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An online retailer builds a website to conduct retail transactions on the internet. This may be an adjunct to an off-line business or may be the sole outlet for the products.

To start up a business as an online retailer you will need the ability to create a website (or the funds to hire someone to do it for you) and, of course, you must have products or services to sell.

Affiliate programs sprung up partly in response to demand from would-be retailers who wanted to start up business on the internet but didn't have products of their own to sell.  An affiliate program is simply an arrangement between you (the affiliate) and a supplier of goods or services whereby you resell the goods or services of the supplier in return for a commission.

This is often a good way to start an online retail business.  The supplier retains responsibility for order-taking, accepting payment from your customer, shipping and paying affiliates.  All you need to do is concentrate on marketing the product you are selling for the supplier.  Your job is to attract customers and sell them on the product or service you are offering.  Sometimes you don't even need to do that much.  Many affiliate programs operate so that all you do as reseller is attract targeted customers and refer them to the supplier's website. The supplier's website is where the actually "selling" occurs.

There are a number of good sources for reputable affiliate programs on the internet. One of the best is AssociatePrograms.com at http://www.associateprograms.com .

Once you have some time and experience under your belt and are comfortable with the basic principles of online marketing, you may decide to expand your business and start selling your own products and services, rather than selling someone else's. At that point, you can create your own affiliate program and enrol resellers to sell your products in exchange for a commission.  This doesn't mean you need to manufacture your own products, of course.  You simply acquire stock from manufacturers at wholesale and sell them from your website at retail.

Resources for prospective online retailers abound on the internet.  To begin with, you will need to turn your mind to the following issues:  

If you are a complete novice, a good basic introduction to internet marketing is the Cookie Cutter system.  For $20, you will learn the basic elements that you need to understand to start and operate simple web-based business.  Advertisements for Cookie Cutter are everywhere.  If you haven't heard of it before or haven't come across a classified ad for it, visit http://www.ahbbo.com/programs.html and click on the Cookie Cutter logo.

Recommended websites:

AssociatePrograms.com - http://www.associateprograms.com
eRetail.net - http://www.eretail.net
The Electronic Commerce Guide - http://ecommerce.internet.com
List of E-Commerce Servers - http://www.ecommerce1.com/commerce_servers.htm
Payment Mechanisms Designed for the Internet - http://ganges.cs.tcd.ie/mepeirce/Project/oninternet.html
Thomas Register of American Manufacturers - http://www.thomasregister.com/
Electronic Commerce Resource Center - http://www.ecrc.ctc.com/

Recommended books:

->Starting An Online Business For Dummies With Cdrom by Greg Holden

->Infopreneurs Online And Global; Taking The Hottest Business Of The '90's Into The 21st Century by Skip Weitzen - how to join a new breed of entrepreneurs who are getting rich by finding, packaging, and selling information. Infopreneurs Online and Global reveals how to update this type of business by going online. Practical, step-by- step instructions demonstrate how to define and research ideas and then apply basic infopreneurial techniques to online and global opportunities.   -> Growing Your Business Online; Small-Business Strategies For Working The World Wide Web by Phaedra Hise

-> Poor Richard's Internet Marketing And Promotions; How To Promote Yourself, Your Business, Your Ideas Online by Peter Kent and Tara Calishain