Going Digital; Why E-commerce is important for business

“9 to 5 jobs” are slowly going out of fashion. Everyone, including teens, wants to get their bag and answer no one. Today, owning a business has become every person’s dream, either full-time or on the side. These businesses range from physical products to services, but only a few of these business owners understand the importance of being online and are online.

One thing to note is that being online does not just end with owning and running an Instagram or Twitter account. This is because, although you are promoting the brand and attracting customers on those platforms, they still have limitations.

These include:

1.   Poor Customer Service: No matter how active a business owner is online, he or she is still human and may be unable to satisfy every customer that sends an order request or inquiry.

2.   Pricing and Payment Issues: It is no news that pricing is a thing in Nigeria. Even products that cannot be priced get priced. The same goes for collecting payments and fake alerts.

3.    Rise and fall of hopes: Many business owners can attest to this; Since customers can easily access business owners, they most times make them believe that they would make a purchase but do not, even after all the time spent on inquiry.

Of all 17.4 million SMEs in the country, only about 15% use e-commerce. E-commerce means Electronic Commerce. That is, buying, selling and collecting payments for products online. Companies like Amazon and Alibaba owe their success to e-commerce.

Recently, the internet has proven to be a more reliable and efficient method of receiving money. In addition to that, the benefit of going digital is a long list.

Let’s say “Sky” recently moved to a new area, and you needed to make her hair. The first thing that comes to her mind is to search online for “hairstylists around me”. A typical Nigerian street will have at least 3 hair stylists in that location.

However, because of his or her presence on the website, the online stylist ends up having Sky as a client. Suppose that stylist has a website where customers like Sky can shop for any hair product they need. In that case, Sky may never have to visit other stylists in the neighbourhood because she gets all of the comforts she needs while patronizing a digitally inclined stylist.

Regarding the internet, there’s nothing to lose as a business. It is like an armour any company should have and use, and E-commerce has further sharpened this armour.

Why E-commerce is Important For Business

Here are six reasons to think about integrating e-commerce into your company:

 1.  Check off Poor Customer Service: No customer will complain about a disrespectful customer service representative when purchasing because they would be communicating with an electronic system. However, there would be complaints that a human can manage easily.

 2.  Payment Collection Made Easy: As you collect payments online, mistakes are rare because you have complete control of how the money is received as a business owner. Paystack and flutter wave are payment platforms that operate solely for this purpose. Since e-commerce sites do not register a customer’s order until the API has approved the customer’s payment, a few scams are involved.

3.   Wider Reach: Being online makes a business easily accessible. The world has adopted smartphones, and earthlings are constantly surfing the net. This means they would ask their best friend, the internet when they want anything. But they may never know about the awesome products your business offer if the internet (not just social media) does not know your business and products exist.

4.   Less Stress: When shopping on a website, the buyer and the company enjoy great peace of mind. Customers can easily navigate the company’s website and get what they need without bothering humans. The business owner does not have to respond to notifications unless a client requests a verified order.

5.   Easy Marketing: When a company is online, selling gets easier. There are many methods for capturing consumers’ attention despite being uninterested. When you do, you must drag them anywhere, which must be your website. It is easier for them to purchase items when they do not have to visit your store physically.

Local listings are an excellent place to start when going digital. Local listing entails positioning your business to be discovered locally by searchers using search engines. It is possible to do this for free by using Google My Business. A company owner may run the digital side of the business themselves, or they can employ a specialist to do so. These professionals are known as digital marketers.

Investing in e-commerce should take precedence in a company’s spending. Their customers are always on the internet, and the easiest way to reach anybody is to go where they are.

Don’t forget to check out the “Best 15 Print-on-Demand Store Examples 2022 (No Capital and Zero Experience Needed)“.

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