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So you want to recognize the work of a few employees at your company's annual meeting. Because you've never ordered recognition awards before, you go to Google, type in "recognition awards" and find a link to Eclipse Awards. After browsing the company's website and catalogue and reviewing its client list, you've ordered three etched crystal awards—all without even talking to a sales rep. How convenient. But how did it happen?

The website of Vancouver-based Eclipse Awards International Inc. is set up to rank high in search engines, based on keywords related to the company's business (such as "recognition awards"). That's one way Eclipse attracts visitors to its site. Once you're there, it inspires confidence with plenty of information about the company, an easy-to-scan catalogue and a client list that includes Microsoft, Royal Bank, United Way and others. To close the sale, the online order process is explained in detail and kept as simple as possible. If you have a question or are leery about ordering online, you can call a toll-free number and speak to an Eclipse representative.

There are billions of reasons your company should consider selling its wares online. Private online sales grew almost 42% in 2006 to $46.5 billion, the fifth consecutive year of strong growth, according to Export Development Canada. Yet only about 8% of companies conducted e-commerce in 2006.

The key to expanding online sales, says Vito Mabrucco, managing director of IDC Canada, is trust. "If people don't trust you, they won't shop," he says. It's relatively easy for major retailers to make customers feel secure just by the weight of their brand. Small and mid-sized businesses have to work much harder.

"Your brand, the design of your website, the quality of your images—all of these things have to inspire trust and confidence," says Eclipse president Toby Barazzuol. He suggests companies be open and reveal where they're located and make it simple for clients to contact them. Beyond the need to build trust, he says, websites should be easy to navigate. "Keep your design as simple as possible," he says. "People today are overloaded by choices. Limitless options can lead to paralysis." Results of paralysis can include users abandoning shopping carts before clicking the final buy button. That's due to what Michael Brown, CEO of Vancouver-based HealthPricer Interactive, calls "clutter-in-the-cart process."

HealthPricer, a price-comparison search engine, represents more than 100 online health and beauty sites. It screens companies before admitting them to the HealthPricer search engine. But no one pays to get on. Nor do they pay HealthPricer when surfers click on links to their sites, unlike companies that run pay-per-click ads on Google and Yahoo. HealthPricer gets paid only when consumers buy from listed sites, so it's in Brown's interest for companies to close the sale. That's why he advises them not to ask marketing questions at the checkout and avoid upselling. "If the shopping-cart process is too cumbersome,

it gives shoppers time to change their minds or to become distracted," he says. "Keep the process as simple as possible. Take the cash, say thanks and invite them back soon."

His advice paid off for RxCare Canada Inc., a Winnipeg-based online pharmacy that got listed on HealthPricer about a year ago. After streamlining the checkout process, the company achieved "a significant boost" in the rate at which visitors were converted to buyers says RxCare president William Skubovius. Still, he knows that before he can close the sale, he has to attract visitors. "If you can't get them to your site, you can't sell."

Besides being listed in HealthPricer, RxCare Canada's website is also optimized to rank high in search engines. Plus, it runs pay-per-click ads that appear beside free search-engine listings. RxCare certainly isn't alone when it comes to online advertising. Online ad spending in Canada hit record numbers—$1.01 billion in 2006, with growth projected to reach $1.3 billion by the end of this year, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada.

But companies know they have to build confidence before they can sell. Consumers, for example, won't order drugs unless they're sure the site is legitimate. That's why RxCare displays logos from the Canadian and Manitoba International Pharmacy Associations on its site as well as one from the Better Business Bureau. The company is also listed with PharmacyChecker, a verification program established in 2003 to help consumers find qualified online pharmacies.

Online merchants can also build trust with clear guarantees and shipping and return policies, says John Pliniussen, an e-marketing professor at the Queen's School of Business.

While there are many similarities in B2B and B2C online sales, "there are big differences as well," he says. Much depends on the product. For instance, consumers might gamble $25 on a book, CD or auction item online if they have a gut feeling that the website is legitimate. And small businesses generally buy office supplies and other minor items online without excessive due diligence.

But consumers tend to comparison-shop online for larger items and then seal the deal in person. Similarly, a company that's about to make a complex or expensive purchase may source vendors online, but shouldn't hand over any money until they review samples of the product and check references, says Pliniussen. The seller would also be wise to conduct credit checks or get cash upfront, before it ships the product, he adds, because there can be bogus buyers as well as sellers.

In the end, though, once two companies agree to do business, orders are often placed online, and the money transfer happens electronically. In fact, in B2B sales, the entire supply-chain management process—from ordering raw materials to manufacturing to shipping finished products—is becoming electronically integrated and global, says Pliniussen. Mabrucco concurs. "There are opportunities for Canadian businesses to become part of the supply chain for American business, allowing them to become part of the largest part of e-commerce," he says. "But to supply a large retail chain like Wal-Mart or Target, you need to be online and you need to be part of the supply chain ecosystem."

Not all online business interactions have to be about sales, says Mabrucco. Companies should at least have "a solid awareness-based website" so that consumers or businesses can conduct research. A site should also direct consumers to dealers who can close the sale.

If your competition is selling online or your customers are buying online, however, then you "have to make your website transactional" if you want to compete, he says.

If companies are going to conduct business online, they have to do it right, says Brett Anderson, managing director for customer relationship management with Accenture.

E-commerce can be complicated, and if companies get it wrong, they risk alienating customers. And sharing negative customer-service experiences, via word of mouth or through e-mail, blogs and social networking sites, has become a powerful weapon in the hands of consumers. "It can damage companies that provide mediocre or bad customer service," Anderson says.

Some sectors, however, have benefited greatly by using the Web to improve customer service, says Mabrucco. For example, courier and trucking companies let customers track the delivery process online. This helps satisfy customer curiosity and saves countless customer service calls. Service staff can then spend more time dealing with more pressing issues, he says.

Online service doesn't stop with private enterprise. "Governments are also showing enthusiasm for delivering services online," such as allowing you to pay your taxes over the Web, says Mabrucco. Taxpayers receive their refunds more rapidly; Canada Revenue Agency staff handle less paper and saves time that would otherwise be spent on data entry. In short, when done right, online service and sales can be a win-win, he says.

And now you know how you ended up ordering three elegant crystal awards online, without talking to a sales representative, not long after you Googled "recognition awards" and clicked . . .