E-commerce giants like Amazon have disrupted the business retail industry, leading many to predict the demise of traditional brick-and-mortar stores. However, physical stores are not going away anytime soon. Instead, they are evolving to compete with online retailers and meet changing consumer needs.
Here are some of the ways that brick-and-mortar stores are adapting to stay relevant in the age of e-commerce:
Providing a unique in-store experience:
Brick-and-mortar stores focus on creating an experience that cannot be replicated online. This includes offering personalized services, interactive displays, and immersive experiences that engage customers and make shopping more enjoyable.
For example, Nike has opened “House of Innovation” stores that use cutting-edge technology to enhance the shopping experience. Customers can use their smartphones to scan products and learn more about them, and the stores have interactive displays that allow customers to design their shoes.
Offering convenient and flexible options:
One advantage of e-commerce over physical stores is convenience. To compete, brick-and-mortar stores offer customers more flexible options, such as online and in-store buying, curbside pickup, and same-day delivery.
Target has been particularly successful with these options, with over 95% of its online orders being fulfilled from its physical stores.
Leveraging data and technology:
Brick-and-mortar stores use data and technology to understand customer preferences and behavior better. This allows them to tailor their offerings and create a more personalized shopping experience.
For example, Sephora uses its app to collect customer purchase and preference data. It then uses this data to recommend products and provide personalized beauty advice to customers.
Investing in sustainability:
Consumers are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of their purchases. Brick-and-mortar stores are responding by investing in sustainable practices and products.
Patagonia is an excellent example of this, with its stores offering repair services for clothing and equipment and a trade-in program allowing customers to swap out used gear for store credit.
Building community:
Brick-and-mortar stores also focus on building community among their customers. This includes hosting events, workshops, and classes that unite people and foster a sense of belonging.
Lululemon is an excellent example of this, with its stores offering free yoga classes and other fitness-related events. This has helped the brand build a loyal following of customers who see Lululemon stores as more than just shopping places.
In conclusion, brick-and-mortar stores are far from dead. Instead, they adapt to meet changing consumer needs and compete with e-commerce giants. Physical stores are staying relevant and thriving in the digital age by providing a unique in-store experience, offering convenient and flexible options, leveraging data and technology, investing in sustainability, and building community.
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How E-commerce can be a great startup business and can generate considerable revenue
The contemporary age is influenced by modernized e-commerce business of variegated natures that will likely generate handsome revenues and innumerable jobs. Apart from conventional businesses, the world is steering towards crafting new startups to meet the ever-changing necessities of the globe. New startup businesses are not only imperative for generating new job opportunities but also beckon the interest of fiscally gigantic investors to invest and help these businesses to soar. Startup businesses should be vigorously funded to meet the needs and prompt the researchers to invent more objects and products to enhance the living standards of society. We have dedicated this blog to accentuating the lucrativeness of the E-commerce business so that readers become conversant with it. So, let us start without further ado!
What is E-commerce?
E-commerce implies buying and selling different products and objects via the internet and transferring data and funds. Transactions in business can be made as either business to business, which is known as B2B, Business to Consumer (B2C), Consumer to Consumer(C2C), and Consumer to Business (C2B). Often, E-commerce and E-business are interchangeably used. Similarly, e-tail is employed for the transaction processes that constitute online retail shopping.
In the previous decades, the excellent use of e-commerce platforms like Amazon and eBay has efficiently brought about pronounced growth in online sales. Scalability of this business can be fathomed by its rapid increase to 16% from 5.1% in 2007 till now. This business has a base website called the E-commerce website.
How does E-commerce work?
Essentially, it works on the internet, allowing buyers easy access to products and services they are looking for and then placing an order for the desired service or product.
Once a buyer places an order, the web browser on the buyer’s side will start communicating with the server of the online website store. Data regarding the established order will be passed on to a central computer called the order manager; after that, the data is passed on to databases managing inventory levels and a bank computer. This whole process ensures whether the customer funds are sufficient for the order to be processed. Post to order validation, the order manager will instantly inform the store’s web server, then notify the customer by displaying a message that the order has been successfully placed. After that, the order manager will convey this data to the warehouse to prepare the product to be delivered. In this phase, tangible products are dispatched to the customer’s address, whereas access is given to digital products. In E-commerce, marketplaces are dedicated for sellers to sign up and start buying services and products simply. You can use an eCommerce application instead of using a web browser to carry out all this process.
Types of E-commerce:
A few types of e-commerce need to be understood before you start an e-commerce setup. Let us have a glance over them:
1-Business-to-Business (B2B):
B2B implies exchanging goods, products, or services between businesses rather than between customers. Typical examples of B2B e-commerce are online directories, development, and supply exchange online stores/websites that enable businesses to search for products, services, or information and commence transactions via e-procurement interfaces.
According to research conducted in 2017, it was predicted that B2B will surpass 1.1$ trillion in the United States by 2023.
2-Business-to-Consumer (B2C):
It is such a retail part of e-commerce that incorporates selling products, and services by businesses to customers directly. This term became popularized during the dot-com boom in the late 1990 when online retailing was no less than a marvel! Nowadays, there is a plethora of virtual stores and malls selling products and goods. The most prominent example of a B2C e-commerce website is Amazon which is the most dominating in this spectrum!
3-Consumer-to-Consumer(C2C):
It is a type of e-commerce that incorporates trading products, services, and goods between consumers. All the transactions in the C2C kind of e-commerce are conducted by a third party that affords an online platform on which transactions take place. Typical examples of C2C e-commerce are online auctions and classified advertisements, with eBay and Craiglist one of the most renowned platforms of this ilk.
4-Consumer-to-Business (C2B):
It is a sort of e-commerce business where consumers craft products and services for online companies and corporations to meet their manufacturing needs. This is contrary to the traditional trading model of B2C.
A prominent example of a C2B platform is a market that aims to sell royalty-free images, photographs, and design elements like iStock.
Advantages of E-commerce:
E-commerce business wields enormous profit when set up professionally. Here are some of the advantages of E-commerce that are fetching enough to invest in this business.
1-24/7 Availability:
Irrespective of electricity and internet outages, e-commerce sites are 24/7 available to generate revenue by allowing customers to browse their desired products and services from an unending panorama of variety. Its super availability makes it a worth-investing business.
2-Wide availability:
E-commerce enables the online business to span across the whole globe and possesses many products that are quickly dispatched to the customer’s doorstep. In this way, every nation or country is aimed at without much hassle, leading to massive revenue and brand development. Moreover, every person can easily avail of services by using E-commerce applications.
3- Ease of accessibility:
Customers can easily access their desired products by scrolling through the variety of products on the online store without the hassle of physically visiting the out-let that is entailed in conventional marketing. So, this feature makes it a profitable investment business.
Why should new E-commerce businesses be started?
Our world is gradually being overwhelmed by the internet world that is changing the modality of several processes, with the conventional ones being obsoleted by the modern ones. Business through E-commerce has gravitated a huge number of people towards it since it eliminates hassles of physically outreaching the outlet, punctually adhering to time for the outlets being open. Although there are already a few booming e-commerce businesses, there is a vast scope in this business that can be racked up by targeting several specific niches and maintaining great quality and timely delivery. Therefore, we are inviting investors to help bolster E-commerce businesses since these businesses are highly profitable and easy to build a brand.
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