Business opportunities in the digital world in this era are indeed growing and even getting bigger. One of them is e-commerce. What is e-commerce? Check out the following explanation.

What is e-commerce?

Quoted from Business News Daily, e-commerce is an activity that refers to the buying and selling of goods or services through the Internet. At this time, you can find various e-commerce with various forms of sales, such as electronic devices, shoes, clothing, and others.

Even so, many people still think that e-commerce and the marketplace are the same thing, even though it turns out that these two things are different.

E-commerce usually sells products that are only owned by one particular brand. A marketplace is a place or platform that brings together seller and buyer data. So that the products in the marketplace also vary.

So, the definition of e-commerce itself is a website or application that is only owned by one brand / individual and only sells products from the brand itself. The term is the same as a store, but e-commerce does not have a physical store.

Quoted from techtarget.com there are several types of e-commerce such as:

B2C

This type of e-commerce that you know in general is the process of selling goods directly to customers.

B2B

This type is usually more about the buying and selling process carried out by fellow businesses. For example, service or software companies that sell their products to companies in need.

C2B

This type of e-commerce is the opposite of B2C where consumers create products and sell them online to companies. Examples of products sold by C2B are photos, images, media, and royalty-free design elements, which can usually be found on the internet.

There are many benefits that you will feel if you open e-commerce, including:

1. More cost-effective

By having e-commerce, the costs incurred compared to opening a store will be less. For example, the cost of renting/buying a place, shop signs, equipment, and much more

Meanwhile, if you choose to open e-commerce, you only need to create a website or register your store on an online sales platform.

2. Wider reach

Imagine if you have a real store, then the customers you can reach are those around your location only. While e-commerce is not limited because with an online system anyone and anywhere will be very easy to find your e-commerce.

3. Personalized online experience

Quoted from Oberlo, one of the advantages of using e-commerce on a website is that you can make personalize the website according to your target customers. You can customize the appearance and service of your online store that may be of interest to customers.

So, you can design your website’s appearance according to your potential customers’ criteria.

4. Open 24 hours

Because the system is online, your store can be open for up to 24 hours. This happens because your customers are free to check out goods whenever they want. They just choose the desired product and proceed to the payment process. Later you can continue the delivery process on the same day or the next day.

Then what about how it works?

The way e-commerce works are divided into 4.

1. Customers order products via the website

Starting from customers who visit your store profile, then they will start looking for the products they want. Then they will pick and put it in the basket.

2. Payment processing

After ordering the product, the order will be processed through the features on your website and then will go through the checking and confirmation stage that the product is available.

If the product is available, customers can check out and continue the payment process.

After that, the subscriber will enter shipping information (name, address, cellphone number, and email) on your payment form or page.

In addition, customers select a payment method and enter their payment card details.

When the payment is complete, the customer gets a message on the website that the transaction has been made.

3. Products packaged and shipped

After completing the payment process, the next step is shipping. You must be able to ensure the delivery service you use has a wide and fast reach.

At this stage, the ordered products will be packed and ready to be shipped to the warehouse. Customers will receive a notification that their order is ready to ship at that time.

After the order is sent, the transaction can be declared complete.

4. Order received

Finally, customers receive products that they previously ordered in your online store.

That’s the discussion about e-commerce. Are you interested in opening a business through e-commerce? Make sure you are steady in your choice! Good luck.