dAccording to the magazine in 2021 Internet users already account for 59.5% of the world population and in Mexico —a country to be taken as a reference for being the one with the largest number of Spanish speakers— ecommerce purchases grew by 81% between 2019 and 2020.
Let’s observe, then, that with the change in consumption habits, ecommerce becomes an excellent option for those who want to create their own business and at the same time have the flexibility that the digital market provides.
But do you know what an ecommerce is? Do you know how to create yours? Looking for ways to distinguish yourself from other online stores?
If those are your questions, this article will help you answer them.
What is an e-commerce?
The word ecommerce is an abbreviation for which, basically, designates the commerce that is carried out online.
This type of business is gaining more and more strength, as consumers realize that the Internet is a safe environment to buy.
It is important to highlight that every ecommerce is an online store, but not every online store is an ecommerce.
An online store is only considered an ecommerce when it sells products from a single company, such as , for instance.
And there are also other ecommerce models, for example the marketplace, which we will talk more about in the next section.
The structure of ecommerce works as follows: you expose the products and choose how the payment and delivery method will be. In addition, other processes, such as your marketing strategy or customer service channels, will have to be considered.
Where was e-commerce born?
The history of ecommerce is older than you imagine. The great big bang occurred in 1979, when the entrepreneur and executive of the IT sector Michael Aldrich presented a project of what would be the first online shopping system.
Combining a telephone line and a television, Videotex was then created, also known as teleshopping (do not confuse it with the practice of teleshopping, which consists of seeing the product on television and calling a telephone number to buy it).
In 1981, this first online shopping system was launched and over time its model was optimized, until in 1990, with the emergence of the World Wide Web, the online shopping revolution took off.
The first ecommerce was created in 1992, it sold books online and processed credit card payments. Three years later, the first giant ecommerces emerged: Amazon and eBay.
In 1999, the Alibaba group also emerged to make history.
Difference between ecommerce and marketplace
Unlike ecommerce, the marketplace works as a virtual showcase for different companies. In other words, the available products do not belong to the same store, but are only displayed on the same platform.
The marketplace performs the intermediation of the payment, but is not responsible for the guarantee or delivery of the product.
For many entrepreneurs, this model works well, since it is not necessary to buy a domain and have other expenses that are part of the creation of an ecommerce. All you have to do is upload the products on the chosen platform and promote them.
Another advantage of selling in a marketplace is that you use the that it already has in the market to attract buyers, which makes it much easier for people to find you.
A person who wants to buy some shoes or other clothing will have much more facilities in finding the site of when I’m doing a search that your store.
On the other hand, you do not have autonomy to define how your product will be seen by buyers.
Therefore, the marketplace It may be the best option for those who sell generic products, since they avoid the competition and the work involved in creating their own domain, while ecommerce offers some advantages to those who have a generic product. and they want to speak to a more segmented audience.
But anyway, nothing prevents you from having a niche product and selling it on a marketplace.
Your online business model will depend on how much time and money you are willing to invest.
Ecommerce or digital product platform?
When we think and talk about ecommerce, the sale of physical products immediately comes to mind.
Although, of course, an ecommerce can market a digital product, as is the case with Amazon, which sells digital books.
The big difference between an ecommerce and a platform is that the former sells more limited formats. On a platform like , the entrepreneur can sell ebooks, video courses, subscription services and any other type of file that can be downloaded.
This makes the purchase much easier, since there is nothing to limit the delivery process or storage in the formal sense of the term. The owner of the digital product defines this limit according to his strategy.
types of e-commerce
There are several business models dedicated to those who want to work with online sales, both for those who decide to do it through ecommerce and for those who choose to display their products in a marketplace.
B2B (Business to Business)
The acronym B2B, from the English Business to Business, applies to companies that create products or services to sell them to other companies.
Generally, B2B ecommerce presents higher value transactions, which requires a more robust system to process payments.
It is also necessary to be more prepared to deal with scenarios such as price variations, negotiation of payment terms, rules of minimum quantity of products to be sold, transportation, etc. That is, with all the usual issues in a business purchase.
B2C (Business to Consumer)
B2C is the model adopted by companies that make sales to the final consumer, which represents the majority of e-commerce companies. The ecommerces of or of are good examples of B2C ecommerce.
C2B (Consumer to Business)
C2B is an inversion of the traditional business model in which the consumer makes his service available to companies. Good examples of this are the website of Y .
C2C (Consumer to Consumer)
And finally we have the C2C, which includes commercial relationships between consumers and usually occurs in forums and markets such as Y .
S-Commerce (Social Commerce)
Today, some social networks like Facebook and Instagram have their own space to host virtual stores. for example, can be integrated into other ecommerce platforms, although the social network is already preparing its native check-in as well.
Advantages of e-commerce
Here are some advantages of creating a virtual store for the sale of your products.
1. Time flexibility
As we said at the beginning of the text, ecommerce represents the perfect balance between having your own business and having more time available, since you can create your , avoiding the traffic to and from work, and all the usual pitfalls for those who have a physical business.
2. Autonomy
When creating an ecommerce you have the freedom to decide on the design that is most aligned with your product and the interests of your target audience, in addition to not needing to pay commissions to third parties.
3. Low investment
Another advantage of having an online business is that you can start it without the high cost of setting up a physical location and having to pay rent and even salaries upfront.
At first you will only have to buy a domain and hire a hosting server. The good news is that both have very affordable annual plans and you’ll pay around $30 to get started.
In addition, there are several ready-made templates for your store available on the Internet, which means that you will not have programming costs and . As long as you choose the right tools, of course.
4. Scalable sales
To make a sale in a physical store you need time to reach the person, accompany them while they evaluate the products, present their advantages and, finally, make them buy the product. Already in the online store, the purchase process is more dynamic since we will have an ad or a website that generates the flow of sales, or we can even do several simultaneously.
In the case of physical products, the more sales you want to make, the more you will have to invest to get them. But if you decide to market digital products, each of them can generate profits as long as it is available for access.
Disadvantages of e-commerce
Just like any business, having an ecommerce also has its disadvantages, especially when we talk about physical products. It is important that you put it in the balance to know if the pros are worth the investment. Who knows if you will be more interested in other business models.
1. Stock creation
One of the main problems of having an ecommerce is the need to have a stock of products to meet the demand of buyers, especially at the beginning, because you do not know which product will sell more and the physical space in your home may be Not enough to store it all.
But rest assured, there are some options to avoid this problem. The first one is to sell consigned products, that is, you can put other people’s products on display in your store in exchange for a commission for each sale made. This way you don’t have to invest to create a stock.
Another alternative is to sell products only on request, such as , a store that designs custom shoes for men and women. The customer pays when placing the order, after confirming that the credit/debit card used is really that of the buyer.
2. High competition
In the same way that you are analyzing the possibility of creating your own ecommerce, thousands of other people will have had the same idea, so the It is one of the first factors that you should consider before investing your money in the creation of an online store.
What type of product do you want to offer? Are there other ecommerces that offer something similar? Can you offer it better? Study your market beforehand, to offer truly differentiated solutions that add value to buyers’ lives.
3. Deliveries
Depending on the country, delivery logistics can be a real nightmare for the entrepreneur, since there may be few specialized services for the delivery of products. It is known that products such as food, flowers and tickets have almost immediate delivery, but technology items, clothing, home or beauty products, among others, may take time to reach the user. And, of course, you don’t want your ecommerce to become famous for delivering late orders, right?
4. Consumer rights
Whoever has an ecommerce or is thinking of creating one also has to consider the rights of the digital consumer.
From here we recommend that you study the laws of your own country related to them, as they may vary from region to region. As an example, here is the regulatory framework of the .
You will also need to offer customer service channels so that your users can perform…
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