In order for a business to grow, it needs to reach new customers consistently and learn ways to communicate effectively with the existing ones. But if you are already running or have run in the past a traditional brick and mortar store, you know how difficult it can get to achieve these two requirements. However, creating an e-commerce website for your retail store might just be the only thing you need right now to break through the limitations your physical store presents while increasing sales for its products.

What is E-Commerce?

Before venturing further into e-commerce business, you should know what e-commerce selling entails. It encompasses the transfer of information across the internet followed up by a commercial transaction. Therefore, it comes in various different formats. E-Commerce can be anything from a branded website to marketplaces like Amazon and eBay for selling through social media platforms to any such stuff. Due to the availability of multiple ways to sell to consumers over the internet, businesses are no longer bound by time and distance.

Major Benefits of Having an E-Commerce Website:

1. Customizable

Personalisation can greatly enhance the online shopping experience for customers. Apart from the segmented email list based on location, purchases made and how much money a customer spent, personalization can also be achieved by retargeting a customer who abandoned his/her cart in the past by showing the ads of the products abandoned or greeting them with a name on their next visit etc.

2. Round-the-clock Availability

Another advantage of an e-commerce website is that your online store will be open for business 24/7 whereas your physical store will only let you open from 9 am to 9 pm. Even with Facebook ads, you can attract someone only from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. But with an e-commerce site, you can attract almost anyone whether working in odd shifts or with time boundations or simply being lazy enough to go to a store.

3. Outreach

One limitation of having a brick and mortar store is that it only allows you to sell products on a local level but with an online store you can easily sell your brands to customers on a worldwide scale. Your e-commerce site will also let you the ability to discover your customers whether they be in UK, Latin America or neighboring countries. Also, its drop shipping option will take care of pricing and shipping issues.

4. Cost Benefits

One of the major benefits of online stores is that it has a much lower start-up cost compared to physical retail stores where just the rent of store location amounts to thousands of dollars per month, not to mention the additional costs of employees, infrastructure etc. However, you can easily start your own e-commerce store single-handedly in a couple of hundred dollars, plus you will save plenty on employees etc.

5. Showcase Bestsellers

E-commerce makes it much easier to show off products to customers as it provides the option to display best sellers in an effective manner. The reason I mentioned displaying best sellers is that they are proven since other customers have already bought it and are happy with their purchase. Also, you can easily showcase new products as well by including them in upsell and marketing campaigns.

6. Impulse Buy

Getting your customers to become impulse buyers is another big advantage that your online store can provide but your physical store can’t. All you need is an attractive product photography, the one with human emotions or vibrant colors and use them to create amazing ads that can drive impulsive buys. You can even use showcasing limited quantities or countdown timers to further the drive process.

7. Order-taking

In retail stores, we have often seen long lines at cash counters which makes the overall shopping experience, a painful one and deter many people from going to stores. But with online shopping, there is simply no waiting time. A customer can easily place orders in his own time schedule and from the comforts of his own home which, as a result, allows you to accept a high number of orders with ease.

8. Scalability

In your brick and mortar store, whenever you want to grow your business to accommodate new products or hire more cashiers, you will need to find a bigger space, spend money on renovating and wait for your lease to end. However, with an e-commerce website, you can easily add countless products to your store without worrying about holding inventory or shipping products allowing you to scale quickly.

Conclusion:

Operating a business is challenging and time-consuming in itself. But you can make it easy for you by investing in a professional website. Just remember, e-commerce is no longer considered a luxury in today’s times but more of a necessity. Without it, you are limiting the potential for growth. And with it? Well, you can answer that for yourself now.

As it has been mentioned several times by me, the e-commerce sector is a highly competitive one. It is one where you must capture the attention and the trust of your visitors from the very get-go to be able to stay alive in. You may have already read many articles about how your e-commerce business can gain an edge over your competitors. One thing that might have been missed is how important digital experience is for your business. That is what we will be discussing in this particular post.

There are certain methods that can be implemented in order to enhance the digital experience of your website’s visitors or your prospect customers. Here are some the key things to put under consideration –

Awesome Multi-Channel Experience

There was a time long ago when the digital experience was only limited to the computer screens. That has not been the case for many years now. Your website must be ready to offer customers the best experience on every single device and screen size. The transition a customer has to make between a desktop and a smartphone has to be smooth and seamless. This goes beyond making a site responsive. It is about putting yourself in the user’s shoes. The familiarity with the brand must not change nor should the customer have to enter their already submitted details again when they change devices.

Go for the Personal Touch

Personalization is another way to enhance the customer’s digital experience. It does not just mean that you should have the customer’s name mentioned on the checkout page or on the website’s header. It means to truly offer them a personalized and customized shopping experience. At every step, your customer should see product recommendations that are tailor-made just for them. When customers will see products that they actually are interested in, it will also help increase the conversion rate for your online store.

Different Approach for Different Users

Implementing Technologies to Improve Experience

In order to achieve all the above-mentioned changes, there need to be certain technologies implemented during the e-commerce development stage of your websites. These technologies can include plugins, CRM integration, Interfaces, visitor analytics tools etc. With the appropriate use of the right technology, the transformation of the digital experience for customers can be enabled. Webstore owners need to identify and partner with the right e-commerce development companies that have the necessary tools for this purpose.

It is high time for online stores to think beyond their products and web designs. They need to wake up to the fact that their competitors are now competing on a whole different front where providing customers with an enhanced and personalized digital experience. Just having the knowledge of what to do will not be enough, having the tools and the know-how is what that is needed.