If you’ve sat in front of a television lately, chances are that you have seen an advertisement for a Do-It-Yourself website for your small business. Who would believe that in this hyper-wired world we live in that some businesses still don’t have a website? Clearly some don’t. And the fact that we’re getting bombarded with these offers every night during prime time shows you just how significant an opportunity exists.

DIY websites are all the rage. For the end-user, they are low-cost, low-risk, full-featured, and easy-to-use. For hosters, they are a great way to attract and retain new SMB customers, and to eventually sell them more services and increase ARPU. And, because of intuitive WYSIWYG design and editing tools, they are also fairly easy to support.

The jump from having no web presence to having a basic website can be dramatic for a SMB – suddenly they are discoverable and contactable – but it’s not the same as having a storefront with goods and services available for purchase 24/7/365. It’s like the difference between having a ‘business’ or a ‘business card’ at your web address.

Enter e-commerce, SaaS-style.