What is eCommerce And Why Is It Important?

This Thursday, May 2nd the Web Bureau will be sponsoring the eComm Live Conference here in our home city of Belfast! We are very excited to be a part of this great event, it promises to be a fantastic day a hugely knowledgeable line up of speakers, professionals and other sponsored seminars!

eComm Live is Northern Ireland’s first dedicated eCommerce conference. Whether you are an eCommerce entrepreneur, professional, traditional retailer looking to sell online, a web agency or consultant working with e-commerce clients, this event will be crammed full of useful information for you.

Ahead of the conference, we thought it would be beneficial to go through what eCommerce is and why it is so essential to any business.

What is eCommerce?

To put it simply eCommerce is the buying and selling of products and services online with the action of paying through an online service. eCommerce has made it easier for independent freelancers, small businesses, and large corporations to sell their products and services at a scale that was not possible before with traditional offline retail.

There are three main types of eCommerce retailers that most businesses fall under.  The most popular are business that sells physical goods. This could be anything from clothing to outdoor furniture.

Then there are service-based e-tailers, who can consist of online consultants, educators, and freelancers. A great example of this would be Uber, Deliveroo and Fiveer. If you have a service that can be done through an online platform,  eComms will be an essential part of sustaining your business.

Lastly, there are digital products, which is when a business sells "eGoods" this could be anything from an e-book, online courses, software, graphics, and virtual goods. Great examples of business that solely rely on selling their digital products online would be ShutterStock, Udemy and Slack.

eComm Platforms

Examining the different areas that eCommerce can cover, which is basically anything, what are the steps to take to implement an eCommerce site? There are many different eCommerce platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce and Demandware, but the most recommended platform is Magento. Magento is one of the most flexible eComm platforms with its powerful tools, it blows most platforms out of the water! With Magento, users can customise nearly any aspect of their eComm store. Magento provides businesses complete freedom over the look, feel and functionalities of their site.

Social Media Benefits

Now having an eCommerce website is impressive and will benefit your companies net worth, but you still need to get people to your website to buy your products and services. We believe eCommerce’s need digital marketing strategies so to ensure your eCommstore is reaching its fullest potential!

You wouldn't buy a store and hope people walk in and buy stuff, you would have to get people’s attention, advertise your business, make them aware of who you are. The most significant benefit about social media is that it gives you easy access to a massive audience, who are looking for what you are selling online! Facebook is an excellent way to target the right audience and lead them to your eCommerce website as well as enhance brand awareness. Instagram has stepped up its game by adding in-app shopping tags!

There are so many benefits when a digital marketing strategy and campaign support an eCommerce site!

If you have questions about how the Web Bureau might be able to help expand your company, or if you want to learn more about eCommerce, stop by our drop-in session, eCommerce Growth Clinic, located on the ground floor, from 10:00 to 15:00 at eComm Live this Thursday!