Almost every blog you read will tell you that the e-commerce market is growing fast with few signs of slowing down in the near future. In fact, a 2014 RJMetrics study found there were more than a hundred thousand ecommerce websites generating meaningful revenue online. If you’re considering the world of retail, it seems ecommerce might be the way to go. Why be an ecommerce business? There really are benefits to this model over the traditional brick and mortar choice. Take a look.
Fewer Startup Costs: If you decide to move forward with a more traditional commerce model, you can expect to spend quite a bit of money at startup. You’ll have to pay for the storefront, the utilities, and any building maintenance. You will also have to have all of your products in stock when shoppers walk through your door. That’s not the case with e-commerce. You’ll have the initial cost of the website and shopping cart platform, which varies depending on the model you choose, but often those are the only costs involved to get started. What’s more is that you don’t have to have a warehouse full of products waiting. Instead, they can move from the manufacturer to your customer without making any stops in between, which means saving shipping costs and can help make the product cost lower overall.
More Potential Business Areas: Companies are always looking to expand. It’s what helps them survive as the market changes. In the world of e-commerce, this is far more possible. You can add to another product line, new services, or a variety of other options for your customers. In a brick and mortar company, expansion can be more difficult.
Better Scheduling: Ecommerce means you don’t actually have to be there when people buy from you. Instead, you’ll utilize your website to handle the work for you. Your customers can shop whenever they want, then your site will handle most of the work. Any tasks that are left for you can be handled on your own time from anywhere in the world.
Less Expensive Marketing: Marketing offline can be expensive. Often you need the help of an advertising agency to make it happen. Online marketing, though, is far easier. You control how and where your product is represented, and you decide exactly how much you want to spend and when you’d like to spend it.
Additional Payment Processor Options: You’re in the business to make money, whether you’re on or offline. Given that many people today use cards and other forms of electronic payment, you’ll need the help of a payment processor to make that happen. Payment processors create merchant accounts for their businesses to accept credit and debit cards, and offline, there are some, but if you move to an ecommerce model, you have many more options that may spell lower fees for your company.
Both brick and mortar as well as ecommerce opportunities can be successful for your business venture, but ecommerce may be the perfect way to move forward for your company.