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E-Commerce Eludes Many Area Businesses That Have Created Web Sites

Posted on: Monday, 8 August 2005, 03:00 CDT

Many businesspeople quote the fine "If you build it, they will come" to illustrate how a real estate development, such as Lancaster's new baseball stadium, will attract masses of people and their money.

The adage hasn't proven quite as reliable for company Web sites. Businesses have struggled to attract people to their sites, which is one mason why few of them sell goods and services online.

Midstate businesses have experienced several other difficulties with ecommerce, including people's fears about entering creditcard numbers over the Internet to buy goods, services or cyber ads. Other problems include hidden fees and technology firms that charge hundreds of dollars to promote companies' e-commerce sites but fail to deliver.

Still, some companies in the region do provide e-commerce on their Web sites and on other businesses' sites. Those companies' representatives offered advice about adding e-commerce, including pitfalls to avoid - some of which they learned the hard way.

SellStuffLocal.com Inc. ran into trouble when it launched its Web site in 1999.

"I'm not sure people were ready for the Internet," said Stephen Sands, chief operating officer of SellStuffLocal.com, an online classifieds company based in Swatara Township. People worried that their security would be compromised if they purchased merchandise online.

The business' biggest battle, though, was making people aware it exists, Sands said. To try to do that, SellStuffLocal.com started partnering with radio and television stations nationwide in 2001. SellStuffLocal.com provides the stations' classifieds, and the stations promote SellStuffLocal.com.

In Central Pennsylvania, the company partnered with Harrisburgbased WHTM-TV (Channel 27). The partnership has worked well, he said, declining to provide any revenue figures.

Companies need to make sure Internet surfers find their sites on search engines, Sands said.

SellStuffLocal.com brings in most of its money by selling banner and sponsorship ads on its site, Sands said. Those sales only started taking off in the past year. For $17, someone could run a business ad nationwide for 30 days on all of SellStuffLocal.coms local sites. The company accepts secure credit-card payments through PayPal Inc.

"We knew we had to give the small guy a way to advertise nationally," Sands said.

Sands warned small businesses to secure their credit-card payment systems.

Businesses should encrypt their sites, which means scramble information transmitted online 'so people can't read it, said Bruce Kline. He is vice president of operations with Visual Impact Productions Inc., a York-based multimedia company. Businesses often are surprised that they must pay a set-up fee to encrypt.

Sands also cautioned companies against requiring customers to print their invoices; they should be able to check out through online shopping carts. Companies pay more to offer full online transactions, another fee that surprises them, but they are paid more quickly, Mine said. And many customers appreciate receiving their goods more quickly and receiving instant payment-confirmation messages.

Businesses also must keep their sites looking fresh, Sands said.

"You need to offer specials and move things around. It's no different than running a store," Sands said.

Some businesses have closed their online shops.

In the late 1990s, a company then named AxiCode Technologies Inc. stopped offering e-commerce after a couple of years because too few people made purchases, said Steven J. Krechmer. He is vice president of operations of Control Solutions Inc., the new name of AxiCode. He works in the business' York office. The North Branch, N.J.-based company sells bar-code software and hardware.

AxiCode struggled to sell products on its Web site because they were complicated and costly, Krechmer said. Salespeople are needed to answer potential customers' questions about the bar code verification equipment, which could cost more than $3,000.

"This isn't like eBay, where people buy anything at any price..." Krechmer said. "It's not like someone's buying a concert ticket for $35 to $70."

Jonathan Maley, vice president of sales with CyberGrad Inc., can relate. Prospective and existing customers like to talk with CyberGrad's employees, he said. To facilitate that, the company's site has a live chat system. The more questions to which people can find answers, the more likely they are to become customers.

"We don't see a lot of people go from Google to (our Web site) and then pay," Maley said.

CyberGrad advertises on search engines Google and Yahoo! to draw people to its site, Maley said. When it comes to achieving that goal, the Springettsbury Township-based company is a firm nonbeliever in the "If you build it, they will come" concept. The business provides Web conferencing and online meetings, charging clients per use or a subscription fee for unlimited use. They pay online.

Copyright Journal Publications Inc. Jul 01, 2005

Source: Central Penn Business Journal

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