A Page on the Web, published in the Solicitors Journal, January 1999.

What’s driving the development of the internet today is e-commerce. What is ‘e-commerce’? Why, it’s commerce with an ‘e’ on the front; that is buying and selling goods and services electronically, specifically on the internet. E-commerce is not new – people have been using the internet to offer goods and services for sale and to obtain payment for them for most of its life. But there has been a huge cultural shift in recent years. The internet is no longer the province of academics and techies; it is no longer simply a huge billboard blaring out the corporate message: it is a place where people with everyday needs can seek to have those fulfilled – most often successfully. We have, though, some way to go in Britain to overcome our natural conservatism and to perceive the internet as an opportunity rather than a threat. According to a recent survey, a majority of us believe it’s a threat to morality, half that it encourages fraud, a third that it is a threat to security and nearly three quarters that it should be regulated. By contrast, more than three quarters of American internet users say it has improved their lives.

In the land of opportunity that is the internet, suppliers have been working hard (and fast) to improve the ‘buying experience’ for you the consumer. Below are some examples of the success stories – services that I have used in a business context. They are examples of services that will improve your life as a solicitor and businessman. Even if you are sceptical of the value of current information and other resources on the web, these services alone offer a compelling reason for you to use the internet. (Anecdotal evidence suggests that the most compelling reason thirty- and forty-somethings find to use the web is helping the kids with their homework.)

Buying books

One of the biggest internet success stories of the last year has been the Amazon online book store. (That the tenfold increase in its stock value is based more on the needs of the stock market than on earnings projections is another story.) Amazon has succeeded because it is has a huge catalogue of books it can supply at competitive – often heavily discounted – prices, and a very easy-to-use site, and because it offers an incredibly high level of service. You search its catalogue using authors’ names and/or words in the title. Your hits are listed with bibliographic details and prices. You click to view fuller details and readers’ reviews. You want it – you click to add it to you shopping basket. You continue browsing and adding to your basket until you’re done. Proceed to the checkout, select the shipping method, type in your details, including credit card number and you’re done. Receive immediate email confirmation of your order, followed by confirmation of despatch and await delivery.

The first time I used the (US) service, unfortunately the added cost of airmail shipping (which I chose) or the long wait for surface delivery (which would not have been acceptable) were enough to put me off returning again. Deciding to try British next, I then used Waterstones. Here I managed to save money by finding two different-but-the-same paperback editions of the same title and opting for the cheaper. Sadly Waterstones took more than their stated two weeks to deliver, so I’m not going back there in a hurry. Next and most recently I used the new Amazon UK site. Ordering on a Monday morning, I received the two titles ordered (at competitive prices and with only a modest postal charge) in the first post on Wednesday. They have my business.

For law books you may think a specialist law books site would be the answer. Most of the law book publishers will offer you online ordering facilities from their websites, but there is currently only one generic law book site geared to the UK market: Law Books Online maintains details of 18,000 (UK and overseas) law books in its catalogue. The shopping experience is not nearly as slick as with Amazon, but you can be reasonably sure of tracking down just about any law book you may be require. No indication of delivery time is given. Interestingly, Amazon did also come up with a number of well-known law titles, a few of which are shown in the table.

Notably, as the table shows, Amazon scores better on price and (I must assume) delivery time for Susskind’s book. Amazon applies automatic credit card clearance whereas Law Books Online states that ‘We will accept payment by credit card. As soon as we receive authorisation from your Bank, we will despatch the book.’

Buying a computer

Dell Computers has been a success story from the word go about 10 years ago, pioneering the concept of mail order computer sales. Last year its website was redesigned and now generates more than £1 million in orders per day. Although part of this success is down to the fact that Dell was successful beforehand, it has taken care to implement features which add value to your shopping trip and make online ordering far quicker than any other method.

Firstly, by asking a couple of simple questions about you and your needs, it quickly directs you to the type of system most suited to your profile. Second, having displayed details of a standard configuration and price for the selected model, it allows you view and select alternative component specifications and optional extras such as printers, with each change recalculating the price. If human assistance is required, you can simply click on ‘phone me’, tap in your phone number and await a call-back within minutes.

In my experience this has cut down the time taken to select and order a new PC from perhaps days to a matter of minutes. Also, as specifications and prices change frequently, you’re better off checking the latest offerings on the web, rather than looking at that brochure you received last month.

Buying software

Buying software is of course a doddle on the internet. The big plus here is that delivery is (or should be) virtually instantaneous: there are no physical goods to ship, just digits down the wire. Of course, many will fear the risk of viruses, but anti-virus precautions need to be taken whatever you download from the web or save from your email. My last software purchase was, in fact, anti-virus software. Having inadvertently picked up a virus that I couldn’t fix, I decided to purchase the latest version of Noton’s anti-virus software. From the Symantec site I could download a 30-day evaluation version – good enough to fix the immediate problem. For the next 30 days it reminded me that my free ride was running out and after 30 days each day informed me it had quit work. As intended, I soon gave in – ‘Buy Now’ I cried. Norton fired up my browser and connected me to it’s site. After I’d tapped in my details and agreed to part with $45 (incidentally, about half the cost of the shrink-wrapped product in Dixons) I think all it did was download a piece of code to unlock my eval copy. All over in a few minutes and I don’t begrudge the man one cent of the price.

More retail therapy later.

Featured links

www.amazon.co.uk
www.waterstones.co.uk
www.lawbooks-online.com
www.dell.co.uk
www.symantec.com