E-commerce is any commercial transaction that involves the transfer of information across the internet.
The good news is that worldwide online sales are expected to grow to $4 trillion by 2020. Many businesses are shifting to E-commerce, the question is what is motivating them and what are the supposed benefits that are attracting many businesses to create e-commerce websites?
Currently, we have so many e-commerce websites in Kenya with many companies and individuals going the e-commerce way.
Check out some of the advantages of having an e-commerce website
1. Low Financial cost
One of the major benefits of an e-commerce website is that it has a low startup cost. You don’t have to a physical store, employees, you will save on rent among other expenses. You can have a chatbot to help you with your customer service, that way you cannot have so much work on your hands.
2. A Larger Market
With E-commerce you are not limited to a specific area or country, you can sell your products to as many people as you can. This will help you grow faster and boost your business.
The proliferation of mobile devices gives people the power to purchase on the go — right in the palm of their hand. There’s never been a time when the impulse to buy has been easier to indulge.
3. Shoppers Start Online
87% of shoppers start product searches on the digital platforms, they can either search on Google, Facebook, Instagram among other channels. Thus the only way to ensure that potential customers find your product is to have an online presence.
4. Always Open
With e-commerce you are not limited to time, your business is on 24/7. People can shop at any time and in case they need assistance a Chabot can help in answering their queries.
An e-commerce store allows you to attract those who may have odd work schedules or who don’t have time to shop in-person or generally any person.
All you need is to customize your ordering systems for your customers to receive a confirmation message when they place an order to give them peace of mind.
5. More Opportunities To “Sell”
With a physical shop, you can only provide a limited amount of information on a product. But with an e-commerce website you have a wide range of options to help you sell your products such as showing demo videos of products, you can also include reviews and customer testimonials to help you increase conversion.
Reviews and testimonials are a great source of building a strong customer base with trust. They simply increase the confidence in doing business with you and builds trust with your current and potential customers.
6. Ecommerce allows for a customized user experience
Customer’s data about their previous purchases, wish list and online activity can be a gold mine to your business such that you can deliver a personalized experience.
You can use products according to a shopper’s interest or their wishlist which will trigger them into action because it is things that they are interested in.
You can also show related products to what they are looking for, which might even make them buy other products.
7. Retargeting and remarketing
Retargeting uses cookies from previous visits to display ads. Even if someone comes to your website and they do not buy, retargeting is a marketing tactic that can help get your brand in front of potential customers.
For instance, you visit Jumia and look for a fridge, you don’t buy it and leave the website when you visit another website, you will see a Jumia ad with different types of fridge and other electronics, this is called retargeting. It can act as a reminder to your potential customers and trigger purchases.
Remarketing uses a person’s information on past purchases and site interactions to send emails about sales and promotions for related products.
8. Easier to Encourage Impulse Buy
Another e-commerce benefit is that you can capitalize on is impulse buying. If you have attractive products with eye-catching photos and vibrant colour or human emotion, you can encourage impulse buying. People can easily end up buying products that they didn’t need simply because it was eye-catching.
9. Gain Access to Customer Data Easily
One of the best e-commerce advantages is that you can easily gain access to data for analysis on your customer.
With e-commerce, you can get a customer’s name, phone number or email address meaning you have three different ways of communicating and building a relationship with them.
10. Grow Your Business Organically with Content
You can grow your organic traffic and sales with e-commerce blogging to drive more traffic to your website without having to spend more money. You can make videos and writing content( blogging) to get organic traffic then you can monetize those customers with retargeting ads.
E-commerce websites in Kenya are really growing with putting starting to trust online products, therefore do not shy away from it, it could really help your business grow and what more, you don’t need to pay rent and other expenses that you would have if you had a physical shop. E-commerce in Kenya is set to grow exponentially this year.