[dropcap]R[/dropcap]egardless of whether your business is a small or established businesses, companies can benefit from creating e-commerce website. While an e commerce website can also be used for selling physical products, it can also sell digital products, consultations or intangibles which makes it a good avenue for many business owners because it provides flexible solutions to both sellers and buyers. So, how can having an e commerce website boost your business? Read on to find out the reasons why e commerce should be important to your business.
1. It taps into social media
Consumers today are turning to social medias such as Facebook and Twitter before they do any potential purchases. Social media is important to business owners that want to expand their presence online. Besides having a core website functions as a storefront to sell their product, it is important for businesses to also have into social media to increase their online presence.
However, being present and having a Facebook or Twitter page is not enough business to succeed in the e commerce world. Therefore, having proper content for social media is a good strategy to find success with e commerce. Among the examples that you can use to leverage your social media strategy includes putting out valuable content, offers, competitions, giveaways which can be used to increase the amount visits to your e commerce store.
Among businesses that take e commerce seriously is Walmart because it has a YouTube channel constantly filled with useful videos and a Facebook page which shares a lot of delicious looking of food they serve at their retail outlets. Therefore, your social media is an important part of your e commerce strategy because you are present in your customer’s lives and you have an insight towards what your customers want. Having this knowledge is important to start selling your products or reaching out to the right target audience.
2. It is convenient
This is a solid reason for retailers need to consider using e commerce because when consumers have just finished a 10 hour work shift, they want something to relieve their mind off the tension that they have had for the day. It also applies to parents that tries to get their shopping done before dawn so that they can send a kid to school in time. This is where e commerce and the presence of online shopping really benefits people who are constantly on the go to find a solution to increase the amount of time that they have in a day. Consumers lives are increasingly hectic and tools that can help them to increase the amount of time efficiency that they have will attract them to purchase it.
Therefore, you should consider delving into the e commerce world as going to a brick and mortar store means taking out a sizeable chunk of the day and the time that they spend could be used to do something else. This is where e commerce can fit into your customers the life by offering them what they need at the right time. A prime example of a platform which offers convenient online shopping is Amazon. With over millions of online products that you can check out any time of the day, and have quick 2-days shipping option, it is a winning combination to an e commerce platform, you can services from e-commerce vendors like Shopify , Wix etc…
3. It influences purchase decisions
When someone sees a product, they start by searching for reviews online. Therefore, in your e commerce strategy, your website is a showroom where your customers can search for the right product and see if it is right for them. Therefore, having a well-designed e commerce website can heavily influence the purchase decision by showing your product at the right place. This strategy may require you to hire a professional in order to position your products well on your website. There are different factors which affect a consumers purchasing decision and e commerce is one of them.
Make sure that your website is a customer friendly online shop and test it out first by seeing if it is easy for you to navigate through the website. In fact, many brick and mortar retailers are transitioning to a fully online e commerce site because it significantly reduces the amount of labour and customer acquisition costs with the different tools available through e commerce. One thing to remember when you are creating your e commerce website is to have a searchable and convenient catalogue which can help your customers to make purchasing decisions easily and also having plenty of product reviews which can encourage the sale of products on your e commerce website is also recommended.
