Page 236 - Business Principles and Management

Chapter 9 • E-Commerce

FIGURE 9-3 Top Internet Retailers in 2005

WEB SITE TYPE OF BUSINESS ESTIMATED 2005
SALES
Amazon.com Books and other merchandise $8.5 billion

Office Depot Inc. Office supplies 3.8 billion

Staples Inc. Office supplies 3.8 billion

Dell Inc. Computer manufacturer 3.78 billion
HP Home and Home Office Store Computer manufacturer 2.8 billion

OfficeMax Inc. Office supplies 2.6 billion

Sears General merchandise 2.2 billion

CDW Corp. Computers and electronics 1.8 billion

SonyStyle.com Electronics 1.6 billion

Newegg.com Computers and electronics 1.3 billion

Best Buy Co. Electronics 1.2 billion

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. General merchandise 1.04 billion

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. General merchandise 1.03 billion
QVC Inc. General merchandise 1 billion

Apple Computer Inc. Computers and electronics 900 million

Career tip
Source: InternetRetailer.com

act as the smallest unit on a video display screen. Some of the common sizes of
Internet banner ads are illustrated in Figure 9-4 (see p. 224). A banner ad is a In a business setting, e-mail
Web advertising unit, like a placement ad in a newspaper. should be used with care.
Your managers and colle-
agues will use your messages
MEETING CUSTOMER NEEDS
to judge your on-the-job
E-commerce is still a very new method of conducting business for both compa- performance. Don’t send
nies and consumers. Every year a larger percentage of businesses and consumers messages just because you
are willing to use the Internet to purchase online. Over one-half of the U.S. pop- can. Use e-mail to provide
ulation has purchased online. Growing online retail sales competition is forcing a record of events, advise
business to use good online sales practices to ensure success. supervisors or peers on par-
Most people use the Internet for research and communication. If they are ticular topics or procedures,
interested in purchasing products, consumers are more likely to use the Inter- direct others to do some-
net to gather information and compare alternatives before deciding to buy in thing specific, state company
a bricks-and-mortar store or buy online. policy and explain proce-
The primary reasons consumers report that they do not shop online are secu- dures, pass on information,
rity concerns, difficulty in making purchases using the Internet, and a belief that and promote goodwill.

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