Today in an era of E-Commerce taking place at its peak, it has become very essential to remain updated with the ongoing advancement across India precisely. For a retailer/trader to keep himself constantly connected with competitive market changes, needless to say he has to go online!
Seeing unprecedented trends in E-commerce since its beginning stage which noticeably took place in 2009 when India’s E-commerce market share was 3.9 billion US dollars. It tremendously went up to 12.6 billion US dollars in 2013 and is expected to have reached 17.5 billion US dollars by the end of 2016. With the increasing use of mobile devices like cell phones, laptops, tablets and proportionally increased Internet user base, there is surely a huge scope in the sector of online trading. Today when we tend to buy a product online, we validate its online presence first in terms of features, rates, model comparison, price comparison, looks, colors, specifications, etc. which eventually leads a buyer to narrow down his decision making capability, and finally landing to a more accurate buying decision. There are of course loopholes in this field like in any business, but only if carried out with concrete strategies you have an additional advantage over traditional retail market.
Such is the impact of online trading and for a retailer, why is it necessary to take it as a real business. You can either sell through existing market places like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Jabong, etc or via your own online store. Both have its own pros & cons. Here, I am listing 5 deadly reasons for a retailer to must use E-Commerce:
- LESS INVESTMENT : Compared to Brick & Mortars, it is way cheaper. You can stock your inventories anywhere irrespective of location or infrastructure. While in physical existence you will have to spend upon good work place, employment wages, maintenance cost, etc. Where as in e-trading, with the minimum wages, you can still make more profit.
- BIGGER TARGET MARKET : Your target audience tremendously increases apart from local region which gives broader perspective to expand the business.
- COD TRADE POLICY : In India, 70% of E-channels have their major market share through COD policy. This attracts more customers to your online store and probability of buying also increases. However, easy return policy and hassle free forward/return delivery also holds a very important role in E-Commerce business.
- CUSTOMER REVIEWS/FEEDBACK : One of the very influencing factor is customer reviews. Based on the feedback received from real customers, it gives a growing opportunity to a seller understand customer needs better. This helps prioritize seller’s working strategy and he has a reliable source for improvement too.
- PAYMENT METHOD : Payment mode becomes a crucial factor here, which can be managed well through secured gateway systems.
Well, above points will surely give you major business goals. All the best, E-traders!
