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August 1998
Cyber malls, e-commerce
and supply chain management: What does it all mean? By Marc Phillips For all
budding e-commerce entrepreneurs and cyber retailers, the concept of Internet
shopping malls should be understood. Given the increasing e-commerce trend
towards hubbing,
a term used to
describe how online consumers are visiting mega sites to purchase products
and services - you are wise to explore the pros and cons of moving your web
based business into a cyber mall. To give you some assistance in
investigating which, if any, shopping mall is right for your business, I have
reviewed several Australian based cyber malls. Yellow Pages®
Shopping Guide Pacific
Access, the Telstra subsidiary that manages Yellow
Pages®, have established several services to provide small businesses with a low-cost
e-commerce facility. They have developed an Internet selling structure called
the Yellow Pages® Shopping Guide which is open to merchants with a forecast cost of
$2000 for the "establishment period". This provides merchants with
a virtual shopfront to attract customers browsing through the Yellow Pages
on-line mall, and a catalogue linked to the Yellow
Pages® database to reach customers searching for a
specific item. One of their partner organisations is the well known
Melbourne based music store, Gaslight Records, who are
set to replicate their unique style of retailing online. Gaslight Records
expect to do 5 to 10 per cent of their business online in the next 12 months. Launched in April, 1998 Gaslight
Records e-commerce website uses the
Telstra SureLink"! merchant system. According
to Heike Schwarz, Managing Director of Gaslight Records, we started with a
very small catalogue which we now increase every day. It was important for us to have the right information
architecture so the website was scalable. Yellow Pages®
Shopping Guide allows them to do continually build their online inventory. Telstra
SureLink"! is a pioneering, world leading electronic commerce service.
SureLink"! merchants never receive the buyers
credit card details. Telstra SureLink"!
currently have over 35 merchants that are using their e-commerce merchant
system. Sofcom: A low cost high exposure cybermall One of
Australia. s largest and most successful Cyber malls is Sofcom which offers
small businesses a do-it-yourself on-line shopping mall from as little as $40
per month. With 60 current merchants in the Sofcom mall, prospective
merchants build their virtual shopfront and catalogue over the Internet,
using on-screen tools provided. Sofcom provides an encrypted e-mail or
fax-back service for communicating buyers' credit card details. Sofcom. s
mall receives over 250,000 visitors per month! One of Sofcom. s tenants is The Mail Service - the only Australian
company legally authorised to offer a range of Australian lottery products
internationally including the well known games: Saturday Lotto, Oz Lotto, Powerball, Keno Lotto Superdraw and Lucky 7. For many organisations with an e-Commerce enabled website, maintenance
and pursuing marketing strategies is difficult. To overcome initial
frustrations with inexperienced Internet developers, The Mail Service commissioned
Sofcom, the Melbourne based e-commerce developers whose shopping mall has
over 60 merchants to act as their technology partner. . The sign of a good technology partner for an e-commerce merchant is
the ability to be able to sit down as we do with Sofcom's Professor Les
Goldschlager and discuss a range of options and ideas before implementing
them. says John Hycenko, Managing Director of The Mail Service. Given
the rapidly changing nature of the Internet, a technology partner is vital.
Sofcom provide The Mail Service with access to diverse areas of expertise,
reducing the requirement to have in house specially trained personnel. When
choosing a technical partner to develop your e-commerce website, be sure to
ask them what channels they will advertise and market your website once it is
launched. Sofcom understand the importance of not only building an e-commerce
enabled website but to promote it as well. All merchants are advertised on
the Sofcom website which receive promotional assistance as their product and
service specials are advertised in Sofcom. s email newsletter that is
distributed to over 15,000 people every fortnight. ChoiceMall, one of the world. s leading online shopping malls has just
launched in Australia. ChoiceMall
is a US based shopping mall that
launched in Australia on June 1, 1998. With over 1500 US based merchants,
one of the largest in the world, and is looking to integrate Australian
merchants into their virtual site. This represents unprecedented
opportunities for unique Australian based products looking to export their
products and services. Pricing includes a leasing and transaction fee with a
minimum 12 month contract. E-commerce
means more than just selling your products and services via a secure website
on a cyber mall. Many of you would have recently seen a billboard, television
commercial or read a press advertisement about IBM. s e-business. It is important to understand the
difference of IBM. s e-business to e-commerce. Fundamentally, e-business is
about business transformation. The
Internet can help your company reshape its business processes to become more
competitive and take advantage of new markets. E-business means delivering an
integrated technology solution for better business processes and
communication between: employees (intranet); business partners (extranet);
and customers & constituencies (Internet). Some of
the key areas of e-business are security, reliability and being able to work
from with an open platform - in a networked world, you'll be linking to all
kinds of businesses with all kinds of computers. It is
crucial to understand that there are multiple supply chain efficiencies that
your business can get from e-business. Supply chain management is vital for
companies that want to compete and grow within the global market place.
Industry analysts project that as businesses enter the new century,
accelerated business cycles will encourage many companies to trade more
openly. Watch out for IBM Australia. s Supply Chain Management initiative
which is a response to a supply chain market on the verge of explosive
growth, expected to triple by 2000. A recent
survey conducted for IBM revealed that e-business solutions are amongst the
most likely to be acquired IT business solutions by Australian companies in
1998. Of these e-business solutions, those which consistently rated as the
top three across eight key industries - e-mail/messaging, the Internet and
workgroup/workflow - are important components for an efficient and
streamlined supply chain management process. Supply
Chain management is particularly significant and relevant now because the
availability and affordability of e-business technology means that for the
first time small and medium enterprises can effectively implement a
profitable supply chain management strategy. By applying e-business solutions
to supply chain management processes, companies can identify suppliers with
the best products at the best price with the best delivery method, as well as
create business advantage through e-commerce. This improves profitibality and
customer service by integrating internal organisational processes. In conclusion, it is important to remember that e-commerce encapsulates many aspects of your business functions, not merely selling products. There are many gains to be had from locating your products and services in a Cyber mall as well as integrating Internet technology into your business processes. A combination of both will provide dynamic competitive advantages for your business, not only in the domestic market place but in an increasingly global environment. For further information contact APT Strategies at info@aptstrategies.com.au |