1. Overcome Time and Geographical Limitations
First of all, if you have an ecommerce website your business is open 24/7 and you can literally make money while you sleep. On the other hand, if you have a physical store, you are limited by the geographical area that you can service. With an ecommerce website, the whole world is your playground. Additionally, the advent of commerce ( i.e., ecommerce on mobile devices) has dissolved every remaining limitation of geography.
2. Gain New Customers With Search Engines, Blogs, and Social Media Visibility.
96% of customer are using search engines, blogs, and social media to do business locally. It is not unusual for customers to follow a link in search engine results, and land up on an ecommerce website that they have never heard of. This additional source of traffic can be the tipping point for some ecommerce businesses.
3. Lower Costs
One of the most tangible positives of ecommerce is the lowered cost. You are in business 24/7 with almost no labor cost. A part of these lowered costs could be passed on to customers in the form of discounted prices. Here are some of the ways that costs can be reduced with ecommerce:
4. Locate the Product Quicker
It is no longer about pushing a shopping cart to the correct aisle, or scouting for the desired product. On an ecommerce website, customers can click through intuitive navigation or use a search box to immediately narrow down their product search. Some websites remember customer preferences and shopping lists to facilitate repeat purchase.
5. Eliminate Travel Time and Cost
It is not unusual for customers to travel long distances to reach their preferred physical store. Ecommerce allows them to visit the same store virtually, with a few mouse clicks.
6. Provide Comparison Shopping
Ecommerce facilitates comparison shopping. There are several online services that allow customers to browse multiple ecommerce merchants and find the best prices.
7. Enable Deals, Bargains, Coupons, and Group Buying
Though there are physical equivalents to deals, bargains, coupons, and group buying, online shopping makes it much more convenient. For instance if a customer has a deep discount coupon for turkey at one physical store and toilet paper at another, she may find it infeasible to avail of both discounts. But the customer could do that online with a few mouse-clicks.
8. Provide Abundant Information
There are limitations to the amount of information that can be displayed in a physical store. It is difficult to equip employees to respond to customers who require information across product lines. Ecommerce websites can make additional information easily available to customers. Most of this information is provided by vendors, and does not cost anything to create or maintain.
Reference: http://ecommerce.about.com/od/eCommerce-Basics/tp/Advantages-Of-Ecommerce.htm
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