- What do you mean by e-commerce?
Stated simply, e-commerce is the sale of goods or services online. The word “e-commerce” makes many people automatically think of an online store such as Amazon—and they would be correct. Amazon is an iconic example of an e-commerce site, but plenty of other examples exist as well.
- What are the three types of e-commerce?
Acronyms are often used to refer to the three different types of e-commerce. The first is B2C, which stands for Business to Consumer. B2C e-commerce is when businesses sell products directly to consumers. This is the type of e-commerce many people are most familiar with (e.g., Amazon).
The second type is B2B, or Business to Business. B2B e-commerce involves companies selling directly to other companies. For example, Medline sells medical supplies to long-term care centers, physicians’ offices, and other businesses in the medical industry.
The third is C2C, or Consumer to Consumer. In C2C e-commerce, consumers sell products or services directly to other consumers. eBay is probably the best-known example of a C2C e-commerce site.
- What are some examples of e-commerce sites?
Countless e-commerce sites exist. Chances are that if someone is seeking a particular item or service, there is an e-commerce site that offers it! Here are just a few examples:
SplendidBeast.com (B2C): Provides customized, hand-painted pet portraits that depict customers’ furry friends as aristocrats or monarchs.
Fluevog.com (B2C): Sells artfully designed and eco-friendly footwear crafted by Canadian shoe designer John Fluevog.
Grainger.com (B2B): Provides industrial supplies and equipment for businesses in various trades.
Chocomize.com (B2B): Specializes in customized chocolate candy gifts and promotions for corporations and businesses. Customers can search by product, occasion, and budget.
eBay.com (C2C): Allows individuals to buy or sell practically anything to anyone. This global e-commerce platform is considered the granddaddy of all C2C websites.
Uber.com (C2C): Connects people who are seeking transportation to a specific destination via automobile with people who want to earn money providing others with such rides.
- Is Instagram considered an e-commerce site?
Instagram is a photo and video social networking service that millions of people use to share and engage with visual content and learn about new products. In fact, Instagram’s research shows that 70% of shoppers see the platform as a place to find new products. And Instagram Shopping offers businesses a way to highlight their goods and get them in front of potential customers.
Instagram users are able to learn more about a company’s products within the app. If they like what they see, they can even purchase the desired items via the Instagram app or click through a link to complete their purchase on the provider’s website.
- What is the future of e-commerce?
The future of e-commerce is bright, indeed.
We anticipate that brands will continue to push the boundaries of personalization in an effort to engage with customers and provide them with experiences that indicate that they are truly paying attention to the customer’s wants, needs, and preferences.
We also predict an increase in the number of brands offering hybrid e-commerce approaches, such as those that enable customers to order products online, then pick them up at a local brick-and-mortar location. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that people like the option of purchasing things online and having their order fulfilled locally. This allows them to avoid shipping time and costs while still being able to enjoy all the conveniences of online shopping and ordering.
We’re keeping an eye on video e-commerce, with Instagram and other companies actively building e-commerce functionality into their video platform offerings. With the rise of TikTok and other video platforms, e-commerce monetization can’t be far behind.
- How do I manage my e-commerce website ?
The specific mechanics of managing an e-commerce website depend on which platform is used as the provider, but the basics of creating and running a successful e-commerce website remain the same:
- Identify the necessary help (e.g., hosting, marketing assistance, web designers)
- Determine the product catalog
- Define the target market
- Create a secure, user-friendly site
- Pinpoint outreach channels and launch marketing/public relations
- Review data and optimize efforts
Of all these steps, perhaps the most important one is the first—identifying the necessary help. Finding and retaining good partners who can be trusted to help in making strategic, informed decisions is essential for the success of an e-commerce website and business. The right partners can make the difference between an ordinary e-commerce site and an extraordinary one, so the proper time, effort, and research should be invested into choosing them wisely.
Mastering
eCommerce
eCommerce is taking over the world of business, and any company that is unwilling to adapt to the times is in danger of being left behind. Embracing eCommerce has moved far beyond facilitating online purchases. Every business has a website, and most of those websites are able to conduct sales through an eCommerce portal, such as Shopify. But having a fully integrated eCommerce plan for your company is so much more than that. And if you want to devise and implement the right plan, you’ll need the right help.
A carefully considered eCommerce plan is one that integrates individual customer needs such as language and currency, provides current product and inventory information, and allows for communication (automated or direct) about customer service issues. And those are just the basics.
Furthermore, companies must manage all these issues while being flexible and responsive not only to changes in the marketplace but also to increased competition from other companies. These inherent challenges, and many others, are why you need a dedicated eCommerce partner such as Blue Ocean Global Technology to guide you along the way.
Companies that have been slow to adopt eCommerce need to accept that business today is simply different. Customers are placing online orders in retail sectors and business categories that they never have before. Grocery purchasing, an area historically resistant to moving online (people generally prefer to see the food they’re buying), has seen a major jump recently. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has obviously done much to fuel this change, it is merely an acceleration of a trend rather than a departure from the norm.
Indeed, COVID-19 has compelled large numbers of organizations, companies, and customers to conduct business online, hastening a shift that has already been happening. Whereas eCommerce used to be simply a matter of preference—a way of facilitating sales and transactions online to capture a bit more of the market and provide convenience to a certain category of customers—it has now become an absolute necessity.
Recognizing that these trends are highly unlikely to reverse themselves is incredibly important. Businesses that have simply paused in-person shopping and sales or that hope to wait out the current crisis are likely to be left behind. They are putting their futures at great risk, and if your company is doing the bare minimum to get over the COVID-crisis hump, it might also be in danger. Accepting that fully integrated eCommerce is not a blip but an inevitability, is the first step toward eCommerce success.
The transition to eCommerce shouldn’t be made in a disorganized or haphazard manner. The way so many businesses, from small mom-and-pop shops to global brands, have quickly shifted to an online-focused business strategy over the past year is somewhat miraculous, but quite a few problems have arisen along the way.
Many businesses have taken mere baby steps in the direction of online integration when they should be jumping in with both feet. By trying to do everything in-house, they are tying up resources and slowing down operations when they should be speeding up. This significant of a change is not something a business can do halfway, or entirely on its own. Having a knowledgeable, experienced partner to help you take this leap is an absolute necessity.
Blue Ocean Global Technology can help you develop and maintain a successful eCommerce platform.
In addition to the advantages of creating, updating, or migrating an eCommerce site with Blue Ocean Global Technology are the benefits that come with individualized attention and detailed customization. Blue Ocean will study exactly how your business works to determine what it needs to move forward. There is no simple template for this kind of innovation, and numerous details must be addressed. For example, if your sales come primarily through smartphone purchases, having a mobile-first design is imperative. If you have an international client base, then multilingual options are essential, as is a sales portal that can handle different currencies, including crypto. However your customer wants to pay, you need to be ready, and Blue Ocean Global Technology can help create a flexible, dynamic eCommerce platform that can respond to changes in the market—and in your business.
Because every company is unique, attempting to apply a blanket, one-size-fits-all policy for eCommerce at your company will create many more problems than it will solve. Such an approach can prove costly in two significant ways: it will waste your money, and it will waste your time as your competitors get ahead of you.
Ensuring that your business has a current, customized eCommerce platform is all about making the right choices for your company’s specific needs and customer base. You want to remove as much distance as possible between you and your customers and to make the platform as efficient as it can be. That requires knowing which :
partners are best for you, and this is something Blue Ocean Global Technology knows all about. A key to successfully customizing eCommerce for a company is understanding not only that company’s history but also its goals, both where it has come from and where it wishes to go. Businesses must prepare for the future and be ready and able to manage any unexpected bumps along the way.
Making the transition to eCommerce for better customer appeal does involve risk. Companies should be wary of any technology partner that promises a perfect, problem-free shift to doing everything online (functioning). The vast array of choices people have at their fingertips in the online world means that customer retention must be a focus as your company undertakes this move. For the same reason, the competition to attract new customers has never been greater, so you must make their experience with your company as seamless as possible. In addition, customers must absolutely feel that their transactions and personal information are secure and that when they have a concern or problem, they can count on getting the assistance they need, rather than being handled—or worse, ignored—by an automated machine. An eCommerce consultant who truly has your back can help guarantee that you achieve all these goals.
Businesses moving into the eCommerce space must always be looking into the future and anticipating what that might entail. More and more customers do not just want, but expect, new technologies to be at their disposal when they’re shopping online—such as augmented reality apps with which they can experience products virtually before purchasing and interfaces that let them communicate with customer service representatives anytime and from almost anywhere. They want a personalized, responsive experience with your business—potentially with social media integrated as well—and without your website and purchasing system ever feeling clunky or slow. An expert eCommerce partner can help you identify the right technologies to accomplish all this, while granting your business the most profit against costs of implementation. And that’s just the beginning of what they can do.
An experienced eCommerce consultant can also advise you on important questions related to sales policy that every company wishing to do business online must ask. For example, how effective are loyalty programs? Should there be a purchase threshold for free shipping? How can a company integrate its brand into the sales process? What policies will make customers feel safe? And how can a company effectively communicate that it is taking customers’ concerns seriously?
There are still other matters that need to be considered and addressed in the process of transitioning to (or improving) an eCommerce platform. These include Search Engine Optimization (SEO), developing an intuitive and stress-free user interface, knowing how to quickly scale up in the event of a rush on your site, and constructively incorporating data analytics and customer insight. These issues often determine where your money is (and isn’t) made.
Automation is a double-edged sword. Advanced technology solutions to eCommerce issues, such as cloud computing and predictive algorithms, are amazing tools that can increase efficiency, give customers perfect recommendations, and reduce resource consumption as your business grows. But technology, like any tool, can be used skillfully or implemented poorly.
A properly optimized eCommerce platform can correctly address customer needs, but those needs will inevitably change over time. And if that platform is not appropriately monitored and adjusted in line with those needs—an impersonal customer service bot starts providing outdated information, for example, or recommends unavailable products—its usefulness can quickly diminish. A knowledgeable partner such as Blue Ocean Global Technology will help you ensure that necessary changes are implemented, at the right time and in the right way, so you don’t risk losing customers to such avoidable issues.
Ultimately, the best thing a company looking to fully expand into eCommerce can do is align with an expert well-versed in the area to steer them through the process. The right technology partner can transform an otherwise stressful, confusing transition into a smooth one that will change your business for the better.
Together, you will determine which tools to implement, how to use them to increase profits and grow your business, and how to keep them sharp and up-to-date. Blue Ocean Global Technology has the experience and expertise to facilitate this important step for you and your business and to make the adjustments necessary to ensure success in our ever-changing world.
Schedule a free consultation with Blue Ocean Global Technology, and start getting the most from your eCommerce platform.
