Let’s face facts – eCommerce is big business. According to Statista, eCommerce sales in the United States were estimated to be $304.1 billion in 2014, and are expected to increase to a whopping $491.5 billion by 2018. So, why is eCommerce technology so important? Well, it provides your website with a stable and secure platform to take customer payments quickly and effectively. Your customers can purchase goods and services- and have these delivered to their door – without even visiting your ‘brick and mortar’ store. Having the capability to sell products online can have a number of benefits for your business, including an increase in profits, and an influx of new customers.
Simply put, ecommerce is the term to describe transactions that take place on your website or blog. Your website might already feature the goods and services that you specialize in, but using an eCommerce plugin takes this to the next level. The process is simple – your website visitors can browse through products on your online store, add these to their basket, and then pay for the goods using a number of different payment methods. If you sell products in a traditional store, you will be able to do the same online; customers can browse through your items and read through product descriptions before making a purchase.
Ecommerce plugins can streamline your business so you have more time to focus on the important stuff. For example, introducing an eCommerce platform to your blog or website will allow your customers to make purchases at a time that best suits them, any day of the year. The process is completely automated and requires no input from yourself – allowing you to focus on other aspects of the business. Once an order has been placed, you can deliver these items directly to the customer’s door.
Did you know that 78% of mobile searches for local business information result in a purchase, according to a recent study? These numbers speak volumes for small businesses who are thinking about setting up a mobile platform in order to sell their goods to customers who access their information via smartphone and mobile tablet devices. If you haven’t yet adapted your website for mobile yet – beware. Mobile shopping is expected to increase dramatically in the next few years, and this could have a significant impact on your profit margins if you haven’t caught up with this powerful technology yet. Introducing an eCommerce platform for your mobile website can allow customers to purchase goods and services when they are on the go, and can generate significant income for your company. Just like conventional eCommerce platforms on the web, these systems are completely automated – allowing you to take payments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The statistics speak for themselves: 71% of shoppers think that they will get a better deal online than in traditional stores, while 80% of those online have purchased an item on the internet at some point. But yet Ecommerce Websites are still an untapped market for many businesses who have spent years trading in the conventional way. Introducing eCommerce to your business could transform the way your business markets itself online.
