eCommerce Web Design Nottingham - do I need it?
There is a continued move towards more and more businesses proposing their services online.
These services include eCommerce.
What exactly is eCommerce?
eCommerce is a shortened form of Electronic commerce (sometimes also known as e-commerce, ecommerce or even e-comm). It refers to the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks.
Some of these products and services may be virtual (for example, access to areas for paid members only such as the the Crossword, Sudoku and other word puzzles on the telegraph website) but mostly the products and services affected by eCommerce involves the transport of physical items (for example, buying a book from the amazon website or groceries from the tesco website).
The quickest growing example of eCommerce is online shopping. This is a form of electronic commerce where the consumer buys products or services directly from the seller over the Internet without any intermediary service. The transaction is completed directly between the consumer and the seller’s computers in real-time.
The first few examples of online shopping are:
- Pizza hut (1994)
- Amazon (1995)
- eBay (1996)
The growth since these early days of the Internet has been exponential and the explosive increase is set to continue. If you are looking to get your business, regardless of its size, onto the Internet, we at eCommerce Web Design Nottingham have experience in all online shopping needs and propose a unique and bespoke electronic website for any business. Click to see more about our custom eCommerce solution for small businesses.
What are the benefits of eCommerce to my Small Business?
There are many benefits of eCommerce to business of any size. These include:
- Allowing people to perform business transactions anytime, anywhere. There are more and more open WiFi networks enabling connections to the Internet day or night and thus allowing the selling and purchasing of almost anything with a simple mouse click.
- A reduction in the business costs - for the consumer there are no travel costs to physically arrive at the shop and choose the desired product and more and more frequently the supplier is completely doing away with the need of having a business premises or shop altogether - his entire catalogue of products and services exists solely on the Internet thus massively reducing his costs of doing business.
- A reduction in the direct cost-of-sale for every order - traditional retail or paper based transactions require a human element which has been replaced by the on-line sales process driven by user-friendly eCommerce Internet sites. This has the additional benefits of reducing processing errors and is almost always faster and more convenient for the consumer.
- Expanding the market, especially for niche products. This is where suppliers offer products or services which few people desire, but through the power of the Internet they can develop and promote an eCommerce Website to target and serve this customer base. The customers tend to be highly loyal and this can generate a small but viable and regular income volume.
- Empowering the consumer to make better buyer decisions - it is now easier to compare different suppliers offering the same product or service and hence make a more informed decision as to which to select. In addition it is simpler to find alternative products or services which may offer better solutions than the original product being sought.
Concluding thoughts on your small business and an eCommerce Website
An eCommerce Website offers many advantages to consumers and suppliers - the main ones being the reduction of costs and the increased availability of information. These often result in a better buying and selling process and so make an eCommerce Website solution attractive to numerous small businesses.
More and more small businesses are converting to an eBusiness in order to harness the power of the Internet and to profit from its many advantages. If you wish to discuss your business needs then please contact us with any eCommerce questions - we are always there to listen and share our on-line shopping experiences.