Online sales are a trend that cannot be ignored. From the point of view of the entrepreneur, online sales are a promising area of activity.
And, assuredly, in the future, the number of online buyers will only increase. You can sell anything online. From online courses to homemade jewelry and household goods.
As the Internet becomes entrenched in our daily lives, the adoption of e-commerce continues to grow, and businesses take advantage of it.
E-commerce refers to the purchase and sale of goods or services over the Internet, as well as the transfer of money and data to carry out these transactions. It is an entrepreneurial activity that, in one way or another, is associated with the distribution, advertising, promotion, sale of services or goods via the Internet.
To simplify, any actions with a commercial bias in the global network fall under the definition of online commerce. It refers to the sale of physical products on the Internet, but it can also describe any type of commercial transaction that takes place over the Internet.
At the same time, as e-business relates to all aspects of doing online business, e-commerce refers specifically to the transaction of goods and services. To run an online business you need a well designed eCommerce website that could attract visitors. The following global categories belong to e-commerce:
- online trading
- electronic data exchange (since in the modern world one of the most important resources in terms of value is information)
- electronic banking and insurance services
- money transfers and electronic money
- electronic marketing (systems for collecting user data, electronic catalogs, directories, bulletin boards)
Table of Contents
Why is eCommerce an Attractive Option for Entrepreneurs?
Global Reach
With a physical brick and mortar store, you are limited to geographically neighboring markets, i.e. if you have a store in New York and want to sell in New Jersey, you need to open a different physical location. E-commerce does not have this limitation. Instead, you can sell to anyone anywhere in the world through your e-commerce business.
Always Open
Physical businesses usually have a limited number of hours, but an e-commerce online store remains open 24-hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. This is very convenient for the customer and a great opportunity for sellers.
Savings
E-commerce businesses have significantly lower running costs compared to physical stores. There is no rent, no staff to hire and pay, and very few in terms of fixed operating costs. This makes e-commerce stores extremely competitive in price, which usually dramatically increases market share.
Automated Inventory Management
Easier to automate inventory management through the use of electronic online tools and third-party suppliers. This has enabled e-commerce businesses to save billions of dollars in inventory and operating costs. Inventory management is also becoming more sophisticated. Now you can easily manage your stocks across multiple channels. Thus, you can sell and control your stocks in your own store, as well as on trading floors.
Laser Targeted Marketing
Online retailers can collect a wealth of consumer data to ensure that they choose the right people for their products. This reduces the cost of customer acquisition and allows e-commerce online businesses to remain extremely flexible.
Niche Market Dominance
Due to lower operating costs, the ability to target the ideal customer. In addition to gaining access to the global audience that the e-commerce website offers, this ensures the profitability of your company.
Location of Independence
An e-commerce business owner is not attached to any location while running the business. As long as you have a laptop and an internet connection, you can run your e-commerce business.
Top-notch Features to Include in eCommerce Website
Shopping Cart
Shopping cart is one of the essential elements of the eCommerce store. It is the place where the customers save their products to proceed with the checkout process.
The flexible cart permits both the registered user and guest user to checkout. On the other hand, the guest checkout does not need the users to sign-in to the website, therefore, assisting them in accelerating the process.
Payment Gateway Integrations
The eCommerce website allows you to integrate several payment gateways. This platform gives you the choice to integrate several payment options by not restricting the option to choose a few only.
Order Management
The wholesome order management panel streamlines the task of the retailers. It allows you to get the detailed information of the refunds, buyer cancellation, exchange order status, COD order verification, etc. From this feature, the retailer can manage and complete the overall package of order fulfillment.
Security
It is one of the essential features of an eCommerce website. This assures that no important data, like, the credit card information is saved and for every prepaid shipment, the checkout is completed by the secure payment options.
The passwords are not stored and hashed in the readable format. The security of the web page is via SSL. The servers are protected and secured with the state of the art services.
Scalable Infrastructure
The hosting infrastructure must get scaled after securing more traffic. The more latency results in the reduction of the transaction rates and give rise to the drop in the marketing dollars.
The aim of CDN is to manage the product online and enhance website performance. There is also a provision of the exceptional uptime, assuring that the website is accessible any time and from anywhere.
Mobile Compatibility
The outstanding eCommerce website provides three solutions for mobile compatibility. The prime one assures that the mobile view is fully accommodated and responsive as per the device. There are many mobile-oriented templates that optimize the website according to the size and generate less loading time. The Application Programming Interface for creating mobile apps is important as everyone now prefers to browse from phones.
Reports
The reports are accessible as exports with the comprehensive information of the product reports, customer database, and the orders by means of the catalog. This is also beneficial for monitoring the growth of the business.
The online website must be pre-integrated by the marketing analytics and tools for marketing the brand and grasping the reports of the store performance.
Logistics Integration
The logistics integration services not only comply with the seamless shipping but, even, assures that the customer and the retailer receive real-time updates with the order tracking ability.
Also, it permits users to control shipments from a similar panel than contacting the courier panel individually.
Content Management Systems
Nowadays, everyone is aware of the Content management system because of the outstanding features and functionalities. The aim of CMS is to handle the website content, like, banner, Logo, Policies, Products, and Footer links from the back end itself.
Live Chat Feature
It is always best to include the live chat option on the website. This assures customer satisfaction to an extent. It gives an immeasurable value to the online store as it provides regular communication to assist the customers.
The quality of customer services provides an important role in the growth of the business. Despite letting the customers wait for the answers, several eCommerce websites have integrated the live chat support to their assist desk software.
About Us
Every website, these days has the About Us page. This feature could be included in the delighted way to tell your business story.
Make the About Us page more engaging as it gives your visitor the chance to know your business to the best.
Social Media
Many overlook the importance of social media; do not forget that social media has the ability to capture more customers. So, here, we advise you to add the social media icons to the website’s main page (it can be added to the bottom of the main page).
Let the customers know your business better from social media channels, such as Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. The business website must get this best way to link to a large number of audiences to increase customer volume.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
There might be chances that your customers have questions regarding the operations or products. This feature is the main go-to destination for these types of customers. Hence, it is better to integrate the FAQs on the eCommerce website.
The customer includes the option to check the FAQ to get the answers to the questions instead of calling or emailing. Like;
- What is the type of services you offer?
- How does the shipping address get changed?
- What should I do when the order is lost or damaged?
- What about the order tracking?
- What about the order cancellation?
- Which payment methods do you follow?
Wrapping up
E-commerce is the reality of today. Everyone can start their e-commerce business. It continues to develop successfully, penetrating into the narrower specialized areas of trade. The future is with the Internet and technology.
Perhaps in a few decades, users will no longer need the traditional retail stores. And until this happens, you just need to know that e-commerce is a great chance to earn money and create your own business with minimal investment. The future of trading is behind the online business.
Considering all, here we are giving you the benefits of eCommerce business.
- Cost reduction: eCommerce simplifies business processes in many industries. For example, to open an online store you do not need to rent a physical area, hire a staff of sellers, and deliver employees. All actions can be automated, and if the goods are electronic, then simplify the delivery service at times. As a result, transaction costs are lower, which affects the cost of products or services.
- Expanding your target audience: Through the Internet, you can sell around the world at no particular cost. Of course, if the business is connected with physical goods, then you have to rack your brains with delivery. A simple solution is a cooperation with transport companies. But if you sell electronic goods, services – electronic books, programs, services, etc., then the market is unlimited.
- Fewer intermediaries: eCommerce allows you to work directly with the manufacturer, excluding the chain of intermediaries. This creates a direct channel between the seller and the buyer, which affects the cost of goods and quality of service.
- An opportunity to analyze sales, promotion, business development in a network with 100% accuracy. Analytics, call tracking systems to allow you to monitor the situation and take timely measures.
Hopefully, this article is helpful for you!! In case, you have some doubts then share with us in the comment section below. We will be happy to share our expertise in creating online stores.
Thanks for reading!!
