| Introduction To E-commerce
E-commerce is all around us. As soon as you search for something on the Internet, your search leads to millions of e-commerce ideas. E-commerce has been spreading all over the Internet since the beginning of the Internet boom. Many companies are using e-commerce ideas to reach their customers, and many more seem to follow every day. Searching for products to purchase or products to research has never been easier.
Innovative Advertising
Advertising on the Internet has taken industries to new heights. Tons of e-commerce ideas have led to videos online, automated emails, and countless other ways to attract new customers and keep old customers. One such company that seems to come up with different innovative e-commerce ideas is QuickBooks (quickbooks.intuit.com). As indicated by the Internet address, this company is a subsidiary of Intuit that sells accounting software for small businesses. The first set of e-commerce ideas they show is that of choosing small businesses as their target market. Their software can be tailor made to the type of industry the company is in. This can be from retail to wholesale, and from for profit to nonprofit organizations.
The e-commerce ideas contained on their website enable anyone to purchase any of their products online, from an authorized reseller, or it prompts them to contact their accountant. They also have videos that show a demonstration of various products, as well as how each product can be used with another one they offer. They also use screenshots that show what the different screens of the products look like. Another e-commerce idea they have is by way of showing a comparison of their product along with others that are similar. One of their best advertising e-commerce ideas stems from the compatibility of their software with others that are also widely known. These include, but aren’t limited to, Excel and Word which are created from Microsoft (www.microsoft.com). QuickBooks has features that will allow the user to import and export data using either Excel or Word. This proves to be a great marketing tool for small businesses that currently use these in their day-to-day operations.
The variety of software and services they offer is also one of their best e-commerce ideas. They include complete packages for a small business. This begins with start up and incorporation. It continues to include bookkeeping, taxes, payroll, etc. All these lead to the small business owner being able to save time and money by allowing the owner to do the record keeping or by hiring someone to keep the books. Their software is easy to learn and easy to teach.
Innovative Promotion Ideas
Promoting their business also seems to come easily to them. Countless emails are sent out to current software customers, which show them what new software is on its way, as well as updates to previous software. This enables them to upgrade sooner rather than later. It also allows customers to get a sneak preview of what software is coming, as well as a chance to test it out. Quick Books also goes so far as to offer free software. One such product is called the Quick Start. This product is a fully functional version of the Quick Books Accounting software. It allows you to track expenses, revenue, and up to 20 customers. The download takes about 15 minutes, and everything is set up in the normal way that Quick Books’ interface is, user friendly.
Sending out emails isn’t the only e-commerce idea that Quick Books has to promote its software. It also uses word of mouth, which in advertising is the cheapest way to advertise and promote anything. Obviously, this works because the major way they use word of mouth is through service providers such as accountants. Accountants recommend Quick Books products to their clients, and then use this as an opportunity for revenue by showing them how to set it up, use it, and keep decent records.
Almost all software companies have demos of their software. It allows customers to try the software before they buy it. The demos normally give a certain amount of uses before it prompts the potential customer to buy the product, or it hides certain features of the product and allows the customer to do minimal things.
Conclusion
Quick Books is just one of the many companies out there that uses innovative e-commerce ideas to promote their products. They accomplish this by using some videos to demonstrate what their products can do. Another way they do this is by using screenshots that show customers exactly what the different products can do. It shows what they could do before updates, and what they can now due because of the updates. They also allow customers to download demos of products, so they can try the software before they buy it. This allows customers to determine if the product is right for them. This idea can go both ways because it could make or break the sale. The customer can realize from the demo that they don’t need the product and go somewhere else. They can buy something else, or they can purchase the software from Quick Books.
The software that Quick Books offers is also compatible with Microsoft Office and other widely known software. Some Microsoft Office products such as Word and Excel can import and export data that can then be manipulated by the end user. The software tells you what other products it is compatible with, as well as what requirements are needed for the software to work on your computer.
The software comes ready to use with a PC or a MAC computer. They use current technology in the form of emails and the Internet to make sure they reach as many current and potential customers as they possibly can. Quick Books has developed many e-commerce ideas and will continue to do so. This article only mentions a few of them, but there are surely more to come.
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