UPS has an ad running on TV showing a group of young entrepreneurs watching their brand new site welcome its first visitors. That first visitor quickly becomes an overwhelming mass in a matter of seconds. The subliminal message is that the pride and joy of instant Web success can quickly become a horror of an unmanageable delivery!
 
Thus, despite the planning inherent in the development of a site, auxiliary commerce site issues must be directly confronted and resolved early on. They are:

 

One, integration with back office system. The e-commerce offered on your Web site provides a new conduit through which outsiders (customers, prospects, and vendors) can communicate with you. Still, those transactions must be recorded in your accounting system and, in many instances, interact with your inventory management system.

 

Too often, businesses overlook this Web site opportunity of organizational efficiency and must then rework how the systems will coexist. Even when using off-the-shelf integrated solutions, the fine-tuning of processes around that integration may be challenging. Also, the real transaction volume may not match the capabilities of the system chosen.

 

Two, timely fulfillment. Integration effects your ability to deliver what you promise. During the holiday season in 1999, for example, Boston Consulting Group says 24 percent of orders placed online shipped late and 16 percent never shipped at all; 40 percent were incorrect. Interestingly, instead of focusing on fulfillment realism, some Web site design vendors still promise to have an e-commerce site up quickly without concern for execution of "delivery."

Having a site up does not matter if the customer never gets satisfaction. That is true -- unless you are running a scam.

 

Three, responsiveness to the customer. Chris, my sales guy buddy succinctly calls this "It is all about me;" others call it "The Golden Rule" (the customer has the gold,  therefore, he makes the rules). How do you handhold and coddle your customers online? How do you make sure that your e-commerce site demonstrates your appreciation while maintaining a high regard for personal privacy?

 

This requires investing in the tools to make live people available to the customer. Technology to accomplish this is affordable. Choices include phone, email, or chat support. If you are using the e-commerce to expand your traditional business, you probably already have the people and you know how to respond to the customer! As Seth Romanow of Compaq Computer Corporation says, "The Internet gives the customer the power to further shape the brand, offerings, and support."

 

Four, transacting business on your client terms. In the B2B marketplace, e-commerce presents a challenge to making not only your accessibility and efficiencies improve, but your customer's. Realtime product and resource availability and project progress information can enhance your customer's experience, but are not the only utopia. Allowing your customer's systems to use the public infrastructure, the Internet, to communicate with your systems in a secure environment is another ideal.

 

And five, customer memory. Bad customer experiences make urban legends. Make the customer experience throughout, including how you respond to complaints with your online offerings, positive. Many users of online commerce are still apprehensive of using anything online, let alone return to inconsiderate sites.

 

A good customer experience will usually translate to more visits and referrals to others. On the other hand, as Brandy Thomas of Cyveillance, Inc. says, "If I don't get what I expected to get, I'm going to remember."

 

Some stories. Embracing these 5 elements provides a strategic competitive advantage, since the bad "delivery" experiences online are plentiful. You can outshine your competition and customers will love you. Just in the last few days, I have three noteworthy examples of what not to do.

 

Network Solutions has automated everything. Thus, the rigidity of a process with no human intervention is difficult in the face of the nuances of real situations.

 

Your commerce site's financial success will be a direct result of your delivery. Though e-commerce has dramatically heightened customer expectations, companies with the image and reputation of known brands that focus on "delivery" can succeed.

 

By the way, I did try to reserve ItsAllAboutMe.com, but it was already taken.