How is eCommerce Changing The Way of Doing Business?

The way business is done has changed since the information technology boom. Product development, marketing, selling processes and communication channels have all changed since marketers decided to sell online.

eCommerce has drastically changed the way goods are bought and sold, thus changing the way business is done. This is because people tend to feel more comfortable buying things online than in a bricks and mortar store. 

This has led to an increase in the number of e-commerce businesses. The number of eCommerce websites has increased from 9.2 million to 26.5 million between 2019 and 2023.

So what are these changes that are affecting small and large businesses and consumers worldwide? What are the pros and cons of the eCommerce evolution? 

Read on to know all the aspects of eCommerce, its impact on employment and its commercial use.

Impacts of eCommerce on the way of doing business

1. Easy to Start:

The most obvious change that eCommerce has brought is the ease of starting a business. Anyone can start an online business from anywhere and sell products globally.

eCommerce has even opened the doors for the handicraft and handloom industries, as half of their income was being taken away by middlemen. With eCommerce websites, they can sell their products directly to the customer.

Creating an e-commerce website is very easy. You can consult a good web development company and get your customized website made. There are a variety of eCommerce solutions for sellers to start their online store that would be self-hosted and managed via Admin Panel.

Another fantastic thing about eCommerce is that you can buy and sell almost anything, from clothes to furniture, wood, plants, and so on. As a seller, all you have to do is add the pictures of the product, the description, the price and you are done.

Fun fact: Michael Aldrich is known as the inventor of e-commerce. He invented electronic shopping in 1979. He did this by connecting a transaction-processing computer to a modified television set via a telephone line.

2. Low Product Prices:

With a plethora of eCommerce sites and neck and neck competition among them, the prices of the products are affected the most. This has led to high-quality products at low prices and great offers.

Another reason behind the low pricing of products is that the eCommerce website owner only pays to host fees which account from 5k to 10k yearly or might increase as per the site traffic.

One more possible reason behind the low cost of products online is the global reach of eCommerce websites. Since a seller can reach buyers across the globe, he/she is already making a profit, and this is why they need not charge extra money on the product. Shipping charges may vary.

3. Monopoly In The Market Has Made Its Way:

Starting an eCommerce business is easy, but surviving is hard. Digital marketing skills are in high demand if you want your business to survive.

This is because there are strong brands online that sell almost everything people need. They also offer the fastest delivery options, which is difficult for a start-up to match. Another reason is that bigger brands spend a lot of money promoting their website online, using digital marketing tools and techniques.

Don’t be put off by these details. Let them help you prepare for the realities of the e-commerce industry. You can break this monopoly by following certain things.

• Focus on niche products such as clothes only, books only, etc.
• Use a content marketing strategy that can help your business in many ways.
• Start by targeting a specific location or market in the early stages.
• Keep on learning more about digital marketing and eCommerce from various educational platforms.
• Use social media for promotion, as it is a youth engaging platform, and marketing of your products will be easy.

The biggest challenge for an eCommerce startup is to break the monopoly of the big brands. The best way to do this is to work, build a strategy and stick to it.

4. eCommerce Is The Only Thing Left During Pandemic:

The most significant impact of eCommerce can be seen today. In the midst of the Coronavirus Pandemic everyone had to shop online to avoid the risk of infection. Although this has affected the eCommerce businesses as they were only able to sell the essentials, looking to the future, people have now gotten used to buying everything online. 

This has definitely boosted their business in a short period of time. It’s interesting that some people still tend to take precautions by avoiding going to crowded places and preferring to shop online and stay safe. It has now become a habit and has opened up opportunities for the eCommerce brands.

5. Brand engagement has increased:

Another thing about the mature eCommerce market is that brands are increasingly committed to their channels. Previously, brands were confused about how to balance their .com sites, marketplace presence and partner channels.

Brands have now shifted their focus to providing a seamless experience for their customers, regardless of which channel they use to make a purchase. While this approach sounds so obvious to us, some brands have realized that many marketing teams are not structured to deliver a consistent service across channels.

For many brands, internal silos, technology limitations and budget issues have prevented them from delivering a seamless experience to their users.

6. Personalized Shopping Experience:

A personalized experience means people can choose the exact items they’d like to buy through special offers. Some websites like IKEA have integrated Augmented Reality into their mobile eCommerce app. With this feature, we as users can see what furniture will suit their room. Similarly, Lenskart has a 3D trial of frames where you can see which structure suits you.

All this happens under the influence of Augmented Reality. You can also contact an AR development company if you want to add such a feature to your eCommerce website or app.

See how our customers use the new technology in their Multi-Vendor based marketplaces:

7. Variety Of Product Has Increased:

For the consumer, eCommerce has opened the doors to an immense variety of products. Multiple brands, colors and even  prices on different websites are all possible because of eCommerce. 

A consumer can choose between 10 websites to find out the best deal. Another reason for the variety is that many eCommerce websites have their own dedicated manufacturing facilities, which helps them to offer consumers a wider range of products than offline stores.

8. Easy To Target Audience:

Based on shopping and search characteristics, eCommerce websites can analyze the data and target their audience, allowing them to calculate the impact of their social media advertising. This helps the owners to avoid wasting money  on platforms that do not bring in the new customers.

Wrapping Up

In today’s digital world, it is easy to start an eCommerce business, but the failure rate is up to 80%. However, if you follow the right digital marketing techniques, start with a small target audience and territory, regularly review your business insights and adjust your strategies accordingly, then you can survive in the long run.

Another thing that can help you in this survival game is to get in touch with a good software consulting company, as their expert solutions will help make your eCommerce website stand out from the crowd. All the best, buddies. Stay positive!