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Why is it Sheer Brilliance to Invest in an E-commerce Store

Why is it sheer brilliance to invest in an e-commerce store


 

Why is it sheer brilliance to invest in an e-commerce store

Picture CourtesyPixels.com

From Walmart and Target, the world has moved on to Amazon, eBay and Alibaba.  As the Internet conquers the world, people are ditching brick and mortar and are moving towards shopping on a click. During 2018, people shopped worth $2.86 trillion on the web, and this figure is expected to reach $4.8 trillion by 2021, which is huge.

Brick-and-mortar, on the other hand, is losing its charm. This can be seen from the fact that Circuit City, Kmart and Radio Shack have all filed for bankruptcy.

online shopping quote

Moreover, whatever is left of the brick-and-mortar is also digitally influenced, which is why they are going mobile. JD.com, the world’s second-largest e-commerce business has partnered with Walmart to create a new retail concept, 7Fresh.

At 7Fresh, you need an app installed on your phone because you need it to scan the products and make the payment.

Given that the entire world is shifting towards e-commerce, it only makes sense to jump on the e-commerce bandwagon if you are looking to invest in a business. If you are not yet convinced why e-commerce is a good investment opportunity, then here are some reasons that might help.

1.    The world is shopping online

The most convincing reason is perhaps that the world is now shifting towards online shopping. People now have a lot of options in terms of variety and pricing at the click of the button.

Forecasts show that by 2021, around 2.14 billion people are expected to shop online, up from 1.66 billion in 2016.

2.    Easier to build

Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and all our favorite brands have been there in the market for many years. They have invested a lot of time and money to be where they are today.

With e-commerce, however, the process is quicker; with the minimal investment, you can grow by leaps and bounds. The online retail giants are the living proof that the online world is full of possibilities. Amazon started as a mere bookseller, and today it has more than 12 million products.

Moreover, e-commerce tools today are a lot better and less costly. The selling platforms and marketing tools have made it easier for an inexperienced person to start a business online.

The only hurdle that you may face is deciding the product that you have to sell and whether you have to sell a range of products like Amazon or focus on a single category.

Selling everything and anything may seem appealing. However, it comes with its own set of problems. Amazon did not get there in a day. Hence, we recommend you focus on a narrower range of products.

3.    Location doesn’t matter

The biggest drawback of brick and mortar is that you need a good location to generate sales. Your store has to be located where your target market lives.

If you are selling a premium product in a middle-class area, chances are your store will close down in a few days. Other than that, you have to keep several factors in mind, such as parking issues.

With e-commerce, you do not need to worry about all of this. You can sell to anybody who wants your product. Moreover, it is easier to establish your sales internationally, as well.

4.    Easy to keep a tab on customers

With an e-commerce store, you can easily see what your customers like and don’t like so you can update your offerings accordingly.

You can see what they purchased, which makes it easier to cross and up-sell products. You can also use the heat maps to see where they spent most of their time.

You can also use pop-ups and newsletters subscriptions to keep in touch with your customers and then conduct email marketing. For instance: if you want to open up an online leather jacket store you can use pop-ups, newsletters and social media to stay in touch with your customers and to keep them informed.

The information on customers makes it easier to conduct marketing. When customers visit your online store, you can advertise the products they browsed through on other platforms such as Instagram or Facebook; repetitive exposure increases the chances of purchase.

Remember, always be consistent throughout all platforms. Have a professional logo on your website and consistent color to increase recognition and recall.

5.    Drop shipping saves the day

The best part about e-commerce is that you can run it without even owning the inventory. Unlike in brick-and-mortar, where you always need to maintain stock and then have a warehouse as well, in e-commerce, you can just pick the products from the seller and ship it directly to the customer. In this way, you don’t need to handle the product or have a space to keep it in the store. This process is called drop shipping.

With drop shipping, you don’t need a lot of capital and investments. It is easier to manage, scale, and it is flexible.  Hence, drop shipping has started to gain traction. In 2017, 23 percent or $83 billion worth of online sales happened through drop shipping.

The only issue that you can possibly face the drop shipping model is that you need to have a reliable supplier that will match your criteria of quality.

Conclusion

Often people have a lot of ideas that they want to explore, but they do not have sufficient funds to set up an entire business.

E-commerce offers a great opportunity for such people. The ecommerce world is full of opportunities; your customers are there, your suppliers are there and with minimum investment, you can start your venture and be your own boss. Plus, once you start earning profits, you can scale it up and start investing in other projects.

All you need to start your business is a passion because once you hop on the journey, you have to put in continuous effort. Don’t worry if you are not able to sell a lot initially; it is a trial and error journey, you will learn on the way.

Author Bio:

About Ashley Rosa: Ashley Rosa is a freelance writer and blogger. As writing is her passion that’s why she loves to write articles related to the latest trends in technology and sometimes on health-tech as well.  She is crazy about chocolates. You can find her at twitter: @ashrosa2.