E-commerce has a great history since it was invented back in May 1989, when SequoiaData Crop introduced Compumarket, the first internet-based system for eCommerce.
There’s no doubting in it the opportunity of selling online has helped if not all several businesses earn more and grow successfully. Like any other business strategy, there are many plus points and the benefits of ecommerce can help one to excel.
In the emerging global economy, eCommerce has increasingly become a vital component of business strategy and a solid catalyst for economic development.
Today, everyone spends more time online than in any other place. From Startups to well-grown companies, everyone can benefit from an ecommerce website where their products or services can be sold online.
From startups to small and medium-sized businesses right through to huge brands, there are a large number of companies that can benefit from their own online store, where they can sell their own products/services.
This article was made to help you know more about the benefits of ecommerce, you’ll also find some of the benefits of having an online store.
What is ecommerce?
Ecommerce can be defined as the buying and selling of goods electronically online. Its popular because of the many benefits of ecommerce-internet marketing, electronic funds transfer, mobile commerce.
Faster buying process
Customers can spend less time shopping for what they want. They can easily browse through many items at a time and buy what they like. When online, customers can find items that are available in physical stores far away from them or not found in their locality.
This is where ecommerce comes to the rescue for many shoppers. They go online, search for an item, get a fast response and can buy it just as quickly.
Advantages of e-business include helping one to choose from a wide range of products and get the order delivered too. Searching for an item, seeing the description, adding to cart – all steps happen in no time at all. In the end, the buyer is happy because he has the item and didn’t have to travel far and spend money and other resources.
eCommerce Can Broaden Your Brand & Expand Your Business
Having an eCommerce store can be used to broaden your range of products/services for sale, expand your business, bring you more customers, and diversify your sales. Ecommerce helps you take your brick and mortar store online in a creative, more attractive, and easier way. When you offer quality products round the clock along with a dedicated customer support team, social media interactions, knowledge-base, blogs, etc, you are creating a strong online presence for your brand.
With eCommerce, there is no need to have more than one branch, just one singular online store allowing you to fully reach customers without having to worry about moving locations, you can just manage your online business from home.
It’s important to mention that, eCommerce will be helpful for Both B2C and B2B businesses to boost their brand awareness in the market.
Cost reduction
One of the biggest advantages of ecommerce to business that keep sellers interested in online selling is cost reduction. Many sellers have to pay lots to maintain their physical store. They may need to pay extra up front costs like rent, repairs, store design, inventory etc. In many cases, even after investing in services, stock, maintenance and workforce, sellers don’t receive desired profits and ROI.
To have an online store it is not necessary that you have all your products presented in a physical space. In fact, there are different companies that operate online where they only show all their inventory through their electronic commerce platform.
With an ecommerce store, a seller can reduce how much is spent in store upkeep. An ecommerce store is affordable and requires less investment when compared with a physical store. This is also a good opportunity for individual and small scale sellers who want to earn an income but don’t have the required start-up capital.
Lower business risks
Starting an online store can mean significantly lower start-up costs compared to a brick-and-mortar retailer. The retailer or the online business owner doesn’t have to take into consideration the high expenses of shop rental, hiring a salesperson to woo the customer, utility bills, security measures, etc.
This, in turn, will enable you to sell your products at competitive prices and increased profits, and also lower your business risks.. Also, having an online store with price intelligence software enables you to enjoy increased profitability with less risk.
eCommerce Offers Better Marketing Opportunities
An ecommerce site is the best marketing tool any online seller can get. It helps in creating an authentic online presence for all other marketing options. With the increased use of the internet, there are many marketing tools available online such as Search Engine Optimization or SEO, email marketing, social media marketing, Pay Per Click or PPC ads, and Search Engine Marketing or SEM.
For example, with good SEO, your online store will appear in the top results of SERPs. Also, social media networks will provide you with a platform to engage and build trust with your customers through reviews and ratings, as well as keep them informed with regular posts about your products and offers.
Several payment modes
Today, operating over the Internet is almost safer and more reliable than doing it in a physical store. From your home, without anyone spying on your secret number or your credit card. Of course, the eCommerce website must have an SSL certificate.
Ecommerce marketplaces permit multiple payment modes that include UPI, cash on delivery, card on delivery, net banking, EMIs on credit or debit card and pay-later credit facility. What this means for sellers is that they no longer have to lose a potential sale opportunity due to lack of available payment modes.
Faster response to buyer/market demands
One of the great importance of eCommerce that eCommerce retailers can enjoy is store timings are now 24/7/365 as the eCommerce stores are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, compared to the regular stores.
Ecommerce marketplaces offer you a streamlined logistics or delivery system. What this means is that the buyers order gets delivered efficiently. Product returns management is one more plus point that can be handled quickly – you either refund the payments or give a replacement. Speedily actions can even be applied when responding to market demands.
Merchants can create deals, promotions quickly too. This attracts customers and increase chances of creating more sales. Ecommerce sellers may plan and apply coupons when they like – even customise such offers for their own store. In this way, retailers can increase their sales by boosting their number of orders.
The Top 5 Success Factors of eCommerce
The importance of eCommerce for your business can’t be denied, and therefore, check the top 6 factors in eCommerce success:- High-quality products are important in order to keep your customers loyal to your business, make sure you procure your goods from trusted suppliers.
- The product pricing is important, you don’t want it to be too low for customers to doubt the quality of it or too high that they can’t afford to buy it.
- Make your store accessible on many devices such as mobile devices. You can do things to make your online store viewed better on mobile devices like optimizing your images and using responsive design.
- A first impression lasts forever, so make sure you have a good-looking website and make the best eye-catching designs if possible.
- Lastly, security is a top priority. It is one of the main concerns with eCommerce for consumers and business owners, as their personal and financial information is being handled online.
Therefore, make use of SSL in order to secure your customers’ online shopping experience. This will not only be necessary for the customer’s business account but to use of even more sensitive data such as credit card information with complete peace of mind.
SSL certificates can be either single-domain, low-cost or cheap wildcard SSL, multi-domain SSL, or code signing certificates. It totally depends upon the targeted domains and subdomains that require a particular type of SSL certificate.
Selling Online? Try This Now
- Try using some awesome product description content like image rich flyers, good resolution images, videos.
- Address all questions/ queries that a customer might have about your item details. Provide them more confidence about their purchase.
- Keep reviewing buyer feedback, reviews, on the order information or delivery process. This gives you a fair idea of how well your sales are and if your buyers are happy.
- Try to accept as many payment modes as possible as this offers your customers greater flexibility.
- Build your own sales strategy and customise it. This all depends on the item you’re selling, number of customers you have, price points etc.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, it is pretty simple, easy, economical, and risk-free way to sell online with an ecommerce website or store. So long as you pick your products/services wisely, have an appropriate business plan, picked up the right partner to help you build your own store, There is a great potential of increased revenue and high ROI over the long term.
