If you had told someone about e-commerce just 30 years ago, he or she wouldn’t know what you are talking about. And today, hundreds of billions of dollars are spent annually on it. Even the richest man in the world is one of the pioneers of e-commerce, and that is Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. For all these reasons, today it is necessary for every company, no matter how small, to be present online, otherwise, there is little chance of success. Until a few years ago, most thought they didn’t need an online store and that it was something that was only for big brands.
Nevertheless, e-commerce development has brought the opportunity to both traditional businesses and small companies to significantly increase their business. If you are still wondering what else eCommerce development brought to your business, we will answer those questions.
Availability to a large number of customers
Wherever your company is located, whether it is retail or any other business, you have been limited to your own city without eCommerce, possibly a few more surrounding cities. This brought in a very limited number of customers and often prevented many from opening a business. Because, for example, there is no point in starting something that no one will buy in a small town. Now that is where they are located completely irrelevant. Anywhere in the world, you can sell something to someone who is on a completely different continent. You can advertise online and thus reach a large number of customers. And what’s best is that your investment to have an online store is very small, and the opportunities are huge. This has also led to the development of smaller cities because you no longer have to be in the capital to be successful.
Available 24/7
Before the advent of e-commerce, working 24/7 was impossible for most companies. Even the biggest companies in the world, like Walmart, introduced this concept and after a while, they gave up for various reasons. But with an online shop, anyone can easily work constantly, all 365 days. And that doesn’t mean you have to be available or hire someone. The online store works on its own. This allows both you and your customers to respect your schedule while everyone is satisfied. They will be able to buy whatever they want and whenever they want, and you will have a normal eight-hour workday. E-commerce brought significant improvement in profits, without compromising personal life.
Possibility to offer lower prices
Lower prices are something that will always attract a large number of customers. But that wasn’t possible while you had to have a brick and mortar office or store, so you had to pay rent, travel expenses to employees, and a lot of other things. Today, the concept of abandoning the brick and mortar approach is becoming more and more popular, and doing the whole business exclusively online. Or if you keep one store, you don’t have to open others, it’s enough to have an online store. In this way, you will be able to offer customers significantly lower prices, because your costs will be lower. And then you all win.
It is cheaper to start a business
Before, it could happen that you have a great idea, but you do not have enough money to realize it. With e-commerce, it is a thing of the past. Today you can start any business online, with the very little initial cost. You can start on your own, exclusively with the help of your computer, so you will have almost no costs in the beginning. And later when you make money you will easily expand your business. Because of all this, there are so many startups. If you see that the initial steps are not going as planned, there are experts in this field, such as Optimum 7, and they can help you.
You will have a detailed insight into analytics
Having complete analytics at your disposal will have a very positive impact on your business. This way you will have access to information about your clients and be able to plan your next moves accordingly. You will know which products are the most popular, where you have the most customers (location), whether people access more via computer or smartphone, and all the other useful information.
You can set automatic discounts
So you don’t have to think about when it’s time for discounts, you can make a plan at the beginning of the year, and then your site will do it for you, automatically. And it will directly inform customers about the discount, via a newsletter. We all know that discounts bring even more customers, so don’t miss to lower prices several times a year. Make a plan that will include big holidays like Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July, as well as a few more times a year.
Different types of payments
The development of both e-commerce and different payment methods bring you flexibility when it comes to types of payments. There are various ways that someone from the other side of the world will have no problem paying you. Whether they use internet payment cards or options like PayPal, all of these options are suitable for both you and the customer. Cryptocurrencies are also becoming increasingly popular, which are completely decentralized currency from any bank and thus bring anonymity. And each method of online payment is very simple and ready in just a few minutes.
Positive impact on image
Today, it is inadmissible not to be part of the e-commerce world. No matter how successful your brick and mortar business is, your customers will expect to be able to find you on Google. If, in addition to having an online store, you also have a very well-optimized site, that will be a big plus to the image of your company. Make sure your site is optimized for smartphones as it is a device from which more and more people are accessing the internet.
Conclusion
The development of e-commerce is so important for your business, that it is impossible to explain in just one text. These are some of the most important improvements that e-commerce has brought you, and we can freely say that there are no flaws. So it has become a no brainer in today’s world.