Curtis Pierce is CEO of Kurant, a Bay Area software company that has put most of its expansion efforts in Folsom. Instead, it opened a two-person research and development branch in a small office at the Nimbus Winery Executive Suites in Rancho Cordova to accommodate its two new hires. It is important to have a Web site. A lot of customers view it like having a telephone. Having it will ultimately mean more sales.
Researchers say e-commerce opens a new sales channel for businesses.
StoreSense allows merchants to build their own online stores quickly. It offers features such as credit card processing, virtual shopping carts, order histories, inventory management and catalog displays. But small businesses don't need the million-dollar features that a Sears requires, he added. In 1996, Kurant founder Kevin Higdon designed and created the software with visions of launching a small company that would market the product directly to individual merchants. Steven Harris, an analyst with IDC, said ISPs are constantly looking for new services such as e-commerce to offer customers and generate additional revenue.