What is eCommerce?
E commerce can be defined as the buying and selling of goods electronically online. Its popular because of the many benefits of e-business -internet marketing, electronic funds transfer, mobile commerce – this is broken up into two parts.
Online retail shopping that goes directly to consumers through mobile apps, websites and even voice assistants, chats, chat-bots etc.
Understanding the advantages of eCommerce
We are going to explain what kind of advantages there are by sharing what we know about online selling. In brief, these are the plus points we will talk about.
Faster buying process
Customers can spend less time shopping for what they want. They can easily browse through many items at a time and buy what they like.
Advantages of e-business include helping one to choose from a wide range of products and get the order delivered too. Searching for an item, seeing the description, adding to cart – all steps happen in no time at all. In the end, the buyer is happy because he has the item and didn’t have to travel far.
Store and product listing creation
Sellers can add many images, a description, product category, price, shipping fee and delivery date. So, in just one step you can tell the customer many things about the item. Creating your listing shows the buyers what you have.
Rules for product listing
- Use high quality resolution images. Blurry images distract and confuse customers.
- Maintain image dimensions. Usually eCommerce marketplaces will recommend a resolution format.
- Provide multiple product views. Some sites even let you include a 360-degree view of items.
- When adding product variants – such as lipsticks in different shades – ensure each variant has its specific image.
Cost reduction
One of the biggest advantages of ecommerce to businesses that keep sellers interested in online selling is cost reduction. Many sellers have to pay lots to maintain their physical store. They may need to pay extra up front costs like rent, repairs, store design, inventory etc.
Did you Know – ‘33% of consumers use their mobiles to shop for items.’
Affordable advertising and marketing
Sellers don’t have to spend a lot of money to promote their items. The world of eCommerce has several affordable, quick ways to market online. E commerce marketplaces are visual channels – and sellers can really show off their product.
Product and price comparison
In eCommerce, sellers can compare the products using tools or on their own. This gives them a good idea of product alternatives available, the standard rates, if a product need is unfulfilled.
Comparison is faster online and covers many products – It helps to save time when making this comparison, as all details are available on the shopping site. In a physical store, sellers may not be able to get access to so many details –they only have better knowledge about their own inventory.
No reach limitations
Reaching out to more customers – Sellers that need to expand their reach to find new customers can benefit from this. This applies to online-only sellers and those with a physical store.
Online-only sellers can save on the logistics costs and be rest assured of customers. Sellers with a physical store begin selling their goods to local buyers.
Faster response to buyer/market demands
Every interaction is faster when you begin selling online. Ecommerce marketplaces offer you a streamlined logistics or delivery system. What this means is that the buyer’s order gets delivered efficiently. Product returns management is one more plus point that can be handled quickly – you either refund the payments or give a replacement.
Several payment modes
Buyers like personalisation – the same goes for paying for their orders. Ecommerce marketplaces permit multiple payment modes that include UPI, cash on delivery, card on delivery, net banking, EMIs on credit or debit card and pay-later credit facility.