Manchester Asian Trading
Information Network

Commercial Benefits of the Internet

The ways of using the Internet are many. It's a highly cost-effective business tool, and very flexible in its application. Here's just a few ideas of how it can be used to commercial advantage:

  • Traders with better access to greater amounts of more accurate market information have better growth potential. With the Internet, you can for instance obtain access up-to-date quality sales opportunities not readily available elsewhere. And all without leaving your office, at the punch of a few buttons! Fast changing industries such as the fashion business can gain immensely, by finding out about the latest trends, what the market is buying and being able to respond to it before their competitors.

  • Companies working on joint projects benefit too. Imagine a magazine publisher with journalists in different towns. At present, each journalist types in the text, faxes or posts it to the office where it is passed to the sub-editor who amends it before it is retyped and made up into pages. With the Internet, each journalist types the story, mails it electronically by E-Mail to the sub-editor who amends it on screen and passes the computer file to be automatically formatted and made up into pages. No retyping or associated errors. No faxes being lost on peoples' desks. Nothing lost in the post or taking three days to get anywhere. Automatically check it for spelling and grammar if you want to. And our Internet will even allow you to publish in electronic form too! Imagine a "newspaper" distributed electronically direct to the computer on your desk! And it can be charged for as well....

  • Organisations on several sites benefit immensely. No having to fax and retype, or putting floppy disks in the post where they get lost, damaged or arrive late. Push a few buttons and the data can be on your colleague's machine in a matter of minutes! They can just comment on it and send it on to someone else. All in computer form, only printing out where necessary.

  • Those mailing out to many organisations or branches can gain financially. With post, or even fax, you pay for each separate mailing or call. With electronic mail, the cost of sending to 50 addresses is little more than of sending to 5!

  • Companies can also use the technology to form sectorial consortiums with greater commercial power. Imagine someone trying to organise hotel accommodation for a large conference. At present, they have to telephone, fax or mail each hotel for room availability, facilities available etc. But what if the hotels get together and make this information available electronically on the Internet. Then all the conference organiser has to do is make one call to the system (without leaving his/her desk!) Instantly they can see how many people each hotel can take on the days in question, who will need to stay at which place to have the required facilities and so on. The latest technology will even allow them to book it the same way! Using the Internet, such a sectorial consortium could outbid individual hotels and those not using the system and gain trade in bulk.

  • As another example, think about the design industries. With the launch of a new product, not only has the product itself got to be designed, but also the sales literatures, the packaging, the press releases, the display stands etc. At present, this is all dine by time-consuming face-to-face meetings or mail. With the Internet, ideas, plans and designs, can be exchanged easily and instantly in computer form. No need to leave your desk - simply send it by electronic mail for you colleague to comment on, amend or use.

  • Even small companies can benefit. You want a sales leaflet, but you don't have desktop publishing equipment or anyone who knows how to use it, for example. Type the information in your word-processor, send it by the Internet's electronic mail to someone who has the equipment and skills, and they send you the finished desktop publishing file by return which you print out as required. No need to run around between artists, typesetters and printers - stay in your office and get on with some work!

  • What about engineering company that gets a request for machinery, but for which they can't build on their own. Maybe they don't have the supplies, the parts, the manufacturing equipment or workers with the necessary skills. But if they have access to the Internet, they can find companies which can, enabling them to provide the machinery as a joint venture, and gaining business that they would otherwise have lost!

  • Travelling staff such as sales representatives can gain valuable trading advantages for their company by using the Internet. Imagine your sales staff making a visit to a potential client, who asks him for product information that he/she doesn't have. The company representative without access to the Internet has to post or fax it on return to base. The sales person who does have access to the Internet simply connects his portable computer to a telephone line and the whole company catalogue can be obtained! Prices, stocks, delivery times, ordering systems can all be available at the touch of a few buttons at the customer's premises whilst the sales lead is still hot.

  • Senior business people too can use it to keep in touch with their company whilst they're away on business. Even if you're abroad at a conference, you can still exchange letters, contracts, and correspondence of all sorts. Even progress reports, schedule updates, output figures, the lot!

  • What about those companies seeking new business abroad? You've met an importer from Spain who wants more information, but all your sales information is in English. With the Internet, you send your product information electronically to a company in Spain which translates it, and sends it back to you by electronic mail as a desktop published document which you simply print out and hand to the importer! A major sale that you would have lost without the Internet.

  • Software companies can use the Internet to support users who have problems, use it to distribute upgrades and new releases, or undertake market research.

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