Brick and mortar companies are now joining the ecommerce bandwagon, and they are being augmented with companies which are into pure play ecommerce. The large influx can be attributed to the following
Internet Infrastructure : The core infrastructure required to run an ecommerce system is the availability of broadband and internet services. The last few years have seen an unprecedented rise in the internet users in India.
Payment Infrastructure: Another core impediment in road to implementing a ecommerce system is the presence of payment gateways. Companies like PayPal, Google checkout , ccavenue have filled that gap adequately..
Logistics Infrastructure: The number of logistics companies providing quality and trusted services has been an important enabler. The simplification of the logistics has actually reduced the entry barriers in the ecommerce game.
Augmenting the Rationale
Reach: The reach of your products is only limited by two constraints , the reach of the internet and your ability to deliver at locations.
Innovations: Internet provides a platform and environment to innovate with services and marketing efforts. Compared to pure play brick and mortar companies , e-commerce companies have been more innovative.
Changing buyer profile: Its like fishing where the fishes are, if your buyers tend to spend more and more time on the internet, the that is also the place to sell your products.
Internet Marketing: Augmenting the above is the developing field of internet marketing and social media marketing. So now you could market in context. If you think your product is meant for 20 year olds in metro cities, show your ads just to them. And if you think a person who searches a particular word on Google could be your potential buyer place you ad just then.
Understand customer engagement : A successful e-commerce system is built not around your products alone, its built around a successful customer engagement plan. So don’t just built an e-commerce site build an engaging system.
Using analytics to understand buyer behavior: Understanding, where my customers come from( geography), from what sites, by searching what keywords, what did they do on my site, how much time did they stay, did they convert into real dollars. All this can be understood and analyzed using web analytics. Its imperative that your web analytics be your most important companion in the ecommerce journey. Listen to it and take corrective action. It has been know to give fantastic results.
Relevant Marketing: What will be sold on the internet must be marketed on the internet. Strategic use of both search marketing and social media is of imperative
