Why does my business need a
database?
Develop self sufficiency
So, you hire a web consultant to develop your web site. They
create a powerful site and you now have a great presence on
the web.
But now you need to change the information on the web site
-- detailing new products or services or updating existing
information. You have to either contract the web consultant
to make these changes for you or develop the skills in-house.
Or you could use database integration technology to make
changes to your web site. You would use simple on-line forms
with your web browser to edit the information in the database.
These changes are immediately posted to the web site and you
are done.
You are now self-sufficient, eliminating the time, cost and
complexity of contacting the web consultant to make the changes.
Reduce web development costs
Database integration technology can greatly reduce the cost
of developing a web site in the first place and even make
otherwise impractical sites do-able.
Development costs are reduced by first storing the desired
information in a database or accessing existing databases.
Then, a limited number of templates are created to display
different categories of information. Finally, the web pages
are generated automatically using the defined templates and
data from the database.
This approach is much more efficient than creating every
individual web page and link 'by hand'.
Reduce web maintenance costs
One of the strengths of a great web site is that it's kept
up-to-date by frequent changes and additions. The burden of
ongoing site maintenance is greatly reduced using database
integration technology.
To add or change information on a Merchant Internet web page,
you change the information in the database itself. The web
pages are updated automatically.
Changing information in your database takes much less time
than manually creating new web pages or editing web pages
by hand, and you can easily edit the database with your web
browser using on-line forms.
This approach yields major cost savings and slashes information
delivery time.
Offer upgraded services
Database integration technology can provide sophisticated
services that go beyond the simple display of static information.
An automated search agent can search your database periodically
for information of interest to your customers, and it can
e-mail the results.
For instance, customers at a UK estate agents site could
fill out a profile specifying the criteria of the house they
are looking for. Each week, the automated search agent would
search the listings and e-mail each customer information about
houses matching their criteria.
Static web pages provide only a fixed way to look at information.
Using database technology you can add much more flexible ways
of viewing the information.
There are more applications of online database integration
on the Merchant Internet Examples page.
Increase customer loyalty
Imagine a web site where your customers have immediate access
to all the information they need from your company -- say,
product or service catalogs with full details, pricing and
availability, account information, order tracking, and shipping
status. Automated support services including a searchable
question/answer database or a support bulletin board can be
created.
Merchant Internet can design automated notification systems
so your customers are quickly notified when special offers
or information, relevant to their specific interests, becomes
available.
Companies that provide easy access to vital information and
personalised customer services inspire customer loyalty and
repeat business.
|
