CarderPlanet
Professional
E-commerce, or e-commerce, is a sphere of economics when trade and financial transactions are carried out on the Internet. In simple terms, any transaction made from an electronic device connected to the network. An analogue of a shopping center, but with a large assortment and comfort: you can visit it without leaving your home.
The Internet provides unique opportunities for communication with the audience. Initially, they were appreciated in the United States, launching e-commerce in 1979, then a promising direction spread throughout Europe, starting in 1981, and already in the late 1990s, China and the countries of the former Soviet Union picked up the baton.
The digital economy is gaining momentum every month: about 8 billion people inhabit our planet, while 7 billion devices are connected to the Internet. Experts' forecasts for 2022 promise an increase in Internet connections to 50 billion devices - data provided by the research company Juniper Research. Now e-commerce has taken over a solid part of the global financial market.
The conclusion suggests itself: with the growth of Internet penetration, only those companies that have their own mastered niche in the digital world will be competitive.
E-commerce is the distribution, sale, advertising, promotion of services and goods, that is, any transactions on the worldwide network using digital devices.
Let's look at what kind of online trading happens in more detail.
When a brand becomes popular, the logo is recognizable, the business gets new users through word of mouth: people share links on social networks to interesting products, good prices or USP (unique selling proposition). Thus, the Internet helps to bring shareware clients.
Shop equipment, hiring personnel, renting premises - all this is for offline trading. You can forget about these costs on the Internet.
Finding the target audience has become easier - people like to gather in interest groups in social networks, on thematic forums and sites.
The price of goods in an online store is often lower than in offline stores. This is due to the reduction in the chain of intermediaries between the supplier and the customer, and a decrease in maintenance costs.
Pros of e-commerce for organizations:
Why online trading is good for a client:
The goal of any business is to make money, and the digital platform allows you to do this with minimal investment at the start. If the niche is chosen correctly, of course.
One person knows how to cook deliciously according to original recipes, while the other is willing to pay to be taught this.
Someone plays the guitar professionally, started a channel on You Tube, showed talent, and now wants to sell a video course for learning skills - there will be buyers.
The product on the network does not sell itself, the description sells it, and someone is great at doing it. Such a person will not be left without earnings.
The fourth is an excellent organizer and can put together a strong team. It is worth considering an online store.
Each person, without exception, has something valuable to other people. Those who suffer from insomnia wonder how someone manages to sleep before lunch, for example. There is a reason to give a master class, and this is not a joke. Depends on how the information is presented.
Where does any online trade begin?
Does a competitor's site display poorly on mobile devices? Make a responsive website.
Are competitors too intrusive trying to sell related products to the customer, causing negativity? Don't do that.
A detailed portrait of an ideal client is also important for developing a business development strategy. How will you promote it? Advertising, social networks, contests, promotions - it is important to interest not just anyone, but people who can become your customers. Therefore, you need to know the issues that concern your audience. Provide useful information, show that you care about solving their problems. This way you will increase the loyalty of your visitors, acquire regular customers and free advertising on social networks.
Set goals for yourself; focus on your target audience; do not waste time on people who are not interested in your products - then success will come much faster.
You can order a designer website, or you can assemble it yourself using an online constructor, of which there are many on the network. In the future, when the store starts to make a profit, it will always be possible to transfer it to a more convenient platform.
Rent a domain, hosting, fill the store with goods, launch an advertisement, tell your friends, acquaintances and relatives about it - and work. Analyze, correct, improve, implement, the main thing is not to stop.
A responsible approach and hard work will give you the opportunity to do what you love and get a solid income.
The Internet provides unique opportunities for communication with the audience. Initially, they were appreciated in the United States, launching e-commerce in 1979, then a promising direction spread throughout Europe, starting in 1981, and already in the late 1990s, China and the countries of the former Soviet Union picked up the baton.
The digital economy is gaining momentum every month: about 8 billion people inhabit our planet, while 7 billion devices are connected to the Internet. Experts' forecasts for 2022 promise an increase in Internet connections to 50 billion devices - data provided by the research company Juniper Research. Now e-commerce has taken over a solid part of the global financial market.
The conclusion suggests itself: with the growth of Internet penetration, only those companies that have their own mastered niche in the digital world will be competitive.
E-commerce is the distribution, sale, advertising, promotion of services and goods, that is, any transactions on the worldwide network using digital devices.
What else is e-commerce?
There are five main areas:- Money transfers from electronic wallets and cards through payment systems on the Internet.
- Internet banking.
- Information sites: webinars, coaching, training.
- Online marketing.
- Online trading.
How it works?
Online shopping is one of the main niches in e-commerce. Using this example, consider the algorithm:- The client selects a product in the catalog online, from a laptop or smartphone.
- The request from the server goes to the administrator, or to the automated order processing system.
- The availability of the product in the warehouse is checked against the database. Or a request is sent to the supplier about the delivery time of the products. The information is then passed on to the buyer.
- The client pays for the purchase through an electronic payment system.
- The buyer is notified of a successful transaction.
- The application is forwarded to the warehouse, where the parcel is prepared for the buyer.
- Logistics works, the order leaves for the client.
- The customer receives an e-mail or SMS stating that the goods are on the way.
Let's look at what kind of online trading happens in more detail.
Main types of e-commerce
E-commerce falls into several well-established categories. Here are the ones that we most often meet in everyday life:- С2С (Consumer-to-Consumer). Consumer-to-consumer scheme. An example is the marketplace OLX, eBay, and the like, where a person, even if he is not an entrepreneur, can put up something for sale.
- B2B (Business-to-Business). Business-to-business scheme. It is characterized by the sale of wholesale lots of goods from the manufacturer to the dealer. The dealer gives the goods to small wholesale online stores, from where they go to the end consumer. Actually, this is the third main category of e-trade.
- B2C (Business-to-Consumer), "business-to-consumer". Payments between an online store and a client, buying training courses from registered experts, renting software - any retail transaction between legal entities and individuals.
- E2E (Exchange-to-Exchange), "exchange-to-exchange". On the Internet, the term E2E is used to refer to the exchange of information or transactions between websites, which themselves serve as exchanges or brokers for the exchange of goods and services between businesses. A simple example: a transaction from an electronic wallet to a bank card. E2E can be thought of as a form of B2B.
- G2C (Government-to-Citizens), "government-to-citizens". This includes paying taxes, utilities, licenses, and so on. Also, citizens receive the necessary government information, which can no longer be called e-commerce.
Benefits of e-commerce
The main, but far from the only, plus of online commerce in the absence of geographic restrictions. Collaboration with logistics companies will help reach an audience on a global scale. This is how e-commerce giants such as AliExpress, Alibaba, eBay, Amazon, Zappos, iTunes operate.When a brand becomes popular, the logo is recognizable, the business gets new users through word of mouth: people share links on social networks to interesting products, good prices or USP (unique selling proposition). Thus, the Internet helps to bring shareware clients.
Shop equipment, hiring personnel, renting premises - all this is for offline trading. You can forget about these costs on the Internet.
Finding the target audience has become easier - people like to gather in interest groups in social networks, on thematic forums and sites.
The price of goods in an online store is often lower than in offline stores. This is due to the reduction in the chain of intermediaries between the supplier and the customer, and a decrease in maintenance costs.
Pros of e-commerce for organizations:
- The quality of customer service is growing.
- Business processes become faster, more efficient and simpler.
- Much less paperwork.
- The productivity of the organization is increased: the process starts when a request from the client comes in - not later, not earlier, without unnecessary actions and delays.
Why online trading is good for a client:
- Support and availability from anywhere 24 hours a day: you can choose a product, place a purchase and deliver it at any time of the day, from anywhere with a network connection.
- The ability to select and compare products in different stores.
- You can leave your comment or see other buyers' reviews of a product before making a purchase decision.
- Detailed information about a product or service is always available.
- Due to the high competition in e-commerce, an entrepreneur is forced to make discounts, hold promotions and contests. Many banks offer cashback when paying by card.
Disadvantages of online commerce
Here are the main ones:- There is a lot of competition in popular areas of online trading. For example, selling home appliances, video and audio equipment, mobile phones will literally have to fight for every customer. In this case, considerable costs are required for marketing, SMM promotion, SEO site optimization.
- There is little trust in new online stores from users. This was facilitated by scammers who have long paid attention to e-commerce.
- Lack of knowledge of networking. Principles different from offline trading work here: analytics, logistics, order processing are done differently. Delaying responses to customer inquiries can damage the company's image.
- A successful business depends on a stable, fast internet connection and the owner's daily involvement in managing the business.
- To regulate business processes in the network, a well-developed legislative framework is needed. She's gone. This also applies to the protection of personal data. Integration of up-to-date software, often expensive, is required.
- The customer cannot come and pick up the purchase on his own. We need a perfectly debugged delivery mechanism.
- Responsible remote workers are difficult to find and train.
The goal of any business is to make money, and the digital platform allows you to do this with minimal investment at the start. If the niche is chosen correctly, of course.
How to start an online business
Where should a beginner start? Good question.Determination of value
People pay money for what is of value to them.One person knows how to cook deliciously according to original recipes, while the other is willing to pay to be taught this.
Someone plays the guitar professionally, started a channel on You Tube, showed talent, and now wants to sell a video course for learning skills - there will be buyers.
The product on the network does not sell itself, the description sells it, and someone is great at doing it. Such a person will not be left without earnings.
The fourth is an excellent organizer and can put together a strong team. It is worth considering an online store.
Each person, without exception, has something valuable to other people. Those who suffer from insomnia wonder how someone manages to sleep before lunch, for example. There is a reason to give a master class, and this is not a joke. Depends on how the information is presented.
Where does any online trade begin?
Niche selection
You need to start by analyzing the market and choosing a niche. There is a suitable service for this:- Yandex.Wordstat. Country, province, city, region - all of this can be configured to view the statistics of requests. What product is interesting in Kiev? In Kharkov? Lvov? Everything that people ask on the net is displayed in statistics.
- Google Ads Keyword Planner . Shows how often people search for certain words, how these searches change over time. You can understand the relevance and seasonality of the product. An advertising campaign will require investments - the tool will help determine the budget.
Does a competitor's site display poorly on mobile devices? Make a responsive website.
Are competitors too intrusive trying to sell related products to the customer, causing negativity? Don't do that.
Strategy and Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
USP consists of three parts:- The USP must be formulated in such a way that the competitor either cannot offer the same, or did not have time to do it - for the first time, the offer should be heard from you.
- It should take care of the buyer. I bought a product - I solved my problem, or I got a benefit.
- It should be sonorous and hit right on target.
A detailed portrait of an ideal client is also important for developing a business development strategy. How will you promote it? Advertising, social networks, contests, promotions - it is important to interest not just anyone, but people who can become your customers. Therefore, you need to know the issues that concern your audience. Provide useful information, show that you care about solving their problems. This way you will increase the loyalty of your visitors, acquire regular customers and free advertising on social networks.
Set goals for yourself; focus on your target audience; do not waste time on people who are not interested in your products - then success will come much faster.
You can order a designer website, or you can assemble it yourself using an online constructor, of which there are many on the network. In the future, when the store starts to make a profit, it will always be possible to transfer it to a more convenient platform.
Rent a domain, hosting, fill the store with goods, launch an advertisement, tell your friends, acquaintances and relatives about it - and work. Analyze, correct, improve, implement, the main thing is not to stop.
A responsible approach and hard work will give you the opportunity to do what you love and get a solid income.
