The revolution of online shopping
In the past if you wanted to purchase products, you would drive to a physical store, review the items and make a transaction. The whole process would take up a couple of hours and require commuting. It was the 90s, when the online shopping revolution started. Amazon and EBay launched their sites and enabled users to do online transactions. In today’s digital environment everything happens with just a few clicks, from a comfortable couch at home. Brick and mortar stores, small scale sellers and even governmental bodies are brought to the web pursuing their online business strategy.
Physical store vs online store
The retail industry can be divided into offline stores and ecommerce solutions. While brick and mortar stores go way back in human history, online commerce has gained enormous popularity in recent years. Physical stores offer a unique, tangible shopping experience where customers come and can interact with products: try them on, compare to each other or get an expertise from staff. Ecommerce stores, on the contrary, most importantly offer convenience and speed of purchasing. From a business perspective, owning an online store can bring several advantages, including:
Data
Clearly one of the biggest ecommerce advantages. With selling online, firms gain access to multiple seo and marketing tools such as Google Analytics or other softwares designed for optimization. With their help, they are capable of getting information about buying habits, demographics and preferences. All that data is simply not possible to get in the brick and mortar store. It allows online businesses to predict the demand and stock accordingly, craft personalized marketing campaigns and create pleasant shopping experiences for customers.
Cost reduction
Owning an e-commerce business reduces many expenses that are usually associated with a brick and mortar shop. The most obvious one is the physical space that needs to be rented and maintained. Then there is also the increased need to hire employees and the whole management that needs to be arranged. Ecommerce business works 24/7 and doesn’t limit its operations to the specific location as well.
And what about consumers?
The reason why eCommerce has become so popular is that shopping online gives several benefits to the customers and has become more convenient than purchasing at traditional retail stores.
Competitive prices
As I mentioned earlier, e-commerce has less expenses connected to the physical storefront and utilities. That allows online businesses to pass those savings onto the lower prices than the traditional store. Another reason for the cost-leadership approach is that this type of business is easier to scale up and reach new customers. High volume sales, repeat purchases and impulse buying contributes to that as well.
Big selection
Alongside the e-commerce platforms, there are websites that create competitiveness even more strongly. The pricing websites. They enable users to compare prices between competitors and make you choose the best offer. Because of that, online stores can adjust prices continuously in order to stay competitive.
How to get the most out of eCommerce as a business
The shift from physical stores to online marketplaces has introduced convenience, speed, and cost-effectiveness into the shopping process. There are multiple benefits of ecommerce that enhance the customer experience and lead to a faster buying process. From a business perspective, there are many advantages brought by data-driven marketing capabilities and opportunities for global outreach. From a consumer’s standpoint, e-commerce offers competitive pricing, a broader selection of products, and the ease of price comparison.
The e-commerce revolution we are experiencing is redefining the landscape of modern retail. If your business strives for a leading position on the market, you should really consider joining the digital space, in case you haven’t already. Building a user-friendly website with an intuitive search engine is a promising start. Don’t forget about responsive customer service. Here, a live chat feature in the form of chatbot could get your business on another level and be a huge benefit. Remember about SEO and online tools to get your online store visible. And lastly, use the power of analytics. Ecommerce business gives you access to tons of data that wouldn’t be possible as if you had a regular retail business. With all that in mind, your shop has a chance to become an interesting platform for more customers and make them come back for your products online. Good luck!
