How To Start Selling Online With An E-commerce Website?

Many entrepreneurs design and put their own e-commerce site online to promote their services or sell their products.

In 2019, in France, the number of e-commerce sites increased by another 16%. All sectors are concerned, and e-commerce has almost become essential to growing its activity.

If, for many years, creating a commercial site was reserved for the Web’s little geniuses, turnkey solutions now make them more accessible.

So, let’s take a closer look at the reasons why you need an e-commerce website and start selling on the Internet.

The different types of e-commerce sites

There are two distinct families of e-commerce sites. The first is intended to sell products. The second is mainly used to offer services.

1. 1. An e-commerce site to sell services
   2. An online store to sell products

1. An e-commerce site to sell services

The sale of services via a website consists of promoting services to individuals (B2C) or companies (B2B) through an interface accessible on the Internet.

At first glance, the management of an e-commerce site intended to sell services may seem more straightforward because it does not involve any stock and logistics management.

On the other hand, to promote your services on the Net, you will need to position yourself as an expert in your field! Your e-commerce site must therefore reveal substantial expertise.

Setting up an e-commerce site to sell services requires lengthy preparation. To make your project a success, it is essential to analyze your competitors and be inspired by them while standing out.

2. An online store to sell products

The other category of e-commerce sites is to sell products.

This IT support’s objective is clear: to offer a catalog of articles to customers all over the world, to sell objects, ship them, and generating turnover.

However, in this type of activity, visibility is essential! To be profitable, your website must attract as many visitors as possible. It must also be based on an effective strategy, by offering quality products at attractive prices.

If an online store is much less expensive than a physical store, its success is far from certain. To ensure the success of your e-commerce project, you will have to face significant competition. It is, therefore, up to you to find the idea that will hit home with consumers!

What are the advantages of creating an e-commerce site?

If you still looking for this question that why we need an e-commerce website, remember that selling online can bring you many benefits!

Read Also: 10 Astonishing Reasons that You need an eCommerce Mobile App

An ecommerce website of your business showcases your all activities. Your online store allows the dissemination of information related to the products and services provided by the company.

Moreover, nothing prevents you from owning both a physical store and a virtual store.
So, here are some of the many benefits of creating an e-commerce site in 2021 and beyond.

The Web: an incredibly resilient market

Today, the Internet has become an essential means of communication.

According to the Médiamétrie site, France had 53.1 million Internet users in October 2019, representing 84.7% of French people. Moreover, 72.4% of them connect to it daily, whether from their computer or mobile.

In this context, e-commerce is booming. It even continued to grow in 2019, with a 19% increase in transactions over the last year.

In other words, to do without an online store is to ignore one of the most flourishing means of communication of the moment.

The high visibility offered by e-commerce

While a physical store only targets residents near your store, an e-commerce site can reach the entire globe!

It’s simple: its catchment area has no limit! Of course, a site written exclusively in French will tend to reach a French-speaking clientele.

On the other hand, if your goal is to reach an international target, it is up to you to offer a multilingual site. This is a great way to conquer new markets and grow your business.

By the way, remember that an e-commerce site is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, unlike stores whose hours are much more restricted.

An online store, for lower costs than a physical store

A physical store has to bear a lot of operating costs. If you own a store, you know full well that you have to pay your premises, employees, and all expenses related to your store each month.

However, when it comes to e-commerce, these costs are considerably reduced. On the one hand, there are fewer intermediaries, especially if you delegate logistics.

Second, staff costs are meager, if not nonexistent, just like the rent.

All these elements make it possible to offer more attractive prices without reducing your margin!

In an e-commerce site, the main costs are linked to creating the site and its maintenance. Also, plan for marketing and communication costs to stand out from the competition, attract as many customers as possible and make yourself known.

While customers aren’t always inclined to give you their contact details when they come to a physical store, they don’t mind providing that information through a form when purchasing on a website.

Thus, owning an e-store allows you to collect all kinds of personal information about your customers, such as their date of birth, address, number of children, purchasing habits, or telephone number.

This data is valuable and will allow you to establish targeted marketing actions, especially if they have agreed to receive your newsletters!

The possibility of offering a large number of products

On an e-commerce site, it is straightforward to integrate or remove a product.

Moreover, unlike a physical store, a virtual store does not have to have a large stock. You can even store it at an agency specializing in logistics to avoid piling up products in your living room.

The number of articles that you can offer on your site, therefore, has no limit!

It should be noted, in passing, that putting on the shelves on an e-commerce site is much easier and faster to do than facing a store. No need to be a decor expert or transform your store’s entire layout at each change of season.

With e-commerce, this tedious task is reduced to its maximum!

Finally, if you have both an e-commerce site and a physical store, this e-commerce lever can be a perfect way to know if a new product is promising and trendy. Try to promote it before on the Internet! This will be a great test to determine if your consumers like it before integrating it into your physical store.

A higher average basket in e-commerce

Usually, the average basket is also higher on the Internet than in a physical store.

Moreover, this is all the more true for online stores that offer delivery costs from a certain purchase amount. Thus, Internet users are encouraged to buy more than what they need, which allows for more sales.

The possibility of analyzing the behavior of your buyers

Current e-commerce sites are also associated with powerful analysis tools, which allow you to observe your customers’ behavior.

Google Analytics is one of the most used of all. It allows you to obtain precise data and effectively measure your various marketing actions’ return on investment.

While it is very tedious to count each visitor in a physical store, it is a real child’s play for an e-commerce site! Therefore, the figures make it possible to establish a relevant analysis of your activity and to rectify the course when it seems necessary to you quickly.

Now an essential means of communication, the Internet is a tool of choice for developing your business and establishing your reputation. A well-thought-out e-commerce site is an excellent vector for attracting as many customers as possible to your products and making your projects profitable.

In the past, the complexity of launching an online store was one of the main obstacles for entrepreneurs. I think, these advantages are enough that why we need an e-commerce website in 2021 and beyond.