eCommerce is here to stay and now we want to tell you the main features and advantages so you can adapt your business to the digital wave.
eCommerce is a concept that began to be used in the 90s to refer to the purchase and sale of products and services through digital media, such as web sites, mobile applications and social networks. eCommerce is a business model that grows every year by leaps and bounds in each part of the world, due the increased penetration of Internet and the use of social networks
From the functional side, what defines an eCommerce is the possibility of charging online through different methods (transfers, credit cards or debit, deposits, among others), payment processors (PayPal, Mercado Pago, Adyen, Stripe, etc.), and tools like the shopping cart in the online version.
Due to technological advances, users can access a wide range catalogs of products and services at all times and anywhere through their devices connected to the Internet. This modality has reinvented the way of searching, interacting and buying online, where consumers and sellers have modified their commercial relationship, for comfort, efficiency and the security that implies.
FEATURES OF ECOMMERCE
Global Scope → There are no physical barriers or borders. Consumers from anywhere in the world can enter your virtual store at all times and anywhere.
Ubiquity → It has the ability to be present in all parts of the world at the same time. A virtual store can provide 24-hour service to the public, regardless of the place where the user is located.
Interactivity → Fosters constant feedback between consumers and brands.
ADVANTAGES OF ECOMMERCE
- Sales opportunities increase: The presence of your entrepreneurship on the Internet allows you to expand your field of action where you sell your products through access to a global community of millions of users.
- Brand recognition: Start marketing in the Internet community and social networks serves for a brand to be known by many users. Increasing the number of customers, visibility and expanding the business to increase their sales and improve benefits.
- Opportunity for retaining customers: Through effective communications the user can leave assessments about the products. Obtaining this feedback, if it is used correctly, can increase loyalty, re-purchase or expand the coverage range in the market.
- Flexibility and simplification: You will not need hundreds of employees, as long as you have a good architecture and technological support.
- Low costs: the operating prices of online companies are lower than physical stores because they demand less investments.
- Access to information: eCommerce provides access to valuable information on customers identification, consumer patterns and market preferences. In addition, It’s very easy to follow the different metrics and KPIs of eCommerce, including the conversion rate.
- Easy to direct into a specific niche market: Data collected by eCommerce allows you to target the right people for the products you offer.
ECOMMERCE MODELS
eCommerce models may vary depending on the source of income or channel where the exchange between seller and consumer is carried out. Some of the models that exist are:
- Online Shop: It has the same characteristics of physical stores, but adapted to the Internet.
- eCommerce Affiliation: Closing and sale of product are not made directly with the producer, but refers to another store to which a commission is paid to perform the sale.
- Marketplace: Platform with shared space online where many sellers offer their products.
- Subscription eCommerce: A customer pays for subscribing to digital content or products and services with frequently recurrent purchases.
TYPES OF ECOMMERCE
This way of doing business is so developed today that it offers different types of eCommerce with their specific fields of action:
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B2C eCommerce (Business to Consumer): from business to consumer. As end users, this is the person we interact with when ordering a product or service from an online store.
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B2B eCommerce (Business to Business): This is done from business to business. Its focus is not directly linked to the end consumer, but rather to suppliers, retailers, and other intermediaries.
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C2C eCommerce (Consumer to Consumer): From consumer to consumer. This is the migration to the digital realm of garage sales, neighborhood markets, or direct marketing between two or more individuals.
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G2C eCommerce (Government to Consumer): From government to consumer. This encompasses all transactions, purchases, and payments that a citizen can make using online government systems. For example, platforms for tax procedures and payments.
Today, eCommerce has become a fundamental form of adaptation for businesses, enabling brands that had previously focused solely on physical stores to begin digitalizing to expand their reach and increase sales. This way of doing business represents a great opportunity to start a business and have your own commercial activity. Regardless of size, any business or company can have a virtual store where they can sell their products without having to require customers to travel from their homes.
If you want to expand and strengthen your business, creating an eCommerce site may be your opportunity. Transform your company or venture, attract consumers from around the world, retain your current customers, and join the digital wave. The commerce revolution is no longer the future, it's the present.