Top Benefits of Starting Your E-Commerce Business and Selling Your Products Online

E-commerce business, simply put, is a way of doing business over the internet. We turn online for all our requirements today, don’t we? Well, that is one of the main reasons why all traditional small and medium businesses in India are now exploring the many opportunities available online. So, if you are thinking of starting a business of your own, given today’s market scenario, it is favorable to begin an e-commerce business and sell products online.

According to studies, the Indian e-commerce market is projected to be worth ₹5,121,481m by 2025. Much of this growth can be credited to the remarkable proliferation of internet and smart devices that have made online retail more accessible to prospective buyers in India. It is therefore paramount to understand consumer behavior, their purchase patterns and the various benefits of the e-commerce business. To start with, consumer-buying behavior has changed a lot in recent times. Unless it’s an impulse purchase, a lot of planning goes into the whole buying procedure. This includes analyzing factors like similar product comparison, price, going through reviews – all of which are done online. Even if consumers prefer buying products offline, they will still examine the product details on e-commerce marketplaces and social media.

So, everyone today wants to be the “informed customer” to get the best value for their money. And as business owners and sellers, you need to keep pace with the ever-changing e-commerce trends. Moreover, you need to run your business successfully and expand it further. The good news is that, with e-commerce, this is possible. Let us understand how by focusing on the main benefits of running an e-commerce business.

With e-commerce, you can start up a business and sell products online with a very low initial investment. Much lower than the investment you will require to start a traditional business. By registering on an e-commerce marketplace, you not only start selling immediately, but also save costs on various overheads. For instance, selling on an e-commerce marketplace simplifies inventory management, negates costs of storage, and renders renting a commercial space or hiring salespersons unnecessary. Therefore, it is fair to say that the e-commerce marketplace takes away the pressure on SMBs to make sizable initial and recurring investments by offering a consolidated solutions suite against reasonable charges. This also allows new businesses to focus solely on delivering high-quality products while leaving administrative bottlenecks to be resolved by these active marketplaces.

When you take your business online through e-commerce marketplaces, you get to display the products to a global audience. This increased reach will ensure more brand awareness among potential online customers, potentially leading to higher sales. Remember, in e-commerce business, reaching out to a wide segment of buyers, and providing them with high-quality products and services automatically increases your popularity and chances of increasing your revenue.

The e-commerce business thrives on reaching out to a huge segment of customers in an incredibly short span of time. As the popularity of your business increases, your products quickly start leaving the shelves. Therefore, selling products online can definitely help you achieve sales targets.

Traditional business owners can also reap the benefits of e-commerce as it will help them clear their old stock quickly so that they can continue targeting customers with their latest range of fresh items. For instance, if you are in the business of selling trendy outfits, targeting a specific segment of the customer base can help you sell your own products at discounted rates on an e-commerce website that is popular among them. This will clear your old stock quickly and you can introduce new products to your store sooner.

E-commerce businesses cater to global audiences, meaning that the location of the customer is not a deterrent to online sellers. Today, a customer in Mumbai looking for sarees from Kolkata does not need to travel to the city. He or she can simply browse through any popular e-commerce marketplace, choose a product, make a purchase, and get it delivered to their doorstep in a matter of days. It is always a good idea for new and existing businesses to sell products online and potentially increase business revenue.
Also, technology has made order-tracking and online payments easier and more secure. It is now possible for online businesses to thrive, irrespective of distance or boundaries between them and their customers. This is another major benefit of e-commerce marketing and online selling.

Most e-commerce marketplaces offer product delivery services and logistics assistance so that you do not lose out on your long-distance customers.

One of the top benefits of online selling is gaining access to a global customer base. If you are selling on an established e-commerce marketplace, you can tap into an already loyal customer base along with your own customers.

Here are a few ways to appeal to new customers and get appropriate traffic to your online business

- Be active on social media platforms – showcase your products, talk about how it has benefited others, and other USPs.

- Engage with target customer base – write targeted blogs, ask them a question, answer their queries, and run a social poll or a contest. Give them enough reasons to invest time in your business. The more time they spend with your products, the more likely they are to make a purchase.

- Advertise your business – if you have started a new e-commerce business, the best idea is to leverage the power of paid ad tools in order to get a relevant customer base for your products and services.

Operational cost relates to those expenses, which are incurred regularly while running a business. Some examples of operational costs are rent and salaries. However, if you opt to sell your products online, you can focus on increasing your profitability instead of worrying about huge overhead costs.

The e-commerce business model doesn’t require a physical store. You can simply source your products and ship them directly. A very simple and efficient business model indeed which helps you save additional expenses. Retail businesses can also use the benefits of e-commerce marketplaces to reduce operational costs. For example, by taking your offline retail business online, your products will automatically get a worldwide customer base. Therefore, you don’t have to recruit too many sales professionals for the job, thus helping you save additional business operation costs.

In addition, if you register on a popular e-commerce marketplace, you can also avail value-added services like product stocking and fulfilment services, smart logistic services, on-time product delivery, and secure online payment methods to name a few.

What are market insights? How are they useful for your business? Will they help you sell products online?

Yes, market insights will help you sell more products online than you usually can. When you know where your customers are and what they are looking for you can use the data to implement different and effective e-commerce marketing techniques to ensure that more customers are buying your products.

E-commerce marketing paves different ways to sell products online. Also, e-commerce marketplaces have advanced selling features like user search history which will help you identify customer needs in real-time, enabling you to retarget your customers and sell your products to them.

In e-commerce marketing, customer data and insights are incomplete without proper promotional tools for product marketing. E-commerce marketing tools help you apply marketing strategies more effectively. Hence, by registering as a seller on an e-commerce marketplace, you will have access to some great marketing tools and services. This will help you in building a bigger and loyal customer base pan-India. Search engine optimization (SEO) and sponsored ads/promotions are few examples of effective e-commerce marketing tools. These tools increase your chances of acquiring new customers and increase order volumes manifold.

Another great benefit of e-commerce is that it is ideal for new launches. Even if you are launching your traditional offline business online, e-commerce is the most ideal and cost-effective platform. This is because, with popular e-commerce marketplaces, you already have a customer base for your new product or your new business. Also, you can use innovative advertising and e-commerce marketing techniques like teaser campaigns on the e-commerce marketplace and other social media platforms (in the form of banners/gifs for your soon-to-be-launched products) to generate interest amongst your potential customers.

Your customers will always remember a great shopping experience, and one of the biggest advantages of selling products online is improved customer service. By enabling easy customer feedback, you can encourage your customers to reach out to you for feedback, and this gives you a chance to address gaps in your offering if any. For example, you can use online customer service tools like live chats; call on request and respond to enquiries, or comments on social media channels to ensure great customer support while selling products online.

Here are some simple ways to improve customer service for your e-commerce business –

- Respond quickly to customer queries.
- Provide a direct calling option, if possible, with a clickable dial number.
- Use multiple channels to communicate with your customer to provide an Omni-channel experience.
- Use customer self-service features that will help customers find solutions without having to get in touch with a customer service representative.
- Leverage customer support tools to automate support functions.

With the numerous benefits of e-commerce, anyone can start an online business and sell products online. And now that you know the benefits of e-commerce, here is an online business checklist to start selling your products successfully on any e-commerce marketplace. These essentials will surely make e-commerce for beginners very simple.

Your first impression on your customers – one of the best practices of e-commerce marketing is sharing authentic product images and information. Hence, ensure that your product pictures are not only beautiful but also authentic.

Provide ample useful information on the product pages – make sure your customers are fully aware of your products and the offers related to it before purchasing.

Provide value-added information – a simple link to a product-related blog or video will surely help potential customers make an informed purchase decision.

Smooth purchase and check-out experience – offer options like view similar products, wish-lists, and online payments.

Ensure on-time product delivery – partner with a good logistic provider with pan-India and international service coverage.

Adopt new CRM technologies for greater customer satisfaction – a must for any successful e-commerce business.

Amazon is one of the largest global e-commerce marketplaces to sell your products and can help you reap the benefits of e-commerce. All you have to do is start your own online business in India, potentially increase your income, and also positively impact the lives of many others.