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viawebdesign Just as the Internet has made the world a global village, it has made every village business a global one. Gone are the days of the strictly local shop or firm. As long as a business has “dot com” after its name, it is easily accessible to everyone with just a few keystrokes. The way that the Internet has transformed business, and the way that we do business, is being felt in every area of commerce. For instance, the Internet has forced many “brick and mortar” merchants to shift their efforts toward e-commerce. Many merchants now sell as least some of their products online, and this number is growing. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s e-commerce statistics, online retail trade sales, alone, for 2001 were $34 billion. By 2006 (the most recent date available), that figure had grown to $106 billion. . Consumers can now order lunch, book a hotel and/or airline tickets, rent a movie for immediate download to their computers, research a college paper through an online library, and much more—all without leaving their chairs at home. The Internet has helped to create consumers that expect not only good prices with good service, but also instant access to whatever they want—whenever they want it. This has led the business world to create better, and more efficient, ways of conducting business. Those that sold services, in particular, were challenged to develop new products and methods of service delivery if they wanted to remain competitive. They responded to this challenge by developing some truly remarkable methods of selling services online, methods that also proved beneficial for the sellers of products. Through hard work and ingenuity, they devised several ways to electronically perform services for customers. For instance, resume-writing companies can take orders online and then send the finished resume to the customer via email or a Word (or PDF) document. An attorney can provide legal advice through an online chat with the client. Many colleges offer online courses with live, streaming video of the professor’s lecture so that it feels like a real classroom environment. The sellers of products, too, have found ways to convert some of their merchandise to electronic, or e-versions. Many businesses now sell e-books and audio recordings, for instance, that customers can instantly download—no shipping, or physical product, is necessary. These changes have allowed businesses to “go global” while, at the same time, giving customers the individual attention that makes them feel as if they are part of a village. This special treatment keeps customers coming back for more. As time goes on, and technology grows, we are likely to see even better ways to conduct business over the Internet. | 