Cost Savings

Many businesses are able to lower costs significantly by moving essential business processes to the Internet.

Staffing

Simply stated, the Internet saves time. It is significantly less expensive - and more accurate - to have a customer enter an order over the Internet than it is to take it by phone or re-type it into your computer system after the sale. In online stores, customers usually wait on themselves, so you don't need as many sales assistants. However, you will need to increase staffing in other areas -- answering e-mail, for example. Since it is so easy to ask questions, many more customers are doing so on the Web.

Advertising costs

For some businesses, especially those in neatly-defined niches, advertising costs are lower. But most new online businesses underestimate the costs of advertising. People must have a reason to come to your site. If they can't find you in a search engine, then you'll need to drive them there by a combination of paid online and offline advertising..

Start-Up Costs

When you compare the costs of beginning an Internet business to opening a new brick-and-mortar store, the Web wins hands down.

You can probably think of other ways the Internet saves your company money. But the point is easy to make. For some businesses cost savings will be more significant than any other purpose.