With the growing popularity of the internet and technology, it has become easier and quicker to buy and sell online. People can now enjoy shopping and even running their own business from the comfort of their own homes.
Technology has become very innovative and helps a consumer to have a great shopping experience in the long run. E-commerce has proven to be quite beneficial to businesses. E-commerce business takes place through different mediums- it could consist of a branded website, a marketplace like Ebay, Amazon, even over a social media platform such as facebook, pinterest instagram. Although there are innumerable ways of selling products to consumers online, the benefit of selling online is the convenience of being able to sell products or services to any consumer at any time irrespective of their location. As a seller with an e-commerce website you can tell your customer about your e-store, showcase your products, shipping terms and mode of payment online.
Here is the list of reasons why you need an e-commerce website in today’s internet world..
1. Global market:
Having an e-commerce website gives you the opportunity not only to reach out local customer but also national and at international level. You can offer your products to customer around the world irrespective of distance and time zone.
2. Open 24/7:
Compared to regular store hours, online shop is open 24/7. With this facility of online shopping, you won’t lose out sales. Customers enjoy to purchase what they want and when they want it.
3. Make Money:
The more places you offer your products, the more chances you have to make sales. Creating an online store opens up a whole new opportunity to generate revenue, along with your physical business sales.
4. Customer convenience:
Customer can check necessary information like your store hours, phone number, address which helps drive in person. Additionally, if customers are busy, move away, or can’t get out to your store for another reason, the website provides the convenience of being able to shop from anywhere.
5. Marketing through Social Media and Search Engine:
With good search engine optimization [SEO] your website will appear in the top result of search engines such as Google. Also social media website like Facebook and twitter will provide you with a platform to build trust with your customer through reviews and ratings. They also keep customer informed about your products and offers. This helps to drive in more traffic to your website.
6. Low Cost:
Setting up an e-commerce business costs less than setting up a brick and mortar store. Most online market places and e-commerce sites have a free signup. They normally take a small fee charged as a percentage of the sale, for allowing you to sell products on their platform. Social media provides cost effective ways of marketing your online business. You can manage your business on your own by avoiding payroll expenses.
7. Increases Brand Awareness:
Between these social media mention, gaining fresh customers through search and tapping new online markets, the end result is increased brand awareness. More people will be aware of your company and its products and interested in buying them. As more people share and spread your site and its products brand awareness will grow which means increase in sales.
8. Speed Up Business Operations:
Today the most successfully businesses are able to combine the physical and the online shopping worlds into one. The best example is the “take away” service by the restaurants. Offering an online ordering system with both delivery and take out options increases your sales by saving customers time.
9. Personalization:
You can use your website to connect with your customers by providing a personalized service such as order tracking, delivery confirmations and product recommendation based on their order history.
Pull up:
In short getting an e-commerce shop and running is simpler, involves low costs and low risks than setting up a physical store. As long as you have a perfect business plan and have products that cater to the needs of your customers, the internet is here to offer a passive income as well as a high ROI in the long run.