Ecommerce has allowed us to buy and sell almost anything over the Internet.
Businesses have to rely on custom eCommerce web development to gain an online presence. The website not only serves as the storefront of many businesses. The business site is also the merchandiser that guides the prospective buyer through the inventories. It also serves as the cashier that processes the sale and receives payment.
Ecommerce Emerged from Diverse Technologies
In just four decades, the invention of new technologies has revolutionized the manner people conduct business. It began with the invention of electronic fund transfer and electronic data interchange in the 1970s. The technologies of the credit cards and ATMs also served as a foundation for eCommerce.
Ecommerce also benefited from the online bulletin board systems and web browser technologies. Global eCommerce emerged from the wide public use of the World Wide Web. The two eCommerce giants, Amazon.com and Ebay.com, had become active by the 1990s. Delivery of goods and services created new businesses and innovations. From this online shift, the delivery of multiple products across the world became a huge industry that is still growing, with businesses needing to use fulfilment centres to process, pack, and deliver their items. Businesses who required this support only need to look up “how to find the right fulfilment centre for your business” and they are put in contact with ones that suit their niche.
Numerous products and services are now offered through the Internet. From banking to retail to hailing taxis, the list could easily yield several hundred. Their wide variety could include tickets for concerts, plane tickets, flowers, and food.
For the intangibles, services sold through eCommerce could include entertainment (music and videos), education (online tutorials, online courses, coaching sessions), home repairs. A custom eCommerce web development service for your online business is most definitely available.
There are numerous development platforms for eCommerce websites. Three popular examples are Magento, Shopify, and Bigcommerce. The expertise in installing the platforms and leveraging on their features are available as new talents to be hired by your business as employees or service partners.
Technology Can Be Disruptive
The conduct of eCommerce has changed the way we do business. Advertisements and marketing efforts have moved from traditional channels to the Internet. And new jobs and new businesses have sprouted as a result.
Ecommerce offers consumers the convenience of transacting through their smartphones or other devices from anywhere. They can transact with businesses as far as Europe or Asia surmounting geographical distances. In some ways, this convenience has contributed to the reduction of foot traffic in physical stores and malls.
Increasing reliance on eCommerce has been named as one of the factors in the retail apocalypse that began in 2010. In contrast, the online giant, Amazon.com, is pleased with their experiment on establishing physical stores.
New Technology Outlooks
The Internet has an inherent penchant for collecting data on customer demographics and preferences. There are huge amounts of data that remain unstructured and waiting to be analyzed yet.
Better hardware, faster computation capabilities, and progress in AI technologies may provide retail eCommerce the foundation for more responsive tools. We may expect innovations in chatbots, marketing, and delivery.
More intelligent chatbots will improve personalized customer experiences on the websites. After a purchase, timely marketing of complementary products that may interest you will be a welcome input. New schemes of delivery, such as a drone sent to your current location, maybe in the drawing tables already.
