Trade has been in existence for centuries. Be it trade by barter or buying and selling of goods and services. This is what brings about the demand for and the supply of goods and services. Transactions within a country and across borders has been in existence since time immemorial. This is still in existence but in another dimension.

Ever since the advent of technology and its daily advancement which has brought so much popularity for the internet, millions of people now rely on the internet for various things and different reasons. The internet has grown beyond just connecting with people of different ages, profession and races, it’s now a platform where goods and services can be bought and sold.

What is eCommerce and advantages of eCommerce?

Electronic Commerce, popularly called eCommerce means the buying and selling of goods and services over an electronic platform such as the internet. It can as well be called Electronic Business or simply eBusiness. eCommerce likewise involves making monetary transaction or data transfer between two or more people electronically.

Using a lay man’s understanding, it’s defined as online shopping. eCommerce can come in any form which could be;

• Retail: Products are sold directly to the final musket without the help of any intermediary.
• Wholesale: This entails that goods are sold in large quantity to final users or distributors.
• Drop shipping : Selling of products online , but are shipped directly to the end user through a third party that     is in charge of order fulfillment, inventory, etc.
• Services: Skilled services can be rendered or purchased electronically.
• Others include digital products, subscriptions and crowdfunding.

 

People started taking advantages of eCommerce around the 1960s when companies started to use EDI known as Electronic Data Interchange. It was used to send business documents to and fro. And around the 1990s, online shopping emerged and has since been the order of the day till this day. Online shopping has made things so easy that just anyone can buy and sell anything from anywhere and at anytime, just with the use of the internet. People don’t have to be present at shops before they can get to buy what they want, they can do that at the comfort of their home and get it delivered to them at their home or at an agreed destination. People can conveniently conduct their businesses right from the internet.

What is eCommerce Website?

eCommerce website are online platforms or portals that enhance online transactions of products and services via the means of transfers of information and funds with the help of the internet.

In the beginning, eCommerce was basically done through phone calls and emails, I.e people make orders via phone calls or emails but now, with advantages of eCommerce they converted into website, as it’s quite easier now to get whatever you want just by visiting a website and you get all sorted out online.

Mobile Commerce

Mobile commerce actually means the buying and selling of products and services by customers with the use of their smartphones or mobile devices. Mobile devices users have increased drastically over the years as people browse more often with their phones than their computers, desktops or laptops.

Transactions are mostly done via mobiles devices and this has led to a significant impact in mobile commerce.

Types of eCommerce Website

eCommerce exist for every field, with the most common one been retailing selling. Others include business-to-business websites, finance management websites, auction websites and so on.

• Business -to – Business Website: Often referred to as B2B. It’s the electronic transaction of products or services between one organisation and another.
• Business -to – Consumer: Mostly known as B2C. It’s the electronic transactions of products or services between organisations and consumers.
• Consumer -to – Business: This is known as C2B. This is a website that deals with consumers making products or services available for different organisations.
• Business -to Administration: Also known as B2A. This is an electronic transaction of products or services between organisations and public administration.
• Consumer -to Administration: C2A is an electronic transaction of goods or services between consumers and the general public.

What are the advantages to convert into an eCommerce Website?

As a website operator, converting your website to an eCommerce can help to advertise your business or company to a larger pool of people since almost everybody enjoys online shopping. eCommerce will help to acquire wider market reach, promote your products or services, and will enable you to get instant payment for your products or services purchased.

Looking at the constant growth in eCommerce, here are some of the reason why you should convert your website to an eCommerce website.

• Global Reach: eCommerce website will enable you to get across various people and various countries. It will give you the opportunity to offer your products or services to people of all races across the globe, irrespective of distance and time zone.

• Increased sales: It gives you the opportunity to have higher sales as people can make purchase and instant payment on your eCommerce website at anytime compared to the traditional store that has both opening and closing hour.

• Better conversion rate: Many people will be able to easily make purchases the moment they place orderson your website. They don’t have to wait till you open for business since your website will always be available to visit. Converting to an eCommerce website will give you higher conversion rate.

• Opportunity to market on Social Media platforms: The perfect platforms to gain popularity is the social media. Every existing eCommerce make use of three social media to advert their website and this has helped to attract customers from far and near. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and so on will help in building trust between you and your customers plus better ratings and positive reviews. You get to also communicate with your clients about new opportunities, new services, and new products that they will like.

• Enlarge your brand: Converting your website to eCommerce will help to enlarge your brand. eCommerce is the deal breaker now and there is no way your brand will grow when you convert toa eCommerce. You can go diversified, introduce various services and products as well. Your brand won’t be limited, people can place orders and you will be able to make necessary information available as at when needed.

• For the Convenience: Nobody likes stress and eCommerce has been able to make things easier for people over the past years. Just about anything can be bought online now. It has make it very convenient for people to live a stress free life. There are recommence stores that sells groceries and people don’t have to go the market before they can buy groceries, they can easily order for it and get it delivered on time.

Cons of an eCommerce Website

There is no good thing without its own setbacks and eCommerce is no exception. The cons associated with eCommerce are few compared to it above mentioned pros.

• No personal shopping experience
• Customers don’t have the opportunity to feel and see what they are purchasing before making payment for it
• It requires technological skills. Not just anyone can place order online since it’s not everyone that knows how the internet works, except if the person is tech savvy.
• It’s an avenue for fraud
• Data privacy is not certain

Features of a good eCommerce Website

In converting your website to an eCommerce website, there are a number of things you must come to terms with. Keep in mind that there are thousands of eCommerce businesses on the internet and the successful ones are the ones controlling the rest of the online market.

Promoting your eCommerce website

The fact that you are starting small or big doesn’t mean you can’t become a key player in this business. You don’t have to offer the particular thing others are offering. You can focus on a line of business that others don’t. This will give you an edge and set you apart from the rest. You can as well focus on a particular location be it a country, state or city. And you must ensure to run the online business efficiently and consistently.

• Another important thing you need to promote your eCommerce is a good functioning website and a top notch design. Your interface must be neat and user friendly it shouldn’t be cluttered that people won’t be able to find whatever they want or need easily. Every necessary information like images, carts, prices, product or service descriptions. etc should be made available.
• Your eCommerce website should also have a fast loading time. This is an important feature now for Google ranking and other search engines.
• Make known the number of items you have in stock so that clients don’t get disappointed. Make special offers available and sell bundle offer at a lesser price. Don’t over price your products or overcharge your services.
• Be original. People want to have a good worth for their money. Selling fake products or rendering inefficient services will give your website poor ratings and negative reviews.

Other ways to promote your eCommerce are;

• Social media is also a tools for promoting your eCommerce website. You can use this to build brand awareness and a slice of traffic to your website. It’s not all social media that’s good for all businesses, so depending on your business, you should know the one that makes the most sense for it. However, the most good ones to consider are Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.
• Search engine optimization (SEO): This is a way of promoting your website ability to rank top in search engines keywords that relates to your business.
• Paid advertisement.
• Referral.

Tracking the success of your eCommerce

There are various accounting software for different websites. Get the one that’s compatible with your website or build a custom for you. You can sign up for free trial to see which accounting software works best for your website.

Key Metrics you should track

The major metrics that most people track include:

• Product sales
• Category performance
• eCommerce order
• Bounce Rate
• Average Order Value (AOV)
• Average Time on Page, and most importantly
• Conversion Rate.

Conversion rate enables you to know how many people visited your website and the number of people that patronize your business. This is what indicate the level of your growth.

A higher conversion rate means there is higher sales and higher profit.

Most common eCommerce Websites

• Amazon.com
• Walmart.com
• KhelGuru.in
• EBay.com
• Bestbuy.com and so on.

eCommerce Platforms

• WooCommerce
• Custom eCommerce
• Shopify
• Magento

TAKE-AWAY :

An eCommerce website gives you competing edge over other websites who are yet to consider converting to an eCommerce website. Have this kind of website will help promote your brand and attract more visitors to your website. If you need to convert your website to an eCommerce website, you can contact us at www.trendibyte.com