What is Ecommerce & Why is it for Me?

Thinking of getting into the online selling game? Ecommerce is the buying & selling of goods & services over the Internet by computers, tablets, smartphones, & other devices. Research shows there will be an estimated 2.14 billion global digital buyers in 2021. We can also expect ecommerce to account for 18.1% of all retail sales worldwide. 

It may feel intimidating to get up & running quickly, but ecommerce is the ideal way to build a business at your own pace & scale it as much as you want. If you’re not sure if ecommerce is for you, here are ten reasons to consider its unlimited potential & power. 

Offers More Flexibility

An ecommerce store offers more flexibility than a brick-and-mortar & face-to-face service business. You can take your business on the road & sell from anywhere while also selling to customers overseas & expanding your profit potential. 

Ecommerce sellers also don’t need to spend time preparing for the office or running a physical business every day. With a quick commute to your home office, you’re working on your ecommerce empire while most people are still waiting in line for their morning coffee. 

Beyond a flexible lifestyle, an ecommerce business also offers more options to your customers. Sell seasonal items on a whim, run a sale, or respond to customer requests quickly. Selling platform analytics also show what’s working & what’s not, so you can make lightning-fast changes to your store, send out email announcements, & connect with your customers in real-time. 

Reduces Inventory & Overhead

Unlike a brick-and-mortar business, an ecommerce business requires little inventory & overhead. It’s entirely possible to carry no overhead whatsoever except expenses related to your selling platform when you sell digital courses, downloads, & printables to your audience. 

There’s also a solution to eliminating, or reducing, the need for physical inventory as an ecommerce business. Empower your online store with CustomCat’s print-on-demand, white-label, & dropshipping model. Upload your designs to our hundreds of products & integrate CustomCat with your selling platform. When an item sells, we fulfill it & ship it straight to your customers’. We work as a behind-the-scenes partner to keep your business running the way you want.

Provides Unlimited Income Potential

An ecommerce business with little to no physical inventory or overhead allows your profits to flourish. You can quickly test multiple products to see what sells & what doesn’t. Or build out premium offerings and products to keep your customers satisfied. 

Stores with a physical location that scale too quickly often fail. They don’t have the infrastructure, support, or overhead necessary to support the extra sales & growth. An ecommerce store is the opposite. With no physical limitations on your business, an ecommerce business can scale rapidly & still retain a stable foundation for sustainable growth. 

Raises Credibility for Your Business

Some ecommerce stores are designed around existing businesses. Whether you’re a fitness coach or keynote speaker with a loyal following, you can raise your business credibility by launching an ecommerce presence. 

Sell merchandise, helpful products, or signature services to your audience & amplify the business you already have. Suddenly your ecommerce store is providing multiple revenue streams & opportunities for brand awareness. 

Improves Efficiency

Ecommerce businesses are usually more efficient than brick-and-mortar businesses because of their flexibility & lack of physical labor. You don’t need multiple employees to fulfill items when using white-label or drop shipping services with CustomCat. 

You can also use Live Chat apps and features with customers to quickly address issues and questions directly from your store. And instead of spending weeks trying to spread the word about a promotion with in-store flyers & ads, you can send an email to your list of customers with enticing marketing campaigns that convert.

Empowers Business Exploration

Entrepreneurs are known for their nonstop inspiration & ideas. A traditional business is time-consuming to establish & scale, and offers less flexibility to pivot. When you run an ecommerce store, you have the opportunity to explore with little risk. 

Try offering a mystery item of the week to test a new product, swap out different digital products depending on the day, or run a flash sale & explore what’s possible with your ecommerce presence. The more you experiment, the more likely you will find what really motivates & delights your customers.

Allows for Different Ecommerce Models

Many entrepreneurs don’t think of ecommerce as a platform that fuels different business models. In reality, you can target the same types of audiences as a physical business, but with more precision & ease.

– B2C – Business to Consumer

– B2B – Business to Business

– C2B – Consumer to Business

– C2C – Consumer to Consumer 

Your online store is readily visible, directly targets your ideal audience, & can quickly adjust to current trends. Anything is possible whether you want to sell to everyday shoppers, service providers, or other businesses.

Offers Multiple Selling Platforms

Ecommerce selling platforms make it incredibly easy to get up & running quickly. You can start with a done-for-you platform & then integrate it with your own website when you’re ready. There’s no right or wrong answer to which selling platform you should use with ecommerce. Here are a few to explore first:

– Shopify

– Fulfillment By Amazon

– eBay

– Etsy

– Facebook Marketplace

– BigCommerce

– SquareSpace

– WooCommerce

Integrates with Unlimited Apps & Plugins

Ecommerce technology is constantly evolving & integrating new & improved ways to sell. Fresh releases of apps & plugins are the norm for platforms like BigCommerce & Shopify.

Start experimenting by choosing apps that streamline the efficiency & processes of your ecommerce presence. Live Chat, cross-selling, upselling, cart abandonment rescue, & SEO can all make an immediate impact on how you run & grow your ecommerce business. 

Learn more about Shopify’s hundreds of apps here.

Get Unparalleled Support

When you open a business with a physical location, you’re on your own. There’s no one to call to help with the technical issues & support you need without hiring 3rd party contractors. Ecommerce works differently. Whether you use CustomCat to help produce & fulfill your products or Shopify to sell, you get continual technical support for your business. 

Final Thoughts

An ecommerce store is an incredibly flexible & scalable way to launch your business & reach your goals. Are you building your own ecommerce empire? Let us know why it’s for you by leaving a comment below!