Ecommerce Services | The Ecommerce Gold Rush
Posted on July 29, 2010 by max
While the early adopters of eCommerce are seeing records sales using this sales medium, analysts estimate that nearly 20,000 entrepreneurs are opening online stores each week across the globe. The digital economy has reached a golden age, where entrepreneurs are realising the potential for massive sales at low overheads relative to physical ‘brick and mortar’ businesses. The reach of the World Wide Web, affordable domains, web servers, website design and online advertising have made putting your business online much easier and cheaper than in the past.
Retail Stagnates While eCommerce Grows
While the majority of Australia’s large retailers ignore e-commerce, small and medium-sized businesses are pioneering the sector and are set to benefit from phenomenal growth.
Despite this phenomenon, growth in retail is almost stagnant. According to ABS, Australian retail shrunk by just under 1 per cent in December and grew by a tiny 1 per cent in January.
Compare this with e-commerce, which according to Forrester Research grew 7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009 and is set to grow another 7 per cent by the end of 2010 reaching $14.7 billion, with others forecasting $20 billion in online sales.
The reason growth in e-commerce is outstripping retail is simple; Australians are shopping more online and less in physical stores.
How To Get Started
1. Try eBay
Many businesses see eBay as the fastest, most cost effective way to get started selling products. This is a good way to get started to test your products and you don’t need a website. It’s not so good for services however, and the fees can be crippling if your products don’t sell. eBay can be a good way to see how popular your product is, what the market is willing to pay (not that I’d take a final price on eBay from one day to the next as gospel), as well as sharpening your mail ordering and customer service skills. Although eBay is a good place to get started, there are a lot of established businesses that use eBay as an additional sales channel to their website, physical store, catalogues etc.
2. Get A Website Built
Although there is an outlay involved in getting an eCommerce website of your own, this is the very best way to represent your business online.
When deciding on a website developer, there are several ways to go about it. If you are a serious entrepreneur, make sure you get a content management system (CMS) with eCommerce. With one of these, you will be able to make updates to the website content and products presentation yourself or in-house. This will save you a lot of money on getting your website developer to make those small changes that you will need to make from time to time.
If your business offers services rather than products, it is probably not necessary to take payments online. This is especially true if you get paid upon completion of a job, or the price varies from job to job. In this case, you just need a contact form. Make sure the contact form captures just the information you need to offer a quote or to determine what the customer wants from you. Asking for too much information can put the potential customer off. If you need a lot of info, it’s probably best to get it from the customer over the phone or by email correspondence.
If you do implement an eCommerce payment facility on your website, make sure it is secure and that you make this known to your visitors. You must assure your customers that their payment session is secure, otherwise you will miss out on a lot of payments. Also make sure you offer an alternative to online payment. Although more and more people are using the Internet to find businesses, products and services, many of them are still nervous about making payments online.
3. Market Your Website
So you’ve got a product or service and a website to sell it, but if nobody knows about it or can’t find it you’ve wasted your time and money on a dead duck. It’s unbelievable how many entrepreneurs have a great idea for an innovative online business, pay thousands on a great website and haven’t had a thought to how they are going to bring customers to it. Websites are not like opening a brick and mortar store. With a physical store, you set it up, put up a compelling sign and you should be able to draw a reasonable amount of foot traffic depending on your location. With a website, you can throw all of that out the window.
As the first place to advertise your new online business, I would recommend Google AdWords. Google AdWords gives you immediate exposure to first page search results on Google from day one. Anybody can set up an AdWords account and manage their advertising campaigns. If you’d prefer to let an expert manage the advertising, then an SEM (Search Engine Marketing) professional is what you are looking for.
While AdWords is a great way to start bringing targeted traffic to your website almost immediately, you should also be getting your website optimised for the natural search results in Google. This is the real eCommerce gold; getting traffic from natural, relevant search results that are ready to buy. The time it takes to get on the first page for your search terms will be longer than the SEM option, but the cost per customer acquisition is much lower and its effects longer lasting.
4. Look After Your Customers
One of the major reasons for the eCommerce gold rush is convenience. It’s easier to go online than to get in the car and go to a physical store. You must remember though that one bad customer experience can reverberate far and wide across the Internet. In the digital world of forums, blogs and social networking, one angry customer can do a whole lot of damage to your website’s reputation in a short time. Giving your customers quick email responses and great customer service generally, you can keep them happy and keep your reputation intact. Giving your website visitors a reason to choose you over your competitors is vital when it comes to succeeding online and you should clearly explain the benefits to them.
It All Comes Together at AWD
If you are looking to take your business online with a website, in a nutshell you’ll need a domain name (e.g. www.mysite.com.au), website hosting (where your website is physically stored and connected to the World Wide Web), website development, eCommerce implementation and if you are seriously forward thinking, website promotion and marketing with an emphasis on the search engines. AWD can provide all of these important components that you need to effectively grab a piece of the rapidly growing online market. We have extensive experience with helping online entrepreneurs get started as well as grow their market share and effectively compete using proven methods. If you have a great business idea that you want to take to the online market, contact us for more information.
Click here to find out more about our eCommerce Services
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