E-commerce is vital for your business. you must have already heard these lines again and again. But why e-commerce websites? In this blog, you will know why an e-commerce website is important for your business.
E-commerce is a fast-growing consumer outlet that is showing signs of growth with the advent of time. During COVID/post COVD, most of the businesses slowed down, although it’s a fact that Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO became one of the richest men in the world. Nowadays the number of people, who have been using e-commerce for shopping has increased many times and is increasing day by day. If you are in business and selling something and plan to continue doing so in the near future, you must pay attention to e-commerce and start doing business through e-commerce as soon as possible. Probably the foremost important opportunity for the e-commerce industry is the many-fold increase in first-time internet buyers.
What is the meaning of e-commerce website
Table of Contents
E-commerce is the process of selling and buying products and services electronically using the internet and involves transferring money on the internet.
Why do we need ecommerce
Every buyer/end-user wants products/services to be delivered at the doorstep of the buyer. So businesses need to shift towards e-commerce. E-commerce provides a whole range of opportunities for businesses to increase product range, showcase services, and generate more sales and in turn great revenue. In this everchanging digital/internet era, It is almost impossible for a business to compete with the competitive world if it lacks a strong online presence, which is the essence of e-commerce.
Purpose of ecommerce website
The ultimate purpose behind the evolution of e-commerce these days is to make shopping a hassle-free experience for everyone. You will find digital payment/online order option or order from home option at almost all shops including local grocery stores and street-side vendors.
Need and Importance of E commerce
Let’s look out at the benefits of an e-commerce website. As compared to e-commerce websites with traditional formats, here we are outlining the need and importance of an e-commerce website
Following are the top 6 reasons why an e-commerce website is important for your business:
1. Global Reach
With a physical (brick and mortar) shop/office you are limited to selling to nearby areas/customers who do a walk-in to your shop. This means if you have a shop/office in say Delhi, then without opening a new physical shop in other cities, you can not fulfill the requirements of any other cities like Mumbai/Kolkata as well as distant places.
Using an e-commerce website You can sell your products/services anywhere and everywhere in the world. There is no boundary of location and no restriction of it. Further, it increases the customer base to many folds and at no extra
cost.
2. Always Open
Traditional shops open only for a particular time in a day, although Ecommerce stores are always open 24 X 7X 365 days and hence provide great ease to users. Also in surveys, it is found that e-commerce businesses do major revenue
generations/sales after 8 PM.
3. Reduce Costs
Compared to traditional stores, e-commerce stores reduce costs on rent, staff, and other operating expenses of stores like electricity, etc.
4. Precise Marketing
E-Commerce provides detailed data about preference, repeat, attempt purchase, etc. So using those data customers/users may be persuaded using emailers/messages etc.
Kind of precision helps to get a better conversion rate. One of its examples is abandoned shopping cart mailers which say items left in your cart are still waiting to be placed/purchased.
Also, similar products based on purchase history are shown for upselling like you may be interested in.
5.Payment option
Gone are those days when only cash was used by shopkeepers. Now there are multiple modes available in the digital era. It includes wallet/UPI/cards/swipe machines/contactless payment etc.
Online third-party companies provide payment solutions that have multiple options to get paid.
6. Automation of discounts /minimum price order
In e-commerce stores, pre-decided discounts with fixed expiry dates and times are implemented. Marking is not required here (as in physical stores), discounted prices can be put from the back end. Sometimes it also shows savings on products, which tempts people to make purchases.
You can inform visitors of the e-commerce store about ongoing offers running. You may inform your prospects/old customers through data taken from analytics through mails/messages.
Also, sometimes a minimum price order is put so users compete to achieve that price by adding some more products and hence making more sales.
Why is website important in ecommerce
Website is one of the interfaces where shopping/buying/purchase takes place. Another option is using the app. But for purchase through the app, users need to download that app. So out of options of website and app, the website is mostly used by the user. E-commerce companies even go for both. Website is the start of e-commerce stores.
E-commerce website features
Following are intended features (although not limited to as below):
(a) User-friendly responsive design
(b) Discount coupons/periodic offers
(c) Payment gateway options with different modes like cards, UPI, etc.
(d) User reviews/ testimonials
(e) Contact option
(f) Good photos and videos
(g) Social media presence/social proofs
(h) Wishlist, shopping cart & my account
(i) Search option
(j) Security features
(k) Shipping information, return & refund policy
How to make an ecommerce website
Now the question comes, which is the first step in e-commerce website design. The first step towards it is to understand and figure out what you are going to sell.
What product/service excites you? Other things to consider is to know your audience, type of business (business 2 business B2B or business to consumer (B2C)
If all above sounds good to you and you feel good to go, you need to decide a few things.
(a) Which platform is best for e-commerce websites:
There are various platforms that are used in e-commerce site development. Some of them are niche-specific. Also, each platform has its own advantages and disadvantages along with price involvement. So you need to be clear about the best suitable platform for your business.
Some of the most popular platforms used are Shopify, WordPress, etc. Nowadays Shopify has become very popular due to its easy interface and best features and no requirement of hosting. Shopify can be managed with little technical knowledge. Shopify has become very popular in the clothing/fashion segment.
WordPress is also very popular although it requires hosting and better technical skill to manage. Once a site is set up, shifting the platform becomes tough.
(b) Domain name:
You need to decide/purchase a domain name for your business (name through which users will browse your site)
Some of the web hosting companies like Bluehost provides complimentary domain name with the purchase of their hosting plans It also provides a link where you may search names and book there itself.
(c) Design your site-
Once you are decided about the platform, you may design the basic layout. First, you should work on the home page followed by other pages. It shows your aesthetic as well. There are various options available at this stage. You have some pre-built/free themes as well as you may purchase themes (paid themes are better with various features)
You need to make sure that the theme used in your site is in sync with your brand identity.
(d) Post products-
Once your basic layout is ready, you may add product pages where good-quality images along with product descriptions are used to showcase your products. You want to give your customers a real idea of what they will receive.
Conclusion:
E-commerce is worth attention with various advantages for your business dealing with e-commerce and its marketplace. (which is growing at a faster and incredibly fast rate). It looks to be an investment at the start, but in the future, it will be worth your while) Brainmerce can help you create and manage storefronts from scratch. Just drop an email to get a free consultancy about your eCommerce business needs and its queries regarding development.