Because of the dramatic technological evolution, a lot of innovations have been introduced to the business world. One of them is the E-commerce business which has greatly impacted the way people and business merchants look at retailing.
What is E-commerce?
E-commerce or Electronic Commerce is a term used for electronically selling goods and services over the internet by means of a website or can also be termed as Online Shopping. E-commerce transactions take place as business to business, business to consumer, consumer to consumer or consumer to business. Since we already have the ability to process credit card transactions over the internet, almost anything can be sold online.
How does it work?
It basically works just like traditional retailing, only, all the transactions made is done electronically or over the internet and the goods are delivered to the customer’s delivery address. Here’s an example of a transaction flow of an e-commerce transaction in a nutshell.
- A customer sitting on his/her computer or Smartphone looks for goods or services over the internet.
- He/she will be directed to an E-commerce website. Goes over the products listed on the seller’s website.
- Adds all desired product to his/her cart.
- Proceeds to the checkout page where payment details are needed. The customer can use any payment methods convenient for him/her and places the order.
- The system takes care of all the payment transactions.
- The customer then waits for the good to be delivered to his/her doorstep.
Advantages of E-commerce
Open 24/7/365
An E-commerce website is running almost all the time. From a vendor’s perspective, this increases the number of orders received. On the other hand, it is more convenient for customers to have a store that is always open.
Price comparison
Buyers can easily compare prices by browsing from different E-commerce merchants using online services. Now they don’t need to go from store to store to find the best price. With just a few mouse clicks they will be able to find great deals on desired items.
Shop at Home
Traveling long distance to reach your preferred physical store is very time and energy consuming not to mention the cost as well. E-commerce provides the convenience of doing your shopping at home with just a few mouse clicks.
Cost-effective
By the use of automated checkout, payments, billing, inventory management, and other operational processes reduce the number of employees needed to have an e-commerce business. A prominent physical location is not required if you are an E-commerce merchant. This lowered cost could possibly be passed on to customers perhaps in a form of discounts.
Quick access to product information
Physical stores are limited to the amount of information that they can display. E-commerce websites can dynamically add or update any information needed to be made available to the customers without any extra cost.
Maximizes geographical scope
Now, you won’t be limited by the geographical area that you can service. By having an E-commerce website, you can expand your service area worldwide. E-commerce has eliminated every remaining restriction of geography.
No more pushing carts
On an E-commerce website, it’s all about spontaneously navigating through the page and using search boxes on narrowing down your product search. No more pushing your cart to the right aisle to look for your desired products. You can get rid of falling in long slow moving lines to pay for it and worrying about carrying all those heavy loads.
No more shopping invasion
There are some people who are annoyed or frightened to interact with store employees. In a case of being asked questions or listening to promotions throughout the shopping experience, most of the people prefer shopping online since it is less invasive. This is one of the great advantages of E-commerce.
Organic Business Growth
By the use of E-commerce blogging, you can increase organic traffic on your website. From writing blog content to making videos, you’ll be able to improve your online presence to gain more visits to your website without having to spend extra money.
Remarketing
Through the use of cookies, the merchant can catch a lot of information about its customers that can be used for future marketing references. Since E-commerce captures buyer’s contact information, merchants can easily send out automated and custom-made emails.
Businesses who are engaging in E-commerce has significantly increased over the past few years and will continue to increase over time since it brings about convenience and faster business growth. Displaying a range of products and services is what every businessman is looking for. Being an E-commerce merchant gain a lot of benefits since it provides convenience to both consumer and merchants. For people who are looking to start up a business or those businesses who are looking to expand and grow their business, E-commerce is a great option for you.