Does your business really need an eCommerce website?
You might be thinking of how your eCommerce business can benefit from a website and if it’s time to create one. But as a small business owner, is it worth having a website to sell products? Should you continue selling on social media and online marketplaces?
Read on to find out the answers to these questions and the benefits of selling on a website for an eCommerce business, as claimed by online small business owners like you.
Benefits of an eCommerce website: 10 reasons why your business needs one
1. Easier to get repeat customers
With an online store, you have a benefit that business owners using other forms of commerce find it hard to do — repeat customers.
In a survey by ICRIER, 65% MSMEs claim that the biggest benefit of having their own eCommerce website is the ease of retaining customers.
The easiest and most cost-effective way to get more sales is to make your earlier customers stay with you and buy again. When you sell on online marketplaces like Amazon, it’s very hard to get customers to come back.
But, eCommerce websites with features that help you retain customers easily. For example, with customer accounts on your online store, you can collect customer information and use it to send personalised messages.
Here are some other features on Instamojo stores that enables repeat customers:
- Run discount sales for past customers to get them to shop again
- Offer good and timely customer support in your store: the live chat feature available on Instamojo helps you communicate with customers and provide them with the right level of support.
- Send out emails to announce a new product launch or when you run a sale
2. Enables you to beat the competition
A majority of online sellers in India say that competition from large sellers is one of the biggest challenges in growing their business. This challenge will continue for years to come as more businesses choose the eCommerce path.
Is it possible to stand out from your competitors and attract customers? Is competitive pricing the only way to succeed in eCommerce?
It’s assumed that shoppers explore online options to choose products with the lowest price. The truth is your products have a chance to earn buyers — if your products have better features and appearance AND you are able to showcase it properly.
That’s where an online store comes in.
Starting an eCommerce store is taking the first step to becoming a direct-to-consumer brand.
In fact, 59% of MSMEs in India agreed that having an online store means lower competition as compared to other modes of eCommerce.
Building a brand for your business showcases how different you are from the mainstream. No matter how generic your products are, eCommerce websites offer you the potential to differentiate yourself from the competition.
Being able to compete with brands is perhaps the biggest benefit of an eCommerce website.
Here are some eCommerce website features that help you beat the competition:
- Run offers and discount campaigns on your online store to stand out from competitors
- Showcase customer reviews and testimonials
- Enable SEO best practices to outrank your competitors on Google and other search engines
- Offer amazing user experience on your website with beautiful online store themes and easy store navigation
Apparently, lesser competition also means more sales. More on this in the next section.
3. Greater volume of sales
Having an eCommerce website for your business leads to more sales — the ultimate goal of any business.
Half of the business owners with eCommerce websites who participated in the survey claim that they get more sales as compared to other modes of commerce (online marketplaces and social commerce).
How does a business with an online store get more sales? Firstly, a customer doesn’t have to go back and forth asking for the price and placing an order the way they have to on a social media platform.
The only thing a customer has to do to buy your products is to visit your store, browse through it, and click to place an order.
The easier it is for customers to make a purchase, the more sales you get.
Ecommerce websites come with features that help you convert customers quickly. Here are some other features an online store can offer that leads to more sales:
- Multiple payment options so that customers can pay you any way they want and a safe payment gateway.
- Customer information: know more about your shoppers so that you can offer them a personalised experience
- eCommerce marketing tools to run successful campaigns and drive sales
- Popups and forms to offer store visitors discounts and convert them faster
4. Lower cost of setting up
If the one thing that’s holding you back from starting your own eCommerce business is the concern about starting capital, think again! Upgrading your business to technology might seem expensive. In reality, you can set up an eCommerce website with little to no money.
You can sign up for a free online store on Instamojo. You will get an eCommerce feature that will enable you to start selling online instantly.
When you are ready to scale your business, subscribe to a premium plan and start selling quickly.
5. Easy to start
Starting an online store is easier than ever with eCommerce website builders like Instamojo, enabling small businesses to go online in just a few days, if not hours.
You can start creating an online store as soon as you sign up, even before purchasing a plan. What’s more, the services are affordable and super fast.
Watch this video to know more about creating an eCommerce website on Instamojo:
Ready to start your own professional online store for free? Get started now!
6. Get the right customers
Many eCommerce businesses fail because of not being able to target the right customer base. In a virtual shopping environment, your product might get lost among the myriad of other products that businesses are trying to sell.
With an eCommerce website, you can find customers online that are interested in buying from you. There are mainly two ways to attract the right customers to your online store:
- Make your eCommerce website search-friendly: With the help of SEO tools, optimise your store and let customers find you when they search for products on Google or other search engines. This a natural way to gain traction to your online store, without spending any money.
Want to know more about getting your store discovered? Get this free beginner-friendly guide on SEO for eCommerce stores.
- Run ads on your online store: You can target a customer base, run digital ads, and direct them to your online store to get more sales.
Instamojo stores come with in-built features that help you target the right customers and get more sales.
Related read: This whitepaper explores different trust-building strategies that gets you more sales on your online store
7. Better profits
Business profits depend on a wide range of factors and vary for each business.
Here’s how selling on your own website influences store profits — As the business owner, you decide your prices based on business costs. And you can choose profit margins that favour your bottom line.
When selling on an online marketplace, they can undercut your price in favour of another supplier, bringing you lesser sales and profit. This problem is eliminated when it comes to selling in your own store.
Apart from the matter of pricing, online stores make measuring business profits easier. On eCommerce websites created with Instamojo, you get tools to track the number of orders and transactions. This data will help you make better business decisions and increase profits.
Related Read: The Do’s and Don’ts of an eCommerce website
8. Manage business efficiently
Business-related tasks take up significant time, everything from collecting orders to shipping products. But, with an online store, you can easily run an eCommerce business along with a full-time job or being a homemaker.
After your website is set up, you do not need to spend too much time running the business. This is because a lot of the processes are automated and can be handled with just a few clicks from your store dashboard.
Here are some ways you can save time and manage business efficiently on your Instamojo online store:
- All your product orders will be collected and stored automatically and you can manage them on the store dashboard:
- Send automated order completion emails to your customers
- Tools to generate GST invoices and manage accounting
- Track how successful your sales are
9. Lesser chance of errors and delays
The biggest factor that prevents customers from shopping at a new business is a lack of trust. They fear financial fraud, and delays in shipping, among others.
A proper eCommerce website not only builds trust, but also has lesser chances of technical errors such as payment failures. On an Instamojo online store, you can securely collect payments and receive them into your bank account quickly.
Delay in product delivery is a major customer satisfaction issue and has cost businesses lakhs of rupees. To help you overcome this challenge, eCommerce platforms like Instamojo also give you the option to choose a trusted shipping partner that offers doorstep delivery and pickup.
10. Potential to scale your business
As your business starts getting more sales, you will need new strategies to scale it further. And for that, you need an online store that keeps up with your business growth. You can easily respond to market demand and your customer’s requirements with innovation.
Start your own eCommerce website
Starting an eCommerce website might be the next milestone in your online business journey.
On Instamojo, you can set up a store easily and get your business running. You can enjoy benefits such as repeat customers, better profits, and efficient business management.
Watch this short video to know more about setting up your own Instamojo eCommerce website:
