With the increase in business digital presence and online users, e-commerce marketing is booming right now. In this post, we will talk about how e-commerce marketing can help your business.
What is eCommerce?
eCommerce or electronic commerce is a business model that lets users buy and sell things over the internet. eCommerce marketing is growing consistently, and it is expected to keep growing in the near future.
According to the study, it is estimated that by 2022, e-commerce revenues will exceed $638 billion in the U.S. alone.
With the presence of the internet, buyers’ preferences have changed. The majority of people that used to buy offline, now prefer online shopping.
The Importance of eCommerce
eCommerce is essential for businesses as well as consumers. If we talk from a business point of view, eCommerce marketing can increase sales at a minimum cost. The good thing is an entrepreneur doesn’t need to have a physical store to sell his/her over the internet.
If we talk about the importance of e-commerce from the customer’s point of view, it provides a wide range of products/services. A user can buy or sell products/services from any corner of the world.
Benefits of eCommerce vs Brick & Mortar Store
Here are some crucial differences between eCommerce versus brick & mortar store:
Physical location
One of the significant differences is a physical location. In the eCommerce business, you don’t need to have a physical location, while in the brick & mortar store, you do require a physical location.
Marketing methods
The marketing methods for e-commerce and brick & mortar business would be different. A brick & mortar store would often use traditional marketing like radio, TV, newspaper, etc. In contrast, an e-commerce store would use digital marketing.
Operating expenses
As compared to brick & mortar stores, the operating expenses of e-commerce stores are far less. This is one of the reasons why more business owners want to build their e-commerce stores.
Requirements of A Good eCommerce Website
E-commerce business starts with a website. Here are some requirements for a good e-commerce website:
1. Domain name & web hosting
The creation of a website starts with a domain name and website hosting. This is basic yet essential requirement. The wrong selection of domain could create confusion in the visitors’ minds. When buying a domain, it is necessary to make sure the name is short, easy to remember, and represents the business. And, the web hosting from the wrong company can’t provide a good user experience.
2. Shopping cart
Another important thing a good e-commerce website has is an enhanced shopping cart. If the shopping cart isn’t designed well, and the checkout process is complex, you will get declined conversions. Extra shipping or taxes, security-related issues, and unclear returns policy are some reasons for declined conversions. To enhance your shopping cart, all you need is easy navigation, clear mention of returns policy, and use of SSL.
3. Mobile-friendliness
According to stats, users who have a negative experience in your mobile store are 62% less likely to purchase from you in the future. What does this mean? You need to provide the best experience to mobile users as well. No matter how appealing and attractive your website looks on desktop devices, if it’s not optimized for mobile devices, you will be missing out on a huge business. Hence, make sure your website is optimized for devices like smartphones, tablets, etc.
4. Email marketing tools
Another thing you need to include in your e-commerce store is an email marketing tool. Email marketing is the most powerful digital marketing method through which you can boost your e-commerce business. Do you know, 86% of professionals prefer to use email when communicating for business purposes? To get the most out of email marketing, you will need tools for email collection and sending emails.
5. Customer support
When it comes to providing the best customer experience, communication is vital. According to statistics, When it comes to making a purchase, 64% of customers find customer experience more critical than price. Investing in providing quality customer support can help you retain existing customers and get more sales. When you deliver the best user experience, your existing customers are also likely to refer your product/service to their friends and relatives.
Conclusion
Your e-commerce website will work as a 24/7 store. Users can visit your store at any time and from any location in the world. The good thing is you don’t need to be present there all the time.
We can see that the e-commerce business is more result-effective and cost-effective compared to brick & mortar business. Through e-commerce, you can make it easy for your customers to buy your products and services.