Today, ecommerce has become the fastest growing sector in the world. It has grown by leaps and bounds in the last two decades. This clearly indicates why it is important to take your business online. The US ecommerce market is expected to reach $600 billion by 2021. It is on a steep growth trajectory, hence not being part of it is no longer an option.

With the advent of Internet, there has been a dramatic change in the way people shop. Having a brick and mortar store is not enough to improve the revenue of your business.

Due to its convenience and efficiency, online shopping has now become extremely popular. With a few clicks of a mouse, you can order from the comforts of your house. No wonder online shopping has become a go-to place for today’s consumers.

Online Shopping is Convenient

Time has come for small businesses to dive into the waters of Ecommerce software solution. Having an online store is an investment that can give good returns for small business owners. Today, a majority of shoppers use different online channels to research, select and purchase products.

Boost Brand Awareness

Irrespective of the size of business, having an online presence is a must. With majority of population browsing the Internet for shopping, taking business online can play a key role in boosting product awareness. So if you want more potential buyers to know about your products, think of starting an online store.

Increase Business Reach

A small business with a brick and mortar store considerably limits your business reach. To be honest, your customer reach is restricted to your locality. This means, to increase your business reach, you will have to open one more brick and mortar store in another locality. This can be pretty expensive.

On the other hand, ecommerce business smashes all geographical boundaries. So if you have an online store, your business is no longer restricted to any geographical location. Anybody having an Internet connection can access your site. No matter what part of the world your consumer is staying, he can easily view your site and place an order. In other words, with an online store, you will be in a position to grow your customer base.

Boost in Business Revenue

Increase in business reach associated with ecommerce will automatically translate into increase in business revenue. Every small business wants to attract more customers and revenue. This can be easily achieved by opening an online store.

No Financial Burden

Many small businesses are on a tight budget, hence hesitate to launch an ecommerce store. It is a misconception that running an online store is an expensive proposition. Low operational costs is the hallmark of running an Ecommerce store for small business.

From setup to maintenance, you don’t have to spend much to manage your online business. In fact, it is significantly less as compared to brick and mortar. So entry into the realm of ecommerce will never be a financial burden on your business.

Understand Customer Requirements

Studying customer buying habits is not easy with physical store. On the other hand, online stores provide an easy way to analyze buying pattern. There are various analytics tools available in the market that you can easily download and get deep insights about how your customers interact with your site.

For instance, with Google Analytics, you can know how many consumers are viewing each page. You can even identify from which site they are coming from. All this information gives a good understanding of customer buying behavior.

CRM – Need of the Hour

As far as choosing ecommerce platform is concerned, pick one that comes with built-in CRM software for small business. As we all know, a CRM tool is commonly used to keep track of customer interactions and understand their needs in a better way. Instead of buying CRM separately and then connecting it afterwards, select a built-in solution.

Which Ecommerce Solution to Choose?

Believe it or not but it’s never been easier for small businesses to setup an ecommerce store. If you choose the right ecommerce platform, you can launch your online business within a day. To simplify the process of setting up your store, choose a fully hosted ecommerce platform. From setup to launch, an ecommerce provider takes care of everything in a fully hosted solution.

If your business will be handling large customers (B2B), pick a B2B ecommerce software. It will help you to sell products to companies in an agile manner. To fulfill your customer’s B2B buying expectations, it is important to pick this type of ecommerce system.

On the whole, with customers continuing their steady march online, it doesn’t make sense to depend on your brick and mortar store to run your business. It is high time that you take your business online and sell 24/7.