Creating Stores on the Web [Paperback]

Joe Cataudella (Author), Dave Greely (Author), Ben Sawyer (Author)

Book Description

Series: On the Web Series | Publication Date: April 3, 1998

This book covers three key informational areas that are relevant to the various communities of people who want to set up online stores:1. All The Basic and Inside Business Information About Setting Up a Mail Order Store 2. A Fundamental How-To About Doing Retailing on The Web 3. Basic Planning and Strategy Information For Existing Online RetailersExamples will be given throughout the book which will be drawn mostly from the story of how Joe Cataudella built Tronix Multimedia into a successful business on the Web. Examples include Usenet ad posts that don't work, banner ads that do, and expertise on how to organize Email programs and design store Web pages. Everything is covered, from shipping tricks to legal issues to customer service do's and don'ts. Most Web commerce is not going to be fancy merchant server setups that cost thousands of dollars. It's not going to be large stores that sell 1thousands or millions of items. It's going to be small unique outlets run by sole proprietors that set up Web stores as extensions to their existing stores. In addition, many new Web stores will be started by people who've never started a store before-- real or virtual. Both of these groups will want to keep their costs low and will need a lot of basic help getting things up and running and doing it cheap. This is their book.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Coauthor Joe Cataudella claims to be one of the few merchants making money on the Internet. In Creating Stores on the Web, he shares his inside knowledge of how to set up an online business. The book begins with a set of frequently asked questions from those who are interested in growing a business on the Web. Cataudella then launches into his own success story, discussing his online store, Tronix, a video-game retailer, from its conception. He features profiles of other online businesses that have been successful, including the movie store Reel, clothing retailer L.L. Bean, and even Amazon.com. Along the way, he points out where many online companies go wrong and how to avoid the major pitfalls.

Cataudella then gets you started on planning your store. He outlines how many people are shopping online, who they are, and what kinds of products they're searching for and then lays out a bunch of different business models to choose from. He takes you through the basics of designing, stocking, and creating content for your store before guiding you through the next step--promoting your store--by showing you how to attract customers and where you should be advertising. The guide features a detailed section on how to accept and process payments for your product, including information on security issues, Electronic Software Distribution (ESD), and shipping concerns. Finally, Creating Stores on the Web offers valuable information on how to maintain your store, highlighting important marketing principles such as building customer loyalty, staying competitive, and keeping abreast of legal issues. The author closes with a list of helpful online resources that further discuss the topic of online commerce. -- Cristina Vaamonde

From the Back Cover

various communities of people who want to set up online stores:

1. All The Basic and Inside Business Information About Setting Up a Mail Order Store
2. A Fundamental How-To About Doing Retailing on The Web
3. Basic Planning and Strategy Information For Existing Online Retailers

Examples will be given throughout the book which will be drawn mostly from the story of how Joe Cataudella built Tronix Multimedia into a successful business on the Web. Examples include Usenet ad posts that don't work, banner ads that do, and expertise on how to organize Email programs and design store Web pages. Everything is covered, from shipping tricks to legal issues to customer service do's and don'ts. Most Web commerce is not going to be fancy merchant server setups that cost thousands of dollars. It's not going to be large stores that sell 1thousands or millions of items. It's going to be small unique outlets run by sole proprietors that set up Web stores as extensions to their existing stores. In addition, many new Web stores will be started by people who've never started a store before-- real or virtual. Both of these groups will want to keep their costs low and will need a lot of basic help getting things up and running and doing it cheap. This is their book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Pr (April 3, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201696819
• ISBN-13: 978-0201696813
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,415,981 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A little misleading, but very informative., February 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Creating Stores on the Web (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

The book has numerous spelling errors, has a misleading title, and seems to be another marketing tool for Jon Cataudella's Web-Store. However, it offers a great introduction and overall picture of Online businesses. If you can ignore the obvious advertising and editing problems than is definitely worth the money. The book will point you on the right direction in starting an Online store. It does not offer any in-depth information in any specific subject but that's necessary in order to cover as many subjects as this book does.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Overall getting started book but lacks depth, February 3, 2000

By 

Keith Winter - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creating Stores on the Web (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

This is an excellent book that I would recommend for everyone interested in putting a store on the web. However it is NOT a book that explains the actual site design aspect of making your own store. I assumed this would show how to make a store from the site designer's stand point, and this is book only covers what the store owner needs to to do get started.... It is a great book if you want to setup a store for your business, but if you are looking for a book to actually tell you how to add and setup the code or software that runs the e-commerce part of the web site, this is the wrong book.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for anyone starting an online store, August 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Creating Stores on the Web (Paperback)

This book covers all aspects of ecommerce from secure transactions to obtaining a merchant account to accept credit cards.

Other areas covered: Marketing of your site, foreign currency, and order processing.