The Serious Business of E-commerce
Every year online sales account for more and more of the retail sales market. In a recent survey of 23,000 people world-wide, PWC found that 54% of the respondents bought products online either weekly or monthly, and 34% use their mobile phones to buy online - that’s a huge chunk of the retail market. These numbers alone are enough to justify investing in an e-commerce website.
On top of the sales aspect of the survey, it was found that 67% of people were influenced by reviews and comments online - meaning that being active on social media and engaging with your customers (as well as providing good service) is paramount.
So where do you begin the e-commerce journey?
There are so many offerings out there for e-commerce websites so knowing where to begin can be difficult. The first thing is to find a company that can provide you with advice (someone like Mity) and guide you through the entire process.
The next step is to understand what your goals are, who your target market is and how you’ll handled the logistics side of your store, such as packing, shipping and delivery.
Once you have all that it is a matter of finding the right solution, and for the majority of our e-commerce clients we use the Shopify platform. After all our years of experience in the online space we found that Shopify ticks the boxes for a great online shopping experience. Some of the key benefits of Shopify are:
It is easy to use and manage your store
It is always up-to-date so much less risk of being hacked
Wide range of add-ons available to customise your store and make it function how you want
Good for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Inbuilt tools like blogging, reports and discounts
Integrates with Facebook so you can sell your products right from your business’s Facebook page - you can even communication with your customers via Facebook Messenger.
On of top of all great this functionality you need a great design - eye catching imagery, easy to navigate, quick access to product information, a user-friendly checkout and, of course, mobile friendly.
Ready to get your business selling online? Mity are here to help, so pick up the phone and give us a call today.
Michael Scruse
Michael brings his technical, web and sales expertise to every project, backed by over 30 years’ experience in the IT industry.
Michael is also a qualified chef, although cooking is now in a domestic kitchen. Michael is a bit of a history buff and is currently researching his own family history.
