With 2.14 billion digital shoppers worldwide, it should be no surprise that the number of e-commerce websites continues growing. Online shopping allows people to buy whatever they want without dealing with traffic, parking, crowds, or bad weather.
Therefore, starting an eCommerce business is an excellent decision if you want to make money online.
Luckily, setting up an eCommerce store to market goods or services is now easier than ever. Numerous eCommerce hosting solutions and online store builders help users create a professional-looking website without coding knowledge.
With features like free templates and customization tools, your eCommerce site will be ready in just a few clicks.
Reasons why you need an eCommerce website
As with creating any business, building an eCommerce website requires a business plan and marketing strategy.
Once you have decided what to sell and how to do it, you must market your products through an e-commerce store.
If you still need to decide about selling online, remember that starting an e-commerce business offers much flexibility. Online stores are more accessible and affordable to launch by not requiring physical locations.
Additionally, partnering with courier service providers allows online businesses to sell products globally. As a result, you can attract a large customer base with product trends.
Let’s look at three other good reasons to start selling online.
1.Customers prefer to shop online.
In 2020, the consumer preferences of the world’s population shifted towards online shopping. With online sales accounting for almost 19% of all retail sales worldwide, the e-commerce sector is set to continue growing.
It’s easy to understand why more and more people appreciate the convenience of shopping online. Customers profit in a variety of ways, such as
Free shipping
When customers reach the checkout page, shipping costs can significantly increase the item’s price.
Therefore, customers are attracted to online stores offering free shipping, either as a reward for spending a certain amount or as an automatic discount.
Time-saving
Buying through an online store is ideal for people who lead busy lives. They can buy anything with a few clicks on their mobile devices instead of spending hours physically moving from one store to another. Smokehouse, for example, exemplifies the best eCommerce website designs by utilizing drag-and-drop functionality to streamline the user experience.
Simple return policy
Sometimes, customers may need to exchange a product that does not meet their expectations due to size or quality factors. A hassle-free returns policy can improve customer loyalty since they need help to walk into your eCommerce store. Additionally, research shows that 96% of customers would return to a business that has an easy returns policy.
Ease of payment
In line with eCommerce trends, customers prefer not to have to deal with checkout lines and can quickly select their preferred payment method when making purchases.
More savings with better prices
Discount prices on e-commerce sites have a significant impact on consumer purchasing behavior. A study has found that 81% of people prefer online stores that offer discounts, deals, or loyalty rewards.
2.Minor financial risk
In general, selling products online is less risky than opening physical stores. Online marketplaces cost less as you save money on staff, electricity, and rent.
The cost of creating an online store usually includes site setup, maintenance, and marketing. Although it is still possible to hire staff, the total costs will be much lower and more predictable.
3.Maximize opportunities
An eCommerce business allows offline stores to explore new opportunities. Along with other big brands, Puma, for example, has decided to invest in e-commerce.
Because Puma closed its physical stores worldwide, the eCommerce platform became a priority for the brand to survive the closure. In the first quarter of 2020, Puma’s eCommerce business grew approximately 40%. This figure increased to 77% in April 2020.
As a result, Puma has made significant adjustments to its marketing activities. The brand has shifted its spending towards performance marketing and logistics to meet the increase in eCommerce demand.
With the migration of brands to online stores, there are other benefits and advantages to take into account, such as:
Passive income
A passive income stream won’t depend on strong salespeople or long opening hours. With eCommerce, your store can operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to serve audiences worldwide.
Saving money on advertising
Compared to conventional media, digital advertising is less expensive and more flexible. There are several eCommerce marketing strategies that business owners can implement themselves to run a successful online store.
Less personnel costs
You can use the opportunity to integrate a chatbot into your social networks and customer services. A virtual assistant helps manage customer service and other tasks 24 hours daily, improving the customer experience.
Reduction of monthly rental expenses
There will be some startup costs for setting up and maintaining your eCommerce. However, they will still be lower than opening or maintaining a physical store.
