E-commerce

The internet was also new that time and dot-com collapse had damaged a lot in the international market. But one of the retailing companies 'Brick & Mortar' stood irresistibly and utilized the benefits of the electronic commerce stratagems. 

Table Of Contents


Within a decade, the importance of e-commerce sites has increased 10 times. The hectic life, busy schedule, restless lifestyle, lack of commodity management &decrease of unemployment have actually cast a spell behind this sudden hike. People get less time to go out and shop and window shopping? Who has the time? 


Everyone is running behind money and once coming back to the home exhausted in the evening, turn on the desktop, PC, Tablet or mobile and order something from the e-commerce store.

A Thorough Knowledge of Everything About E-Commerce: Know It Better





This is somehow the daily routine of all the busy people out there? Isn't it?


Well, the luxurious deals that the e-marts promote to allure us in the festive seasons are quite lucrative and unavoidable. Moreover, the discounts that they provide us simply help us to pick up some awesome products at a very cheaper price and that really works! E-commerce has mobilized business truly and has given it a new aspect from both the ends of the customers and the sellers.

What is an e-commerce site?




E-commerce sites simply mean shopping through the internet. The history of online shopping dates back some two decades ago in 1991 when commercial use was allowed on the internet. At the beginning, the term was used only for the implementation of the electronic commercial dealings via EFT & EDI. Later the coinage was changed in the presently used meaning, i.e. the e-commerce websites or the websites that deal with the retailed products or services.

History In Brief


It all started like this. In early 2000, a huge number of business organizations in the United States and the Western Europe started representing their business on the internet. 


This led to a revolution and people started to buy goods directly online. Even that time the term e-commerce development company didn't exist.

The internet was also new that time and dot-com collapse had damaged a lot in the international market. But one of the retailing companies 'Brick & Mortar' stood irresistibly and utilized the benefits of the electronic commerce stratagems. 


Once the concept was established, the types of e-commerce, such as the Business-to-Business model or B2B, Business-to-Consumer model or B2C and other models started approaching.

Revenue Generation

A recent survey has revealed that within three months, the global e-commerce sites generate over $1,50,000 monthly revenue and approximately $3,30,000 yearly revenue. It is estimated that after few years the amount will rise up to $1 million, which means it will increase some 230% within the gap of 3 years.

Some E-Commerce Sites


Within the time span of 1971 or 1972, the ARPANET was executed to organize a cannabis sale among the students of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Stanford and the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. It was an online seminar and is thought to be the first e-commerce sale activity of the world.

In today's world, with the huge success of the Amazon and Flipkart, e-commerce sites have started popping up like crazy. 

The importance and convenience of selling products and services through just one click have approached many business people positively. 



So, as the consequence, thousands of e-commerce websites are mushrooming up almost every day. But creating an e-commerce site requires a good management skill, marketing knowledge and development caliber that can optimize your site in the crowd of other such online shopping sites.

So what to take care of? Let's have a look-

Web Hosting Service
Hosting your website on the internet properly will help your customers' to access your website easily. Choosing a good hosting service is, thus, so important for launching your e-commerce site. 



The best web hosting service uplifts your website loading speed, makes it secure and deteriorates offline going rate. 

Before you choose a proper web hosting service, check out its availability, reliability, proper uptime and authenticity. 

Jimdo, Weebly are some of the web hosting services that have the drag and drop feature that facilitates hosting e-commerce websites.

Mediators or not?


The term 'affiliate marketing' depicts the presence of a mediator between the vendor and the customer. It prevents them to interact and transact directly with each other. 


The entire task is managed by the mediators for which they receive commissions for each transaction. But it's up to you, whether you want to keep a mediator between or not? 



Many e-commerce sites work via a mediator and sometimes, the businessmen want to become the mediator as it generates more profit than a direct sale.
There are some sites that directly sell the products or services without any mediator. Sites like e-bay, OLX interact the customers and the sellers directly without any kind of mediators.



Call-To-Action


Transforming your promotions into conversion for generating ROI requires a call-to-action strategy. Call-to-action is not only the button that your end users click on their purchase. 


It depicts the benefits that your clients get from you or want to get from you. 

Thus, the discounts or offers that they get can also be the call-to-action strategy.The margin cut for the products or services depends on the discount or deduction you are providing for its each sale. The availability of the products and the proper categorization also attracts the attention of the consumers.


E-Commerce Platform


Hiring an experienced e-commerce development company for creating your own e-commerce site provides you benefits from all the aspects. But do you know, there are many online e-commerce platforms that provide you the benefits of customizing your e-commerce site? Well, there are many to learn about. Let's have a look on them.



Shopify delivers online e-commerce software for stores and retail sales.



You can easily add e-commerce functionality in the Wix.com, a cloud-based web development platform that permits its customers to create HTML5 websites and mobile sites by using online drag and drop tools.



BigCommerce creates e-commerce software in order to enhance your business.



There are some technical platforms too.



WooCommerce is the best of them, which is basically an e-commerce plugin for WordPress.



Magento is one of them. This open-source e-commerce platform is written in PHP.



So, if you are looking for creating an e-commerce site of your own, ask few questions. Determine the products or service you want to sell, the group of customers you want to target and make a thorough survey of the market and then try the tips given above.

Importance of Branding for E-Commerce Businesses

E-commerce businesses are becoming a reliable way to buy products online. Branding plays a direct role in improving chances of e-commerce business success. 

An increasing number of global customers are switching to e-commerce sites to purchase everything from groceries to apparel, and electronics to lifestyle products. 




The e-commerce industry has completely transformed the way in which consumers around the world access products and services. It has suddenly brought a world of options to the fingertips of end users. 



The future seems bright for the e-commerce industry, with major players branching out into newer product categories frequently (thus setting the standards for smaller brands).



For e-commerce businesses, things are going well enough, but the competition is also fierce. New e-commerce brands are launching every day and persistently trying to get a foothold online. When it comes to branding, e-commerce companies are leaving no stone unturned. 


In this scenario, it is vital that you build and implement a high quality branding strategy for your e-commerce business.



Branding Strategies For E-Commerce Businesses



By having a result-oriented, effective branding plan for your e-commerce business, you can stand out amongst your competitors. To achieve that, you must determine what makes your e-commerce business a unique player in the industry.



Are you offering high quality products at the best available rates? Do you organize regular discounts and offers for your customers? 



Are you adding new product categories to meet more customer demands? What are the factors that would convince customers to choose your brand against others? 


E-commerce business owners must strive to highlight the unique selling points of their brand. Only then can an e-commerce brand be boldly promoted to larger audiences.


As an e-commerce brand, you have to be at the forefront when it comes to attracting product vendors as well as consumers to your e-store. 


Vendors would be interested in using your marketplace, if it has a strong brand that keeps providing value to customers. 



The number of sellers and customers you bring in to your network depends on the strength of your e-commerce brand, and how well it delivers on its promises. If you are intelligent in your branding, and consistent in your service quality, your e-commerce brand can achieve considerable success.

E-commerce branding, like all branding, is influencing the perception of your brand and its services, in the eyes of the customer. 


Effective e-commerce branding will make marketing easier, retain more customers, drive up loyalty, and create better potential value for steady, long-term success.

The way you must approach an e-commerce branding strategy is by highlighting some key points. 



With branding, you must uphold your business's core mission, the problems you aim to solve for your customers, standards that it adheres to, and proof of the quality of services you provide. What are the factors involved in business branding and their importance?

E-Commerce Branding - Methods and Importance


1. Your Brand Image - A stellar, uniquely identifiable brand image helps customers attach value to your e-commerce brand's personality. This includes various things such as logos, banners, taglines, marketing captions, social content etc., which should always represent your brand the best. 



This is quite important if you want to create value for potential customers and convert them into loyal customers. A good brand image goes a long way in retaining customers, by continually generating interest for your e-commerce brand's offerings.



2. Customer Satisfaction - Customers are everything, when it comes to e-commerce or any other type of business. You can actually enhance customer experiences and drive up satisfaction (and loyalties). This is a big part of establishing your e-commerce brand.


 Put your best foot forward while marketing, deliver on your promises you make, and provide unmatched service and support to enhance your brand's potential value. Remember that satisfied existing customers can and will bring in newer customers to your e-commerce business. 


Maintain your integrity and keep reinventing to bolster your brand's chances of business success.



3. Find Your Unique Selling Proposition - As an e-commerce business owner you must determine the USP of your brand. This will help you brand and promote it better to larger groups of potential customers. Think about what sets you apart from dozens of competitors vying for true e-commerce glory. Is it your service quality or support?



Is it the trust of your customers and your track record? 


Do you provide innovative offers, discounts and promotions on special occasions? 


Do you house the widest variety of rare products? You must determine why customers would choose your e-commerce site. What extra value can you offer to your potential customers that convince them to use your platform again and again? Find your USP and use it to strengthen your brand.



4. Utilize All Channels - Technological advances in the past decade demand that your e-commerce business maximizes its presence on all social, web-based and mobile platforms. 


More and more potential customers buy and sell through handheld devices, and almost all of them are on social websites. 


All your competitors are doing it, and so should you. It will help you make your brand easily accessible to larger audiences, which in turn will bring more conversions and significantly better revenues. Social and mobile should be the front and center of your branding strategy.



E-commerce sites can benefit from the above mentioned branding strategies. By using the concepts provide here, you can establish your e-commerce brand and take your business to the next level.


Magento Commerce Review - The Best of Open Source E-Commerce

The company behind this project is Verian who are leaders within the open source industry. They have created a shopping cart that is feature rich out of the box and Magento Commerce has become a leading shopping cart for open source e-commerce platforms. I recently reviewed Zen Cart writing about the Pros and Cons, and if you haven't read the review, I would suggest taking a look at it to use it as a comparison.

An Overview Of Magento Commerce



As of the date of writing this review, I have tested Magento Commerce version 1.3.1. It is one of the latest and most powerful open-source e-commerce solutions that I have come across. These are some of the features you will find within the box:

* Marketing Promotions and Tools
* Analytics and Reporting
* Search Engine Optimization
* Site Management
* Catalog Management
* Catalog Browsing
* Product Browsing
* Mobile Commerce
* International Support
* Checkout
* Shipping
* Payment
* Customer Service
* Customer Accounts
* Order Management

Rather than give rewrite the benefits of Magento Commerce has about their software, you can read more and try out their demo on their website.

The Pros Of Magento Commerce

Clean And Modern Layout

The first thing that caught my eye was how professional and modern the default template looked. It was smooth and clean, which you will find across the board both on the front end and within the administration section.

Easy Integration Of Layouts, Themes And Add-ons

The beautiful thing I really like about Magento Commerce is how easy it is to install additional layouts and add-ons. In comparison to other open source e-commerce solutions such as OsCommerce and Zencart, it is less complicated and doesn't require the shop owner to have prior programming experience. If you have used WordPress, which is a popular blogging tool you will find Magento's shop structure is quite similar in that it is visually appealing and easy to use. I believe that Magento was aiming to create a simplistic yet powerful solution for e-commerce business owners.

More Than 50 Payment Gateways Are Available For Integration

I have heard that many store owners lose sales because they could not offer a certain payment solution for their customers, or they have to switch payment gateways because their e-commerce solution was not compatible with their existing provider. With Magento Commerce you can rest at ease whatever payment gateway you have, they most likely have it ready for you.

You Can Manage Multiple Stores From One Administration Panel And Product Catalog

This is a more advanced option available for businesses with multiple ecommerce stores. Say you had a camera shop and a book shop. In most cases you would have to setup two separate systems and log into them separately to manage the stores. With Magento Commerce you can set them up all within the one system and manage all your sales from one administration, still giving you the flexibility of two stores. It saves time and additional resources yet allowing you to monitor and track sales all within one place.

An Option To Up Sell At The Checkout

Having this option alone will increase your profits dramatically. Up selling, as I've discussed in a previous post is a powerful way to increase your profits from an existing customer by simply offering additional promotions or products. This can lead to more money for your e-commerce business and having it automated, you have a silent sales person making money for you.

Built-in Product Image Zoom Capability

Sometimes as a customer I am always wanting to see more finer details about a product. Unfortunately not all e-commerce sites have the ability to show more or allow you to zoom into the product. Magento Commerce now has that option built in and it allows you to upload a high resolution photo to let customers zoom into the product while they are browsing. Imagine how it will have an affect on your sales and increase your conversions!

These are just some of the pros I have found with Magento Commerce and I believe I could write a whole book on how good this software is.

The Cons Of Magento Commerce

Since Magento Commerce is still relatively new compared to other open source e-commerce platforms available in the market, it still has it's initial bugs. Here are some issues it still faces:

Performance And Response Time Can Be Slow

Depending on the hosting server you use for Magento Commerce, you may experience slower page loads and response times with shared hosting providers. Magento Commerce, being content rich does require a lot of resources to run and the performance of your website will be dependent on the server you use. Therefore choosing a dedicated and powerful server is something you need to think through carefully, especially if you are doing hundreds of transactions a day. It does have numerous hosting providers they recommend and you can see Magento hosting partners.

Great For A New E-Commerce Business But Not So Good For Existing Businesses!

To date I have not found a solution or import utility that allows Magento Commerce to import data from other open source e-commerce systems such as OsCommerce, Zencart and Xcart. This poses a question for existing e-commerce businesses to consider whether or not to switch over to this system. If there was an add-on for importing, more businesses would switch over to Magento Commerce.

No Accounting Export Function For MYOB or Quicken


Another consideration is if you currently use MYOB or Quicken as your accounting package to track and monitor your financials, then you will want to make sure your e-commerce website can link to it. Otherwise you will need to hire someone to double entry your transactions to update your accounting software.

My Opinion

Overall, aside from a few downsides mentioned above, Magento Commerce has a great potential to be the leading open source e-commerce platform for all e-commerce businesses. I am a great supporter of software that is open source which allows the community to contribute, develop and evolve. Furthermore with strong support from Magento's company - Verian they have a huge chance to succeed.

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