2

OVERVIEW

Selling a tangible product

Businesses who can sell products via the Web should build an online shopping cart and

provide customers with a means of ordering merchandise. Businesses that manufacture

products, but can’t logistically distribute them through the Web (like our McDonald’s1

example, or Caterpillar, maker of industrial construction equipment), still need to provide

a comprehensive outline of their offerings as well as information on where (and how) to

buy it.

Starbucks offers an effective hybrid model. Both the company’s physical stores and its

online store sell bags of coffee and merchandise, though its branches generate additional

revenue selling freshly brewed beverages. While Starbucks would have a difficult time

shipping a double tall nonfat latte to your house, it does offer a comprehensive menu of

available coffees on its website (www.starbucks.com), as shown in Figure 1-1, along with

nutritional information. This is smart offensive design.

Figure 1-1. Starbucks not only allows users to purchase its coffee and merchandise online, but also

provides a comprehensive list of coffees available at branch locations.

Promoting services

The world’s economy is becoming host to an increasing number of service providers.

These companies don’t actually sell a physical product, but rather their knowledge, expert-

ise, and opinions. A technology analyst and consulting company like Gartner is the purest

form of this business model—Gartner meets and talks with companies, makes recommen-

dations on technology purchases, and then charges for its time doing so.

Some companies offer physical products andknowledge services. IBM, for instance,

sells laptops and servers, but it also makes a considerable amount from its network of

consultants.

3

WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES

The whole branding thing

A lot has been written about branding on the Web, and how companies can take advan-

tage of the medium to push their corporate presence further into the marketplace.

Unfortunately, so many factors of branding are intangible qualities—how something