According to one survey, there might be up to 24 million ecommerce businesses in the world. Considering how rapidly ecommerce is growing, it’s safe to assume that this number will only grow in the years ahead. As such, your small business will likely see more sales if you start an online store as well. This ecommerce guide for small business owners can help you learn some tips to help you do exactly that.
There’s a reason for the abundance of online retailers – more accurately, there are many reasons the ecommerce market has long been booming. ecommerce is also one of the rare sectors that the COVID-19 global pandemic has helped rather than harmed.
Small businesses like yours should sell online, not just locally or in person, for the below reasons, and more:
It’s no secret that ecommerce is the future of shopping -- and that future is here now. But there are a few more reasons why you should care about ecommerce, including:
All online stores fall into one of six ecommerce business models. These six models are as follows.
No matter which of the above six categories best describes your ecommerce business, you should take several steps to enhance your marketing strategy. Some of these steps are explicit marketing initiatives. Others are non-marketing actions that increase the likelihood of customers whom you draw through your marketing ultimately buying from you. They include:
When it comes to ecommerce platforms, you have several options. You can start with an account on a big-name website like Etsy or Amazon ® . These websites make the initial launch phase easy, but standing out on such crowded platforms can be challenging. Developing your own ecommerce website can help you shine in the exact ways you’d like, and it’s also better for SEO. On that front, website builders can help.
Ecommerce website builders construct your online store from the ground up. They allow you to fully customize your website’s appearance and offer customers secure, user-friendly checkout options. Many platforms also offer secure payment options, performance tracking, inventory management, and other additional features.
Through ecommerce website-building platforms, you can easily opt into high-speed, secure website hosting. You should also be able to choose a domain name (web address) that’s short, memorable, and relevant to what you sell. Ideally, your domain name will be highly similar to your business name, if not exactly the same.
From there, you can use your platform to follow some business web design basics. Your website should be easily navigable and visually appealing, and the templates you choose should help you achieve these goals. Make sure your logo is incorporated often, your blog is constantly full of interesting content, and your contact page is easy to see.
Your ecommerce website should also load quickly on both desktop and mobile. The latter is an especially important consideration, as 72.9 percent of ecommerce sales occur on mobile devices. As such, a website that doesn’t load well on mobile devices inevitably hurts your bottom line. Plus, if your website takes more than three seconds to load, most visitors will just leave, and that’s no way to stay connected with a global consumer base.
In theory, expanding into ecommerce means you can sell to anybody, any time, anywhere. You’ll fare even better if you follow the marketing and website design basics outlined in this article. If you need additional help, the SmartBiz® Learning Center is full of resources. You’ll find articles and helpful guides for various kinds of ecommerce concerns – getting started, improving your customer service, expanding, and more. If there’s a question, the SmartBiz learning center likely has the answer.