Taking your business online may be considered a hugely time and cost consuming affair, but this need not be the case. There are many advantages of selling online over those that exists for selling using conventional methods. Traditional small and micro businesses usually find it difficult to expand their business beyond the local market due to lack of money and resources. It is further affected by the proliferation of larger and giant supermarkets in every corner of the cities.

A small grocery store in Cubao, Quezon City no longer has to compete with hypermarkets such as SM Hypermarket, ShopWise, PureGold, WalterMart and Makro, thanks to the Internet that is not only cost-effective, but popular as well. 

Internet represents an immensely big virtual market, and by taking your small business online, your niche market will expand many folds because of its global magnitude. The following are 5 good reasons why you should bring your small business online.

Open 24/7. No need to worry about who’s going to man your shop. Your site will be virtually open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and your stuff is secured even when you’re at sleep. Visitors or, should I say, potential customer can shop anytime and anywhere at their convenience. Online shoppers can also review and check information of your product instantly. Payment is also made easy as it can be wired to your local bank or you can use a payment intermediary service such as PayPal which is preferred by most online shoppers.

Fast, cheap and quality service. Reputation is very important when selling online. One way to achieve this is to ensure that your product line can be delivered economically and conveniently through the mail or over the Internet. You don’t have to own delivery trucks to the deliver products. Courier delivery is a cost-effective way to bring your products to the doorsteps of your customer, even across the shores. In the Philippines alone, we already have FedEx, UPS, DHL and other international courier services plus the local couriers which are tied up with these international delivery services.  You should be able to find one in your area.

Instant advertising. With the advent of social media networking, you can now promote your brand directly to consumers with minimal to no cost at all. One benefit is the internet allows immediate publishing of information and content that is not limited by geographical location or time. Online advertising allows for the customization of advertisements, including content and posted websites.

Usage share of web client operating systems. Source: Median values from Usage share of operating systems.

It's surprising to find out that even with the release of newer operating systems on the market, Windows XP remains the king of OS. But that is about to change as Windows XP is finally beginning its long-anticipated decline in corporate PC market. This can be attributed to the release of Windows 7, Mac OS x, the evolvement of Ubuntu Linux  and the end-of-life cycle for XP.

There is a little published information on the usage share of desktop and laptop computers. Web client information is often used as a proxy for this, but many such computers are not used for web surfing. Web client stats suggest that Microsoft Windows has about 92% share, Apple MAC OS 6% and Linux 1%. Although Microsoft estimates Linux's share of desktop users to be higher than the web stats suggest.

The most recent data from Median is summarized in the chart at the right and was conducted last February 2010.