What can the internet not sell?
From household items down to vehicle parts, sites like eBay have been very successful in selling almost anything that goes up for auction. 6 to 7 years ago it was only the scenario where a business would list the items they sell or service. This required consumers to call or personally meet businesses in order to complete a sales transaction.
Today, however businesses can reach their consumers without the need for human interactivity (until you have to call customer service to chase up on the much anticipated order). But does that mean that only online retailing businesses can take advantage of the internet to increase their sales?
The days have gone when only an internet savvy user could sell over the internet or design a website to promote their sales. Today regular housewives in American have started to act as resellers organizing their suppliers to deliver items directly to the winning bidders on eBay without having to leave their homes.
While minor or very common items are being sold over the internet, an article bought my attention to a house being auctioned by Dan Whaley, a famous billionaire for successfully setting up one of the first online travel websites. Using eBay, Mr. Whaley started the opening bid for the auction at US$0.99 on the 25th September due to end on the 5th October. While his property is supposedly worth a million dollars, Mr. Whaley said
"I'd like to see what the marketplace wants to place it at. I'm a big believer in the online model and letting people participate a little bit more actively in the transaction."
The auction currently holds at US$100,100 as of 28th September, and it shows that the internet has no boundaries for business companies to reach their consumers.
The auction can be view at:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Waterfront-Bungalow-on-the-San-Mateo-Lagoon-NR-Auction_W0QQitemZ4407785634QQcategoryZ12605QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
So does this simply mean that one could take a virtual tour of a property they would like to reside in and pay for it without having to deal with the estate agent? Well, it might be too complex just yet considering a lot of the procedures involve human interactivity; however I do believe we are heading towards a time where almost any item or service could be arranged for via the World Wide Web completely without or with minimal contact.
Dell has repeatedly proved itself as being one of the most successful online retailing stores giving users the ability to customize almost every removable part of a PC. Backed by a complex logistics, Dell has taken up the market by being one of the first PC brands to retail only via the internet.
We have seen businesses succeed by having an online presence, and they achieve more when an e-commerce Business-to-Consumers (B2C) system is put in place. It therefore puts to show that they internet could sell just about anything.
