The instantaneous accessibility of e-Commerce that is constantly evolving has transformed the shopping industry for consumers and businesses. In this article, we will cover how e-Commerce is on the rise as well as the top skills that are needed to have a successful e-Commerce business platform, whether you are a first-timer or already have your business and want to perfect it even more.
What is e-Commerce?
Electronic commerce, commonly referred to as e-Commerce is an online activity that involves the buying and selling of products and services. It is a process for online transactions over computers, tablets, and mobile devices. Ecommerce is changing how businesses market their products, process orders, and offer support to their customers. This revolutionary change is giving business owners an opportunity to up their businesses online and sell products through e-commerce.
The Impact of Mobile E-Commerce
What are you carrying around most of the time? Most likely, your phone is your right-hand man. You start to scroll on TikTok, and automatically get redirected to Amazon so you can see all the must-haves you MUST HAVE. In fact, according to Statista, mobile retail sales in the US are expected to hit $511.8 billion in 2023. You can purchase your favorite product so instantly that, in some cases, you can get it delivered in as little as 2 hours on the same day.
Research and Validating Your Product
e-Commerce has multiple benefits that will benefit your online business. As for any business that is starting to evolve, planning and researching are one of the first steps that need to be taken to launch an e-commerce business. Before planning to launch a website, referring to your business plan and having a product that meets the customer's expectations will help you choose your primary target market.
The Customer Is Always King
Talk to your current and potential customers about your product. What are their needs and wants? Is your audience interested in specific products or services? For example, does your business make high-end imported wallets for men? Your target audience may be loyal customers who are professional businessmen looking to improve their style. Are you looking to make more breathable tennis shoes? You may want to consider a different material, like cotton. You may have athletes from various sports that can become your biggest advocate.
Go Your Own Route: Create Your Own Product or Manufacture?
Deciding whether you want to build your own product gives you more control and satisfaction because you are designing it. The upside is that you can create smaller quantities of products to test drive it first. When you're looking for the right manufacturer, it takes time and funding. Either way, you want the end goal to be to create a distinctive brand that will help you stand out from the competition, regardless of your chosen route.
Benefits of Amazon: Sourcing and Selling your Product
You may need to create funding before you jump right into setting up your storefront or website. Creating crowdsource funds through various sites like GoFundMe can help you achieve your goal before setting up your source to sell products online. Let’s talk about one of the most successful online E-commerce businesses thus far. Amazon has over 300 million customers worldwide. Here are some tools that can help new and existing business owners reach potential customers that may not have been exposed to their business yet:
- Helpful Resources: Use Amazon’s infrastructure, tools, and customer reach to grow your business. There are tools for processing payments, collecting reviews, running promotions, and even A/B testing product pages at scale.
- Market Awareness: Customers come to Amazon to shop for products. There is an already well-established storefront that will guarantee traffic to your storefront.
- Built-in SEO: Amazon product pages are built to serve search engines the right content and show up competitively in search results, which expands your brand visibility and reach easily.
- Product Descriptions: Writing through and engaging descriptions so customers can make informed decisions. Incomplete descriptions can lead to dissatisfaction, creating a potential return increase that may hurt your business.
- Offer Reviews: Reviews can be a powerful e-commerce tool and positively impact how your sales play out. If you are using your Amazon Storefront, it automatically requests customer reviews on behalf of online sellers. Amazon Vine can increase your customer loyalty and provide a Vine reviewer a free sample from your storefront in exchange for a review.
It's Never Too Late
The e-Commerce industry is forecasted to continue growing. According to ThriveMyWay, e-commerce will account for more than $6.5 trillion in sales by 2023, 22% of retail sales globally. Giving thought to an Amazon Storefront to find out if your idea has potential can be a stepping stone for your business—after all, access to millions of loyal customers can give you many opportunities to interact with potential customers and adjust pricing, or descriptions to satisfy their needs.
Want to Learn More?
e-Commerce is a high-demand job opportunity with various career paths, including web designers and web developers, computer systems analysts, and market research analysts. Finding a job may be challenging, but after you find a company that feels like a right fit, the rest will be a breeze. Are you ready to take the next step? Use CO.CAREERS’ Good Jobs Board now to find an e-commerce job that will feel more like a hobby. Discover a career that excites you with benefits that fulfill your role as a professional!
Lorena Miller contributed to this article. She lives in Michigan and is a Senior at Oakland University completing a double major in Marketing and Spanish with an anticipated graduation date of Fall 2023.