Exploring E-commerce and its challenges

The exponential growth of E-commerce

We can loosely define e-commerce as the purchase and sale of products or services through electronic means, such as social networks, online marketplaces, websites, or even through messaging applications.

E-commerce is an evolving industry that is increasingly using predictive analysis and technology to improve the experience for both the customer and the seller.

More and more people have started their own businesses through online stores. However, many such entrepreneurs also fail to make it and pack it in quickly. Although started an E-commerce venture is a relatively low cost project, it is still necessary to analyze the possibilities of the business becoming profitable. For example, a market study should be done to analyze what the potential competition and growth opportunities are, what prices to offer, which products and services are most demanded on the network, and what ways you can take advantage of your strengths to compete. It is important to identify the advantage you have over the competition to make potential customers support your E-commerce venture, especially if you are entering an already commoditized niche market.

Companies compete in various ways in both the physical and digital domains, but increasingly in the latter. In the traditional “brick and mortar” model or the physical model, we can see the products, touch them, take them home, try them, and if they don’t work on the same day, exchange them for others, or return them and take the money back. In the digital world, we can only see the product in photos or videos, and we have to believe what is said in reviews before we make a decision to purchase.

With the digital marketplace, all of the activity takes place in the home and E-commerce is hence well designed for impulse purchases.

A company that wants to be on any e-commerce platform and sell, has to know the Internet environment well. It used to be necessary to know the costs for webspace, owning a domain, and developing a site. However, with online marketplaces removing this need, it is now more important to understand social media interactions than anything else.

Companies that have a physical business and develop e-commerce capabilities have it easier because they have greater credibility than those that set up an online business without having a physical presence.

Credibility is essential when doing business on any network. Yes, it also seems that customers are becoming more likely to make low-value purchases online without validating the credibility of sellers!

There are many other factors to consider in e-commerce. You have to think about which platforms to do e-commerce on, the online marketing strategy, the transportation delivery options, etc.

But don’t let any of this put you off! The growth of e-commerce is exponential. The scarcity of sales in many traditional businesses has caused them to want to have more presence in the domestic market and even in the international market, which can be achieved through e-commerce relatively easily.

What are the challenges in e-commerce?

For many companies, e-commerce is an opportunity to start their business with lower costs. However, losses can still easily occur if sellers fail to address the challenges of e-commerce.

Not providing a good user experience.

The click-through process of buying the product has to be attractive and intuitive. To achieve this, it is important to have an attractive catalog with well-designed pictures, to have the databases updated, and offer various filters for product selection.

Providing poor customer service.

The quality of the management of e-commerce depends on two things: the product and the customer service. The online customer expects a quick and resolute answer to their questions and possible problems that may arise.

Not considering the target audience.

To develop a good sales strategy before you have to carry out a study of the potential customer’s profile. You have to consider things like your demographic profile, your needs and mark a strategy to know and track customers.

Not using SEO and/or SEM as tools.

To succeed in E-commerce, it is necessary to stand out from the competition through search engine optimization (SEO) and advertising. SEM positioning can be done to give global reach, sometimes this comes with an additional fee.

Customer experience in E-commerce

We define customer experience as the set of experiences that a customer goes through. The process starts from the moment the product captures the customer’s attention: what they read or hear about it, what the process of acquiring the product/service is like, what is the experience of using that product or service, what the after-sales service is like, what support is like, possible loyalty to the brand, etc.

How to increase your E-commerce sales by improving the customer experience.

Improve product listings

It is vital to have a quality photo of the product, accurate and accurate. Photos can be displayed from different angles to show different perspectives of what you want to sell. The photo has to be attractive, but not give a false sense of quality.

An accurate content strategy of your e-commerce

When creating an online store, you also have to think about all the small details to motivate the customer, who has to feel comfortable and perceive positive sensations when considering your products.

Shopping cart insight

The shopping cart must be easily visible so that the customer can finish the purchase anytime, revisit it at anytime or enter it without wasting time.

Use a simple and fast purchase process.

For the purchase to be easy for the customer, the purchase and payment process must be straightforward and fast. You have to make it easy for the customer, avoid obstacles, and help them throughout the process. As many credible payment methods should be offered to the customer.