Loading...- Why to invest in e-commerce?
- Easy entry into the network
- Brick-and-mortar sales support
- Increased reach
- Increased brand recognition
- Sales around the clock
- Possibility of remote work
- Easy monitoring of the effects of marketing activities
- Greater knowledge of users and personalized offers
- Online stores as a prospective solution in the pandemic
- Reasons why to invest in e-commerce - the takeaway
Why to invest in e-commerce?
Comfort, convenience, simple search for goods, the possibility to find products at attractive prices, and expert advice are only some of the reasons that speak for online shopping. Now, we live in times when it’s possible to buy virtually everything online. So, what are the reasons to invest in e-commerce? Can this sector bring profits to your company?Easy entry into the network
Online selling doesn’t require large investments. Additionally, you don’t have to be an e-commerce expert. If you want to check if this type of business is your cup of tea, one of the options is a store in the SaaS model. As part of the service, you receive a site that can be personalized - choose a template, enter content and assortment, adjust the appropriate features. The advantage of this solution is that you don't have to invest a large amount of money in a web store at once - you pay a monthly, quarterly or annual fee for the use of the service and that's the end of expenses in this regard. Then you have to work to increase the popularity of your store - choose the right marketing activities, set the budget and observe the results.Brick-and-mortar sales support
Do you run a traditional brick-and-mortar store? If so, opening an online store may be the right fit for you. This way, you can support your core business and perhaps over time, the online channel will change into the key source of your income.
Increased reach
Another reason why you should invest in an online store is that this way you can reach a significantly wider range of potential customers. Running a shop in a specific city means that you’re known mainly to the local recipients. You can expand this group by selling online. Thanks to a website, you can reach international buyers. Your products may appeal to users from all over the world which significantly increases their popularity.Increased brand recognition
Perhaps you sell locally and your company is known in this specific place. With e-commerce, your brand may become recognizable internationally. You can achieve such an effect through marketing activities such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads, SEO campaigns, email marketing, and active social media profiles
Check our post: 10 mistakes that make your social selling ineffective
In a nutshell, your business will become more and more popular, which can improve sales and attract customers who will come back to your store and recommend the brand they know.
Sales around the clock
Many users claim that the main advantage of online shopping is that online stores are available 24 hours a day. This allows those interested in your offer to shop at a time that suits them best - including at night, when their kids are sleeping and they have time to shop conveniently. Opening hours of brick-and-mortar stores mean that potential customers need to change their plans in order to be able to shop. Such a thing doesn’t take place when talking about e-commerce.Possibility of remote work
Frequently people who can’t work outside their homes have difficulties finding a job. These include moms who look after young children but have a lot of free time. For them, an online store is an interesting business idea, as they can manage it without having to leave home. A significant percentage of people running an e-commerce business do it on their own.Easy monitoring of the effects of marketing activities
At first, your e-commerce is a completely anonymous business. However, thanks to marketing activities you can reach recipients. The main advantage of such online activities is that you can relatively easily analyze whether the investment pays off. Thanks to Google Analytics you can verify almost all sources of traffic, check if they bring conversions and on this basis make decisions about further allocation of resources for marketing activities. SEO works best in one industry, Google ads are beneficial in the other and social media marketing brings profits in a completely different field.Greater knowledge of users and personalized offers
If you run a brick-and-mortar store, you probably hope that all your visitors are going to make a purchase. Of course, it’s very unlikely in real life but you take steps to maximize revenue per customer through the exposure of key products, discounts, or other activities. On the web, you have much greater opportunities in this regard, because analytical tools and other solutions allow you to reach a specific target group (as part of marketing activities) and to personalize your offer. If you provide something that an Internet user might actually need, you increase the chances of a sale. For example, with Facebook Ads, you can reach people of a certain age, with specific interests, or living in a given city. Google Ads also gives you a lot of personalization functionalities. With SEO, you can acquire traffic from Google's organic results and focus on phrases that best describe your business, so people interested in the products or information you provide are likely to visit your store. You may have experienced a situation when a customer was interested in a product offered in your brick-and-mortar store but eventually resigned from the purchase. It would be good to remind that customer about your product. Perhaps, s/he would finalize the transaction. It’s not an easy task when talking about local stores - after all, you need contact details. However, that’s not an issue in the online world. Thanks to remarketing you can display reminder ads to the users who abandoned their shopping carts.Online stores as a prospective solution in the pandemic
During the pandemic, numerous brick-and-mortar stores were closed. Unfortunately, this may happen again. Due to the current state of affairs, many business people decided to move their activities to the online world. Of course, we can’t predict the future but it’s better to be safe than sorry. After all, we can experience other restrictions related to traditional shopping.
Remember that the process of building your brand online takes time. You won’t see spectacular results overnight, so be patient.
