalise how to go about making their website. Sure enough they had their very own website very soon. The website was simple and met some basic requirements.

It gave a detailed introduction of who David and Jane were, what they did and how long they had been in the given line of business. The website described their shop in great detail and did not fail to mention how well stocked it was with merchandise, of all related products.

The website had a small but special section for children also. In another section the website described at length all the items available in the shop along with their prices. The goods were also advertised in great detail.

Unfortunately for David and Jane, in spite of their efforts, their hopes were dashed. The website failed to garner much response. Though their shop continued to have its regular customer base their e-commerce business failed to take wings.

After a while they both grew exasperated with their efforts at e-commerce. It was then that they decided to close the website and forget all about e-commerce as a tool for widening their market. Instead they decided to concentrate on their existing business.

Fortunately for them, before they took the final step to close down their website, they were advised by one of their customers to approach an e-commerce consultant. They saw merit in the suggestion and decided to get a professional point of view.

As a consequence, both David and Jane approached an e-commerce consultant. Fortunately for them the consultant was good, with a proven track record. He listened to their woes and had a detailed look at the website prepared by them.

He informed them of his consultation charges and other issues and gave them feedback as to what was lacking in their model of e-commerce business. The very first thing that he insisted upon was to have a new website designed.

The consultant gave them a list of some sites that had been designed by him, for considering an alternative site of their own. He also gave them a plan for their new website which he suggested they implement.

Both David and Jane agreed upon a particular model for their website. This model was used as a base for their own new site. It did not have lengthy introductions to the owners and it did away with their small but special section for the kids, in its existing format.
Instead the new website was considerably more user friendly. It took the browser straight to where a customer may have wanted to take it. The new website categorised the products and listed them under their own sub headings.

However, all this was just the tip of the iceberg. The e-commerce consultant then initiated search engine optimisation of the website. He used all ethical methods and very soon the website was amongst the top five on the pages of most search engines.

Both David and Jane were very pleased with the final results. Now their website had begun to garner a very large amount of traffic on account of its high listing on the various search engines. The orders had also started pouring in.

Soon they had to employ a small team of people to look after their e-commerce business. All the investment that they had made based upon the advice of their consultant proved worthy and they did not look back ever since.

Article Source: http://www.upublish.info

About the Author:
James Walsh
James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you are interested in starting up your own business and would like some help with your Business Plan see http://www.smart-businessplans.co.uk