Page 208 - 100 Great Business Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

89 SELLING ONLINE

Selling online is a fast, flexible, and highly effective way to reach
customers and increase revenues. Online sales are growing at a
phenomenally fast rate—and yet the first online sale occurred as
recently as 1994 in America. What are the lessons, and how can a
business increase online sales?

The idea

Meeting the challenges of selling online and integrating online
activities with the whole business is essential for success. Seven
basic principles characterize online selling:
1. The balance of power is continuing to shift decisively to the

customer.
2. The internet is revolutionizing sales techniques and perceptions

of leading brands.
3. The pace of business activity and change has been accelerating,

and the need to be flexible, adaptive, customer-focused, and
innovative is at a premium.
4. Competition is intensifying.
5. Managing and leveraging knowledge is fundamental—
knowledge is a key strategic resource that needs to be captured,
nurtured, and developed.
6. Companies are transforming themselves into extended
enterprises to add value for customers. They are re-evaluating
factors as fundamental as objectives, markets, and skills.

100 GREAT BUSINESS IDEAS • 201