An eCommerce website is a backbone to any eCommerce business. It acts as an integral part of a business strategy. Brand growth, targeting potential prospects, boosting traffic, or analyzing your product reach and conversions, its all possible with this strategic tool. In today’s day, online buying and selling are possible within a few clicks. Let’s dive deeper into 7 reasons – why you need an e-commerce website?
Why Do I Need An eCommerce Website?
Let’s face the truth. Whether a small or large business, everything is moved online. Since the past 4 months of this year, due to the lockdown, we ourselves have seen how online shopping has increased. Additionally, physical stores have opened up to delivering products at the customer’s doorstep. Hence the switch is definitely a need of the hour.
As per statistics, last year the eCommerce sales valued to be around 3.45 trillion dollars. In India itself, as per research data, the eCommerce market revenue is likely to shoot up and grow to 71 billion dollars by the year 2024.
Well, having said this it is sure that the eCommerce business is at a quick growth plan. Before we pen down all the more reasons to understand why does one needs to have an eCommerce website, let us understand if a business really should shift online.
Which Businesses Should Shift Online?
eCommerce has transformed the way online selling or reselling has taken place. Whether a dropshipper or a traditional eCommerce business owner, an eCommerce website is your most essential tool to boost business growth. Also, it doesn’t matter which industry does your business belongs too. From groceries to apparel, automobile to insurance, travel to entertainment, you are on advantage if online.
By creating an online eCommerce website, you are not just building an online channel for your customers. Rather, you are exploring newer opportunities to attract newer customers. This indirectly is paving the way for increased revenue.
You need an eCommerce website if:
- You sell more than one product
- Your business caters to a variety of product categories
- The target audience you wish to cater is not within a small geographical radar
- Your brand is located in more than one place
- The brand has a higher demand for your product and attracts a lot of traffic
Well, if these reasons aren’t convincing enough, here are 7 more reasons for your need to have an eCommerce website.
7 Reasons To Create an eCommerce Website Today
Global Expansion of A Business
Regardless of where you run your business location and time zone, an eCommerce website gives your business a global reach. One can be to increase potential prospects, along with access to online payments. Here, one doesn’t need to worry about domestic or international currencies, forex trading, and much more.
It is a more convenient way of shopping for the customers to shop in the comfort of your homes, despite of their location.
24/7 Visibility
Potential prospects and existing customers get an all-day-all-night convenience of purchase. Unlike a physical store, where there are no time restrictions and thus, it increases the purchase behavior and sales output of an eCommerce business. It is easier to convert a prospect to a consumer in just a few clicks.
Other factors include:
- A ripple effect helps more and more traffic to find your website
- Not everyone who visits the website is your consumers, you invite unique visitors too
- It enhances brand reputation through reviews, product displays and competitive prices under one single marketplace
- It helps you to stay ahead of competition
Online visibility eliminates the time and energy taken by a customer to travel to a physical store. Rather, one can have a look at the same through clicks and links.
Variety to Choose From
Based on the nature of your business you can juggle between tangible and intangible goods at the same time. This means you can incorporate both as a part of your business. Also, an online shift paves the way to understand the market scenario in a better way as one can expose the audience to newer and innovative products.
One can estimate demand, add or eliminate the supply based on the need, and at the same time open up to newer variants. Also, an eCommerce website gives room for personalized items thus maintaining transparency to suit customer requirements.
As a physical store owner, you are bound to dace the barrier of certain limitation while providing product information to your customers. However, with the various product and category range on your eCommerce website, you are also allowed to provide a detailed information. A customer is well educated about the product before purchase. Additionally, this also paves the way for the customer to communicate about the variants of a product or the available substitutes. This ensures that your customer is not leaving the website empty handed.
Increased Conversions
Instant order placement allows instant conversion of a prospect to a customer. Physical stores call for innumerable barriers like time, energy, convenience, distance, etc. However, an eCommerce website breaks these barriers thus ensuring increased conversion rates.
The conversion rate is the percentage that displays the number of visitors on your eCommerce website that is converted into customers. The average conversion rate as of research in the year 2020 is 4.31%. It is very important for one to understand the conversion rate of their eCommerce website, to thus implement newer strategies. If the website’s performance is equal to or below the average conversion mark, then you aren’t sure to get as many visitors as you expect.
Hence, eCommerce website is definitely a need and one should focus on improving its performance. Certain variables to consider for a conversion to be at its topmost performance are:
Variables that affect conversion rate are:
- Nature of the product
- Price of the product or average order value
- Source of Traffic
- The medium of the eCommerce website, i.e. mobile, PC or Laptop Device (mobile, tablet or PC)
- Choice of the Operating System used
- Geographical area
SEO and SMM
Through SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and Social Media Marketing (SMM) tools, you can stay ahead of the competition. Detailed analysis and correct application of these tools allow an eCommerce website to stay in the top rankings of a search engine like Google. The rise of social media in today’s age has opened up business opportunities via applications like Instagram, Facebook, and Whatsapp. These platforms have enhanced customer engagement through two way communication.
At present, the SMM industry is worth $7.5 billion. A myth that has existed for years is that SEO and SMM are two different concepts. That’s not the case, in fact, the two work together to build an organic reach. Additionally, you can also upgrade paid marketing tools via SEO and SMM to boost traffic on your website.
Few of the reasons to use tools within SMM and SEO include :
- Google Keyword Search to stay up to date with trending keyword searches
- Facebook Ad Campaigns to expand to a wider audience with targetted segmentation
- Social Media Platforms that help in Link Building
- Content Sharing through Social Media posts and blogs
- Create Brand Awareness through Google Search
- SEO helps to increase your website reach through ranking over the SERP (Search Engine Result Page)
Comfort and Convenient
Individual free time is the peak hour for online sales. Well, observations have recorded that online purchases are mostly done during leisure time at the comfort of their surroundings. After all, it’s a matter of few clicks on eCommerce websites! This convenience has paved the way for improved purchase decisions and a fully accessible environment.
An eCommerce website consists of sales, orders fulfillment and the transactions made. Here are few ways to ensure that your eCommerce website is a convenient and user- friendly medium to place and order and ensure customer satisfaction.
- An attractive website design
- A speedy website
- Detailed product knowledge
- Easy product selection and add to cart procedure
- Secured payment gateway
- Order confirmation post-transaction
- Follow up post the order delivery
- Ensure if the customer is satisfied with the product
- Keep the customers updated about products and offers
Reduction of Overhead Costs
eCommerce website is a way cheaper investment than a physical store. A switch to online ensures that expenses such as a rental space, bills, labor, and security are waived off. Which also opens room for promotional selling and improved shipping rates.
Here is how your eCommerce website helps to reduce your business costs:
- Expanding online via an eCommerce website costs lesser than you would want to expand offline
- Traditional advertising costs way more than online advertising
- Marketing via an online medium is cost-effective compared to offline methods
The above reasons have given a brief description of why do you need an eCommerce website. All of the above allows one to stay ahead of the competition, thus increasing customer satisfaction and sales revenue. Now that you are convinced, its now time to go ahead and create your own eCommerce website.
Moreover, Dash101 is your one-stop-shop that caters to all your shipping needs. With Shopify channel integration and a wide range of courier integration, you are sure with an effective eCommerce shipping solution. Dash101 is not just your shipping partner, rather a business partner.
