Elecronic Commerce Initiatives

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During the late 1990s, as the Internet became a commercial force to be reckoned with, many companies recklessly devoted time, effort and capital to establishing an E-Commerce presence. Many of the companies were woefully unprepared for successful E-Commerce, leading to the dot com bubble burst in 2000. The time of free venture capital is over. Companies seeking to establish an E-Commerce presence must take careful measured steps.
For a business to establish a successful E-Commerce presence, a number of factors must be in place:
1) Leadership
2) Strategy
3) A proper structure both within and outside of the company.
4) Systems
5) Methods to measure success or failure of E-Commerce Initiative.

All large scale endeavors require strong leadership. A successful E-Commerce initiative requires support from the top. For a company new to E-Commerce, a sea change will be required. The Internet opens up a whole new vista of opportunities, but it also offers new challenges as well. To be successful, the CEO will need to understand the purpose of E-Commerce, as well as its strengths, limits and have appropriate expectations. The CEO and upper management will need to be committed to the time and effort required for E-Commerce. They will have to prepare themselves and the rest of the company for a more prominent role for the Information Technology department.

Upper management must also understand the unique challenges that E-Commerce offers. It exposes the company in new and unique ways. For example, internet security will assume greater importance. In an attempt to enter the E-Commerce market, it is likely that a company will need to expose itself to the possibility of ...