What is E-Commerce?

The term e-commerce was coined back in the 1960s, with the rise of electronic commerce. Ecommerce (or electronic commerce) is the buying and selling of goods (or services) on the internet. It encompasses a wide variety of data, systems, and tools for online buyers and sellers, including mobile shopping and online payment encryption.

Fast forward fifty years and e-commerce has changed the way in which society sells goods and services. E-commerce has experienced rapid growth since its humble beginnings with e-commerce sales projected to grow to 599.2 billion USD by 2024.

Ecommerce has helped countless businesses grow with the help of new technologies, improvements in internet connectivity, added security with payment gateways, and widespread consumer and business adoption.

The power of e-commerce should not be underestimated as it continues to pervade everyday life and presents significant opportunities for small, medium, and large businesses and online investors. You don’t need to look far to see the potential of e-commerce businesses.  for example, Amazon which set the standard for customer-orientated websites as well as a lean supply chain, is selling over 4000 items a minute from SMBs alone.

E-commerce is the buying and selling of goods or services via the internet, and the transfer of money and data to complete the sales. It’s also known as electronic commerce or internet commerce.

Why do people Buy Online?

Low prices:

‍People prefer to buy online because of low prices as managing an online store is far cheaper than offline store. On top of that, consumers have more transparency with regard to prices and are able to shop around, typically purchasing from online outlets instead.

‍Accessibility and Convenience:

Consumers can easily access e-commerce websites 24 hours a day and online shopping is extremely convenient and gives the consumer more control.

‍Wider Choice: 

‍With an almost endless choice of brands and products to choose from, consumers are not limited by the availability of specific products in their city or country. Furthermore, items can be sourced and shipped globally.

Why E-Commerce is important?

E-commerce has many different advantages from faster buying to the ability to reach large audiences 24/7. These are a few of them:

CAN BROADEN YOUR BRAND

E-commerce is an ideal way you can take your brand from a traditional brick-and-mortar store to an innovative, well-loved brand. By offering great products 24 hours a day along with online customer service, blogs, and social media, no longer is your business one singular store, with an online presence your business can be the home of your products and the general home of your business, allowing you to fully expand your product ranges without having to worry about moving locations or worrying about not being able to expand your business.

IT’S MORE CONVENIENT

An online store is available all day, every day meaning your customers can visit your store at all times, no matter what their schedule might be. These days people don’t always have the time to physically go shopping, instead, more and more people are choosing to shop online to find the items they want or need and if your business can offer this for your customers there’s no you shouldn’t appeal to a wider range of customers all looking for a convenient and flexible experience.

INCREASE YOUR REACH

Due to the internet’s accessibility, millions of people across the world can view your website at any time, meaning that for those looking to expand their businesses and reach out to a larger audience, you have many more opportunities to do so. Compare the number of people you can reach through a website to the amount you can reach through a high street store or local advertising, there’s no reason you shouldn’t look at taking your business online if you’re looking to improve your reach.

GIVES YOU MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES

Your website is one of the best marketing tools your business has, not only can the use of SEO when building your site lead to more chances of your business getting found in search engines, but a huge number of marketing techniques can also work alongside your website, including pay per click advertising, your social media marketing, and your email marketing, all of which can include links back to your website.

SCALABLE

As your business grows it’s very likely you’ll want to grow your product range and your target audience, as well as develop your business for customer requirements and consumer demand. An e-commerce site lets you scale your business accordingly, allowing you to add more lines, add more payment options and even grow when you choose to ship to, without having to worry about changing your location or moving to a larger premise as you might with a brick and mortar store.

E-commerce offers businesses a whole range of opportunities, from marketing opportunities to increase your products ranges to generating more sales, and with an optimized and well-developed website you can not only achieve these goals but also offer your customers around the clock, convenient service, that can boost your business.

Benefits of E-Commerce

Lower prices

‍The lower costs of running an e-commerce store versus a physical store translate to cost savings for the consumer. This is one of the biggest e-commerce advantages. Online prices are typically lower than traditional store prices, and e-commerce sites are able to offer more discounts and promotions that are easier to claim.

‍Convenient and safe

‍Shopping when you want from where you want is far preferable (and a whole lot safer) than heading out in this COVID reality we’re now living in. Coronavirus aside, there’s also something to be said about shopping from your bedroom, without having to venture out, wait in lines, battle cold weather, and all the other challenges that go along with consumerism.

‍Wide product variety

‍In the global marketplace that is the internet, consumers can buy electronics from China, books from England, clothes from Paris, and good old US products all from the comfort of home. The width and depth of products sold online are unbeatable.

‍More informed decision-making

‍Information is literally at your fingertips when buying online, including:

Reviews from real customers – this is probably the most effective Product descriptions

Usage videos

Product guides

Social validation

Comparison shopping is another one of the top benefits of e-commerce to consumers, who can easily compare products, brands, and websites with even side-by-side comparison possible. Many comparison shopping sites exist with the sole purpose of enabling consumers to compare products side-by-side based on price and discount metrics.

‍Saves time
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‍In an age where time is a rare commodity, shopping online provides massive time savings to the consumer. Since 63% of consumers start their shopping journey online, it makes sense to be able to buy where you already are. No need to head out, shop in-store, wait in line, and then journey back home when you can access a greater product variety at a lower price from the comfort of home.

E-Commerce Agency

We can help you start, manage and grow your e-commerce business without having to employ full-time staff to handle marketing and management of your online store. We can partner with your business to solve complex problems and help you achieve your goals. Trust us!