Online giants Amazon and Flipkart have changed the online shopping sector in India for good. Heavy advertising spends and deep discounts have ensured that more and more Indians click the bait and try shopping online.
It’s an established fact, that growth in online sales has been continuous, ever since the year 2000. And the impact of this has been obvious. Traditional retailers are scrambling to put start online stores. We saw established names in retail taking the online route in recent times. We also saw hundreds of start-up e-commerce ventures being launched in the market as well. Greater mobile internet adoption and 4G data affordability are pushing buying decisions online. This is an opportunity to tap into an emerging market that prefers to shop from a screen.
E-commerce is beneficial to both retailers and consumers in a variety of unique ways.
Convenience
Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, the convenience of the online shopping is indisputable. Automated processes have helped e-tailers by making management of an e-store a breeze. Shoppers also find it a lot more convenient to shop from the comfort of their homes. Online shoppers save on time and effort that would otherwise be spent negotiating traffic getting to a bricks-and-mortar store.
Run 24/7 * 365 days a year
One of the biggest advantages of owning an online store is the fact that you can sell 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year, meaning your store is always open. In a market like India, where daily trade can at times be affected by national holidays, regional agitations and public unrest, business goes on as usual online.
Everything is automated, starting from taking the order to processing the payment. Customers can also shop at a time that is convenient for them. They can reach your support team through chat whenever they want.
Global Market Potential
When you are constrained by retailing from a physical location, you have certain geographical limitations. An online store is in a better position to meet global requirements. This is because all online stores have a catalogue that is created especially for comfortable viewing online. With a worldwide shipping arrangement, you can ship and sell your products globally.
Anyone can locate your online store and find things they are looking for without spending much time and energy. Global shoppers are also looking to source directly from local markets. When local retailers sell online, they always receive requests for global shipping from shoppers.
Digital Marketing Is High On Value
Finding new leads and ensuring enough customer footfall is always the main challenge that a physical store owner faces, be it new or returning customers. Almost all retailers are trying to gain branding online.
Digital marketing is low on cost, and high on value when compared to traditional marketing channels. PPC campaigns, SEO, organic social media and content strategies will help your online store gain enough web traffic to sell consistently every month. Direct e-mail marketing happens to be one of the most effective strategies to increase revenues. If you give users the option of shopping online, these digital campaigns can be more effective. This is because the final call-to-action is also online. This also allows for the digital marketing effort to remain quantified and measurable against direct sales. You now know which marketing campaigns work, which don’t, and by how much.
Collect Customer Data And Leads
How do customers react when they’re asked to fill a piece of paper at a store checkout? For most, it’s like an interruption in their life, and intrusion into their privacy, even if that means giving out their phone number or email address.
When you look at an online store, you’ll notice that all these events are seamlessly integrated into the user experience. Customers sign up voluntarily and provide the data you need to ship them a product. This makes gathering customer data relatively easier when you have an online store. With that same collected data, you can attempt to establish a long-term relationship with the customer that allows you to up-sell related products later on.
Social networks provide advertisers with the tools they need to send targeted advertisements to users with specific interests or backgrounds. With your own online store, you can map customer purchase patterns and preferences making data analysis a core part of your business growth strategy.
Lower Cost
E-tailers avoid the infrastructure costs that plague traditional retailers by ditching the physical storefront format. It’s easy to start an online store and you can start selling online in a very short span of time. The easy availability of online store builders has encouraged thousands of retailers to take their baby steps towards selling online. While the choices are many, make sure you choose the right platform based on your requirements and business goals.
Do you have a plan to sell your products online? Now is the time.