E-commerce: have a deep understanding of this business model and what are its advantages(e-commerce marketing)
What is e-commerce?
Electronic commerce, translated from the English term e-commerce, can be defined as the economic action that permits the trade of items and services from computerized media, for example, web pages, mobile applications, and informal communities.
Through the virtual network, customers can access different lists of services and items whenever and in any place.
The relevance of this type of commerce is with the end goal that businesses take it as a component of the sales strategy because of its efficiency.
The establishments already have web pages and create profiles on interpersonal organizations to reach a wider audience.
Selling and purchasing is already a simple errand, driven, of course, by technology, for example, mobile devices with access to the network.
Fundamentally, it deals with the processes of selling and purchasing items and services through electronic channels, especially Internet websites, applications and interpersonal organizations.
Likewise, to explain it from a more casual perspective, we can value it as a process in which two or more people reach a commercial agreement (specifically purchase or sale) through advanced or electronic means.
In spite of the fact that it might resemble the main definition, the latter makes it clear that to market electronically it isn't necessary to create a large virtual store and be a consolidated brand on the Internet, since anyone can do as such through a simple distribution on their informal organizations or exploiting an external stage.
Of course, when you need to make this movement a sustainable, profitable and enduring business, it is critical to zero in on marking , advanced power, marketing and numerous other elements that contribute to situating and exposure.
What are the characteristics of electronic commerce?
Albeit, like customary commerce, its ultimate objective is to generate sales, electronic commerce is undoubtedly very different.
There are numerous characteristics that differentiate e-commerce from what we knew as commerce decades back, and these are some of them:
Worldwide reach
Years prior, for an organization to be able to generate sales on another continent it must be a monster association, with different branches, colleagues, and great strategic limit. (strategic business unit)
Instead, e-commerce gives everyone who needs to get into it worldwide reach. Furthermore, it is that consumers from any nation will be able to enter your virtual store or record in informal organizations.
You simply have to develop the correct strategies to connect with them.
Speaking of countries, Mexico and Colombia have been one of the fundamental ones in Latin America in terms of the development of virtual stores.
Universality
Do you know what this term means? It refers to that which can be present everywhere at the same time.
Yes, much the same as e-commerce does. In the event that you wish, a virtual store can serve the public 24 hours per day, regardless of where the user is.
Interactivity
Another characteristic of e-commerce is that it encourages steady feedback from consumers and brands.
In seconds, users can pose inquiries, comment on items, and even raise objections.
Meanwhile, stores concerned with customer service have the capacity to respond to any interaction immediately.
What is electronic commerce for?
Now we will zero in on the usefulness of this marketing method for companies and entrepreneurs. Specifically, we will converse with you around 3 things that e-commerce is for.
Attention!
1. Increase in sales opportunities
Legitimately, a business that operates in a conventional way will essentially increase its sales opportunities on the off chance that it additionally decides to take advantage of electronic channels.
Then again, brands that are exclusively dedicated to this type of commerce likewise have greater opportunities, since they have access to a worldwide network of millions of users.
2. Dispatch of innovative items
In the conventional market, the dispatch of innovative items requires a solid investment in advertising and a large coordinations structure to take it to the correct retail locations or suppliers, just as the profitability of a sales team.
That is the reason numerous medium and little entrepreneurs take advantage of electronic commerce to offer novel services or articles, permitting users to know their specifications and even interact with some of its functionalities before getting them.
3. Brand recognition
On the off chance that your business has years of experience, yet its image recognition is very low, you definitely need e-commerce.
Marketing in the large Internet people group and informal communities helps a brand go from being "invisible" to being known by numerous users and market players.
What is the historical backdrop of e-commerce?
To discuss the historical backdrop of e-commerce we don't have to return to very removed times. Like a considerable lot of us, this method of marketing is from the millennial era.
The beginning of e-commerce is related to the opening of the Internet for commercial use, in the innovative year of 1991.
However, it was not until 1994 that the primary organization was brought into the world with a large commitment specifically directed at electronic channels: Cadabra.
You don't have any acquaintance with her, isn't that right? Also, that is one of the best ventures ever.
No, it isn't that you have lived in a bubble in recent years. What happens is that in 1995 Cadabra changed its name to Amazon (presently you do realize what we are discussing).
Amazon started as an online bookstore that later expanded to a wide range of items, becoming a role model for some other entrepreneurs. (novelty
area rugs)
What are the benefits of e-commerce?
On the off chance that you've focused on this point, you already understand some of the advantages of e-commerce, for example, its worldwide reach, pervasiveness, and exposure.
However, there are a lot more specific advantages of this marketing method, below we will explain 3 of them.
1. Flexibility and disentanglement
To have a successful virtual store you won't need hundreds of employees, as long as you have great architecture and technological help.
Moreover, there are arrangements, for example, Dropshipping, which essentially rearrange the online sales process. On account of this model, it permits electronic businesses to operate without having a stock since it provides a direct connection with the supplier.
2. Access to information
Later we will discuss Digital Marketing and Inbound Marketing, however we will tell you that developing this type of strategy is a lot easier when it is marketed electronically.
This is because the elements of e-commerce provide access to valuable information about customer identification, utilization patterns, and market preferences.
Moreover, it is very easy to follow the different metrics and KPIs of e-commerce, including the conversion rate.
3. Lower investment
In recent years, e-commerce has not just become a source of profitability for large brands. It has additionally established itself as a very decent alternative for little and medium entrepreneurs.
This is due to the way that it requires a lot of lower investment than conventional commerce.
In addition to other things, it saves costs on employee finance, high-volume inventories, and expenses associated with keeping up and renting physical stores.
What types of electronic commerce exist?
This marketing method is so developed today that it has different types of e-commerce and specific fields of activity.
Take a glance at 4 of them!
1. B2B e-commerce
This is e-commerce that is done business to business, that is, Business to Business (B2B).
Its center isn't directly related to the last consumer, however to suppliers, retailers and other intermediaries.
2-E-commerce B2C (website design services)
Presently we are discussing Business to Consumer (B2C) or, in Spanish, business to consumer.
As end-users, this is the one we interact with when we request an item or service from one of our favorite virtual stores.
3. E-commerce C2C
C2C represents Consumer to (consumer to consumer). This means that this type is just the movement to the advanced realm of garage sales, neighborhood markets or, basically, of direct marketing between two or more people.
4. E-commerce G2C
When we refer to the abbreviation G2C, we speak of government to consumer (Government to Consumer).
It covers every one of those transactions, purchases and payments that a citizen can complete before the State's online systems.
What are the best eCommerce stages?
To market electronically there are different alternatives, and one of them is through stages that go about as intermediaries between entrepreneurs/producers/businesses and their target audience.
They additionally help develop strategies and actions aimed at uniting a business focused on e-commerce. Some of these are:
Shopify
This stage, developed in Canada, offers facilitating, website creation, Marketing apparatuses, and other modules in exchange for a regularly scheduled payment.
PrestaShop
This stage will permit you to create your virtual store through an intuitive and simple interface, which has more than 4 thousand design templates. Additionally, PrestaShop will interface you with a large number of providers.
prestashop
WooCommerce
This open-source module is specifically designed for little, medium, and large online merchants running WordPress.