What is e-commerce?
E-commerce (electronic commerce) stands for all commercial transactions on the Internet. This means advertising, buying, and selling goods and services with the help of electronic information technologies that enable the transmission and processing of digital data information.
The possibility of gaining a foothold online, using new sales channels, and achieving direct customer contact is manifold. The best-known method for e-commerce is the online shop. In addition to the prerequisite of operating an e-commerce platform correctly in terms of technology and content, it is also important to find out the online marketing opportunities in the various channels and marketplaces that will bring success for the company's overall business presence on the Internet. This is followed by the strategic integration of social media marketing, email marketing, content marketing, etc.
In order to make full use of one's online marketing strategy, it is generally necessary to define and adapt it precisely in advance and on an ongoing basis. These and more questions can be answered for the corresponding strategy:
- What are my goals in e-commerce?
- Through which channels do I want to market my products or services, where can my target customers be found, how do my potential customers inform themselves?
- Who are my target groups?
- Which shop system is suitable for my company's goals?
- Which communication strategy brings me closer and more purposeful to my customers in order to bind them in the long term?
- How can I provide error-free, comprehensive, and always up-to-date information for the different channels?
- And much more.
How do I create an online shop?
After these preliminary considerations and the selection of the appropriate shop system, the following steps for the construction of the online shop must be designed in such a way that the company's goals can be fully achieved. In doing so, one should build on the important basics and make individual adjustments:
- Simple, providing sufficient information quickly
- Usability / design
- SEO
- DSGVO requirements
- Offer payment options
- Use customer data for further online marketing campaigns
- How should the online shop be advertised
- Etc.
Why does retail need an online shop?
The shift to digital customer buying has been going on for some time. This was made clear by the corona pandemic. Manufacturers and retailers who have not strategically integrated their marketing and sales processes into the digital online world will not be able to remain competitive in the market in the long term. E-commerce offers new and interesting economic opportunities and advantages for companies and customers.
