How many of businesses nowadays sell their products exclusively through physical stores? Not that much anymore, I’d say. Ever since online sales made possible, it has been the main choice and prima donna among business owners. Many predict that it will keep growing and growing in the years to come. The inevitable grow of small and medium business also likely to contribute to online selling’s favorability.
But its popularity is not for nothing because there are actually advantages of e-commerce for business. Below are some of the main advantages of selling your products online through e-commerce.
1. Cost reduction
Compared to selling through physical store, it’s undeniable and a no-brainer that the cost to manage e-commerce is far, far lower. Business no longer has to worry about cost for rent, store design, repairs, inventory, etc.
Cost for manpower is also considerably lower and more efficient. Oberlo noted that during the starting period of your business, you might not need a single employee. That is, considering the workload is still manageable by yourself. Even when your business starts to grow and you inevitably need to hire people to help you, you can hire people from around the world to give you more option and flexibility.
Marketing and advertising can also be done more efficiently through the utilization of the platform itself. Image and attractive photograph can both act as supplementary media for product that you sell, as well as being a marketing tool.
2. Data collection and personalized offer
With e-commerce, you can also gather relevant data about your customer and create analysis for your next marketing strategy. This data can help you create a personalized offer and product listing for each customer which will increase the chance of them actually interested and ultimately buy your product.
3. International buyers
When you decide to turn to e-commerce, there is no border between you and your customer. Anyone from any continent can see your products and buy them. Not only increasing sales and profit, an international exposure is also necessary if you want to build brand that can help your business stay in the game in the long term.
4. Better user experience
For customers, buying through e-commerce has become a necessity. They don’t have to visit stores one by one just to buy one thing. It’s time efficient and effortless. With a smaller amount of time, they can learn about more products than they do in physical store. They can also surf the list of product whenever they want to without worrying about store’s closing time.
E-commerce also usually offers a wider range of payment methods. From digital wallet, to credit or debit card, to cash on delivery, customer is pampered with many options available. It seems that online selling and e-commerce are here to stay, mainly because the advantages, as mentioned above, are not solely interesting for small business but also big business, even those who have found success with selling through physical store. You might want to design your own e-commerce right about now…