FastCommerce Posting on www.smallbiztechnology.com

Small Business Technology has an article on using online tools. We made this posting in response.

http://www.fastcommerce.com 

I really think this article poses the issue in the wrong way, exactly opposite of what web based tools offer to people with small or no budgets.

With web-based tools, small business clients have access to far better technology at far less cost than could be found locally.

Also, these utilities tend to have a more narrow focus to solve certain problems, and they usually have all the issues thoroughly covered.

There is an element of automation. How can small business entrepreneurs connect the dots on their own? It takes a lot of time, and then again it would take lots of money without the general availability of tools.

For example, here at FastCommerce, we provide a web-service, and on-line tool, that lets small business entrepreneurs get on-line automatically with a web-store and back office management tools simply by signing up and signing in.

What Bezos described as Web 2.0 applies directly to free online services and on-line tools: self-service, low-cost and easy to use.

Some day small business entrepreneurs will have access to all the tools they need to run a business at no or low cost. It will be a kind of Netsuite, with accounting and online e-commerce, just not with a very high price tag.

SMALL BUSINES E-COMMERCE ENGINE

http://system.fastcommerce.com/static/online-retail-store.html

FastCommerce.com is a web-based e-commerce application that lets small businesses start and manage an online business, all from one single-system

By simply signing up with FastCommerc.com you can automatically generate a professional web stores, as well as all the back office management tools needed to run a growing online business.

FastCommerce.com is not simply a shopping cart, but a serious set of tools that give you the control and flexibility you need to succeed online. Features such as

A one-page checkout to make it easier for the customer to buy. The checkout process is automatically secured and encrypted.

A product can be assigned to more than one category

One a per product basis, you can disable the shopping cart to set up a Request For Quote, or any other custom pricing message

The ability to create custom product options for variables like color and size, or other add-on items for a standard product. Including the ability to offer different pricing within the same product, for example, for XX-Large

FastCommerce.com offers a number of payment options, by credit card, PayPal, Google checkout, or by alternative payment methods like check or Purchase Order. There is even the ability to create a custom payment option.

The shipping module also gives you complete control Live-rate for UPS FEDEX and USPS is standard. You can set up flat rates. For example, you can set up a flat rate of 6.99 for USPS priority mail. There is free shipping, and even custom shipping options. You have complete control how you want to do business.

There is customer management and order processing, all driven from within the FastCommerce.com system. You have quick access to customer information and order history. You can approve, process and ship orders. You can edit the order, and have back orders for partially shipped orders.

And then there are reports. Most interesting of all, one report will let you generate a ranking of each and every product by number of page views. This is the product popularity report that will give you greater insight in to site organization, customer navigation, and customer interest versus customer conversion.

FastCommerce.com is Web 2.0 e-commerce that will eventually let you run all aspects of your business, even accounting, from a single system and at a small business price. In fact, it is free up to the first 50 products. We automatically give you all the tools to run your business online by simply signing up, and then signing in.

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FastCommerce.com is Enterprise e-Commerce at a Small Business Price

WWW.FASTCOMMERCE.COM

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web 2.0 features for ecommerce

Small Business E-commerce Technology Company Introduces Features Designed To Reach Markets Beyond EBay

Small Business E-commerce Technology Company Introduces Features Designed To Reach Markets Beyond EBay New Web 2.0 e-commerce technology company FastCommerce.com announces the introduction of Google Products as a part of a larger strategy of giving on-line businesses access to a growing number of new marketplaces beyond EBay. While EBay offers small business entrepreneurs access to an immense market for on-line sales, it also presents continual challenges to small companies running on razor-thin margins. Recent changes in policy at the on-line auction site highlight the risks of running an on-line business with only one marketplace strategy. San Mateo, CA (PRWEB) February 16, 2008 — New Web 2.0 technologies offer access to a growing number of marketplaces for those on-line sellers who have traditionally relied on one large marketplace vendor to drive sales. For FastCommerce.com, the introduction of Google Products is just the first step in powering merchant access to these new and growing opportunities. EBay has proved to be a large marketplace for selling on-line, but it continues to present challenges, even disruptions, to the small business entrepreneur looking to succeed in on-line sales. There are upfront fees for listing products, an expense regardless of whether the item is sold. EBay sellers also go up against a large number of direct competitors, which drives down profit margins for the majority of sales. Low margins compete with incremental expenses and changes in policy to make it more difficult for many small companies to build a profitable on-line business. It has to be enterprise in scope but with a small business price. Moreover, EBay is only one marketplace at a time when the number of successful market venues continues to proliferate. The introduction of Google Products as well as Google Check-out highlights the need for moving beyond a single market strategy for increasing sales. The challenge and the opportunity for on-line sellers is to have access to an inexpensive single-system e-commerce application that can power both market reach and on-line sales. E-commerce technologies that are market neutral enable the small business entrepreneur to compete in an array of marketing venues. FastCommerce.com automatically publishes its merchants’ product catalogs to Google products. Or again, FastCommerce.com offers both Google Check-out and PayPal. With FastCommerce.com on-line merchants are not fettered by the strategy of a dominant industry player. For example, David Pogue of the New York Times, in a review of Microsoft’s revamped Office Live, points out that its integrated ad-word campaign tool is limited to only two search engines. As he writes, “You can place ads on Microsoft’s search sites and Ask.com, which together represent less than 8 percent of search engine popularity. If you are going to advertise, you’d almost certainly prefer the exposure of the Big Two- Yahoo and Google- but they are not available through Office Live.” Small business entrepreneurs need access to inexpensive, single-system ecommerce applications that are easy and quick to set up, easy to use, and which let their users grow their business without growing their costs. For a low fixed monthly fee, FastCommerce.com allows a merchant to sell 2,000 product without transaction or user fees: small business entrepreneurs can grow their business at a fixed price with no hidden or incremental charges. Finally, new Web 2.0 e-commerce technologies like FastCommerce.com offer an array of features that can power the whole of their on-line business. Gone are the days when a simple, cheap “shopping cart” can take small businesses to the next level. According to FastCommerce.com CEO Charles Han, today’s small business e-commerce applications have to encompass all aspects of running a business, including detailed reports and analytics, order and customer management systems, and more. As he states, “It has to be enterprise in scope but with a small business price.” No less important, Han argues, “Today’s small business e-commerce systems must also power the merchant’s marketing. It is publish or perish, to search engines, shopping comparison sites, or retail search sites. On-line sellers do not have the skills or the time to do this themselves. They have to have an enterprise platform that connects all the dots for them.”

Free Online Store With Search Engine Visibility

FastCommerce.com offers a free online store with all the tools you need to run and online business including a free secure shopping cart. Check out the video.

FREE ONLINE STORE