Small Business Electronic Commerce Implementation: A Case Study

This case study outlines experiences of a small stationer with electronic commerce implementation that should be valuable for many similar companies attempting to provide Internet services to their customers. It describes the origin of the organization and the factors that prompted its CEO to add electronic commerce to its business model. The company's objective was to grow at several levels. The study describes the many challenges that the company had to overcome, including handling growth while maintaining the same staff size, integration of old and new databases, personal service in an online environment, potential change in business solutions from custom-made to packaged solutions, and limitations in terms of budget and expertise. The case outlines the steps taken to achieve these goals, including IT decisions such as outsourcing, software, and database choices.