What is e commerce?
E-commerce seems to be everywhere these days. You can’t go online without seeing article after article that e-commerce has declared to be destroying physical store and the high street. It can be challenging to decipher accurate information from manipulated data spit out by the internet. However, there are some truths to these overly apocalyptic claims. Considering the trend of data in recent years, it is important to understand e-commerce and embrace its opportunity. I hope you find the answer to the query “what is e commerce” in the following article.
However, this does not mean that consumers have completely abandoned the high street or their favourite shops. The truth is the National Retail Federation expects online sales to continue to have rapid growth.
What is e commerce business, and how does e commerce helps businesses? This is a fast-growing consumer outlet, and there are no signs of a slowdown. If you sell something and plan to keep growing, you must pay attention to e-commerce and take advantage of the massive opportunity for your business.
How e commerce helps businesses?
Here are the benefits that Ecommerce can have on your business:
Improved efficiency
E-commerce has helped improve enterprise efficiency by simplifying the manufacturing and servicing process. Executing fast and inexpensive online business transactions have contributed significantly to improving business efficiency. Also, companies leverage information gained through e-commerce channels such as online customer forums to improve product quality, increase customer satisfaction and make better business decisions. E-commerce has also simplified sales and marketing as smaller business sellers can now compete effectively with bigger brands and established sales channels.
Empower customers
E-commerce has done a lot to empower consumers through the internet. Through websites and online advertising, businesses can communicate with customers, provide information about new products, and complete sales. Consumer forums, social media and online testimonials allow consumers to provide instant feedback and direct comments about their products and services giving consumers much more influence. As a result, with e-commerce, customers can help build the product that suits them and have a say in the way they are served. This is because customers and manufacturers can create products and services designed to give their customers what they really want and improve customer satisfaction. E-commerce also saves time for both businesses and consumers and improves customer convenience.
There are no geographical restrictions.
In short, e-commerce allows you to sell to your customers without any geographical restrictions, as well as your ability to attract new customers. This depends on how convenient you are to ship the product, but the opportunity is there.
Explore new avenues
E-commerce allows new and existing businesses to enter the market and reach potential customers without a physical presence. In this way, an organisation can create a product, use it on a website or other electronic portal, and sell it through online transactions. This is only possible through e-commerce. Overall, the importance of e-commerce in the market has revolutionised the way people do business forever.
More accessible
Unlike physical stores, the e-commerce store is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This makes the store and its products more accessible to consumers. You can also use the internet features to access e-commerce from anywhere. Consumers no longer have to spend money and time travelling to a physical store.
Discount automation
E-commerce allows you to regulate and automate sales and discounts. You can set discount codes on your site’s backend and create expiration dates for them. You can also immediately notify your customers of sales directly on the website or through e-newsletters, social media or through your email list.
Customer analysis
The power of customer analytics helps us improve everything from the products we offer to the way we market those products. In some cases, customer information can be collected in physical stores, but it is labour-intensive and inaccurate. In e-commerce, insert the appropriate code into your website, and the rest will be done automatically. The following is an example of the types of information that customer analytics may provide.
- Demographics
- Mobile view and desktop view
- Purchased product
- Reference source
- Shared products
- Time of purchase
- Time spent on the site
- Viewed products
You can then analyse all this data to help you make calculated rational business decisions.
Cost reduction
In general, e-commerce stores are obviously much cheaper to operate than physical stores. E commerce can automate a businesses inventory with a web-based management system to help reduce inventory costs. Less staff are needed because there are no stores that need to be open during business hours. Small physical stores usually have at least two staff members and are paid hourly. Generally, a small e-commerce store could probably be run by one owner for several hours a day.
E-commerce has the following disadvantages:
Limited customer service
If you are buying a computer online, you cannot ask your employees to demonstrate the features of a particular model directly. Some websites allow you to chat with staff online, but the direct experience of a product is not available.
Lack of immediate satisfaction
If you want to buy items online, you have to wait until they are shipped to your home or office. However, retailers like Amazon have significantly reduced delivery times by offering same-day delivery as a premium option for some products.
You can’t touch the stuff.
Online images don’t always give you a complete picture of your product, so if the product you receive doesn’t meet consumer expectations, your e-commerce purchase may not perfect. For example, the seller can make clothes with more inferior fabrics than the online images show.
Summary
Ultimately, e-commerce is an excellent opportunity to drive sales and growth. It’s an excellent way for your customers to shop and interact with your business and for you to understand through data what is truly working. Letting people browse your products or services from anywhere. Making purchases with just a few mouse clicks and a few keyboard taps. Letting your customers shop the way they want to shop, will see your sales grow. A little bad online reputation can significantly affect customers trust but well-earned satisfaction will see you leap above your competitors. For most businesses e-commerce is a fantastic opportunity and is only going to get stronger.
