What secrets could an e-commerce firm have? An online business is exactly that: online, always, and always available to anyone with an Internet connection. Inventory, pricing and marketing are all on the Web site for anyone to see — whether a potential customer, or a potential or actual competitor.

Yet, as with their bricks-and-mortar counterparts, the story of how an e-business gets online hides many secrets. Just as the success of retail behemoths may lie in wringing costs out of the supply chain — by getting the best deals from suppliers, and cutting logistics costs ranging from inbound shipping to even the shortest storage to quick distribution — e-commerce firms face the same challenges to distinguish themselves from competitors worldwide. Some online firms may even have truly proprietary technology. Similarly, the e-analog to the real-estate-bound business of real-world stores is the effort required to find the best locations to attract customers in the always-evolving world of marketing online, whether sophisticated search-engine advertising and linking strategies are being used, or if the business is simply selecting and defending a good domain name.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]