ECOMMERCE

WHAT IS ECOMMERCE?
Ecommerce stands for electronic commerce and refers to a digital platform and a
business model where you can buy or sell products online. Every time you purchase a
product online, you’re participating in the ecommerce economy.
The term is quite broad and flexible, as it not only includes Amazon or eBay, but
online banking, software services, remote service providers, or online course
platforms (basically, any transaction made online). However, depending on the
context, the term “ecommerce” is often used to refer to the typical online store that
sells shirts to end consumers.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF E-COMMERCE?

E-commerce is an essential part of many businesses that rely on the sale of physical
products or services online. Here are the main kinds of e-commerce:
- Business-to-consumer (B2C): B2C is the most common kind of e-commerce.
When shoppers buy something from an online store, they are involved in business-
to-consumer e-commerce.
- Business-to-business (B2B): B2B is when businesses sell raw goods or parts
through e-commerce to other companies that will then use those materials to create
their own products.
- Consumer-to-consumer (C2C): C2C e-commerce is when consumers sell to other
consumers. Sites like eBay and Craigslist are examples of this kind of e-
commerce.
- Consumer-to-business (C2B): C2B e-commerce is when consumers sell their
products or services to businesses.
- Business-to-administration (B2A): B2A e-commerce refers to transactions
between businesses and public administration, which includes areas such as social
security, employment and legal.
- Consumer-to-administration (C2A): C2A e-commerce refers to transactions
between consumers and public administration, where consumers pay for services
like taxes and legal document preparation.
EXAMPLES OF E-COMMERCE
In addition to different types of e-commerce, there are also different functional
versions of e-commerce, distinguishable by the relationship of the transaction and the
products or services being sold. The most common examples include:
- Retail: Retail e-commerce is when a product is sold directly to a customer.
- Wholesale: Wholesale e-commerce is when products are sold in bulk often to a
retail company who, in turn, sells them to its customers.
- Physical products: Physical product e-commerce refers to any products that affect
inventory and must be physically shipped.
- Digital products: Digital product e-commerce refers to products purchased as
downloadable goods—such as books, templates or courses.
- Dropshipping: Dropshipping e-commerce is when a product is sold by one
company that outsources its manufacturing and shipping to another company.
- Subscription: Subscription e-commerce is when a customer has a recurring
purchase of a product or service—weekly, monthly, yearly, etc—that
automatically charges them and replenishes the product.
- Services: Service e-commerce refers to services purchased and often priced by
time spent on providing the service.
- Crowdfunding: Crowdfunding e-commerce is when money is collected as product
capital in advance of a product being available.

IMPORTANCE OF E-COMMERCE
This is an age of science and technology. The e-Commerce is the demand of time,
customers, business and nations. The practice, description, and terminology of any or
all applied sciences of commercial value by dint of science is E-Commerce. It is the
online buying and selling process which is extremely important in our daily life now.
Online stores like Amazon, Flipkart, Shopify, Myntra, Ebay, Quikr, Olx are examples
of E-commerce websites.
Science has contributed one wonder after another day by day in the world. The
foremost reason behind the growth of Internet users besides social media in e-
commerce. The computer is one of the most useful inventions of modern science. By
opening the computer, logs on to the internet click a few times and within a few
moments, we may take the world in our hand and can go to the new world of E-
Commerce. E-Commerce is at the heart of the Internet and e-commerce is as
important as a heart is for a body. It is not limited to shopping on the internet. It
encompasses all the aspects of running a business, from advertising and marketing to
sales, ordering, manufacturing, distributing, customer service and inventory
procurement. It is an important profit driver for business.

E-Commerce can have a very profound impact on corporate strategy because it not
only changes the way a company interacts with its customers but also changes its
suppliers, partners, employees or investors. Costs incurred in everything from
inventory, customer details, payment details to product selection and management of
customers’ interests are lower than traditional commerce expenses. A few years back
it was beyond our imagination. Electronic media have changed the expectations of all
concerned persons in the field of commerce. Day by day E-Commerce is becoming
popular all over the world.

E-Commerce is very important in the age of science, technology, and the internet. E-
Commerce has given the facility of making online transactions. Producers and
customers are not required to talk face to face or customers are not required to go to
shops for buying products or services. They may get their required products or
services staying in their houses.

APPLICATIONS OF ECOMMERCE
Retail and Wholesale: Ecommerce has numerous applications in this sector. E-
retailing is basically a B2C, and in some cases, a B2B sale of goods and services
through online stores designed using virtual shopping carts and electronic catalogs. A
subset of retail ecommerce is m-commerce, or mobile commerce, wherein a consumer
purchases goods and services using their mobile device through the mobile optimized
site of the retailer. These retailers use the E-payment method: they accept payment
through credit or debit cards, online wallets or internet banking, without printing paper
invoices or receipts.

Online Marketing: This refers to the gathering of data about consumer behaviors,
preferences, needs, buying patterns and so on. It helps marketing activities like fixing
price, negotiating, enhancing product features, and building strong customer
relationships as this data can be leveraged to provide customers a tailored and
enhanced purchase experience.

Finance: Banks and other financial institutions are using e-commerce to a significant
extent. Customers can check account balances, transfer money to other accounts held
by them or others, pay bills through internet banking, pay insurance premiums, and so
on. Individuals can also carry out trading in stocks online, and get information about
stocks to trade in from websites that display news, charts, performance reports and
analyst ratings of companies.

Manufacturing: Supply chain operations also use ecommerce; usually, a few

companies form a group and create an electronic exchange and facilitate purchase and
sale of goods, exchange of market information, back office information like inventory
control, and so on. This enables the smooth flow of raw materials and finished
products among the member companies and also with other businesses.

Online Booking: This is something almost every one of us has done at some time –
book hotels, holidays, airline tickets, travel insurance, etc. These bookings and
reservations are made possible through an internet booking engine or IBE. It is used
the maximum by aviation, tour operations and hotel industry.

Online Publishing: This refers to the digital publication of books, magazines,

catalogues, and developing digital libraries.
Digital Advertising: Online advertising uses the internet to deliver promotional
material to consumers; it involves a publisher, and an advertiser. The advertiser
provides the ads, and the publisher integrates ads into online content. Often there are
creative agencies which create the ad and even help in the placement. Different types
of ads include banner ads, social media ads, search engine marketing, retargeting, pop-
up ads, and so on.

Auctions: Online auctions bring together numerous people from various geographical
locations and enable trading of items at negotiated prices, implemented with e-
commerce technologies. It enables more people to participate in auctions. Another
example of auction is bidding for seats on an airline website – window seats, and
those at the front with more leg room generally get sold at a premium, depending on
how much a flyer is willing to pay.

E-Commerce is all around us today, and as an entrepreneur, you should also get into
this realm if you want to expand your markets, get more customers and increase your
profitability.

ADVANTAGES OF E-COMMERCE
There are many advantages of e-commerce including:
- Companies can reach a wider audience
- Companies have lower operational costs
- Shopping from home is more convenient for the consumer
- Consumers can easily comparison shop across different brands
- Greater selection of goods available

DISADVANTAGES OF E-COMMERCE
While there are many benefits of e-commerce, there are some potential downsides as
well. Below are some common disadvantages:
- No direct interaction with sales clerks leads to less personalized service
- Shipping charges and waiting for product to arrive
- Inability to see product before buying
- Inconvenience of returning products
- Security issues of website may put consumer information at risk

STEPS TO CREATE AN ECOMMERCE WEBSITE

Creating an ecommerce website is easy. Just follow the step-by-step instructions

below:
• Sign up with an ecommerce builder
Before you can have an ecommerce website, you’ll need an ecommerce account.
This is a crucial step, where you make tons of important decisions. You have to
choose a reliable website builder, decide on a domain name, and create your
account. A common mistake that many ecommerce sellers make is rushing through
these seemingly insignificant decisions. Don’t be one of them. Take your time,
weigh the pros and cons, and then make the final payment. using WooCommerce
hosting from Hostinger. WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin that allows you to
create an online store.

• Create your WordPress website

It’s going to ask you what type of site you want to create. Select “E-commerce”:
Create your WordPress website on Hostinger account. Let us know what you are
creating. You’ll then be prompted to claim your free domain name that comes with
all Hostinger WooCommerce packages. Hostinger WooCommerce claim a free
domain option example. Enter the domain name you want into the Domain
Checker tool. It will let you know if it’s available, or if you have to choose
something else. Get inventive with your domain name ideas. Brainstorm words
and phrases that make sense with your online store. I recommend .com domain
extensions, but you may have more luck with a different one, like .net, or .biz.

• Connect your WordPress site with WooCommerce

 Once your account is ready to go, Hostinger takes you to a new screen that helps
you finishing setting up your site. You’ll find walkthroughs for activating your
SSL certificate, launching WordPress, and installing WooCommerce. I’ll cover the
key points here, but you can always check out this in-depth tutorial on
WooCommerce setup from Hostinger that walks you through each step of getting
your store online. You should be able to log right into your WordPress account
with the credentials you created in the last step.

• Fine-tune your ecommerce website’s settings

This step focuses on setting up the must-have elements of an ecommerce website,
including payment gateways, shipping options, and automatic tax calculations.
Now, this may sound intimidating, but it really isn’t. You only need the right
guidance, which is exactly what this guide provides.
Set Up Payment Options
Configure Your Tax Rates
Set Up Shipping Options
Personalize Your Ecommerce Website

• Add the products you want to sell

It makes no sense to have an ecommerce website if you have nothing to sell.
Precisely why the next step is to add the products you want to sell. Select Products
from the WordPress menu sidebar on the left, followed by Add New. Click on
Publish when done.

• Add plugins and extra content to boost conversions

You’ve done everything at this point to create a new ecommerce website. Next, we
discuss tactics that can help you bring more traffic to your website and, in turn,
earn more revenue.
Install Plugins and Add Necessary Content: With the plugins sorted, your next
focus should be on adding relevant copy and content to your ecommerce website.
This includes the following:
 • UX copy or Microcopy (CTAs, error messages, navigational copy). Every
single word matters here, so I recommend taking your time and writing with
care. For instance, “Buy Now” can sound too pushy if it’s early in the buying
stage.
• Product Descriptions. As mentioned, you should take the initiative and write
SEO-optimized product descriptions. But in addition to that, you should also
structure it correctly and ensure it is descriptive. I highly recommend using
bullet points to separate technical information from the prose.
• About Us. Especially as a new site, customers will want to know more about
you and the company. Customers enjoy knowing more about the people behind
a brand.
• Contact Page. You absolutely need a contact page where any customer can
reach out with questions or if they need support. It can be very simple with
fields for a name, email address, and message. You can easily find free contact
page plugins or create your own.

• Make your ecommerce website public

Are you happy with the way your website looks, works, and feels? Then it’s time
to make it public and start selling!
Launch Your Website
Go to Settings from the WordPress sidebar, and click on Privacy.
The first thing is to sort out your privacy settings. A privacy policy is a crucial
aspect of every website—ecommerce or not. In fact, WordPress won’t let you go
public unless you choose a privacy policy page. Luckily, there’s already a template
in place, but you can also edit it or write up your own.
Lastly, make sure all your website’s must-haves—homepage, contact page, about
page, and any other content—are all set and look the way you want.
Finally, click Launch Your Site.
 REFERENCES

• Applegate, E. (2005) E-Commerce Today. London, Rowman & Littlefield.

• Baker, M. (2008) The Strategic Marketing Plan Audit. London, McGraw-Hill.
• Buchanan, W. (2002) The Complete Handbook of the Internet. New York,
Springer
• Siegel, S. (2003). The Ernst & Young Business Plan Guide. New York, John
Wiley and Sons.
• https://www.quicksprout.com/create-ecommerce-website/
• https://www.ipixtechnologies.com/what-is-ecommerce-and-its-
applications.html