eCommerce or Electronic Commerce is; distributing, buying, selling, marketing and servicing of products or services over the Internet. It’s not the sole domain of large companies as many small businesses have found considerable success selling their products online.
It’s not only thriving in this economy, but Moody’s even suggests that one of the biggest economic afflictions of our time, these despicable oil prices, are fueling the popularity because surfing online is a lot more economical than burning gas to drive to a mall. It is far more than an online catalog, shopping cart, or payment processor.
It is about generating and nurturing leads, acquiring new customers, and expanding your business capabilities and product or service offerings. It’s referred to as a profitable business area by experts and is a fast growing and highly concentrated industry where transition is constant. eCommerce is, simply put, the buying and selling of products online and is the evolution of traditional business practice combined with the power of the Internet.
It is a godsend in our hectic lives and virtual shopping is a dream come true because of the convenience of being able to do it from home and because of the time saving factor involved. It is like a global marketplace that gives traders the opportunity to increase their sales and therefore increase their profits and when implemented properly, it is often faster, cheaper and more convenient than the traditional methods of bartering goods and services.
The road to creating a successful online store can be a difficult proposition if you aren’t aware of eCommerce principles and what it is supposed to do for your internet business. Perhaps most importantly, it’s about building relationships and when done properly, your website can be an extremely lucrative relationship portal. However it is quite a specialized field requiring a level of expertise and can take a considerable amount of time to implement properly.
Part of the attraction is that it lends itself extremely well to a variety of home-based business opportunities and growth in Canadian eCommerce is solid, with eMarketer reporting that Canadians are poised to double their online spending for retail goods from $8 billion in 2006 to $16 billion by 2009.
The challenge isn’t about the technology involved, it’s about utilizing technology to understand your customers and turn a one-time purchase into a life-long relationship with perhaps the most remarkable feature being that anyone can do it. There will always be a place for traditional commerce, but eCommerce is fast becoming a necessary and essential part of any business plan.
Best of all, it is flexible so you can implement the necessary tools that will benefit your business, to either a small or large budget. The only constant in the world of eCommerce is change and the impact of young consumers on Ecommerce is visible in the way they share product recommendations over the internet. This of course impacts your product popularity which can turn into a boon for your business or lead to its demise.
eCommerce is usually split into two distinct types: B2C or Business to Consumer which is primarily focused on delivering goods and services directly to the end user or customers and is therefore essentially a virtual storefront. Secondly, B2B or Business to Business eCommerce which is the trading of goods and services between businesses is another way to generate income through your online venture.
The age of Virtual Window Shopping has become a reality but the problem is eCommerce is much easier to implement than it is to lead to success.