The trend towards ecommerce has rapidly surpassed trend status and become a standard part of consumerism. Everyday there are advertisements directing us to someone’s website to conduct a transaction, buy a concert ticket, book travel or accommodation, perhaps even buy household goods – the list of what can be transacted online is almost endless.
No doubt you’ve made purchases online yourself; have you considered how you could incorporate e-commerce into your business?
According to Neilson online research, over 1.4 million people conducted e-commerce transactions for the period ending April 2010; an increase of 2.4% on the previous year.
The Report shows that 45 percent of New Zealanders now shop online. The overall increase in the number of online shoppers, while having stabilised somewhat over the last year, still shows strong growth compared to 39 percent of the population at the end of 2007, and is close to double what it was five years ago.
Ecommerce is a very broad term to describe a multitude of ways business can use the internet to transact online. You don’t necessarily need to have goods to sell; perhaps you are able to have some portion of your services also available through an e-commerce mechanism? Are you able to offer online payment (preferably pre-pay) for any of the services your regularly provide?
Considering 61 percent of NZ internet users say that they find it easier to compare products and prices online, and close to half of the NZer’s surveyed finding online shopping more convenient it is a good time to think about how ecommerce can enhance your business. The Report also identified that a high number of New Zealanders prefer to purchase from New Zealand online retailers as opposed to international sites if the products or services are available locally.
Ecommerce offers buyers the convenience of being able to visit multiple web sites round the clock enabling them to compare prices and make purchases, without having to leave the comfort of their homes or offices.
With the incorporation of ecommerce businesses have the ability to track and monitor interests and preferences of their customers; of course this must be done with the customer’s permission. The information collated can then be used to help build an ongoing relationship with customers by being able to customise products and services to meet the needs of the customer.
There’s no denying that there are some areas of resistance to online purchasing, but this is mainly in high value transactions such as household furniture etc. Even though there is the existence of a few disadvantages e-commerce the advantages have the potential to outweigh those.
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Posted in Blog | June 23rd, 2010. Author: admin
