Should your Small Business have an eCommerce Site?

eCommerce is a land with huge opportunities and high competition. Small businesses entering into eCommerce often do so with the promise of new sales and being able to expand into new markets.

In a land of thousands of sites though, it can take a lot of investment and resources to get an eCommerce presence up and running. Should your small business have an eCommerce site – we absolutely think so.

To its simplest definition, an eCommerce website is a platform on which products and services can be sold direct to consumer. The subsequent online transaction mimics the sales transaction that would happen in-store, providing businesses with revenue and consumers with their favourite products without having to get up out of their chair. For some small businesses, their eCommerce page begins with only selling one or two products. For others, eCommerce is a far more complex system, sometimes cataloguing thousands of items.

There are five main reasons that we believe every small business should have an eCommerce site. Firstly, see increased sales while reducing costs. By selling direct to consumer, it does not require the involvement of any middle man which saves both parties time and money. Secondly, yes, you have the opportunity to expand nationally and globally into new territories. Reach customers you may not have ever had the chance to reach before, due to physical limitations.

Thirdly, reduce the time required to market new products. For thriving eCommerce sites with a growing audience and social media following, plugging in new items becomes easier. Fourthly, improve the buying experience for customers. It’s almost as if you’re bringing the whole store to the customer, allowing them to browse freely with no pressure to buy. Fifthly, the analytics and insights into buying behaviour can be used to create a better result for revenues.

So does your small business need an eCommerce site – we would argue with a resounding ‘yes’! Even if revenues are being built around a single product, marketing that product is made easier via online digital methods. Even in the local region, setting up an eCommerce site and promoting it appropriately can see revenues increases. In this day and age, many consumers are expecting it. For small businesses, eCommerce establishes brand value and market position. There’s no reason not to act in setting it up.

eCommerce sites can be a single page if that’s all that is required. If a company is able to build solid traffic to said page however, it can be easily expanded. Imagine how easy it would be to upsell or introduce new products. Bundle products together, increase per-transaction sales numbers, and gain better control over inventory.

Traditional brick-and-mortar has a value however growth is limited according to location proximity. eCommerce is sort of like setting up a brick-and-mortar in every region across the country. Via search engine optimization strategies and internet marketing, small businesses have used eCommerce to successfully target locations across their state/province and country. No business’s success should be limited. An eCommerce site makes buying and selling just a click away.

Consult with an eCommerce-specialized digital marketing today for more information on how to flesh out a strong eCommerce site. Build an immersive, welcoming shopping experience for consumers to enjoy. Then, employing targeted marketing to specific consumer categories should see the audience and revenues grow in no time, adding power and strength to your brand.