As we know, in the developed World, the Internet is now a huge part of our everyday life, heavily used at work and at home. Anyone would be in a huge minority if they said they hadn’t paid for anything across the Internet or bought a product or service online through an eCommerce store.
One study found that residents in European Nations spent 132 Billion Euros through eCommerce Websites. In the next 5 years, the amount spent through eCommerce Websites is set to increase by 25% per annum to an estimated 406.8 Billion Euros. It should be noted this number only covers Europe and does not factor in the US, Asia and other emerging regions, which would easily double or triple those figures.
Clearly there is a huge marketplace online that needs to be serviced by online shops and websites selling products and services as many established businesses move into the World of eCommerce and sell online.
When considering which ECommerce Website Partners, you will use, they should be assessed for their suitability to deliver a quality ongoing relationship that will be to your company’s best benefit for the long term.
Considerations that you should look for when making your decision:
1. Do they have a strong history of developing ECommerce Websites with a good portfolio and testimonials?
2. Do they have hosting with reliable and strong Internet connections?
3. Do they have a good design and development team with adequate support in the future?
4. Do they have Online Marketing Professionals with a proven history of success and a good portfolio of established clients?
THE single most important feature of any shop is getting visitors through the doors!
I would describe an eCommerce store with Search Engine Optimisation implemented as a store with many, many different doorways into it. ECommerce website owners should recognise that the more people you get to come to your website, the more sales you will make. This is exactly what Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) does, by targeting specific phrases that, when searched on Google will then bring up your website. It should be noted that the higher to the top you finish the more website visitors you are likely to get because most people will only look at the first few lines/pages on Google when searching for products. Research has shown in studies, that 80% of all people who search on a “term” or “phrase” go to one or more of the results on the first page (the top 10) results. This means that the goal with SEO is to get on the first page and into the top 10 results shown for a given search term. The goal in choosing a partner, therefore, should be focused on good website design but more on online marketing and how they can help you spread the word and get visitors to your website. Remember, it’s all about getting potential customers on your website and looking at your products.
A good ECommerce website provides many benefits to the underlying business, giving the business an extra dimension and as mentioned above, if implemented with SEO, many doorways into the shop. With more customers comes more revenue - everyone recognises this fact. An ECommerce shop also provides Regional, National and even global reach for your product or service. With a Global eCommerce system, you can reach the farthest reaches of the World and supply products or services, creating a Global Brand Name in new emerging markets.