A virtual community: A strategic initiative and competitive advantage for small businesses engaged in E-Commerce

E-Commerce small businesses have an opportunity to build "sticky" relationships with their customers through effective management of information systems focused on building a virtual community in support of their business activities. This paper describes the required MIS building blocks for a customer-centric online community. Online communication processes, information architectures, and network infrastructures needed to build a successful virtual community are discussed. Finally, there is evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of information system (IS) products and services that are currently available for building a virtual community including several all-in-one web-based solutions.