Business and ecommerce have been interlinked for a decade. No business today is unaware of ecommerce and no ecommerce development would have been much successful without businesses. In the rapidly growing popularity of technological advancements and the internet, it is much easier and quicker to sell and purchase online than ever before. Internet users are no longer confined to computer screens to sell or buy online. There are more efficient ways such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones that aid the users in conveniently selling or purchasing of goods or services online from anywhere around the world. People are now able to start and run a business online right from the comfort of their homes.
For businesses to grow efficiently, they must continuously approach newer customers as well as effectively communicate with the already existing ones. If you already own a brick and mortar store, you might rightly know that these both may sound easy and are difficult to practice. Here’s the role of an ecommerce website; it helps you break the limitations imposed in selling online and gives you more sales as compared to a traditional brick and mortar store. As an online seller with an ecommerce website, you can showcase your brand story, products, and services. Moreover, it allows you to accept online payments and more importantly fulfill the complete selling procedure online without even meeting your customer in person. Are you looking for a tried and tested method to increase your business revenue? Whatever your business niche might be, if you are not having an ecommerce website for your business, you are leaving the money you deserve on the table. In this article, we will be discussing why a business needs an ecommerce website and the benefits of an ecommerce website to a business.
Why does a business need an ecommerce website?
When deciding to sell online, there are a million thoughts that cross your path. One of the main thoughts being, to choose from selling online on an already existing marketplace and selling online with an ecommerce website. Both the methods are effective in their ways and there is no right and best method to sell online. However, we always suggest creating an online website to sell online. Below are a few reasons that can convince you to create an ecommerce website for your business:
Gain Brand Recognition
Creating ecommerce websites is proven to be the most effective way to get brand recognition. Before becoming physical or online sellers, you might have once been buyers and we all know that we only invest our money in trustworthy stores – be it online, be it offline. Regarding online selling, genuine shoppers look for a trustworthy website that assures them of a safe experience, especially the money transactions. Every esteemed brand today was once a regular business initiative that built trust among the online customers through secure transactions, safe delivery, quality products, easy checkout, quick selling procedures and so on – all through an ecommerce website. However, it is not a one-night magical event that’ll get you, loyal customers, the moment you create an ecommerce website. Moreover, it is a strategically planned long-term process. This itself should be convincing for your business to start selling online with an ecommerce website, really soon.
Attract Newer Customers
As mentioned earlier, every business needs to approach newer customers for their business growth. It is probably an immediate value add-on to your business. For every business with an ecommerce website, this process becomes easy employing Search Engine Optimization or SEO. It is a process that plays an important role in creating online visibility for an online website or online store in the Google’s Search Engine Results Page (SERP) which is an unpaid marketing tactic used in online businesses. Researchers prove that online shoppers tend to find a suitable shopping source using the Search Engine that greatly influences their buying decisions. Which means that if your business is not coming up in the SERP, you are closing doors to the primary online shopping technique used by shoppers. Showing up in the search results is an incredible way to attract newer customers and creating an ecommerce website is the first step for it. Once you have created your online site, you can use many smart ways to rank the first such as using the right SEO tactics including high-ranked keywords, effective meta descriptions and so on.
Collect Customer Data for Personalized Marketing
Collecting customer information for personalized marketing is a tough job, especially if you are new into the market. Online shoppers may or may not choose to provide personal information while checking out with the invention of the guest checkout facility. However, with an ecommerce website, customers would create an account considering the trust they find in shopping with the website. This makes it easy for business owners like you to collect customer information including the demographics, likes, dislikes, shopping patterns, and buying choices of the customers. Moreover, using cookies, you can now collect customer data of every visitor of your ecommerce website which can be effectively used for personalized marketing. You can also use the data for email marketing that lets you enhance new customers as well as engage with your prospective customers. There are many ways to collect customer data in the market, but the core to all of them is creating an online ecommerce website.
Use Multiple Sales Channels
If your business is selling through a brick and mortar store, you’ll be finding customers that are aware of your outlets. Similarly, if you are selling online on marketplaces such as amazon, you are limited with a single sales channel or you might need to separately operate multiple sales channels. However, with an ecommerce website, you can gain a wide range of audience by creating awareness about your business on multiple sales channels at the same time. For instance, if you are creating an online store using Builderfly Ecommerce Platform, you have the opportunity to integrate multiple sales channels into your store as well as manage them from a single dashboard. Moreover, you do not need to visit multiple selling platforms in order to add products, shipping, and payment options. All you need is a quick registration, choose a subscription plan, and connect domain. Additionally, there is a 14-day free trial period wherein you can explore the features of Builderfly but would need to connect a domain in order to sell online.
Boost Conversion Rates
The conversion rate is the number of visitors in your online website in a given time who purchase from your website other than the visitors who come and go from your website. Ecommerce website can give you a medium to enhance your conversion rates without any hassles. It can give credibility to your brand as well as business by embarking trust in the customers with the product quality, selling procedure, shipping process, and so on. The ecommerce website aids in creating a seamless customer experience to your customers using various optimizations such as website optimization, product optimization, checkout optimization. Moreover, if you are using website builders such as Builderfly, you can optimize your online store as well as provide a fully-customizable store to your customers.
Enhanced Customer Support
When selling online on marketplaces, you are not able to provide personalized support to your loyal customers. On the other hand, with an online ecommerce website, you can provide your customers with a unique customer experience through your ecommerce website using live chatbots, messages, emails, and calls. The customers find it easy and secure to contact your business with an ecommerce website. Without a website, the contact process becomes extremely complicated. If your customers find it hard to communicate with you in case of emergency, the majority of the chances are that they’ll return and find a better place to shop online. Every website is equipped with a unique communication system that aids customers with any problem they face while or after shopping online. Moreover, a website lets you provide a 24/7 support system which is otherwise not possible.
What are the benefits of selling online with an ecommerce website?
From the above reasons, you might already know that there are many major benefits of selling online with an ecommerce website. Below are two such perks of an ecommerce website for a business:
Universal Market
A well-designed ecommerce website is designed to bring customers from around the globe. By sharing the website link on various mediums, and with the right marketing techniques, you can find customers from anywhere around the globe regardless of the distance and difference in time zones. While in a brick and mortar store the audience is limited to the location where the store is situated, with an ecommerce website, the audience can find you from any corner of the world right from the comfort of their home.
Convenient Marketing
Creating an ecommerce website is the most efficient way to market to a wide range of audience. Using the website link and the right marketing strategies you can easily market your business and create a strong online presence. Instead of providing multiple selling platforms to your customers, one link to the website is an efficient way to reach your customers as well as an efficient way for customers to find you online.
