Do you often contemplate the importance of eCommerce?
You might be, hence I have to come up with this blog article to make you realize how significant eCommerce had been both for buyers and sellers.
It’s obvious that the way businesses operate today has been changed. More and more consumers are shifting towards the online platform. The reason for this is the advent of technology. We are living in the era of digitalization, where everything happens online.
As a result, eCommerce has become the most prominent pillar of every country’s revenue. Not only does it offer the gateway to double up your business revenue, but it also provides a wide variety of perks for all the parties involved in it.
Statistically speaking, in 2020, nearly two billion individuals have purchased products online, with global e-commerce sales exceeding 4.2 trillion dollars.
Irrespective of this number, we have witnessed the global pandemic; which certainly shifted the online paradigm which resulted in the increase in average products per order by 60%. The segment which suffered the most in lockdown was brick and mortar stores. The pandemic-induced shutdown and mobility restrictions represented a turning moment for many eCommerce businesses.
The eCommerce industry gained a new fan base in the pandemic. According to Statista, customers visiting traditional stores in the United States have decreased by 62 percent, while internet consumers have climbed by 52 percent.
So if you are confused about the importance of e-commerce in modern business. Then, here I am going to tell you all about it.
But before moving forward, let’s shed light on the question of the hour.
What is eCommerce?
The activity of purchasing and selling products or services through the internet is known as eCommerce. Electronic payments, mobile commerce, online marketing, online payment processing, supply chain, inventory management, electronic data, and automatic data collecting systems are examples of eCommerce technology.
To perform online sales and marketing operations, most organizations utilize an eCommerce shop or an eCommerce platform. Such as Shopify which offers a free 14-day trial for every new user.
Why is e-commerce important?
Gone are those days when people preferred to pay visits to offline stores. This is because paying a visit to offline stores consumes time and puts the unnecessary budget on the consumer’s pocket, such as fuel, parking tickets, and much more. In addition, today people also don’t have that much time on their hands. Considering all this, most homeowners love to shop online, which is why e-commerce businesses are thriving.
Many giant companies like Amazon, Walmart are driving insane amounts of sales per year. E-Commerce has become a significant element of any industry in today’s globe. Almost 50% of the world population prefers to shop online and from the comfort of their homes.
Seeing all this, many physical store owners have also started shifting towards the online platforms and with the availability of eCom business software like Shopify, developing a store became more like a walk in the park.
Types of E-Commerce Businesses
To understand the role and importance of eCommerce in modern business. I think you need to get your head around which types of eCommerce businesses currently exist in the market and what are they.
1. Business-to-Business – One of the most frequent forms of e-commerce is business-to-business (B2B). This happens when two firms exchange products or services, which is referred to as a trade. Producers and conventional commerce distributors generally use this sort of e-transactions.
2. Business-to-Consumer – The electronic commercial interactions between enterprises and customers distinguish the Business-to-Consumer kind of e-commerce. It correlates to the retail e-commerce segment, which is where conventional retail trading takes place. Because of the internet, this form of business has grown significantly.
3. Consumer-to-Consumer – Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) e-commerce refers to all online transactions among consumers for products or services. In most cases, these activities are carried via a third party.
4. Consumer-to-Business – The typical concept of exchanging products is wholly reversed in C2B. In crowdsourcing initiatives, this form of e-commerce is widespread. Many people sell their products or services to businesses that are explicitly looking for such services or products.
5. Business-to-Administration – This section of e-commerce includes all online payments between businesses and government agencies. This term involves a vast range of services in a range of fields, including fiscal, social security, labor, legal papers and records, and so on. With the increase of expenditures in e-government, these sorts of services have been overgrown.
6. Consumer-to-Administration – All electronic transactions between people and government agencies are covered under the Consumer-to-Administration paradigm. Paying parking charges or buying a new official ID are examples of C2A transactions. Such transactions must happen online to fall under this category.
7. Government to Business – G2B or Government to Business is a name applied to the interactions between government organizations and companies. Among the core e-Government paradigms, the term may be used for any interaction between the topic of public administration and businesses. But here businesses are the intended audience in the G2B model, which is initiated by a government body.
10 Benefits of eCommerce for Your Business
There are various reasons why the world, or people with an internet connection, appears to be gravitating towards e-commerce. As a commercial channel, the internet may give advantages such as increased reach and lower operating expenses. All of these advantages might have a substantial influence on the overall business.
Similar to that below, I am going to make you realize the role and importance of eCommerce by sharing the 10 benefits of eCommerce.
1. Global Reach – The very major benefit of opening a shop online is the global reach. It doesn’t matter whether you are from a tiny town or somebody from Newyork; having an eCommerce business opens your shop to people all across the globe, which is not possible in physical stores. Thus, your digital e-commerce firm may be advertised to anybody, anywhere in the world. Once your eCommerce store has gone live, this boosts your potential consumer base significantly and at no additional expense.
2. 24*7 Availability – The thing that hurts most when we shop offline is visiting the shop to find out that it is closed because of the holiday. It is not only tragic but also a waste of time and money. However, that’s not the case with eCommerce stores. E-commerce sites are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, allowing customers to browse and buy at any time. Offline businesses are often available for a few hours at a time, and on other days, they may close altogether. Whereas, unlike traditional storefronts, eCommerce stores are constrained by computational and network needs on both smart devices and websites. No matter the day, Shopping cart pages load in a matter of seconds. As a result, people are more inclined to visit eCommerce stores more.
3. Cost-Effective – Owning a physical store requires a lot of initial investment such as leasing space, buying things for the store, hiring employees, and all. On the other hand, eCommerce enterprises have far lower expenses than traditional storefronts as most of the physical factors are removed. Because of such decreased costs, eCommerce stores are more competitive, resulting in considerable market share gains.
4. Accessibility – To run the offline store, you need to visit the place where your store is set up, but online stores are free from all of this. They are easily accessible, all you need is the internet, and you can operate your own business from the comfort of your couch. The most significant advantage is you don’t have to put your foot out of the house. Not just store owners, even consumers too find it way more convenient because of such ease of accessibility.
5. Attract New Customers – Online shops get more exposure to a larger audience. Pedestrians may only recognize a physical business, but an e-commerce business may be visited and watched by an unlimited number of internet users, increasing the chance of gaining new customers every day. To gain customers, all you need is a well-optimized site. If your site is correctly optimized, you may attract many new clients through search engines like Google and Bing. Further, social sharing and paid advertising are other approaches to gain new prospects.
6. Payment Flexibility – With the rise in internet-based banking and shopping, a wide range of payment options for e-commerce has emerged, and technology has grown to extend, improve, and offer secure e-payment activities. Non – contact e-commerce operations have revolutionized transaction processing by cutting down on paperwork, administration fees, and employee costs. Today these platforms are simple to use and require less time than manual procedures, allowing consumers to make hassle-free payments.
7. Precise Marketing – Online retailers may gather a remarkable quantity of customer data to guarantee that their products are targeted to the proper individuals. Which helps in decreasing consumer acquisition costs and also helps online e-commerce businesses to stay very adaptive. Therefore this level of specificity can assist better conversion rates while lowering advertising expenditures. Additionally, using search engines to improve a business’s visibility on the globe might result in a significant increase in visitors. Amazon too uses SEO as a terrific approach to promote their items in front of people who might be interested in buying them.
8. Automated Inventory Management – With the advent of computerized online services and third-party management software, handling inventory has become considerably easier to accomplish. Businesses that use an e-commerce website can save vast sums of money in manufacturing and operating costs. However, the administration of resources and stocks may become quite complicated. But with the press of very few clicks, you can now easily manage your inventories across several networks.
9. Huge Range of Variety – eCommerce stores are itself a mall where you can get everything. The convenience of buying all kinds of stuff from the comfort of your couch means customers may acquire everything they need, including pins to electrical devices, medicine to food, and so on, all under one roof. This adaptability of e-commerce appeals to purchasers, increasing the number of prospective orders.
10. Scalable – Another significant advantage with eCommerce is you can grow your company as your business grows. In simple words, you can start out your business at a small level but once you start generating more profits, you can easily expand your company without investing a lot of money. Like you can increase your budget on advertising, customize your products, increase their prices, and could easily expand your product range online. Thus due to such ease of scalability makes eCommerce stand out when compared to physical stores expansion where owners have to take multiple big factors like location, budget, inventory, and all.
Conclusion
That’s all! This is my complete take on the importance of eCommerce. No doubt that e-commerce is the foundation of digital marketing. Half of the population uses smartphones now, and eCommerce offers the flexibility to purchase things online for almost everybody. It is the magic wand that helps many owners to make their products visible to people all across the globe.
When it comes to leading the current industry, the advantages and perks of eCommerce cannot be disregarded. Without a doubt, e-commerce will seek to grow in the worldwide market. It will eventually become a vital marketing strategy for most organizations to grow and stay viable in this ever-changing world.
