Competition is everywhere in business, especially for an online business. Because of that fact, it is essential that business owners take the steps necessary to make their e-commerce website more competitive. There are things that can be done to compete. Below I will list 5 steps that will help you do just that.

1. Offer free shipping. Free shipping is a great thing to offer customers because it is as though they are shopping at their local store.

2. Find a niche. Having a niche is one of the most important things you can do to ensure you can compete. While your competition sells every product to every market you can focus on one market or one product and make good money.

3. Have real time chat. This will allow customers to obtain answers to questions without having to send and email and wait 24 hours for a response.

4. Use bizrate or another program that allows customers to rate your service. The higher your ratings are, the better chance you have of obtaining new customers.

5. Have a toll-free phone number. This is essential not only for customers to contact you but also it looks more professional than having a phone number customers would have to call collect.

If you adhere to those 5 steps there is no doubt you can compete in the e-commerce world.

Andre Bias is the owner of http://www.kidfriendlyentertainment.com, and online source for top notch DVD