E-catalog-Establishing Trust on Your Web Site (919 words)

While most short-order Web sites won't be fully integrated into existing fulfillment channels in such a tight time frame, batch order transfers can provide a stop-gap solution, especially for smaller sites. Williams says that although a gradual approach can make sense by allowing an initial Web effort to serve as "a learning vehicle to find out what consumers are using it for and who's likely to buy," a site that starts with batch order transfers should be prepared to upgrade to real-time inventory as traffic and transactions grow.