Building an Ecommerce Business During the Recession

Several people are scared about investing money or spending money right now with the way the economy currently is. That is okay, and they have a good reason to be careful with their money. The purpose of this article is not to tell you that you need to spend everything you own. Rather, it is to help you decide whether you can be successful online during this recession.

First off, let me say that online business is continuing to grow. While many companies are having their sales lower overall, many are seeing more sales online, but far less in their retail stores. For the last six years, studies indicate that businesses are doing far better in sales online than they have in previous years.

Let’s be realistic about what is going to occur online throughout this recession. Currently, people are evaluating what they need and trying to do away with unnecessary expenses. However, this really is no different than it ever has been in the past. Right now, people are just taking it to another level.

One of the best marketers I have ever heard once told me that really the saying “I don’t need this”, really just means “I don’t want it bad enough”. Let me give you a real example. I will use myself for this. I am a huge fan of PC gaming. I typically stay up with all of the newest releases. The problem with this industry is that games are constantly requiring more from computers to be able to run well. So for example, when Call of Duty 4 came out, it was time for me to upgrade my computer. Did I really need to upgrade my computer? Not really, I could have done away with gaming or avoided this game all together. However, since it is something I am passionate about, I found a way to spend money to upgrade my computer. Everyone who comes online to purchase items is this way as well. Typically, if they want to buy something, they will find a way to pay for it. However, when they really are not interested in your product, the line that they will use is “I don’t need it”.

So how do you know that you can be successful online? You really have to ask yourself what type of person would buy your products or services. Are there any people out there who will feel that they need your item like I felt in the scenario above that I needed to upgrade my computer? If you can be realistic with yourself and answer it with a firm “yes”, then I believe you can do well online. There is obviously going to be a market for what you are offering.

Another thing you are going to be required to do is to create this desire to have your product. If you own a website and it is simply full of text, it has vague descriptions of your products, no pictures, no videos showing it in action, and no testimonies; you will find it difficult to ever sell your product. I am not saying that you have to have all of those mentioned above, but certainly do not sell yourself short on your website. Get straight to the point, put your products directly in their face, and convince them that they need your product. With a little legwork and salesmanship for your ecommerce website, it can go very far online even during a recession.

Grow by leaps and bounds with software to skyrocket your business: ecommerce shopping cart software, content management system software, and email marketing software by Interspire.

Ecommerce Site Design – The Visual Aspects

Within my six years of web development experience, I have learned a lot. Primarily it was through my own mistakes. Below are some of the things that I had encountered early on. I would highly recommend that while you are in your web design process that you really take into consideration some of the aspects that I mention below. It will make your site more visually appearing and will help drastically in converting your ecommerce website into actual sales.

Make your website easy to read.

For some, this may seem fairly logical. However, many times people get caught up in trying to find cool looking font for their logos or text on their website. Also, for many people they find that the tiny font is extremely cute. It just looks prettier for some reason. However, having a cute font or a cute sized text throughout your website does very little for you. In fact, it hurts you. While I am not going to say that you should totally avoid making your text presentable and appealing, its primary function should always be to clearly tell the reader something you want them to know. You certainly do not want to put an age restriction on your website by keeping the elderly from being able to read what you have on it.

Colors are important.

I have been in web design for a long time and colors have quickly changed. I am not going to tell you that you need to go with a specific color because that is not the case at all. Rather, you should always stick to a color scheme of some kind. Back in the 90’s many websites were extremely colorful. People had their websites look like rainbows a lot of the time. There was a lot of animation and this quickly diminished as businesses started taking their websites more seriously. There is something that gives an old or unprofessional appearance when a solid color scheme is not completed throughout an entire website. Yes, this even goes for the ordering process where you may be using pre-written software. You can and should modify it.

Always have a logo that brands your company.

Most people do not really think of this too much. It sometimes gets overlooked but you should always have a logo that brands your company. What I mean by branding your company is that it should be something that people can see and immediately recognize your business. A classic example is the bitten apple that all Mac computers have on it. It is not overly complex, it is simple, and yet regardless of what color it is, people can still recognize that as being associated with Macintosh.

Your website should be easy to navigate.

It does not matter how creative you can get with a navigation menu, it should always be very easy and simple to navigate. When people come to your ecommerce website they are looking for a product more than likely. If they have a difficult time finding what they want, or have a difficult time working their way to where the products are, they will quickly leave. Generally, it is stated that you have seven seconds to give a visitor some reason to stay. That means if your website takes three seconds to load, you are now down to four. If they do not see an easy path to the product they are looking for, they will leave and go elsewhere. It is a requirement that your navigation on your website to different pages be as simple, easy to find, and easy to use as possible.

Grow by leaps and bounds with software to skyrocket your business: ecommerce shopping cart software, content management system software, and email marketing software by Interspire.

Latest Trends in Ecommerce

When it comes to ecommerce, a lot of the professionals rely on the trends to determine what is going to be successful. Many people do not look at this, but it might be important depending on what type of business you are getting into online. Below are simply some interesting trends that may impact your business. Generally, ecommerce, despite the economy is still a good business decision when done properly.

Fact #1: Ecommerce is continuing to grow rapidly

Source: http://usa.usembassy.de/economy-ecommerce.htm

While the sales have slowed down in recent years, the industry of ecommerce in general is still thriving. There will likely still be growth this year. Since 2001, there has been an average of roughly 25 percent increase each year. This number is expected to lower this year but I doubt that it will be in the negative.

Fact #2: There are continuing to be more internet users each year

Source: http://www.impactlab.com/2008/04/09/will-the-economy-affect-e-commerce/

It really is to no ones surprise that there are more internet users now than there was back in 2000. In fact, the internet usage for North Americans has seen an 132.5% increase since then. So basically, it is safe to assume that this number is not going to go down anytime soon. It is probably safe to consider that those who used the internet the last several years will not quit now and the younger generation is growing up and utilizing technology as well.

Fact #3: The Age is lowering, but will rise again

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_internet_usage

Source: http://www.december.com/web/text/tutor/netuse.html

This is probably one of the more interesting statistics that would relate to ecommerce. It is generally stated that no one from the older generation uses the internet. However, this is a common misconception according to this trend. Generally, the average age for internet users has become lower. However, you may be shocked to know that as of 2000, the beginning of the internet burst of users, the average age of an internet user was 41 years old with an income of $65,000. This is likely because they had more access to computers. However, this number has lowered to an age of 29.78. The reason for this is the younger generation seems to love technology in general. They have really caught onto the internet and use it for a lot of their communication. This will continue and the average age number is expected to grow as the generation of internet users gets older. You will also find this number increasing as more businesses begin to do business online as well. Generally though, this number is probably not as low as some may expect. The average internet user is very capable of making purchases online. This is good news for ecommerce.

Fact #4: More purchases are being made online each year

Source: http://www.census.gov/mrts/www/data/html/08Q4.html

According to statistics, people are continuing to buy more online each year than they had previously. Often times, we are finding that even common items are being purchased online. For example, in some cities you can now buy your groceries via a website. This means that as people make that transition, there is more and more money being transacted over the internet. Overall, businesses are growing in terms of how many sales they do online in comparison to how many are being done in the store. This is a good indication that people are buying more of their products online instead of in retail stores. There is no suggestion that this will slow down anytime soon.

Grow by leaps and bounds with software to skyrocket your business: ecommerce shopping cart software, content management system software, and email marketing software by Interspire.

The Reality of Online Business

At this point, you should already have a ecommerce website developed. You might be getting co-workers, friends, family, and some occasional other visitors on your website. This part may scare you, but there is more to being successful online than just owning one of the millions of websites that are on the internet.

Disadvantages to Being Online

1: You must market your website

This is not like brick and mortar companies. Often times, you can build a restaurant in a local town. The word will quickly spread and people will see the sign as they drive by. Many times you might just get traffic from people who are curious as to what the business has to offer. This is not the case online.

A similar scenario would be if you were to build your business in the desolate desert where no one would see it. Instead of relying on the curiosity of people, you have to compel them to come. This is where marketing comes into play. Through marketing, you can move your business from the desert to Broadway in New York City.

2: You are in direct competition with more businesses. In a small town, you might be the only business nearby that sells motorcycles. You do not really have much competition. Everyone who wants a motorcycle will normally find their way to your store. Online, this is not the case. You are competing against the biggest companies to sell your products.

3: It is a never ending process

Just like your brick and mortar business, you will constantly be working on improving the performance of your online store. You will need to find out what works, what doesn’t work. You will have to capitalize on the market changes.

Advantages of Being Online

1: You have the ability to market your products to many more people

You might sell one or two motorcycles a day and that might be very good business for you in your brick and mortar company. Lucky for you, you now have a marketplace that is ten times larger than what you did have. Instead of selling your product to your metro area that has 100,000 people in it. You have the opportunity to get your product to the 100,000 people that are looking for your product on a daily basis.

2: Very little overhead expense

Running an online business is very inexpensive in comparison to brick and mortar companies. With brick and mortar companies you will be paying for location to store your products and do business, utility bills, you have to be there to keep the doors open. An ecommerce store will allow you to stay open 24 hours per day, even though you may not be directly at the computer. You will also find that a small web hosting fee and a mediocre marketing budget is much less expensive than what you are already paying to keep your doors open.

3: You can compete against larger businesses

Luckily for you, you do not have to have one hundred employees, a huge marketing budget, and sell overpriced products to compete with the bigger companies in your market. Instead, with a smaller budget you can do quite a bit online. You may find that you are taking business away from your other competitors if you are spending wisely. Just like you, it no longer matters that they are on a busier street in a bigger neighborhood. You are both online and you can directly compete against them and build up your business.

Grow your online business with software web designers love: ecommerce shopping cart software, content management system software, and email marketing software by Interspire.

Small Business Ecommerce Starting up Guide

E-commerce, as defined, or otherwise known as “electronic commerce”, is any trade deals whose price is or was bargained, settled or agreed upon, over an online system such as an Internet, Electronic Data Interchange, or email system.

Start small, grow physically and geologically, steer clear of VC funding, otherwise known as “Venture funding”, and a ‘one and only’ digital product that a lot of people can commend to their friends. After all, word by mouth is actually the best “salesperson” you can have for any type of product.
Should you have a software product that can be downloaded, which means having to avoid the hassle of renting warehouse space and additional payment for shipment, that would definitely make your online money-making efforts a success.

The features for a company to succeed are to have enough resources, creativity and skills. Some people think that “any kind of secret sauce”, or patents that require full non-disclosure, working on developing a cosmological, easy-to-use software products, making sure we hire indispensable employees, and setting up business partnerships with thousands of Web sites are key features in having a successful ecommerce business.

The best advise to growing e-commerce business for people who seem bent on having this kind of business, is to focus on maximizing the worth of the input you make to all participants in the business — customers, employees, business partners — and most especially, to yourself. Once your business sets off, try to get control and foothold, and continue on to develop and expand, hopefully, you’ve developed an asset that can function with or without you around.

One of the things that could be avoided and could probably be considered a big mistake would be about employment. Delay the hiring qualified people to fill important roles in the company is really something that needs to be attended to. Business managers who focus on the company’s growth and development are very much useful to a developing company, having to go out there and systematically generating flow of each deal— it could happen that business coming in would be from people who would accidentally come across your site or who would read about your site somewhere. It is quite important to know that people rely on you, so don’t let the fear of holding on to money stay too long, and see people- people who you feel have the right qualities to making your company grow, go by.

Ecommerce is more than a web-based commerce. You have to remember that It involves all types of communications technology, this includes the net, your ever reliable email, and intranets and extranets. All forms of technology to connect to people, which means email, sending a text message, television, fax, cell phone and landline phones.

Ecommerce is more than trading and doing business stuff online, over the net, it is using online means and equipment to do business better—more resourcefully, possibly, economically, and for sure, more productively. It’s about producing and saving money, at the same time…but being done online.
Ecommerce works for any commerce because the whole business cycle in itself, from the construction and creation, to procurement, allocation, deals, payment and billing, all the way to marketing. It’s about associations and dealings with different types of consumers, employees, suppliers, and distributors. It involves the support services like banks, lawyers, accountants, and government agencies.

Grow your online business with software web designers love: ecommerce shopping cart software, content management system software, and email marketing software by Interspire.