A PRIMER ON WEB CATALOGS

Translating a published catalog to an electronic on-line version is not a complex task - provided everything is planned out in detail before starting work.

People the world over are used to browsing through a catalog, thumbing from page to page looking for something specific or for something that catches their eye. It's no different on-line: visitors browse from page to page of product displays until they see something that they want to order.


The first major factor in design is the size of your product list: how many items do you have for sale?

	A catalog of 25 items lends itself to "hard-coded" pages -- that is, we'll actually prepare every Web page in its entirety.
	On the other hand, a catalog of 1000 products is not a candidate for hard-coding: rather, we'll design a basic on-line database, which will be consulted every time a visitor drops by, and the pages will be created "on-the-fly" for that individual.
	And at the other end of the spectrum, a catalog of 25,000 products requires full-blown relational SQL database integration, again with all display pages generated on-the-fly.

Designing the display pages is an identical process for all catalogs: we actually sketch the elements of every page, and draw lines on a piece of paper representing the links between pages.

On-line shopping must give the visitor three tools:

	a method of choosing (and keeping track of) products to purchase;
	a method of changing their minds (about quantity or color, and even to "put back" an item);
	a method of paying for the purchases (credit cards, print-and-fax, mail-with-check)

On-line catalogs use the "Shopping Cart" metaphor - each visitor gets a virtual shopping cart, into which the chosen products are placed. As each product is displayed, the shopper is shown a text box (into which a quantity is typed) and an ORDER button (which, when clicked, adds the items to the cart).

	At any time, the visitor can review the contents of the cart, and remove items or change quantities. This also allows for a running total cost to be maintained. When they're finished reviewing and changing the contents of their cart, they have the choice of returning to the product displays for more shopping, or proceeding to the checkout.
	To checkout, a shopper first enters Billing and Shipping information (name, address, etc.), along with whatever other information you wish to collect: telephone and fax numbers, email addresses, and so on. Next, the shopper chooses a payment method - usually selecting between on-line credit card payment, print-out-and-fax, or using one of the proprietary "wallets" to pay by credit card. Appropriate information is collected on each of these three branches, and a final order summary is E-mailed to the shopper - which is the on-line equivalent of "out the door"!
	Along the way, as necessary, shipping charges and sales taxes are calculated, and your database of contacts is updated. And this may be one of the most important points: you are collecting a list of customers with obviously proven interest in your products, a list of customers with whom you can maintain contact. The ultimate in mailing lists: demographically perfect, and accessible by email which means no postage, and no telephone costs!

Give us a call and we'll answer all your questions. The consultation is FREE!

iNet // Web Solutions (323) 851-6400 Info@iNetWebInc.com

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