E-commerce opens doorways for many business owners to grow and reach new customers. With the availability of the Internet to a large portion of consumers, it provides a wide range of opportunities to extend your sale and reach new customers across nations. But, there are many small business owners who are still hesitant to sell online, as they don’t have much experience with technology and they are not sure about the costs. Well, the good news is that setting up a business online is far more reasonable than setting up an on-premise shop. Also, there are affordable e-commerce technology solutions & experts that can help you set up your online business and quadruple your sales quickly. According to NASDAQ, it has been forecasted that 95% of the purchase will be from e-commerce by the year 2040. E-commerce websites are now in high demand and people who are still stuck with the traditional mode of doing business will have to make a switch to online business in the future. Don’t you think it’s high time to take your business online? In this article, you will find some useful knowledge and resources to help you find and identify the right e-commerce options to make your e-commerce work. How do I make my eCommerce work? E-commerce is not only limited to Grocery shopping as online businesses can now expand their horizon in any domain. Business owners can use this platform to sell technology products, create an e-learning marketplace, travel arrangements, membership registrations, and more. So, let’s get to the main question: how you can make your e-commerce work. Making a shift to the online business or building a new online business from the ground up requires you to understand your business needs and the IT (Information Technology) requirements to build your successful e-commerce business. But before you start planning, you should consider the questions below that will help you to formulate a solid strategy. Is e-commerce the right solution for my business? Who are my online business competitors and how well is their online presence? How do I integrate my existing business system into the e-commerce platform? What is the purpose of my e-commerce website and do I need additional functionalities to make it more robust? Do I have to implement other processes such as gifting options, etc in the shopping cart check out? What knowledge or resources do I need to set up my online business? What is the best way to drive traffic to my online store? It's always preferred to first establish your goals and objectives before you start building your ecommerce store. Once you have your goals ready you can now take your first step in building your own ecommerce platform. Let’s Start! Choose a web developer or DIY website: Usually, business owners that have a small budget tend to go for cheaper means of setting up their business online. So, people who have some knowledge about web development created their very own website. Business owners who had created a website at the initial stage might need to hire a professional at the later stage once the business grows. This is because the website requirements will be much more complex and only a professional web developer can walk you through that. But in the case of individuals who have no idea about web development then it’s always better to hire a professional web developer to create a website. Setting up your online store: While you are setting up your online store there are three elements that are the backbone of the e-commerce website. Those are shopping carts, secure servers, and payment processing. Shopping Carts: The shopping cart tracks what the user wants to buy from the website before proceeding to check out. You need to have a robust shopping cart system that can make your buyer’s shopping experience a smooth process. Secure Servers: A strong and secure server will protect your website from the loss or exploitation of your customer’s personal information. Payment processing: Once the buyer has processed the products from check out to payment. The buyer can fulfil his final transaction on the website itself through an online payment medium. Promoting your business online: Once you have your website ready, you need to then promote your website to drive customers to your online store. Well, there are many ways to market your website but we will mention some of the successful marketing tactics and a few cost-effective ways to reach new customers. SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a term used to describe the marketing technique of improving the search engine ranking of the website in the internet search results. SEO is not a shortcut to fame because it takes time and effort to rank on the first page of the search results. There are two ways you can improve your website's SEO score by modifying the content and including keywords that are most searched. Link building is a much more complex SEO technique as you need to add the right backlinks in increasing the website's domain authority. SEO is one of the cost-effective ways to promote your online business. Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC): In PPC advertising, your website is advertised on the internet search engine by paying a certain price based on the chosen keywords or phrases. The advertiser gets charged on the number of clicks on the ads. You can notice these ads displayed under the sponsored links which will be on the top of the other website links. When buyers search products based on the keyword you are advertising then your ad will be presented at the top of the results. This way you can easily create visibility to your website. Email Marketing: Are you looking for a way to connect with your customer and stay in touch? Email Marketing is one of the successful and cost-effective channels to generate repeat business from your customers. Social Media: Having an online presence on social media is a must for any E-commerce business. Customers usually judge the e-commerce website’s credibility by its strong customer base on social media platforms. For B2C customers, Facebook and Instagram are great social media platforms for advertising and promotion. For B2B customers (technology-based products), Linkedin and Twitter are the preferred channels for promoting software products. Offline Marketing: Offline marketing refers to marketing other than online marketing such as newspaper advertisements, yellow pages ads, business cards, stationery, flyers, billboards, or any other offline modes. Conclusion: Today, more people shop online than ever before. More importantly, more businesses are successfully selling online. Don’t you think it’s high time to take your business online? We hope we have made clear about the e-commerce business. But you may find some of the uncertainty that can naturally surface when you are just starting out in the online business world. The information in this article is simply just the tip of the iceberg but as you move forward with your online store, you’ll continue to have questions and topics that you want to learn more about. We are there for you to answer your every query and doubt on starting an ecommerce business. If you have any questions then feel free to comment below or email us at: