This COVID-19 2020 pandemic has caused a lot of disruptions and changes in our daily lives, our way of living, employment, businesses, and most of all our finances. It broke us from our normal movement, our daily routine. Norms have changed. Big and small businesses closed. People were kept inside; there was less activity, relied more on computers, tablets, and mobile phones; our only window to the outside world. However, despite the pandemic, some were spared were lucky enough to be able to work pretty much without disruption. COVID has changed the way we do business and those who survived mostly are those who render their services through online portals or e-commerce website. And this is the opportune time for other businesses to follow suit. 

What Is An E-Commerce Website? 

An e-commerce website is any website that sells products online, making it easier and convenient for shoppers to make purchases. 

With the lockdown, all of our attention has moved virtually! Consumers are reaching out for their essentials through the internet recently. From the food industry to clothing to other dry goods. Commerce done virtually is without any argument a plausible cause. 

Whether you’re a medium or small-scale entrepreneur, building an e-commerce website is within the entrepreneur’s reach. It will help you grow and most of all, increase your business’ revenue. 

How Does This E-Commerce Work For You And Your Business? 

Before this pandemic, there was already an influx of online merchants, and man, some of them have reached the peak of success in their field.

The most famous is of course Amazon. One of the factors that made Amazon so successful is because their products or services are not focused on just one group of people – cloud computing, digital streaming, artificial intelligence are some of the few of those services they offer. 

How Do E-Commerce Website Generate More Revenue? 

Traditionally women spend more time and money on shopping, but on the other hand, when it comes to online shopping, 28% of men in the past five years have spent more time and money on online shopping than women do, according to recent studies. 

And yet it may be obvious to people living in the urban area, knowing that it is more convenient for them to shop at the nearest physical store, still, these people living in the major areas of the metropolitan spend more money shopping on their favourite e-commerce websites. This avenue your business will be treading on is a feasible way for a lucrative income.

Why do these people shop online despite shops being within their reach? Because of customer convenience. Through the e-commerce website, customers can gather information such as store hours, contact numbers, and even physical addresses; this information is a big help for drive-in-person sales. 

In addition to that, you can extend your hours of operation to 24/7. Meaning, you can connect with your customers 24 hours a day; this is beneficial to those who work graveyard shifts, or people who can’t just simply go to sleep early; nocturnal beings, for the better lack of word. And once your product or business goes popular, maybe, just maybe you can expand to other areas in your city or state.

One of the perks of having both a physical store and an online business is that you can combine your services into one; a multi-channel experience for both customers and your business. Your clients can make an early purchase of the product, you on the other hand can prepare it, pick it up when they arrive at the store. 

How Can I Make An E-commerce Website Successful? 

Once you have your e-commerce working and you can see that your business is gaining its traction online, you’ll come to realize that you can reduce expenses like payroll and increase efficiency. 

For example, you need less staff because your services will rely completely on the internet, orders and purchasing. However, of course, as time goes by and your business will start to expand, this would mean more staffing and more operations, thus more expenses, but of course there will be offset to the revenue your business is making.

• Online Payment Gateway. 

Organizing sales and keeping up with the inventory data is sometimes the reason why some entrepreneurs have apprehensions to operating an online business. Managing online sales is not that easy; otherwise, you wouldn’t have a hard time keeping up with your physical store, right? Wrong!

Having the right payment gateway will ease having these apprehensions, fortunately. You can accurately track your inventory without any apprehensions by using a payment. A payment gateway allows you to seamlessly connect your online ordering system with your store and inventory. 

• Search Engine Optimization 

Utilize the power of local business SEO. Using the right keywords and phrases which are associated with your business or your product is an effective tool in having a high ranking in search engines.

With the use of search engine optimization, users can easily pinpoint an exact website that will cater to the user’s needs. Thanks to Google’s indexing and ranking prowess, your website will immediately appear upon a click of the search engine. Imagine the power of e-commerce combined with these tools and what your business can harness from these techniques.

• Social Media Marketing

Just like e-commerce, having a social media presence is a must. It allows you to get in front of your consumers in a new and interesting way. Just look at Gymshark, a brand that was practically created through its Instagram followering.

And through word of mouth from your satisfied clients, they can easily create a “snowballing” effect in social media about your product thus making your business grow and giving you an innumerable ROI. 

Final Thoughts 

E-commerce now is more of a necessity than a nice-to-have. Never mind those apprehensions and fears of managing your physical store while having an e-commerce website. Never let your fear of failing in having one contradict your future of being a successful future entrepreneur in the following years. 

Don’t deny your customers the convenience they deserve while enjoying your product. Take advantage of what is happening now. This is the opportune time to operate your business online despite the ongoing pandemic. 

Having e-commerce is the way to go as your connection between you and your customers. Once you’ve learned the ins and outs of having an e-commerce website, everything will be an easy task. Always have a master plan near you, eventually, this will be your master plan, and soon everything will turn out well for your business.