Any DR Ecommerce Ideas?

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vincenoble

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May 29, 2004
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Just recently moved out here to attend law school in September.
I got alot of time on my hands and I'm thinking about starting up an Internet company in DR.

Being in DR sort of reminds me of back in the early 90's Internet rush.
Besides web design or any sleasy biz, what type of ecommerce or portal sites might work here and who are the major players here.

DR1 Rocks!

Ex NewYorker - Vince
 
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Mark1

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Mar 17, 2004
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vincenoble said:
Just recently moved out here to attend law school in September.
I got alot of time on my hands and I'm thinking about starting up an Internet company in DR.

Being in DR sort of reminds me of back in the early 90's Internet rush.
Besides web design or any sleasy biz, what type of ecommerce or portal sites might work here and who are the major players here.

DR1 Rocks!

Ex NewYorker - Vince
Click to expand...

Internet? Think Global (more opportunities) then find a niche(or more) with few competitors and possibly high demand and specialize.
People surf the web to find Info so content is a must, the rest ($) comes later...
just my 2 cents
 
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DRshooter

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Apr 23, 2004
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vincenoble said:
Just recently moved out here to attend law school in September.
I got alot of time on my hands and I'm thinking about starting up an Internet company in DR.

Being in DR sort of reminds me of back in the early 90's Internet rush.
Besides web design or any sleasy biz, what type of ecommerce or portal sites might work here and who are the major players here.

DR1 Rocks!

Ex NewYorker - Vince
Click to expand...

Sell Brugal and presidente online
 
NALs

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
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DRshooter, that's a brilliant idea!!

I have noticed lately that there are alot of excellent business ideas surfacing on this DR1! Selling Brugal and Presidente online, that is a brilliant idea!! Imagine, printing small 3x5inch flyers advertising your online Dominican liquor store by the thousands and handing them out to every tourist leaving the country. Assuming most would have tasted Dominican liquor already, most would probably like it. If you use UPS or FEDEX for the global deliveries this business could make it big!! Imagine, order online your fav. Dominican liquor and it will be on your doorstep in 48 hours regardless where you live!! Brilliant!!

To keep entrepreneurs happy, I won't be working on any of these ideas put forth on this site just to not dampen the dreams of those asking! But, don't be surprised if some competition of my own pops up here and there! :) Aaah, Capitalism!!

I'll start a thread about business ideas on the business section, so if you got one, share it with everyone!!!
 
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DRshooter

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Sell to EU if it's to hard in america...

adrianb said:
Alcohol delivery around the US is highly regulated; see the wine industry for more.
Click to expand...
You could cater to EU residents... and the rest of the world. Sell for 15 bucks a bottle...go to the colmado and buy it for 2, put it in a box and mail it. I would do it if I had the time :D
If not, dulce de leche, dominican sweets, unique dominican products like mabi del seybo, food products that you can only get here... Put it in a nice box with a bow on top..with the dominican Flag...viola!! Cash money baby...
And the good thing about it is that you wouldn't need inventory...just get the order,...buy it at the colmado and send it...
CASABE!!! that would be great...Pasteles en Hoja for christmas!!:D
Just some ideas...
 
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Escott

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Jan 14, 2002
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DRshooter said:
You could cater to EU residents... and the rest of the world. Sell for 15 bucks a bottle...go to the colmado and buy it for 2, put it in a box and mail it. I would do it if I had the time :D
If not, dulce de leche, dominican sweets, unique dominican products like mabi del seybo, food products that you can only get here... Put it in a nice box with a bow on top..with the dominican Flag...viola!! Cash money baby...
And the good thing about it is that you wouldn't need inventory...just get the order,...buy it at the colmado and send it...
CASABE!!! that would be great...Pasteles en Hoja for christmas!!:D
Just some ideas...
Click to expand...
hehehe, know what it would cost to FedEx or UPS this to Europe or the States? Hate to bother you with these Bullshit abstractions but it is part of business. Your 1 dollar candy bar would cost about 17 bux in the states. Probably 17 Euros in Europe.

You guys do know that you can buy Brugal and Presidente in the States, right? Most of the people that buy Brugal in NY don't have internet access is my bet.

Just passing through, carry on.

Scott
 
Robert

Robert

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Jan 2, 1999
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I guess we are the biggest in the DR, if not one of the largest in the Caribbean region, but we have been playing at this since 1997.

What are you good at? What do you like doing? This makes a difference when thinking about trying to make a few $$$ online.
What can you offer or what niche do you know?

Dealing with physical products can sometimes be a pain.
The more you can outsource this or stick to virtual products, the easier it will be for you to start. Don't expect it to happen over night, sometimes it can take months to start generating revenue.

At the end of the day, it's all about marketing and testing. You may have the best looking website on the planet, but it also might be just another billboard in the desert like 95% of websites.
 
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project9

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Besides offering services (websites design, applications or RIA development, spam) there isn't that much to do having the dominicans as your target.
 
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scotpgot

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Read some type of US gov doc the other day about the retail industry here . . .

They were saying the fastest growing online commerce was flight booking online. Selling tickets and the like . . .

Have no idea what would be involved, but I imagine it'd be worth the research.
 
Robert

Robert

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Jan 2, 1999
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scotpgot said:
Read some type of US gov doc the other day about the retail industry here . . .

They were saying the fastest growing online commerce was flight booking online. Selling tickets and the like . . .

Have no idea what would be involved, but I imagine it'd be worth the research.
Click to expand...

For credit card processing here you need to use either VisaNet or CardNet.
Both are a nightmare as they use the JCE to verify the address of the card owner. As for card scrubbing, I have no idea what they do?

You would need to target Dominicans that have US$ credit cards that work with most overseas card processors. Problem is, it's a very small market to focus on.

Bottom line, forget ecommerce in the local market for now.
 
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Mark1

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Is available somewhere a statitistic about the number of Dominicans which has access to the net from home?
I guess it must be a very small %

I cant remember the url at the moment, but i found a store on line located in SD, that sells a lot of stuff, from groceries to PC parts, I wonder how the heck they survive, they even claim they deliver everywhere in the country :confused:
Or the owner's nephew wanted to show how well papi and mami spent their money for his education or someone must have lotsa money over there and is more "advanced" than we might think...well I bet it's the former.
The site is poorely designed (well , for my taste) and thats a red flag, but it's fully functional (... at least the shopping cart was working) and I'm sure the organization of all that stuff took some time.
Anyone knows this place/site? Geez it is buried somewhere in google ....
 
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Mark1

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JDJones said:
do you want to start some sort of internet site for dominicans, or do you want to start some sort of website that will have customers all over the world.

If it's a web site for dominicans, I would suggest you start some sort of webpage like resumes.com, or some sort of "employment offered, persons looking for jobs listing resumes" kind of web page.

If you want to start some sort of webpage for international customers, what would it matter where it is located physically, unless you would offer products of dominican origin?
Click to expand...

hey 7 years ago I produced a little application that can be stored on a floppy disk, basically it's an interactive resume, where the customer can write his CV, and can insert 4 pictures, it comes in 4-5 flavours, with different styles , music,sliding objects, print capabilities (made with macromedia director) etc. Once the customer is ready , he can lock the resume and he's ready to let the world know a new Eistein is looking for a job :classic:

I think it's time to try and sell it , I'm going to open a little web site .... hehe it's gonna be fun :bunny: you see it's easy ..I can already hear the sound...chachaching $$$$ :smoke:
 
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flec

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Feb 7, 2004
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Forget the locals... tourists only

First of all, forget targeting anything at locals. They have no money and those that do are just too far and few to warrant anything. For something successful, I would target tourists. This way the business could technically be set up in the States, use a US merchant account for credit card clearing.

One idea I had was building a hotels.com-like website for all the smaller non-AI hotels in PP, Sosua, Sto Dgo, Boca Chica, etc. On recent trips I was amazed at how difficult it was to find a decent $40/nt hotel online. Yet Sosua and Sto Dgo are full of them. Yet they have no online presence whatsoever.

Another one I like is selling weekend vacation packages. Most packages you see are always for a week. I personally love to grab the Friday morning flight down to POP, returning the following Monday. I always have to find an air-only deal and figure out my hotel when I get down there. Expedia.com has similar packages but are always galactically priced.

Well, the search continues...


vincenoble said:
Just recently moved out here to attend law school in September.
I got alot of time on my hands and I'm thinking about starting up an Internet company in DR.

Being in DR sort of reminds me of back in the early 90's Internet rush.
Besides web design or any sleasy biz, what type of ecommerce or portal sites might work here and who are the major players here.

DR1 Rocks!

Ex NewYorker - Vince
Click to expand...
 
A

Adrian Bye

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Jul 7, 2002
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flec said:
First of all, forget targeting anything at locals. They have no money and those that do are just too far and few to warrant anything. For something successful, I would target tourists. This way the business could technically be set up in the States, use a US merchant account for credit card clearing.

One idea I had was building a hotels.com-like website for all the smaller non-AI hotels in PP, Sosua, Sto Dgo, Boca Chica, etc. On recent trips I was amazed at how difficult it was to find a decent $40/nt hotel online. Yet Sosua and Sto Dgo are full of them. Yet they have no online presence whatsoever.

Another one I like is selling weekend vacation packages. Most packages you see are always for a week. I personally love to grab the Friday morning flight down to POP, returning the following Monday. I always have to find an air-only deal and figure out my hotel when I get down there. Expedia.com has similar packages but are always galactically priced.

Well, the search continues...
Click to expand...

These are good ideas and would work.
 
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