Top 6 Reasons To Start Selling Online
In 2021 And How To Get Started

Top 6 Reasons To Start Selling Online In 2021 And How To Get Started

It is no secret that consumers are constantly shifting towards online buying since the 2000s, but the pandemic has almost reinvented the buyer personas across industries. We saw many retail brick-and-mortar stores like Target channeling their customers to their online portals for BOPIS (Buy Online Pickup In-Store). In contrast, the online giant Amazon pushed for omnichannel eCommerce much earlier. We also witnessed new entrants in the eCommerce market. Still, if you are willing to enter online selling, the most common question is “How to do online selling business?” but today, we are going to discuss why you should start selling your products on the internet. Hop on to explore the top six reasons that you should keep in mind while entering the highly competitive eCommerce market:

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#1 Your Prospects Are Already Buying Online And You Can Expect Easier Conversions 

Earlier, online shopping was popular only with the newer generations like Gen Z and the millennials, but the stay-at-home lifestyle introduced this trend with older generations. A survey published on McKinsey resonates with this opinion as consumer behavior was heavily altered, and this is fantastic news if you want to enter online selling. Most of your prospects will be familiar with online shopping, and you won’t need to put in too much effort for educating them or convincing them that it’s worth giving it a try. Thus, you will have to spend comparatively lesser on eCommerce marketing and expect higher success rates for your business:

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#2 Sell To Anyone, At Any Place, At Anytime

A big concern for all entrepreneurs is figuring out whether they can reach their prospects. With an eCommerce store, you can sell to anyone located at any corner of the globe without any time constraints. This aspect solves a lot of problems associated with the brick-and-mortar stores where one can only sell to the nearby population for a limited period from wherever they operate. You can run paid digital marketing campaigns while building organic traffic to target your customers no matter where they stay, thus improving your chances of making a sale. Moreover, your potential customers can make the purchase from the time and place of their convenience, thus further boosting your prospects. 

#3 Less Capital Required For Starting, And Operating An Online Store

The entry barrier for most of the eCommerce marketplace platforms is very low or free while starting your own web store is also affordable. All it costs is a few hundred dollars to set up your online store, which is far lesser than buying/renting a piece of real estate. Moreover, you don’t need to have the inventory on hand as you can opt for models like dropshipping, where the products are purchased only after receiving the orders. You can get them fulfilled through a third-party logistics partner using an eCommerce-ERP integration solution . Thus, you don’t need to make any heavy investments upfront, and you can invest the money as you scale up your online selling business. 

#4 You Can Automate Operations As You Scale Up 

One of the biggest reasons for starting an online store is the fact that you can automate the operations as you scale up. This means that you don’t need to worry about staffing problems, increasing fixed costs, compliance management, and accounting. Workflow automation allows you to target multiple areas where you might get stuck within a physical store, as visible in the below infographic:

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Here’s the best part about eCommerce workflow automation: you don’t need to spend big amounts while it can help you scale up significantly. It also ensures that you aren’t too consumed in the operations and are able to focus on the core business processes.

#5 Selling Online Helps You Expand Your Existing Customer Base Smartly

This section is especially insightful for the businesses that are currently operating from a physical location. When you start selling on digital platforms, you can access newer customer segments by marketing your brand to a much larger audience. For instance, if you wanted your existing customers to refer your products/services to their friends and family, you need to approach them personally or use in-store marketing banners. On the flip side, using email marketing allows you to approach each one of them and send referral codes to incentivize participation. Thus, you can expand your customer base with minimal effort.

#6 Ecommerce Sellers Can Access Comprehensive Customer Data That Keeps Generating Revenue

You can collect user activity data as well as personalization information to improve your marketing efforts and store experience. As an online seller, customer data is one of the most important assets you acquire. You can use it for running retargeting campaigns, email marketing, personalization, making purchase decisions, analyzing spending patterns and much more. Since you can gather information from multiple touchpoints, you can build a 360-degree buyer persona. Upselling, cross-selling, referral business, and remarketing will boost your bottom line significantly once you start building a customer base. With an offline business, collecting such exhaustive data wouldn’t be possible. 

Summing Up

No doubt it’s raining cats and dogs when it comes to the eCommerce rush, but it shouldn’t be the sole reason for entering it. At i95Dev, we strongly believe in helping our clients build the right eCommerce capabilities that can resonate with these six reasons. If you are willing to start selling your products online, you can contact i95Dev for getting insider tips on the subject. With a full-flared eCommerce growth engine like i95Dev’s EGE , you will be able to best serve your customers and grow your online selling business sustainability throughout 2021 and beyond.