E-commerce has become a force to reckon with. As we experience the rapid and intense growth in popularity of online shopping, it has become commonplace to see well known major department chains file for bankruptcy and close shop. Even for small business, the innovation in E-commerce solutions has made it possible for small businesses to sell their goods and services through the internet. But is your business ready to take on this new and growing sales channel?
Let’s start with the basics. E-commerce is considered to involve any transaction of buying or selling that happens online. This can include making online transactions, providing online marketplaces for others to make transactions, B2B transactions and data interchanges, and pre-tail (the pre-launch of new products online). The introduction of E-commerce has had several social impacts, including on business structure and employment needs, as well as on consumer behavior. Never before have goods and services been as accessible to consumers as they have become with the introduction of E-commerce. It shouldn’t be considered an industry, rather most tend to view it as a new sales channel and economic model. The costs of running a purely online business are much lower than running a physical operation, and with the growing use of the internet for buying and selling, it is becoming an extremely critical sales channel for businesses to have.
A report on the state of E-commerce in America was recently released by the United States Census Bureau for 2015, and the retail numbers might make you want to consider adding a digital sales channel to your business if you don’t already have one. Although total retail sales only increased by 1.4% from 2014-2015, E-commerce sales for US retailers increased by 14% from the year prior.
Tracey Wallace of Big Commerce recently summarized an internal study on E-commerce in America and also found some interesting statistics, including:
- 51% of Americans prefer shopping online
- 67% of millennials prefer shopping online, compared to 56% of gen-xers and 41% of baby boomers.
- 80% of Americans shop monthly.
It’s evident then that E-commerce is here to stay, and is becoming a force to be reckoned with in not only retail, but all industries. It might be hard to wrap your head around where to begin in order to hop on the E-commerce band-wagon and get your business up and running online. One of the most important factors in maintaining a digital sales channel is ensuring your business has the ability to satisfy the needs of different customers, and provide access to many products. While offline advertisements are very important to inform customers of an online shopping outlet, making sure your online presence is established is very critical. It’s also critical to ensure that your E-commerce solution is simple to use, simple to navigate, responds quickly, and is properly integrated to your firm’s internal inventory systems.
The team at Netgain is not only ready to help promote your online shopping solution, but we’ll also help you design an intuitive, comprehensive and integrated E-commerce solution for your website. Whether you are looking to restructure your current system or build one from the ground up, we can help! Contact us today to learn more.
