E-commerce is short for electronic commerce. It is a business model that allows individuals and merchants to conduct sales over the internet.
When it comes to e-commerce, transactions can be completed using a computer, a tablet, or a mobile device: this allows the sale of a wide variety of products and services. For instance, users can purchase plane tickets, book hotels, and purchase music through e-commerce platforms, or even invest in stocks and conduct online banking transactions.
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Given its versatility, e-commerce is an excellent way for businesses to expand their customer reach.
Unlike companies that rely solely on a brick and mortar establishment, businesses that delve into e-commerce can reach a broader customer base. With the help of e-commerce, a local business can get customers on the national or international level.
It is also easier to gain new customers with an e-commerce site. This is because such sites can utilize search engines to target a specific demographic, and merchants can also use e-commerce to conduct online marketing campaigns to entice new customers.
A business that utilizes e-commerce is pretty much open 24/7, 365 days a year. While physical shops are limited to business hours, an e-commerce site is up and running even in the middle of the night. Customers can visit and transact on an e-commerce site whenever they want to.
E-commerce is also an excellent alternative to merchants who want to sell products but cannot afford to pay several full-time employees. A sole business proprietor can even handle an entire business operation with the help of a fully-automated e-commerce site.
Many customers prefer to shop online because it is easier and more convenient. Customers can shop around for several products without having to go to several locations. It is even possible to conduct all of a customer’s shopping without leaving the house.
Online shopping is also an excellent alternative for customers who want to make their shopping more secure. Customers can pay for their purchases using their digital wallets. With digital wallets, there is no need for customers to provide their card information to several merchants. This reduces the risk of card information getting stolen.
From a financial standpoint, using e-commerce is more practical and can yield better profits. A pure e-commerce presence allows merchants to save money because there is no need to rent a commercial space. A merchant also doesn’t need to spend on utilities.
It is also cheaper to conduct online advertising campaigns. Digital advertising costs less compared to traditional advertising methods. Digital advertising also reaches more target customers and can help a business gain more new customers, thus increasing profit.
Shopify is easily one of the most popular e-commerce platforms available. Shopify is an excellent e-commerce platform for small businesses. Businesses can use Shopify to sell both digital and physical products.
Shopify is easy to set-up, making it ideal for merchants who want to get their shop up and running quickly. Setting up a Shopify store is easy even for merchants who lack technical skills. Shopify’s interface is user-friendly, and all the software that a merchant may need is available on the platform itself.
Shopify is mobile-friendly. With more shoppers relying on mobile online-shopping, using a mobile-friendly e-commerce platform can help a business gain more customers. Merchants can even manage their Shopify store with their iOS or Android devices.
Shopify also allows merchants access to great SEO tools. This makes marketing easier for merchants. Merchants can also use Shopify’s built-in tools to come up with discount coupons as part of a marketing campaign.
One of the advantages of BigCommerce is its intuitive dashboard. This dashboard allows merchants to manage products, orders, and even returns easily. Customers can use filtering options to make it easier to search for products.
Merchants can also handle a large volume of customers with the help of BigCommerce. BigCommerce is a customer-centric platform. It allows merchants to categorize and segment customers into different groups.
Merchants can use BigCommerce to segregate customers into groups based on pricing or promotions. This allows merchants to curate store information to fit a particular customer group.
BigCommerce also has an excellent 24/7 customer support department. The company also provides express routing for enterprise customers. BigCommerce also offers support for businesses in terms or coaching and training.
Weebly is a site builder that also acts as an e-commerce platform. Although Weebly is not suitable for large e-commerce companies, it is a great alternative for small businesses who want to explore e-commerce.
Weebly registered substantial site speeds. Online shoppers like sites that allow products to load quickly. This will enable shoppers to view a large number of products in a shorter period. For merchants, this means increased chances of online shoppers seeing their product information, which increases the likelihood of a product getting sold.
Merchants who use Weebly can choose from Weebly’s wide variety of themes. Weebly’s themes look premium and can help attract more customers. A large number of available themes also means that a merchant can use a theme that stands out.
A merchant can also employ a professional site builder to come up with a store that’s specifically created based on the merchant’s requirements. The merchant can then import the custom theme to Weebly.
An e-commerce platform should be easy to set-up. A great e-commerce platform is one that a merchant who lacks technical skills can easily set-up. This is important, especially for small businesses that are just starting. An easy to set-up platform can help keep overhead to a minimum since there is no need to hire a professional site builder.
An e-commerce platform should also offer a wide range of free themes or templates. A wide variety of templates can help a merchant create an e-commerce store that’s unique and captures the brand that the merchant wants to promote.
Hard to navigate websites turn off customers. When customers shop online, they want a site that’s easy to navigate. Look for a platform that makes the shopping experience more convenient. A good e-commerce platform should allow a customer to browse and check out items quickly.
An e-commerce platform should be able to provide customers with an easy means of paying for purchases. Merchants should go with e-commerce platforms that cater to a wide range of payment gateways. Popular e-commerce payment gateways include PayPal, Apple Pay, and Stripe.
E-commerce platforms have different ways of charging merchants for the use of their platforms. An e-commerce platform can charge flat rates or monthly fees. Some platforms charge on a per-transaction basis.
A merchant should carefully study the cost of an e-commerce platform while weighing the said platform’s advantages and disadvantages. This is a good way of ensuring that the merchant is getting a platform that is within budget without sacrificing quality.
Got more questions about e-commerce? Contact us at Processing Card today!
Florence Carpenter is passionate about ensuring that the process of opening merchant accounts is as straightforward as possible. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing.
