E-commerce - Big Interest, Little Action

Paying The Price

Cost is another deterrent for in-plants. Many e-commerce vendors charge a percentage of the transactions processed through their systems—and sometimes more.

In Baltimore, Constellation Energy Group's Print & Imaging Services was surprised to learn, after preparing to implement a solution from a well-known e-commerce vendor, that the vendor had changed its business model. Instead of no up-front cost, a one percent fee on each transaction and free client training, the vendor suddenly needed a minimum of $200,000 a year in fees and wanted payment for training. The in-plant backed out.