E commerce
#1
Posted 07 August 2008 - 08:06 AM
SaaS E-commerce Services on the Rise
Convenience and low pricing will lure new entrants, small businesses and departments of large corporations to e-commerce delivered as a service.
July 31, 2008
By Richard Adhikari: More stories by this author:
By 2013, 90 percent of e-commerce sites will use at least one product from software as a service, or SaaS(define) vendors, according to a Gartner report released today. And 40 percent of e-commerce sites will use a complete SaaS solution.
These sites will be put up mainly by SMBs and smaller companies, although some large enterprises will use SaaS as a way to experiment in new markets. "You'll have new entrants who will help grow the market, and you'll also have experimentation by the bigger companies," Gartner analyst Gene Alvarez told InternetNews.com.
The bigger e-commerce players, however, will not use SaaS because they'll want to preserve the uniqueness of their sites, Gartner said. They also have concerns about the viability of SaaS to drive e-commerce on a large scale.
As a result, according to Gartner, the more profitable and more high-end e-commerce sites will choose to either use a custom-built solution, which others can't copy without breaching trademarks. Another group of e-commerce sites -- those that use licensed software and combine it with custom code or other products to deliver custom capabilities -- will also not be too keen on SaaS.
The SaaS approach will be viable for those who don't have enough human or hardware resources or both, Alvarez said. "We believe the increase in SaaS usage will come from the mid-market or below," he added.
Some of the top enterprises will use SaaS e-commerce to experiment in new markets, Alvarez said. "If I'm launching a new line or entering a new market and am not sure how I'm going to do there, it behooves me to try SaaS for, say, the first three years, and, if it doesn't work, I can shut it off," he explained.
"Do I see Nike or Amazon going into SaaS? No," Alvarez said. "But they can adopt SaaS to take some of their products and put them in a new store under a new name, and price them differently to test the market."
This is where SaaS in e-commerce will impact the skunk works many departments in large corporations are setting up by leveraging Amazon's EC2 and S3 cloud computing services to run their Web sites on. "SaaS e-commerce makes it even easier for user departments to make an end run around IT for a Web site," Alvarez said. "They don't have to understand S3 or EC2 and, for a few hundred dollars a month, they can launch an e-commerce site."
E-commerce delivered in SaaS form may also overtake cloud computing as a quick and easy way for departments of large companies to set up their own Web sites, Alvarez said.
#2
Posted 25 April 2009 - 06:24 PM
E-commerce represents a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs, since startup costs for an e-commerce company can be as little as a few hundred bucks, instead of 5-6 figures. I actually work with a small e-commerce company called EZ Landlord Forms, which sells state-specific legal forms for landlord / real estate investors, and it's a company that would never have been possible without the relatively low startup costs associated with online companies.
Every other day I actually hear a really inspirational story about a Joe Schmoe who started a website in his spare time, and it turned into a massive dating site, or a popular social media site, etc. Great stuff.
Cheers!
#3
Posted 21 October 2010 - 12:37 AM
Web Graffiti Inc, on 07 August 2008 - 08:06 AM, said:
SaaS E-commerce Services on the Rise
Convenience and low pricing will lure new entrants, small businesses and departments of large corporations to e-commerce delivered as a service.
July 31, 2008
By Richard Adhikari: More stories by this author:
By 2013, 90 percent of e-commerce sites will use at least one product from software as a service, or SaaS(define) vendors, according to a Gartner report released today. And 40 percent of e-commerce sites will use a complete SaaS solution.
These sites will be put up mainly by SMBs and smaller companies, although some large enterprises will use SaaS as a way to experiment in new markets. "You'll have new entrants who will help grow the market, and you'll also have experimentation by the bigger companies," Gartner analyst Gene Alvarez told InternetNews.com.
The bigger e-commerce players, however, will not use SaaS because they'll want to preserve the uniqueness of their sites, Gartner said. They also have concerns about the viability of SaaS to drive e-commerce on a large scale.
As a result, according to Gartner, the more profitable and more high-end e-commerce sites will choose to either use a custom-built solution, which others can't copy without breaching trademarks. Another group of e-commerce sites -- those that use licensed software and combine it with custom code or other products to deliver custom capabilities -- will also not be too keen on SaaS.
The SaaS approach will be viable for those who don't have enough human or hardware resources or both, Alvarez said. "We believe the increase in SaaS usage will come from the mid-market or below," he added.
Some of the top enterprises will use SaaS e-commerce to experiment in new markets, Alvarez said. "If I'm launching a new line or entering a new market and am not sure how I'm going to do there, it behooves me to try SaaS for, say, the first three years, and, if it doesn't work, I can shut it off," he explained.
"Do I see Nike or Amazon going into SaaS? No," Alvarez said. "But they can adopt SaaS to take some of their products and put them in a new store under a new name, and price them differently to test the market."
This is where SaaS in e-commerce will impact the skunk works many departments in large corporations are setting up by leveraging Amazon's EC2 and S3 cloud computing services to run their Web sites on. "SaaS e-commerce makes it even easier for user departments to make an end run around IT for a Web site," Alvarez said. "They don't have to understand S3 or EC2 and, for a few hundred dollars a month, they can launch an e-commerce site."
E-commerce delivered in SaaS form may also overtake cloud computing as a quick and easy way for departments of large companies to set up their own Web sites, Alvarez said.
I completely agree with your opinion about E commerce. But there there are many cons and pros for newbies in this field of business. The best advice is to be very careful and think twice before starting business in the E commerce.
#4
Posted 31 July 2012 - 11:26 PM
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