How to sell on e-commerce platforms

Before understanding the term e-commerce, we should know Commerce first. All those activities in converting the raw material to finished goods are called Commerce. OR Commerce is a system to distribute raw materials to the industries and finished products to the final consumers.

Commerce includes trade and services to trade. Trade of goods and services is the purchasing and selling of items and duties. The benefits of trade are transportation, distribution, banking, insurance, advertising, and marketing. Trade is not a simple term related to business operations; it is sharing or exchanging information about products also included in the trade.

E-commerce

E-commerce stands for Electronic Commerce. Trade through the Internet is called e-commerce.

The methods of doing business electronically, including trade of goods and services and services via the Internet, is called e-commerce.

E-commerce is a very vast term, sharing or exchanging information about goods and services electronically from one place to another, at any stage in the supply chain, whether within an organization, between business to business, business to consumer, public or private, either paid or unpaid, also includes in e-commerce.

Scope of E-commerce:

Over the last three decades, e-commerce has undergone a tremendous development. According to a survey report by an international statistical institute, more than 2.14 billion people worldwide purchase goods and services online via the Internet. And now, the number of Amazon stores worldwide is more than 200 million. It is a significant achievement of the e-commerce platform. Some companies only sell their services and goods online, while others use e-commerce for a broader strategy, including physical stores and other distribution channels. In addition, e-commerce allows new startups and small and large companies to sell their goods at a large scale and reach customers worldwide.

From the Buyer’s Point of View: 

Dealing with the Sellers and purchasers of far-off places was difficult a few years ago. However, through the e-commerce facility, selling and sending pictures of goods through media files is easy. Through e-commerce, every consumer has more choice to purchase their required products. E-commerce is quicker than a buyer can buy a product from a physical store, but more suitable and quality goods and reasonable prices are offered at an online store. If a person wants to buy international standard products instead of local ones, he can order the goods from the producer via email or text.

From the Seller’s Point of View: 

Every business person and producer of goods and services wants to expand his business and make more profit. But a few decades ago, a producer produced and sold interests in a local market. It was also challenging to approach other markets due to transportation issues. But now, a producer has a broader range of buyers and can sell his goods and services worldwide. The transportation issues also have been resolved by courier services. Many small business owners who produced local and cheap things at a small scale widened their businesses through the Internet and e-commerce.

Here we are talking about E-commerce, the main aim of our article is to earn an honorable employment. This website has another article on how to make money online and platforms to work online. Readers can read that article to learn about online earning media by reading that article. Here, I’m sharing a link.
Read more: How to Earn Money online in Pakistan

E-commerce Business

A company that earns revenue from online selling goods and services by making a website is called an E-commerce business. You can sell household items, software, and office equipment like PCs, Laptops, and Printers through our online business website. You can also sell our services related to Accounting, Management, Legal, graphic designing, web designing, networking, and marketing.

Steps to Start an E-commerce Business

Starting an e-commerce business depends upon what you want to sell and who will be your potential customers. If you want to sell some services, then there is no need to manage inventory. But if you want to trade goods through your online business, inventory management is vital because all the operations will contain inventory items.

The following steps you can take to get started:

• Search Online Business ideas very carefully.
• Ensuring that a product you want to sell online has a good demand is essential.
• Make sure you’ll sell and ship goods to customers after getting an order.
• Find the best manufacturers and suppliers and good courier services companies.
• Select an excellent online channel through which you will advertise and sell your products. (Like Amazon store.) A fantastic, reputed store will also help you sell your products more quickly.
• Create an attractive website; upload products you want to sell with clear pictures. If you want to sell services, then the terms and conditions of the benefits must be straightforward.
• Create a clear strategy plan for the inventory items.
• Give promotional packages to attract customers.
• Give gift hampers to please customers and advertise them on your website to motivate other customers to purchase more.

Go through these guidelines in more detail to start an e-commerce business so you can make the best decision for creating an online store.

E-commerce website

An e-commerce website is your digital platform on the Internet. This platform facilitates the transaction b/w the buyers and sellers.

It is a virtual store where you can show your products, and online customers make selections and orders. Your website acts as your online business channel’s product shelves, sales staff, and cash register.

Types of e-commerce

The 4 Major E-Commerce Business Models

• Business-To-Consumer (B2C)
• Business-To-Business (B2B)
• Consumer-To-Business (C2B)
• Consumer-To-Consumer (C2C)

Business-To-Consumer (B2C) 

In this online business, products are directly sold to their final consumers without any other channel, like wholesalers or distributors. OR A final consumer can buy his required products instantly from the manufacturer or producer without any middleman’s involvement. The seller takes an order, ships the goods to the given address by the customer, and gets payment through the method decided between them, either online or cash on delivery. B2C includes both services and products. Nowadays, so many mobile applications are working for online shopping.

Business-To-Consumer (B2C) 

In this business model, a business sells its goods and services to another company online. Sometimes, a buyer is the final user, but usually, he buys goods for resell purposes. The transaction cycle of this model is generally longer as compared with B2C.

Consumer-To-Business (C2B)

In the C2B business model, Individual sellers directly sell their goods or services to big companies. Producers advertise their products on their websites and sell them to big industries. For example, a farmer sells his cotton crop to a factory owner who further processes it to convert it into a proper form. In services, freelancing is the best example of C2B, where a freelancer sells his services to big companies.

Consumer-To-Consumer (C2C)

Sometimes, Consumers exchange their goods and services with other goods and services. It is a traditional business model that has been working for thousands of years. But now, this model has been modernized through e-commerce. There are so many platforms available where people can exchange their goods.

Advantages of E-commerce business

The benefits of e-commerce business are:

No Restriction of Location and Time

There is no limitation, restriction, area, or location To start an e-business. If you have a PC, Laptop, and an internet connection, you can make your website and start your E-business. There are no geographical boundaries to create it.

From the buyer’s point of view, e-business is also a good option because a buyer can order any time, anything, and from any place 24/7. In contrast, in traditional business, a buyer cannot purchase goods when the store is closed.

Reduce Money spent

In traditional business, goods become more costly due to over-expenses of transportation, rent, electricity, and general office expenses. The store owner adds These expenses to the cost of the products. But in E-business, buyers directly purchase goods from the producer. The cost of goods increased by only shipping expenses. Sometimes, the seller bears shipping expenses, and the product becomes cheaper.

Fast Customer Service

The online business platform offers a fast reply to customers’ queries. Email, live chat, and even live video call options are available to solve the customers’ problems.

Cheaper to Start:

E-business is very cheap to start as compared with traditional business. A person having a meager amount can start a business by making a website. The expense of creating a website is significantly lower than conventional business store making, where different monthly costs occur in the shape of rent, electricity bills, office expenses, and employees’ salaries.

Profits and Customers

In traditional business, you can sell your products only to customers in your area. But in e-business, you always focus on clients from all over the world. You can check your visitor’s locations and focus on the areas where you have many customers. When you provide the basic needs of customers, you can get more and more customers and earn a reasonable profit as well. If most clients visit your social media platform instead of your website, you can get more traffic from your social media and convert it into your website.

E-commerce trends

E-commerce is not only a crowd favorite but also intersects with the last three years’ most well-known social media trends. A US analytical agency predicts that e-commerce retail sales will increase 25% to 35% up to 2026, which is just the beginning of these trends. Modern consumers now prefer to buy branded products instead of local ones. Shopping for these branded items is only possible by online means like e-commerce. Marketers and managers of online businesses need to be aware of the latest trends of e-commerce businesses and required items purchased by online customers worldwide.

The main points of e-commerce trends in 2022 and 2023 are as follows.

• Advanced and excessive use of Cell phone shopping
• Growing social media trends
• Brand recommendations and discounts are offered to personal buyers.
• Rapid growing trends in Artificial intelligence
• Safety and security of customer data like Debit card numbers, etc.
• Rise in Voice search
• Focus on the quality of products
• Sustainable brand requirements by the consumers
• Live stream shopping
• Excellent and fast response by the sellers in case of query.

Conclusion

Through E-commerce, businesses achieve more success, competition, a broader marketplace, advanced technology to produce goods, a global market to sell services, and much more profits than traditional businesses. Through e-commerce, every consumer has more choice to purchase his required products, and every producer has a broader range of buyers and can sell his goods and services worldwide. With the Internet and E-commerce, the world has become a global village for business activities.

FAQ

What is e-commerce?

E-commerce is a vast term—trading and sharing or exchanging information about goods and services electronically from one place to another.

How do you start an e-commerce business?

Starting an e-commerce business depends upon what you want to sell and who will be your potential customers. If you want to sell some services, then there is no need to manage inventory. But if you want to trade goods through your online business, inventory management is vital because all the operations will contain inventory items.

What is an e-commerce website?

An e-commerce website is your digital platform on the Internet. This platform facilitates the transaction b/w the buyers and sellers.

What are the major types of e-commerce?

The 4 Major E-Commerce Business Models

• Business-To-Consumer (B2C)
• Business-To-Business (B2B)
• Consumer-To-Business (C2B)
• Consumer-To-Consumer (C2C)