Electronic Commerce: Taking Your Business to Another Level

Let me tell you that all this today is possible thanks to the advances of the electronic commerce. Until some time ago, thinking about selling through your own online store was complex and expensive, however things have changed rapidly, like everything on the web.

And it is that electronic commerce represents a huge opportunity for companies that want to open a new marketing channel, either for their traditional products or for new product lines that allow them to grow and explore other markets.

The advantages of an online store

Having an online store for your business has many advantages. These are some of the most important to consider:

• It allows you a global brand positioning and marketing
• It gives you access to new customer markets in different parts of the world
• Allows you to accept and process purchase orders without the need for human intervention
• You will attract new customers who do not live in the perimeter of your premises
• You will be able to handle multiple orders efficiently
• Possibility to grow your database of prospects through forms in your store
• Savings in installation and maintenance costs
• You will be able to launch more efficient targeted offers and promotions as a result of your statistical data
• Your store also functions as an online catalog of products and services

“Having an online store is like having a salesperson working 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.” [twitéalo]

What is an e-commerce solution?

We are basically talking about implementing a web portal that allows you to show your products and services with their characteristics and the available shipping options, but especially with a fully automated payment system. This with the aim that the shopping experience is easy to understand and simple to carry out.

Once the purchase is made, you should consider the logistics of shipping the products and the warranty policies to ensure good customer service.

For mounting a system of electronic commerce there are essentially 2 alternatives:

• The complicated way: hire a programmer who is in charge of designing and programming the code for the store, hiring the hosting, implementing the security mechanisms, connecting with a payment gateway and making the programming, processing the corresponding permissions and security certificates and doing the maintenance . In some cases, there are often ready-made solutions that programmers can adapt in a short time.
• The practical way: hire a service electronic commerce professional, fully tested and guaranteed that includes all the functionalities and security mechanisms appropriate to the size and requirements of your business. This is the best recommendation because today there are a variety of very good quality solutions for this purpose. In such a way that you don’t have to worry about dealing with programmers and programs and you can focus on what really interests you: sell more and take your business to another level.

If we talk about costs, you should know that the start-up of an online store is minimal, especially if we compare it with the costs of setting up a physical store, with the addition that an online store also contributes to the positioning of your brand.

Some success factors in e-commerce

As we have mentioned, setting up your online store represents a huge opportunity, but like everything on the web, it is not automatic. It must be built intelligently and consider some key aspects so that you really get the desired results:

• The product to be marketed must have characteristics that allow it to be handled and sent remotely with the minimum of risks in handling it.
• Take great care of the image and positioning of your store to generate trust and attract potential customers. A poor image poor site hardly sells.
• You must comply with all current security and data protection regulations so that your prospects feel confident when making transactions in your store. This is extremely important as this can make a difference in the success of your portal.
• Dedicate enough resources to online marketing. The Internet is very wide and there are thousands of potential buyers, but this does not mean that they will come by themselves. You must attract them with a good digital marketing strategy through search engines, social networks and others.
• Your products must be delivered in reasonable time

There are many excellent quality platforms for e-commerce that stand out for their quality, price and ease of installation. So if you are really determined to take your business to another level with your own online store, I recommend you consider one of the best: Shopify.

I conclude with a question for reflection:
How much would it cost you to think about opening a physical branch of your current business?