The Internet provides an unlimited number of possibilities for improving each store's relationship with their customers. There are three barriers that must be overcome before a store's Web site can be transformed from an online yellow-pages ad into an effective extension of their brick-and-mortar services. These are: limited resources, limited time, and rapidly changing technology.

The limited resources of each store present the first barrier. Very few stores could justify the cost of developing and maintaining a professional and graphically appealing Web site. Fewer still could afford to add functionality that is specifically tailored to their business and their customers. We overcome this barrier by developing functionality and graphics that are common to independent hardware retailers, effectively dividing the cost of development among all of our members. Our system blurs the line between mass-production and complete customization, because it allows each member to maintain full control over all content and functionality included in their site.

Limited time is a obstacle we all face in one way or another. Being storeowners ourselves, we understand how time consuming it can be to run a successful store. Taking this into consideration, we've developed a user-based security model to accompany our system. Just as you probably don't stock your own shelves, sweep your own floor, or take out your own trash, you don't have to build your own Web site. All you have to do is assign each employee a username and password, and decide which sections or functions you would like them to have access to. Users may be granted access to view survey results, to manage account information, to edit the site's contents, to view site traffic statistics, etc. In addition to employees, friends and family can also be assigned different tasks on your Web site, while you maintain full control over what actually gets published to the World Wide Web.

The third and final barrier to effective store-level use of the Internet is the rapidly changing nature of Internet technology. As technology progresses, significant investments made by any individual store will become outdated. Web sites built just a couple of years ago look vastly out-of-date, casting a negative effect on the image of the site owner. The nature of Internet content will also rapidly change. As high-bandwidth connections become widespread and standards for multimedia and dynamic content become widely accepted and supported, newer sites will shadow older sites by providing interactive, dynamic, and multimedia-rich content. Our system does not rely on any volatile technologies, and is built in a way that will allow us to continually offer updated, modernized interfaces, and functionality that utilizes the latest technologies effectively.

By overcoming the barriers of time, money, and technology, we ignite the power of the small business to effectively reap the benefits of the Internet.