E-Commerce for Smaller Businesses

E-commerce is by far the fastest growing segment of the retail market, and is showing no signs of slowing down. Just five years ago it was mainly larger businesses who had fully functional e-commerce portals; the costs of setting up a quality e-commerce site that accepted credit cards and such was simply beyond the means of most small businesses. That is certainly not the case any longer, as the costs have dropped dramatically and the vast majority of businesses of all sizes have e-commerce enabled websites.

Advantages of E-Commerce

E-commerce provides numerous advantages over traditional brick-and-mortar retail sales methods, especially cost, and is even more convenient than catalog telephone/mail order sales.

Cost is, of course, a huge advantage of e-commerce retailing, as a website, even a top-notch, well-designed website with a fully functional e-commerce suite, will only cost a small fraction of the cost of setting up a real-world retail operation. There is no rent or mortgage to pay, no utility bills, no maintenance or cleaning costs, and no (or very few) employees to pay. Some sources estimate that a web-based small business can operate at less than 10 percent of the cost of a brick-and-mortar retail operation.

E-commerce is also extremely convenient compared to having to actually get in your car and go to the mall or Walmart. With e-commerce there is no driving, no crowded parking lots, and no lines to wait in. You just put the items in the electronic shopping basket, pay at the checkout step using a credit or debit card, PayPal or other methods, and your merchandise is shipped to you. And e-commerce websites are accessible to consumers at any time of the day, as e-commerce sites are open 24/7, 365 days a year, even Christmas!

You do, of course, have to wait for the items you ordered via e-commerce to be delivered, which is a major disadvantage in some cases, but this is not a problem if you are careful about planning your purchases and ordering what you need ahead of time.

You can learn more about what a well-designed e-commerce suite can do for your business by talking to e-commerce web design professionals such as the experts at Kuware. The web design staffs at Kuware have developed scores of retail websites, and are highly experienced in e-commerce web design. Make sure your business is ready to compete in the 21st century with a website that sells and a convenient, cutting-edge e-commerce suite with all the features your customers expect.