Practical Web Technologies

14.5. A simple e-commerce application for small businesses

14.5.1. A simple business model on the Internet

Many small businesses such as shops, restaurants, and cafés may already have some kind of telephone/fax ordering service. A typical telephone ordering service may include “accepting orders on the phone,” “delivery in local area,” and “collecting payment.” For these small businesses, in addition to telephone ordering, one obvious approach to expand their businesses to reach more customers is to accept orders over the Internet.

From the customers’ point of view, the major advantage of online ordering is that a full list of services/products can be seen. Pricing, additional information or descriptions, pictures of the product, and/or services ...