The internet has become an integral part of our day-to-day activities and decision making. Whether it’s choosing the right route to your destination or researching before making a purchase, the internet has it all covered. Infact, more than 54% of social browsers use social media to research products whenever they're interested in making a purchase. That's a pretty huge market for you to miss out on by sticking to the brick-and-mortar approach and missing out on the benefits of eCommerce.

There's no denying that during these times of the Covid-19 pandemic, consumer behaviour has witnessed a huge shift towards online shopping. With the number of social media users now equivalent to just under 67% of the world's population, these are figures your business must tap into to succeed. It is, without a doubt, the right time for you to understand the effects and benefits of eCommerce and taking your business online.

Here are Some Benefits of eCommerce for Small Businesses

Increased Business Reach

According to eMarketer, online retail sales will reach $6.39 trillion, with eCommerce taking up 21.8% of total retail sales. 

One of the most significant benefits of eCommerce is taking your business where it isn't possible for you to physically be present. So, while operating from your founding or incorporating location, you are capable of quickly building a national or international presence to sell your products across geographical borders.

Increased Business Revenue

Global B2C eCommerce sales are expected to reach $4.5 trillion by 2021. 

As your business reach widens, your customer base would grow, which will directly impact the number of sales. Thus, it will boost your revenue. With increased revenue, you can increase your product line, or invest more in marketing to capture more audience.

Search Engine Traffic

According to a 2019 study, search traffic generated 65% of total eCommerce sessions, 33% was generated through organic search, and 32% was generated through paid search.

Reaching out to an audience by sending emails, contacting via phone, or pushing marketing messages can be a tiresome task. But, thanks to the search engine traffic, attracting people to the store has become much more comfortable. Through the means of an eCommerce business, you can land well in the search engines and start receiving recurring traffic to your store. Slowly, with the best eCommerce practices, you can convert these to a steady flow of customers for your business. You just need to make the website SEO-friendly to appear in the searches and attract more traffic.

Low Operational Cost

eCommerce has allowed companies to integrate business processes and reduce operational costs.

One of the benefits of an eCommerce store is that you don’t have to build physical stores at all the locations where you want to sell your products/services, a single eStore would do that for you. This will keep your business operational cost on the lower side. So, while you have access to customers from all across the country, your operational cost is kept at a minimum.

Online Reputation Building

Roughly 45 percent of global internet users say that they turn to social networks for information about products or services that they’re thinking of buying whereas 39% of customers only trust brands if they have interacted with them on social platforms. 

Business accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other such social media platforms is a great way to interact with your customers. The platform, however, depends on your industry and audience. 

You need to consistently put out great social media content and blogs, allowing people to give reviews, recommendations and to learn more about your business while viewing you as an authority in your industry.

Your followers need to be confident that they have a direct line of communication to interact with your business and its products. And that’s where the bucks are.

Social media community management is a perfect way to cement the relationship between your brand and your clients. Your prospects are more likely to do business with you when they see you as a human, not a faceless brand.

Building your reputation online also keeps you at the front of your target audience’s mind by building and managing an engaged community to help you increase conversions while you gain and stay up to date with customer and market insights.

Flexible Timings

Google, the search engine king, processes approximately 63,000 search queries every second. That’s about 6.7 billion searches per day and approximately 2 trillion global searches per year!

There’s a probability that there’ll be someone somewhere around the globe searching for products such as yours at any given time of the day. An eCommerce business means that you are open 24/7, seven days a week. 

It goes without saying that one of the benefits of eCommerce for your business is that you never miss out on any orders made.

Now that’s smart business!

In Conclusion

There are many more benefits of eCommerce for your business. eCommerce allows companies to lower marketing expenses, better manage suppliers and customers, and boost sales engagement.

It is critical for your business, whether B2B or B2C, to stay up to date with new developments lest you fall behind while your competitors stay ahead of the curve. 

By using eCommerce to minimize the damage of operations and increasing sales through better reach, you can do wonders for your business.