Planning for E-Commerce
Introduction
Shopping online plays an increasingly important role in the way in which products and services are purchased.
The business relationships supported by e-commerce can be split into two main categories:
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Open relationships - often referred to as "business-to-consumer" - where there is no formal relationship between you and your trading partners, as with the conventional customer-supplier relationship.
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Closed relationships - often referred to as "business-to-business" - where your business is part of a common trading group with agreed commercial and often technical trading rules.
This guide looks at the key issues to consider when planning for the introduction of e-commerce. It provides advice on how best to identify the opportunities for e-commerce within your business and the solutions available. It also considers the need to plan for the ongoing development and maintenance of any e-commerce system at the outset of the project.
