Creating an online presence for your business can cause mixed feelings, doubts and excitement too, because you would be adventuring into a new business or a new location that is not a “Brick and Mortar” location.
The Covid-19 pandemic gave a hard push to organisations which got them to set their businesses online in order to keep the business surviving. Setting up a business online isn’t just signing up on social media platforms, creating a logo, and posting content. This requires careful planning and a clear understanding of what platforms to use and how to ensure operational efficiency.
Considering potential pitfalls and which e-commerce model works best for your business when planning your e-commerce website is a must. You have to ask yourself these questions:
- What are our objectives?
- What are our payment gateways?
- When we get to the sale, how do we deliver?
- Do we need a logistic partner?
- How do we get returns?
- Are we buying or manufacturing by ourselves?
- What content do we need to encourage people to purchase from us?
All these and more are questions needed to be answered before venturing into e-commerce. Businesses with physical locations already before going into e-commerce are on a benefitting end, as they must have built brand credibility and already have a specific customer base to structure on. Physical locations can also support your e-commerce store. By combining your online and offline stores you can offer a more holistic and focused customer experience that aligns with customers purchasing habits.
Pitfalls are necessary considerations when starting any business; offline or online.
- Considering if your business is suitable to be online is necessary as it could be a pitfall. Not all firms can successfully operate online.
- Understanding what business model works for you is essential. Your business will fall off the ladder if you just jump into e-commerce with a random model.
- Carefully estimate your capital investment; mere presumptions will cause your business to falter as your presumed capital might run out halfway into the business UI process.
According to the statistics, mobile devices account for 51.92% of all web traffic and mobile usage typically surpasses desktop use which has an effect on shopping and communication behaviour. This means that mobile traffic continues to soar. Visit Afrikbrand.tech to face a mobile-heavy marketing world.