Selling Online: How to Become a Successful E-Commerce Merchant [Paperback]

Jim Carroll (Author), Rick Broadhead (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 14, 2001

Whether your organization is large or small, Selling Online is a perfect resource for any employee or entrepreneur interested in building a successful, profitable, and sustainable online retail business.

In Selling Online, Carroll and Broadhead discuss what makes an online business fail or triumph. From the nuts and bolts of how to build a site to an in depth look at merchant accounts, a systematic business plan walks you through the complex issues of doing business over the Internet.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Retailer dot-coms are very much in the news today, with companies collapsing and their value dropping on the stock market. But, according to internationally known e-commerce analysts Carroll and Broadhead, "far from being dead, e-business is thriving." In this practical guide, the authors take readers through a five-step process for creating an online store: planning, preparation, development, education, and refinement. Using illustrations of businesses on the web (including Staples.com, Yahoo Store, and Amazon.com), the authors explain how to design a user-friendly web site and describe such desirable design elements as easy navigation, search functionality, and fast download times. In case studies, retail dot-com owners describe their businesses, discuss what makes their companies successful, and offer advice to aspiring entrepreneurs. "E-Facts" presented throughout the book provide demographics and statistics related to e-commerce. This informative and very timely book is recommended for business collections in public and academic libraries. Lucy Heckman, St. John's Univ. Lib., Jamaica, NY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Since teaming up in 1994, internationally recognized e-commerce analysts Jim Carroll and Rick Broadhead have played a key role in educating consumers on the Internet, business and new technology. They have co-authored an astonishing 29 books, many of which feature partnerships with prominent Internet and technology firms, including Sprint, IBM, Visa and Excite.

Since teaming up in 1994, internationally recognized e-commerce analysts Rick Broadhead and Jim Carroll have played a key role in educating consumers on the Internet, business and new technology. They have co-authored an astonishing 29 books, many of which feature partnerships with prominent Internet and technology firms, including Sprint, IBM, Visa and Excite.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Kaplan Business (March 14, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0793145171
• ISBN-13: 978-0793145171
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #583,474 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 96 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Better Than Nothing..., May 4, 2002

By 

Poker Pro "Always Learning" (New York) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Selling Online: How to Become a Successful E-Commerce Merchant (Paperback)

I'm a firm believer that the best way to learn about doing something is to consult someone who's done it or to just start doing it yourself. This book really doesn't provide either of these things. The authors don't seem to have had too much success in the e-commerce world (or else choose not to share their expertise with readers in this simple book).

Selling Online is better than a lot of the other really, really bad "online commerce" books I've seen out there, but not by a lot really. The overwhelming majority of the information here could be found for free on the Web, as the book does little more than give very, very vague overviews of various aspects of e-commerce and then point the reader off to a series of vendor sites (many of which no longer exist, and which in any case are not very informative and try to take advantage of would-be Internet entrepreneurs).

Do yourself a favor, really. Buy books on HTML and CGI, and then get yourself a computer and fire up Google and search for information about setting up an online business (be specific so as to avoid lots of the scam companies... if there are flashy graphics and the word MILLIONS written all over the site... then leave quickly and avoid the pop-ups that will follow you!) Once you have the technical background to build a website the other technical details of running an online store will all fall into place.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reference book for Small-Medium businesses, July 28, 2001

By 

JHL (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Selling Online: How to Become a Successful E-Commerce Merchant (Paperback)

This is not for home-based businesses! If you already have a retail/wholesale/manufacturing business and are looking to put up a serious business online, this is the complete reference. Lots of information on shopping cart software, hosting, promotion, merchant accounts and marketing. The most complete book for FULL-TIME online e-commerce.

EVERY PAGE HAS TIPS and links to more information.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for the little guys, July 24, 2005

By 

Chris Sandoval (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Selling Online: How to Become a Successful E-Commerce Merchant (Paperback)

We bought this book thinking it it would help small online merchants, but the "Merchant" in the title is misleading. It is written more for large organizations that are having a complete website developed custom for them, not for the little guys trying to get going. Also, hundreds of new ecommerce programs have been developed since this book was written which this book does not cover. And the information is outdated, such as it is no longer necessary to open a merchant account directly with your bank, or process your own credit cards on your website, as we later found out. There are companies and resellers who take care of all that for you, even including security.

If you are going to start out with a big business like Amazon or Yahoo you might find the background information useful, but most businesses start out with just one or two people trying to learn everything. If you are small entrepeneurs like us, look for something more specific.