ELECTRONIC STOREFRONTS 12/08
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E-BUSINESS
Electronic Storefronts
For more information, contact:
The Business Link
Edmonton:
100 – 10237 104 Street NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 1B1
Calgary:
250 – 639 5 Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta T2P 0M9
Tel.:
1 800 272-9675
Fax:
780 422-0055 (Edmonton)
403 221-7817 (Calgary)
E-mail: buslink@canadabusiness.ca
Website: www.CanadaBusiness.ca/alberta
ELECTRONIC STOREFRONTS 12/08
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Electronic Storefronts
Electronic storefronts are web-based services that allow you to create virtual stores, post
a catalog of products, calculate shipping fees, and accept online payments with virtually
no programming experience. Using only your keyboard and browser, you can point-and-
click your way to a slick-looking, revenue-generating website in minutes.
This does not mean putting together simplistic prefab designs and a few megabytes of
web storage. There are successful free and subscription services that offer flexible
design options along with reporting and marketing tools that enable you to establish
repeat customers and generate new ones.
Key Advantages
• Cost - A leading technology vendor in Canada stated that a small business can
expect to pay approximately $5 million for an e-commerce website. Today,
virtually all electronic storefronts can be set up for no more than a few hundred
dollars a month; some are even offered for free.
• Ease of use - No special hardware, software, or computer training is required.
An electronic storefront can be set up using only your browser, mouse, and
keyboard.
• Highly customizable - These storefronts enable you to select from among
dozens of predefined design choices, add content, adjust colors and text, and
insert pictures of catalogue items. Pages can be viewed as you create them,
and drop-down menus can be easily added so that customers can choose a
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