Impacts of eCommerce Growth in SMEs: Future Expectations
With the increasing challenges businesses around the globe face each day, more owners are resorting to eCommerce Web Development as a way to increase profits and enhance growth. One significant benefit of eCommerce is that it can significantly reduce your overall costs and also the reach of your products. Also, of late, there is an increasing number of Government grants and initiatives to help facilitate your journey from a local company to an omnichannel business.
In Singapore, about 99 percent of businesses are SMEs, and about two-thirds face the risk of winding up within the next five years. Because of this, the Government had initiated various programmes, such as the SME Go Digital Transformation to help businesses go online and reduce the risks associated with going digital. There are several steps to support a business on the eCommerce journey.
Find the Correct Platform
For one, it is essential you find the right platform to build your business online. Sites, like Carousell, provide you access to a broad consumer base. Also, Shopify provides a wide selection of design templates for your eCommerce store. By choosing the right platform, you will be able to engage better and reach the customers you desire to purchase your products.
Secondly, it is crucial for a business to target its products towards the desired audience. The use of analytics can help focus your products towards specific audiences, by showing you what they engage with best. Also, instead of spending hours thinking and calculating this yourself, a computer can do it all for you instantly. Analytics gives businesses the insights into how you are appealing to your customers, and cloud-based applications such as Shopify provide this in real-time.
Customisation and personalisation is the third step to consider as engagement is integral to customer journeys, and it does not begin when they receive a product. If purchasing and selling are personalised, there is a 20% increase in the likelihood of retention. They are also 4x more likely to open emails and notifications. Customising each email to address the person receiving it with Email Marketing is a simple but highly effective way to engage and target your customers.
Client Interaction
The next step is providing customers omnichannels. This will allow you to engage customers on a multitude of platforms while determining what they want. About 85% of online shoppers will make purchases across multiple platforms. This means they are also 3x more likely to spend than single-channel shoppers. Mobile purchases are going to overtake desktop purchases in the next five years; thus client interaction is vital.
Lastly, in eCommerce, you must be ready to scale up quickly as speed is key in this digitised world. You need to be able to meet demand quickly and cannot just process orders as they come. Sales analytics can help improve your forecasting; thus the chances of unpredictable demand are reduced, and this can all be possible through cloud computing. Scaling up is also more comfortable with cloud-based applications. Instead of needing a larger workforce or having to make significant hires, they can do some of these roles for you. Xero for instance when seamlessly integrated into your business firstly gets rid of the need for an accountant. Secondly, as the software is fully-automated, it means your eCommerce business is more secure, better managed and with a reduced chance of mistakes occurring.
Conclusion
The benefits of opting for eCommerce are huge. Moreover, automation gives you the time to focus on your customer needs and develop useful products. There’s no need to fork out large amounts of money. Embracing eCommerce today would help you better target your business globally. Talk to a digital marketing specialist today and you can join the eCommerce race without burning a hole in your budget.
