In first World countries the Internet is now a huge part of our everyday life. We use it at work and we use it at home. It is all around us. A person from a First World country would be in a minority if they said they had not paid for anything across the Internet or bought a product or service online through an eCommerce store. In a August, 2007 study it was found that in Europe, in 2006, residents in European Nations spent $132 Billion Euros (USD $180 Billion) through eCommerce Websites. In the next 5 years the amount spent through eCommerce Websites is set to increase by 25% per annum to an estimated $406.8 Billion Euros (USD $554 Billion) by 2011. It should be noted this only covers Europe and does not factor in the US, Asia and other emerging regions, which would easily double or triple those figures.
So, clearly there is a huge market place online that needs to be serviced by online shops and websites selling products and services. As a business owner I can see a huge market for established businesses in the real World to move into the World of eCommerce and sell online.
ECommerce Website Partners should be assessed for their suitability to deliver a quality ongoing relationship that will be to your company's best benefit for the long term.
1. A strong history of developing eCommerce Websites with a good portfolio and testimonials
2. Hosting with reliable and strong Internet connections
3. Good design and development team with >5 people to ensure adequate support in the future
4. Online Marketing Professionals with proven history of success and a good portfolio of established clients - THE single most important feature of any shop - getting visitors through the doors!
As a business owner I would describe an eCommerce store with Search Engine Optimisation implemented as a store with many, many different doorways into it. ECommerce websites owners should recognize that the more people you get to come to your website the more sales you will make. Search Engine Optimisation does exactly this, targeting certain phrase that when searched on in Google your website shows up for. Now it should be noted that the higher to the top you finish the more website visitors you are likely to get. It has been shown in studies that 80% of all people who search on a term go to one, or more, of the results on the first page (the top 10) results. So the goal with SEO is to get on the first page and in the top 10 results shown for a given search term. So your goal in choosing a partner should be focused on good website design but more on online marketing and how they can help you spread the word and get visitors to your website.
An eCommerce website provides many benefits to the underlying business. It gives the business an extra dimension and as mentioned above if implemented with SEO, many doorways into the shop. With more customers comes more revenues - everyone recognizes this fact. An eCommerce Shop also provides Interstate, National and even global reach for your product or service. With a Global eCommerce system you can reach the farthest reaches of the World and supply product, creating a Global Brand Name in new emerging markets.
