Maximizing your revenue: The advantages of eCommerce

Are you thinking of opting for an eCommerce business? If yes, then you are at the right place as here we will discuss the advantages of eCommerce and the disadvantages of eCommerce. Many times people are tempted to create a website for their business to get immediate results. However, that’s not true about eCommerce. You need to understand what eCommerce is and how it works. eCommerce is a great way to expand your business and reach, but it may not be always the best choice for your specific business.

For starting an eCommerce business, you need to build an eCommerce website. Look if you have sufficient sources or if you need to hire professionals. Apart from that, you need to add high-quality images, titles, and product descriptions of each of the products you want to sell on your website. Make sure that your website has no bugs or technical glitches that hamper the customer experience like sign-up or payment processing.

Now, you must be thinking what are the advantages and disadvantages of eCommerce which make it a risky choice. Keep reading the blog to know if eCommerce is the right choice for your business or not.

What is eCommerce?

E-commerce can be defined as the process of buying and selling products online. eCommerce websites typically include a list of products, images, and product descriptions. When a customer wants to purchase a product, they can simply add it to their shopping cart and make the payment through a credit or debit card. Online retail shopping goes directly to the customers from a business through mobile apps and websites.

Different types of E-commerce

eCommerce can be of different types depending on the seller and buyer. We have given below the four main types of eCommerce.

• B2B eCommerce: B2B eCommerce is when a business sells its products or services to another business over the Internet. For example, Wix.com.
• B2C eCommerce: B2C eCommerce is when a business sells its products or services to the customers directly. For example, Amazon, and Myntra.
• C2B eCommerce: C2B eCommerce is when a person or customer sells its products or services to a business.
• C2C eCommerce: C2C eCommerce happens when a person or customer sells its products or services to another person or customer.

Advantages of eCommerce

There are many advantages of eCommerce for a business that we will explain here. E-commerce is best for business owners that don’t want to set up a physical store. For eCommerce, they just need to build a website and display their products online. It can also help to expand the reach and drive customers to their business. Now, we will explain the different advantages of setting up an eCommerce website for your business.

1. Low financial cost

One of the major advantages of eCommerce is its low startup cost. Building a physical store requires an investment of thousands of dollars. There are many upfront costs such as store interiors & designs, buying inventory, sales equipment, hiring staff, etc. However, in eCommerce, you just need to pay virtual rent. Depending on the type of your business you can hire employees remotely.

For a physical store, there are many other costs that come up like surveillance and maintenance costs. With an eCommerce store, you don’t need to invest much in terms of setting it up. This is among the best eCommerce advantages that make it a preferable choice if you’re not looking to invest much in the starting of your business.

2. Product listing and store creation

A product listing refers to what a customer sees when they search for a product or an item. This is one of the top advantages of eCommerce for online sellers. You can create a product listing as you want to provide a good customer experience. Making a product listing doesn’t require much time, you just need to add product names or codes like UPC, ISBN, or ASIN.

You can add images, product descriptions, product categories, shipping fees, and delivery dates. This will provide complete information to the customers about the different products. Ensure that you use high-quality images and provide different-angle product views. You can also provide offers and discounts to first-time customers to entice them to make purchases.

3. Fast buying process

Earlier, when we wanted to buy something we needed to go to the market and then purchase it. Now, customers can purchase anything just by browsing the products and making the payment. People just need to go online and find the items that are not available in the physical stores or localities near them.

The buying process has become easy and simpler than ever. This is one of the best advantages of eCommerce as it enables people to choose from a wide range of products or services. They can check the product images, add products to the cart, and get them delivered to their home.

4. Affordable advertising and marketing

With online advertising, the sellers don’t need to invest a lot of money for promoting their items. They can easily and quickly market their brand online. As eCommerce websites are visual, the sellers can display their products or services over there. You can add high-resolution images, videos, and infographics to give an idea to customers about the product.

You can add enticing offers, customized deals, and sponsored ads on your website. You can also utilize eCommerce customer management tools like WebMaxy eGrowth to analyze your customers. This tool can help you know the total number of placed orders, abandoned carts, and returns.

5. Expands your audience reach

A significant advantage of eCommerce is that it allows you to reach a large target audience. A physical store can be visited just by a limited number of buyers every day. However, a virtual store is beyond geographical limitations. Many eCommerce marketplaces have their own logistics & delivery system and can deliver to distant locations.

With an eCommerce platform, you can expand your reach and drive new customers to your business. You can reach customers across different cities and countries. This expanded reach can help you make your small eCommerce store a massive brand over time.

6. Convenient for customers

One of the best advantages of eCommerce is that it provides convenience to customers. An eCommerce business enables customers to access and purchase products or services 24 X 7. This gives an advantage to the seller as they can offer their products or services at any place and time.

An eCommerce platform gives customers the option to return or replace items online. There are many other conveniences that customers get online like free shipping, deals, discounts, referrals, express order delivery, etc.

People can also put their reviews for the products or services they purchase. Positive customer reviews can help eCommerce to win the prospects’ trust. You can put your best-selling products on your website.

7. Personalized online experience

With eCommerce, you can do website personalization and improve your customers’ shopping experience. You can create personalized landing pages for your different types of target audiences. This can aid you in making customers purchase from you without making too much effort. As you know when a customer walks into the store, you need to convince them from the first minute which is more tough.

You can also run email marketing campaigns to target customers more effectively. Try to segment email lists based on the customers’ browsing history, last purchase, or location. With WebMaxy eGrowth, you can also retarget customers through ads based on their product browse or abandoned cart. The ability to personalize customer experiences is one of the top advantages of eCommerce.

8. Faster response to customers

E-commerce makes every customer interaction fast which is one of the major advantages of eCommerce. Customers can use chatbots and get answers to their queries quickly. Let’s take an example here if a customer wants a specific product that is out of stock, they can click on the ‘Notify me’ option. This way they will be informed when the product comes back in stock. It can make business-customer communication easy and smooth.

eCommerce enables sellers to create promotions and offers quickly. This can help attract customers and drive sales. You can create plans and coupons for customers that they can use at the checkout to get discounts.

9. Different payment modes

People want ease and convenience at each stage of their online buying journey. eCommerce enables you to offer different payment modes to your customers which is among the significant advantages of eCommerce. You can provide options to your customers to pay through UPI, credit or debit card, EMIs, net banking, and cash on delivery.

Another advantage is that people can use different payment modes for distinct orders. Their choice is often affected by order value, and availability of cash or card. Customers can also to merge their payment with the dedicated wallet amount. This gives you a huge advantage as you won’t lose your customers due to a lack of payment modes.

10. Easy exports

E-business enables easy exports which is one of the best advantages of eCommerce. You can sell your products or services to customers internationally. With an eCommerce business, you don’t need to invest in physical shops to reach your customers worldwide. You just need to put your product listing attractively according to the particular cultural preferences or demands. This way you can acquire customers from various countries in the world. For brands that want to establish themselves internationally, e-commerce exports is a profitable model.

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Disadvantages of eCommerce

Before opting for an eCommerce business, it’s vital to know the disadvantages of eCommerce as well. People who are not good at computers and technology can have difficulty operating an eCommerce website.

1. Security threats

The disadvantage of eCommerce is the potential security threats. A poorly built website with less security can allow unauthorized users to get access to your website and use sensitive data. In some cases, issues with payment processors may cause customers’ credit and debit card information to leak. Apart from building your eCommerce website, it’s important you ensure that it’s secure. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to hire professionals to develop an eCommerce website.

2. Site Crash

An eCommerce business is totally dependent on its website which is one of the disadvantages of eCommerce. For instance, if your website crashes then no one can purchase from you. Therefore, it’s important that you host your website on a secure platform. For example, if you’re hosting your platform at a minimum fee and suddenly you get a surge in traffic due to an ad on television, your site will likely crash. Make sure to opt for a platform that has minimum chances of a crash and the issue is resolved within the same day.

3. Customers can’t try before they buy

Customers can’t try before they buy which is among the major disadvantages of eCommerce. This is not the case with physical stores where people can try out things first and then buy. However, many eCommerce stores are trying to add AR elements to enable customers to try the products on. For example, Lenskart helps people to see how a particular spectacle will look on them.

4. Figure out Shipping logistics

When you have a physical store, it’s easy to provide the products to the customer directly. But when you are selling through an eCommerce website, you need to use a shipping service to send out the delivery parcels. For running an e-commerce store, you need to figure out the shipping logistics because every time a customer makes a purchase, you need to ship the order. You need to opt for a seamless shipping solution for your business that has affordable shipping costs.

5. Highly competitive

In today’s world, there’s a lot of competition in eCommerce for customers. This is one of the top disadvantages of eCommerce. You need to put efforts into marketing to drive customers to your website and get conversions. Since the customers have got a lot of options, you need to gain an edge over your competitors. Try to put forth the benefits of your products with offers, this will entice customers to make purchases. The success of an eCommerce brand depends on how you build your online presence and drive customers.

Benefits of eCommerce to Customers

There are many benefits of eCommerce for customers that we will explain here. In the above section, we got to know the e-commerce advantages and disadvantages.

1. Access to a wide range of products and services

One of the biggest e-business advantages is that it enables customers to choose from a wide range of products or services. They can shop from any vendor available on the Internet. Often, when people go to buy offline they won’t find too much variety in terms of a specific product but they can get it online. Also, they can compare the products on the basis of pricing and features.

2. Complete information about the product

In online shopping, you get product descriptions along with details like product dimensions, features, and pricing. This allows customers to evaluate the product’s value before purchasing it. They can also ask questions and get their queries resolved quickly. Most of the eCommerce websites mention the estimated delivery date which gives a clear idea to the customers.

3. Convenient

Convenience is among the top benefits of e-business for customers. They can shop from anywhere around the world sitting at home through the internet. Sometimes, due to bad weather or any reason people may not be able to go out of their homes. E-commerce offers convenience to people to shop without being worried about any physical constraints.

4. Saves time

Time-saving is one of the best eCommerce benefits for customers. Selecting, comparing, and evaluating items on the Internet takes less time than it takes to do the same offline. You can browse, select, and purchase the items within 10-15 minutes. Also, the items are delivered to the doorstep of your home within a week.

5. Saves money

Most of the time the price of products or services gets high due to the middlemen involved in the process. When people shop online, they don’t need to bear the cost of the middlemen which reduces the overall cost of the products or services. Also, many eCommerce brands offer products at a cheaper price to get more customers. This ultimately saves the customers’ money which is among the significant benefits of eCommerce.

eCommerce Advantages and Disadvantages: The Bottom Line

Building an eCommerce website can help you drive customers and boost revenue. In this blog, we have explained the advantages and disadvantages of e-commerce for your information. You must have understood that there are many advantages of eCommerce compared to disadvantages. However, starting up an eCommerce website is easy but managing it is difficult.

WebMaxy eGrowth is an eCommerce management platform that can help you manage your customer data and information easily. You can reach, engage, and convert your customers with WebMaxy eGrowth. This tool comes with a wide range of features like a KPI dashboard, conversion dashboard, marketing insights, audience segmentation, social campaigns, marketing automation, email marketing, Whatsapp marketing, customer loyalty, help desk, and retargeting.

Schedule a call with our experts to learn more about WebMaxy eGrowth, or email us at [email protected].

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