by Richard L. Francis

Created on: February 17, 2010   Last Updated: February 28, 2010

If you haven’t noticed, more and more people are shopping online. They are buying anything and everything from baseball cards and books, to diamond rings and stocks and bonds. Each year the millions of people migrating to the internet as their “mall of choice" rises exponentially. They have discovered that shopping on the internet from the comfort of their homes is fast, easy, convenient, and in many situations, free of sales taxes and shipping charges. In addition, shopping via the internet quite often allows these shoppers to buy products at a discount to those offered by traditional brick and mortar stores.

Many traditional retailers, realizing they are late to the party, are now in hot pursuit of internet shoppers. Major retailers are rapidly establishing virtual storefronts in an effort to stem the erosion of their customer base and diminishing sales. These traditional retailers now have to contend with new and highly effective competitors. They are the college kids, retirees, soccer moms and entrepreneurs who have adopted today’s technologies and staked claims in the ever increasing number of strip malls along the information highway. Whatever the product, it is now possible to find it, evaluate it, review it, compare it, and purchase the item with just a few clicks of a mouse. And this is only the beginning!

Taking on their online competitors, these new entrants to internet e-commerce will find themselves engaged in a fierce struggle to increase their share of sales and profits. The good news is that they will benefit from lower costs, smaller payrolls, tighter inventory control, and the ability to keep their stores open 24/7. The successful internet marketers that ultimately prevail will employ the tried and true principles of commerce that were in use long before anyone ever considered conducting business via the internet. Here are some of the more successful practices used in traditional businesses that should be employed in the conduct of every online business venture.

*First Impressions Count

Almost all shoppers will find a website as a result of a keyword search or a referral by a friend. Either way, the landing page (home page) is the entry door to an online business. Consequently, the landing page of a vendor’s website will have the most influence on shoppers in forming their first impression of that business. It is imperative that the website’s home page make a great first impression and convey that it is a professional

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