subject: Why ecommerce is good for your business [print this page] Why ecommerce is good for your business Why ecommerce is good for your business
It is possible for one to set up an internet business without necessarily having to have ecommerce functionality. Many offline businesses are comfortable having a website that only serves as an informational portal. But having an ecommerce enabled website provides several advantages for businesses today.
Enlargement of market reach With an ecommerce website, your products are available for purchase to a much wider market than they would be if they had to purchase your products from specific physical locations. Since an ecommerce website usually accepts payment from major credit and debit cards, it means that one can have customers from any place on the globe where there is an internet connection.
Reduction in costs An offline business' operating expenses can be drastically reduced by making use of an ecommerce enabled website. This is comparison to the expenses the business would incur to facilitate a similar proportion of sales using a physical store. By raking in more sales through an ecommerce website, a business can save on expenses that would have been incurred in the form of larger stores, more employees, extra furniture, additional rent, more equipment and general costs of management.
The business will remain open 24-7-365 People can visit your website anytime and from anywhere. They can view the images, read the descriptions of the products and pay for the product. Because of this 24 hour operation, your business is better positioned to capture business from any part of the world since at any given time. It is always daytime at some point in the world. Keeping a physical store open 24 hours day would be far more expensive.
The ability to collect and keep track of customer data Through ecommerce, collecting customer information is made easier since all the data is automatically captured and retained in electronic form once the customer initiates the transaction. Such data can be used to chart customer buying trends including peak sales seasons, customer demographics, popular products and repeat buyers.
Opportunity for more candid feedback While customers may not have a problem providing face to face feedback on your products, they may be more candid providing such feedback online. Even though they may not necessarily be anonymous, they will be more comfortable to share their honest opinion on the web. That said, you can have an anonymous feedback section on your website where customers who do not wish their comments to be traced back to them can provide feedback.
More time to respond to customer feedback With a physical store, if a customer wants to provide face to face feedback on areas of your business that need improvement, it would be considered rude if you were to ask them to come back later. With a website, you have some time to think through and thus provide a more coherent response to customer concerns.
