Why You Need an E-commerce Website For Your Business

 

What is e-commerce?

You have probably heard the words e-business, e-commerce or electronic commerce somewhere or sometime. Since 1989, the Internet has progressed and become so pervasive that it seems to have come to govern our lives. Almost every part of our life has been computerised – from socialising with friends to writing research papers for our college degrees. It is no surprise that buying and selling of goods and services have also taken to the Internet. So, what exactly is e-commerce? An e-commerce can be defined as any sort of transaction made on the Internet.

E-commerce is taking the place of physical stores

The reason that e-commerce is so important is in large part related to data forecasts for e-commerce. One research company named “Forrester” has put together five years of e-commerce forecasts from about 20 different countries around the world. When they aggregated the data into four large markets, they estimated a double-digit growth, projected to continue for the next five years across every market around the world. The important thing for e-commerce is the fact that these numbers are exceeding physical sales across the board.

So, we can deduce from that e-commerce is taking shares away from physical transactions and more consumers are choosing to complete their transactions through online channels, making internet marketing ever more important. This is happening in almost every category, ranging from grocery delivery to consumers purchasing extremely expensive goods. Over that period, the single most expensive item that was ever purchased on E-Bay was, in fact, a private plane.

Similarly, they also conducted a survey on consumer behaviour around the world and measured the different goods consumers are purchasing. There are four major categories that consumers are purchasing online, books, apparel, consumer electronics and food, stemming from two emerging markets of China & Brazil.

E-commerce and Chess

What is happening in the retail business can be likened to a game of chess. In chess, the pawn is considered the least powerful piece on the chessboard. When that pawn reaches the other side of the board, it becomes the queen and this is called the pawn promotion. It reflects the transformation of the least powerful piece into the most powerful piece. That is an accurate analogy to what is taking place in e-commerce retail. The e-commerce channel, about a decade ago, was perceived as an afterthought and wasn’t something worth considering for nurturing and investment. However, it has transformed into arguably the most powerful channel for any given business.

E-commerce platform design

E-commerce solutions for businesses are important because it allows buyers to purchase anything right off the web. Although it is not tailor-made for every single business, it is still a viable option for any consumer business out there. The only key is to find the right technical solution that is not only fitting your budget but provides the right features that your audience wants; whether it is a wish list or discount coupons. The most important piece is knowing how to design the overall e-commerce system to get the best results. From putting the buttons in the right place or having your cart go through the right process, it is really all about the design and process. Developing your website to take advantage of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques can be a massive help for your website. Many internet marketing companies in Singapore provide advice on the design of an e-commerce site.