Electronic Commerce is one of the most important aspects of the Internet to emerge. It allows people to exchange goods and services immediately and with no barriers of time and distance. Any time of the day or night, you can go online and buy almost anything. Thousands of businesses are trading succesfully online, but is your business ready for E-Commerce? Complete this online questionnaire and we'll send you a report of where you are and what steps you need to take - if any - to make your business effective online. Directions: Fill in as many of the questions below as you can. If you are unsure of the answer to a question, you can leave it blank. However, the more you fill in, the more accurate your report will be.     About you and your company Your name: Company name: Type of business: Email address: Approximately how long have you been trading? years Do you already sell products via mail order (including telephone and fax sales)? No sales via mail order A few mail-order sales Already sell a lot via mail order What sort of budget do you expect to spend on e-commerce in the first year? No idea at present Less than $500 Between $500 and $1,000 Between $1,000 and $5,000 Between $5,000 and $10,000 Between $10,000 and $100,000 More than $100,000     About your products and services In this section, we look at the nature of the products and services that you might want to offer on-line. It may not be appropriate for every part of your business to be sold on-line, so just answer for the areas that you think might work. How many distinct product lines (excluding variations like color or size) do think you would offer via the Internet? Less than 10 11 to 100 101 to 500 501 to 5,000 5,001 to 20,000 20,001 to 100,000 More than 100,000 The Internet can currently only deliver information to our eyes and ears. How easy is it for customers to make a buying decision on your products if they can't touch, taste or smell them? Please rate on a scale of 0-9 (where 0=very difficult and 9=very easy) How easy is it for you to deliver products to your customers? Keep in mind factors such as weight, perishability, value of the goods relative to shipping costs etc. Please rate the ease of delivery on a scale of 0-9 (where 0=very difficult and 9=very easy) How applicable are your goods to overseas customers? Remember issues like language, export regulations, taxes. Not possible to export Largely unsuitable Would require a lot of effort Would require minor effort Very suitable for export Already widely exported Are your goods rare (or difficult to find) or are they relatively commonplace? Hard to find Relatively common   Do your products have a lot of variations or options that a customer has to specify? No significant options A few options on some products Many products have options Most products come with options Each product has many variations What percentage of your sales are made through distributors or resellers? % If you sell through resellers, do they add value to your products - such as by customising - or are they mainly distributors who hold products in stock? No resellers or distributors Resellers just hold stock Most resellers just distribute An equal mix of both Most resellers add value All resellers add value to the products What percentage of your sales are made to other businesses as opposed to consumers? Percentage of business to business sales % Familiarity and confidence In this section, we look at the strength of your brands. Brands are one way that buyers can understand what you are selling and have confidence in the quality levels that they can expect. How well do your customers (or potential customers) understand your products or services. By this we mean, how well known are the concepts? For example, basic foodstuffs or clothing are generally well understood while e-commerce is less well-known. Readily understood Needs some explaining Requires a lot of explaining   How standardised are your products i.e. standard sizes or colours Completely standard Largely standard Mostly custom   Brand strength   Do consumers, without prompting, name your brand as the leader in its category or sector? Yes No Is your lead versus the next-mentioned brand significant? Yes No Have a high percentage of target consumers purchased the product(s) at least once? Yes No Is there a high percentage who would count as regular buyers? Yes No Is usage of the product(s) typically very satisfactory? Yes No Would target consumers say that they trust the product? Yes No Would target consumers say that there is no need to test the product(s) before buying again? Yes No Are intentions to repurchase at high levels? Yes No Do consumers see a clear difference in value compared with competing products? Yes No Is your ongoing investment in the brand higher than your competitors? Yes No Your customers For your e-commerce site to be successful, your customers need to be ready to buy over the Internet. In this section, we'll look at their buying patterns. Consumer research organizations like A.C. Nielsen, Mintel etc. have divided customers into 6 broad categories. Please enter the percentage of each of your target customers in each category. Social shoppers - take pleasure in shopping and enjoy visiting stores. It's an opportunity to get out of the house, or office, and to meet people. % Experimenters - the first to try new things and are very happy to do so. They generally have a house full of the latest gadgets. % Convenience shoppers - live in a state of 'frenzied coping' and suffer from time pressure. Shopping is generally a chore. The stereotype is the busy parent who has to shop on the way from school with children in tow. % Habit-bound 'die-hards' - like continuity and prefer traditional values and ways of doing things. They prefer not to experiment and will wait for technology to become mainstream before adopting it. % Value shoppers ('mercenaries') - respond to any marketplace that can offer the same goods at a lower price. However, service and quality are still important since this forms part of the value of a product or service. % Ethical shoppers - ethics are their main criteria for shopping decisions. They may buy from any source and at a slightly higher price if it offers a better ethical deal (such as a fairer share to the original producer). % Click on the button below to see your results.