According to the Statista portal, in 2020, approximately 90% of the global population admitted having turned to electronic commerce to solve their consumption needs. So much so that, during that year, the income derived from online sales totaled around USD 4.2 trillion.
In general terms, the boom in online commerce has resulted from the restrictions imposed by the pandemic and the need to access basic items under a dynamic that does not affect people’s health.
Likewise, the digitization of sales is closely linked to the advancement of technological transformation. Due to the irruption of new technologies and tools oriented to online commerce, more and more businesses are betting on the digital environment to increase the volume of sales.
Thus, what began as an emergency measure has consolidated as a commercial trend and an important component of the post-health crisis lifestyle. And everything indicates that it is here to stay and even expands more and more!
As we know that electronic commerce is positioned at the center of corporate marketing and sales strategies, we have decided to prepare a complete material that covers everything from what electronic commerce is to the most effective strategies to leverage e-commerce efforts.
Keep reading to delve deeper into the subject!
What is electronic commerce?
Electronic commerce is the process of marketing products or services through platforms or stores in electronic media such as mobile applications, web, and Internet sites.
To sell online, businesses must create profiles on social networks, link to a marketplace and/or create e-commerce sites. From the definition of digital sales channels, you can develop or optimize your strategies in favor of increasingly higher income.
Regarding its function, in the same way as any other store, electronic commerce serves to solve the consumption needs of customers. The difference is that, from the perspective of the consumer, their journey and experience are much easier and more satisfying.
This occurs because, in the virtual environment, customers can choose products and services carefully and complete purchases in the comfort of their homes or in any other place they prefer.
To access the best solutions, they only need to have an electronic device and a solid and fast internet connection. And ready! The product you crave is just a few clicks away.
For companies, electronic commerce represents the possibility of increasing their income from sales.
In addition to requiring a lower injection of capital than the implementation of a physical store, e-commerces demand lower structural and operating costs, due to eliminating the need to rent spaces, hiring a reinforced staff, and taking care of its maintenance.
It is important to mention that, despite requiring less investment capital to kick off their activities, online businesses have significant costs and are not cheap, such as:
- Hire professionals to take pictures of the products;
- invest in marketing;
- Create a database;
- among other costs specific to online business.
However, when you structure a digital venture aligned with market trends and news, you increase the probability of achieving excellent results and thus counteract the effects of costs on business profitability.
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6 main characteristics of electronic commerce
Electronic commerce presents a series of peculiarities that differentiate it from other sales dynamics. Next, know its main characteristics:
1) Occurs in the virtual environment
Companies do not need to invest resources in infrastructure or hire a large number of collaborators since they carry out operations on platforms such as e-commerce sites or marketplaces accessed through the Internet.
By not spending on rent, cleaning, and maintenance of the physical space, we save money that, at a later time, can be used for other projects or adding new technology to the virtual store.
2) Demands the constant updating of its database
Another characteristic of electronic commerce is the need to have a regularly updated database, especially to be transparent with the audience and offer only the products or services that are available.
A good way to update the information is to have servers that enter the data instantly, thus preventing collaborators from completing the task in the manual format, a version that delays the update and tends to cause typing errors during the process.
3) Focused on good customer experience
E-commerce makes it easier for customers to access the solutions they need. To foster a great experience you need to pay attention to the following aspects in your consumer channels:
- Navigability: it is the ease of finding the pages in the shortest possible time.
- Usability: refers to the organization of the store and the ability to find the information that the customer needs without requesting support from customer service.
- Intuitiveness: it is related to the simplicity of the site or other type of channel for the user.
- Ability to finalize sales: the channel must have the necessary resources to ensure consumers purchase without inconvenience.
4) Use various means of communication
Regardless of having one or more sales channels, it is essential that e-commerce have communication channels in line with the profile of their audience.
For example, your company may have only one virtual store, however, it must facilitate customer contact by creating profiles on the most used social networks and/or adopting a chat with artificial intelligence. This last medium has become a trend for some years, not only for facilitating communication but also for speeding it up.
5) Adjusts to different audiences
More and more people turn to electronic commerce to solve their consumption needs, from young people to older adults. For this reason, e-commerces have had to adapt their operations so that users can benefit from the speed and quality of online transactions.
6) Accept various means of payment
A large part of the virtual stores do not allow cash payment, however, it is possible to pay using other means such as credit and debit cards, as well as bank transfers.
Types of e-commerce
Now that you know the most notable characteristics, the time has come to present the types of electronic commerce whose classification is based on the commercial link between the actors.
Business to Business (B2B)
In this type of electronic commerce, transactions are carried out between legal persons, one acting as a seller and the other as a buyer of a good or service. A good example of B2B e-commerce is the relationship between the company and the supplier.
Business to Customers (B2C)
The electronic retail system bases its activities on this type of trade, thus marketing its products or services to natural persons who assume the role of the final consumer.
Among the most common examples, we highlight the purchase of an electronic device in an international marketplace.
Business to Employees (B2E)
This type of electronic commerce establishes the consumer relationship between a collaborator and the company in which he works.
Often, large online stores offer discounts or other types of interesting benefits to their employees.
Beyond facilitating access to products, this type of trade is quite an effective approach and loyalty strategy, since people understand that the company values the bond with its collaborators.
Customer to Customer (C2C)
It is carried out when the consumer and user of a certain product sell it to other individuals through a platform or website. This is the case of a person who sells a piece of furniture on a social network, either because he does not use it or because he wants to change it to a more modern one.
Customer to Business (C2B)
The C2B market develops when an individual markets their solutions to companies. For example, it is the link created between an IT professional and the company that hires him to launch a certain project for a certain period of time.
Business to Government (B2G)
It is the commercial relationship that exists between an organization and a government entity. A recurring example is the purchase of office supplies by a secretary from a supplier company.
Government to Customer (G2C)
The G2C link is developed between the government and natural persons. For example, when the taxpayer pays his taxes at the collection site.
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