What is E commerce

E commerce is effectively, a website that sells! Electronic Commerce.

In the online world there are many variables of website, blog sites, article sites, video sites and ecommerce sites. (Plus many more).

An ecommerce site is a platform that allows you to list and sell items just as you would in a retail outlet, the customers come to the site (shop), browse, and if they have found what they’re looking for they then make a purchase.

Your ecommerce platform takes care of all the nitty gritty stuff. No need to handle cash in the ecommerce world, no way, because with your trusty Payment Gateways (Google Checkout, PayPal, HSBC etc) you can sit back and let the money roll in…well..kind of. It’s not that easy

What Does Esk247 Provide

Esk247 can get you and more importantly, your products on to the internet for all to see. If you already operate a small retail outlet then we basically copy that template and put it online through an ecommerce platform. Esk247 use LOTS of platforms, depending on the scope and budget of the project.

We use Prestashop, Magento, WordPress (for mini shopping sites, not dedicated) and even a bespoke solution. Any platform that suits your budget and your anticipated expandibility.

Now, the clever amongst you will have noticed that 3 of those above are FREE platforms. Bingo! They are freely available, you can download them at your leisure. However, Esk247 is here to take the burden off your shoulders. We do all the fiddly bits, the installing, the updating, the test data etc. Leaving you to do what you do best..plan your online adventure in ecommerce.

How Much Does it Cost

How long is a piece of string? Serious question

We often get asked to provide an exact price for a project, but when the work begins it is always obvious that there is more to it than meets the eye. Images need to be produced, menus moved, text size altered, Search Engine Optimisation, graphics, logos etc. So putting an exact figure on something as big as this is virtually impossible.

Remember. Esk247 works with small businesses. We don’t expect you to spend thousands of pounds on your very first website. We only ask you to view it in the same way as purchasing a vehicle. A Rolls Royce costs tens of thousands of pounds and is complete with all the trimmings. A Ford Fiesta is cheap but nippy and easy to handle. The choice is yours.

Retail ‘guru’ Mary Portas has made available 28 recommendations for high street retail in the wake of months of research.

The following list is a summary of my 28 recommendations:

1. Put in place a “Town Team”: a visionary, strategic and strong operational management team for high streets

2. Empower successful Business Improvement Districts to take on more responsibilities and powers and become “Super-BIDs”

3. Legislate to allow landlords to become high street investors by contributing to their Business Improvement District

4. Establish a new “National Market Day” where budding shopkeepers can try their hand at operating a low-cost retail business

5. Make it easier for people to become market traders by removing unnecessary regulations so that anyone can trade on the high street unless there is a valid reason why not

6. Government should consider whether business rates can better support small businesses and independent retailers

7. Local authorities should use their new discretionary powers to give business rate concessions to new local businesses

8. Make business rates work for business by reviewing the use of the RPI with a view to changing the calculation to CPI

9. Local areas should implement free controlled parking schemes that work for their town centres and we should have a new parking league table

10. Town Teams should focus on making high streets accessible, attractive and safe

11. Government should include high street deregulation as part of their ongoing work on freeing up red tape

12. Address the restrictive aspects of the ‘Use Class’ system to make it easier to change the uses of key properties on the high street

13. Put betting shops into a separate ‘Use Class’ of their own

14. Make explicit a presumption in favour of town centre development in the wording of the National Planning Policy Framework

15. Introduce Secretary of State “exceptional sign off ” for all new out-of-town developments and require all large new developments to have an “affordable shops” quota

16. Large retailers should support and mentor local businesses and independent retailers

17. Retailers should report on their support of local high streets in their annual report

18. Encourage a contract of care between landlords and their commercial tenants by promoting the leasing code and supporting the use of lease structures other than upward only rent reviews, especially for small businesses

19. Explore further disincentives to prevent landlords from leaving units vacant

20. Banks who own empty property on the high street should either administer these assets well or be required to sell them

21. Local authorities should make more proactive use of Compulsory Purchase Order powers to encourage the redevelopment of key high street retail space

22. Empower local authorities to step in when landlords are negligent with new “Empty Shop Management Orders”

23. Introduce a public register of high street landlords

24. Run a high profile campaign to get people involved in Neighbourhood Plans

25. Promote the inclusion of the High Street in Neighbourhood Plans

26. Developers should make a financial contribution to ensure that the local community has a strong voice in the planning system

27. Support imaginative community use of empty properties through Community Right to Buy, Meanwhile Use and a new “Community Right to Try”

28. Run a number of High Street Pilots to test proof of concept

You can read more about this review here: Mary Portas