7 Benefits of Having an Ecommerce Website

Recent years have seen lots of physical stores moving online. This innovative shift requires investment and results in extra costs for brick-and-mortar store owners. But trust us, the cost is minimal, and all the effort and expenditure will benefit your store in the long run.

Moving your store online is a low-cost, easy, and quick process, the benefits of which are priceless. You have the chance to make your store global, accessible, scalable, and systematised by going online. Let’s take a look at the benefits.

1. 24/7 Online Store

Your ecommerce website is subject to no time restrictions as it is online and accessible 24/7. Unlike conventional stores, which are only open during certain business hours, your online store can be visited at any time. That means the sales system can operate nonstop, around the clock. Creating a 24/7 online store increases your potential income and attracts more people who see that your product or service is purchasable online. You can provide 24/7 customer support service with functions such as FAQs, and contact forms.

2. A Global Online Shop

Brick-and-mortar shops have limited serving capabilities because you can only serve customers within the area your store is located. However, an online store is open to both a national and international market. Anyone from any place in the world can visit your online store and purchase your products. Selling on a national or international scale is a huge benefit since it accelerates the building of brand recognition and significantly expands your marketplace.

3. Lower Setup Costs

The initial investment required to launch an online store is less than what is required for a physical store. Running a physical store is more costly since you need to pay for rent, utilities, and store materials among other costs. Compared to a physical store, building an ecommerce website is cheaper. You don’t need a physical location. The development, hosting, domain, and maintenance costs are affordable. Your brand’s online appearance is enough to start operating. You don’t need to have a lot of products to start with and inventory management is up to you as the store owner. You can stock a few products initially to start selling, and then replenish according to the demand.

4. Easy to Start

Building an online store is easy. In fact, it’s far easier than setting up a physical store. There are plenty of ecommerce platforms (such as Shopify, Wix, and WooCommerce) that allow merchants to create and manage their online store in just a few days, unlike setting up a physical store which would take months. After creating your first online store, you are ready to sell. It really is that quick and simple. You can then focus on marketing and promoting your brand.

You can learn how to build an ecommerce website on your own. If you would like to outsource the whole process and focus on your business, or you just need someone to help you to start and guide you along the way, we are always here to help you. Feel free to reach out via the contact form below.

5. Highly Scalable

How many products can you fit into your physical retail store? Or how many customers can you support at the same time? How many types of products can you display in the store? When you only have a physical store, your answers are going to be limited.

When you ask the same questions but about an online store, your answers will be completely different. An online store can offer thousands of products in multiple varieties of sizes and colour, while hosting thousands of customers simultaneously.

You can also scale the valuable analytics that are generated by this increased customer data. You can use data about which products get more views, which products sell more, which products generate more profit, etc. to create your own strategy on which products to display and promote more.

6. Increased Control Over the Customer Journey

A customer journey is the whole course of a visitor’s interactions with your online store. Online store owners have the chance to navigate their customers through the website and provide the best possible customer experience. For example, displaying featured, similar, and recommended products will increase session durations and drive more sales. Guiding your customers to the best and most charming parts of your brand will leave a good impression.

Personalised marketing emails and notifications are also effective ways to provide your customers with a positive impression of your brand. For instance, if a customer leaves a product in the shopping cart without proceeding to checkout, you can send an email to remind the customer to complete their purchase. These strategies help you stay in touch with your customers, significantly improve your customer journey and increase sales. You can draw customers back or gain new customers day by day if you provide a remarkable customer experience.

7. Customer Can Shop at Their Pace

An online store can be a virtual place where people love spending time. Ecommerce websites allow customers to shop at their own pace, take their time and spend as many hours as they want in the store. And if a customer wants to buy something quickly, online stores are a few clicks away and very efficient since there is no queue to wait for.

Online stores ensure that customers have a flexible shopping experience. Customers can track the availability of products and come back to the store anytime they want when a product is restocked. They can take their time and come back to check out sales and offers anytime.

Bonus: Other Benefits

We hope that the listed benefits have already encouraged you to create your own online store. And in case you’re not already persuaded, here are a few more ways ecommerce will help you to build a strong brand of your own, maximise sales and grow your business.

Ecommerce websites:

• Automate important processes like sales, payments, orders, inventory management, and tax calculations.

• Provide detailed analytics and insights on sales, operations, and customers.

• Support multiple payment methods such as credit card, debit card, bank transfer, cash, and many more.

• Allow shop owners to create good content and use SEO effectively, significantly increasing an online store’s visibility.

Ready to Initiate Your Online Store?

Book a free call with us to discuss your idea. We’ll talk through your needs and help you to select the right platform.

Also, check out our flexible ecommerce development services and book a free call if you would like to learn more. We can:

• Teach you how to develop your ecommerce platform, and provide initial support and consulting on a pay-as-you-go basis.

• Create a basic version of your ecommerce platform for you, launch the store, and deliver it to you. You can build and customise it yourself as your needs and business develop.

• Develop a fully finished online store and maintain it for you.