Many good things have come our way since the invention of computers and internet. Long gone are the days where you were required to go and make long queues trying to make a purchase.

With internet, e-commerce was born, now we no longer have to go to Japan to purchase a car of our choice, again by the click of a button on a website, you get to choose any car you want and make the purchase online.

Look at what mobile money is doing. I was working three days ago and in the middle of the night my cash power run out. And with a click of a few buttons on my phone I managed to purchase power and the token was sent to me! I was beside myself with this convenient service.
A friend of mine who is wedding in a few months’ time has already purchased her wedding gown online.

 What she had to do was make a choice and then send her measurements with whatever adjustments she wanted made on her garment. This was a convenient way for her to make her purchase considering the fact that she is a busy lawyer working for big corporates.

With e-commerce, consumers avoid the hassles of in-store shopping by doing the majority of their shopping online. Electronic commerce or in short e-commerce, refers to business activities like selling and purchasing of products and services carried out over electronic systems like the Internet and computer networks.

The history of e-commerce dates back to 1970, when for the first time, electronic data interchange (EDI) and electronic fund transfer were introduced.

Since then, a rapid growth of e-commerce has pervaded almost every other aspect of business.
That is why business owners today are advised to introduce their businesses online for a more rewarding client base.

The greatest and the most important advantage of e-commerce, is that it enables a business concern or individual to reach the global market. It caters to the demands of both the national and the international market, as business activities are no longer restricted by geographical boundaries.

With the help of electronic commerce, even small enterprises can access the global market for selling and purchasing products and services. Even time restrictions are nonexistent while conducting businesses, as e-commerce empowers one to execute business transactions 24 hours a day and even on holidays and weekends.

This in turn significantly increases sales and profit.
E-commerce has also significantly cut down the cost associated with marketing, customer care, processing, information storage and inventory management.

It reduces the time period involved with business process re-engineering, customization of products to meet the demand of particular customers, increasing productivity and customer care services. Electronic commerce reduces the burden of infrastructure to conduct businesses and thereby raises the amount of funds available for profitable investment.

It also enables efficient customer care services, on the other hand it collects and manages information related to customer behaviour, which in turn helps develop and adopt an efficient marketing and promotional strategy for a company.As easy as it may sound, it is not easy to set up e-commerce business.

A good plan of having high quality products, allocation of funds and resources and a competent staff are the building blocks of success in building an e-commerce business website.  Customer satisfaction must be at the heart of the mission of any  e-commerce site to generate profits.

In order to appeal to the mass consumers, the products that you are offering have to be up-to-date and trendy.

You must be able to convince them that they simply need to buy your product. The function and design of your e commerce site is crucial in attracting customers and make money with shipping as well.

The details of your products must be displayed there in an orderly manner and discussed comprehensively. It is effective to place the in-demand products in your homepage so that web visitors would have an instant good impression on your site.
 
It would also entice them into a buying mood as they surf around your website.
Aside from the product displays, the features in your website should also be managed well. Make sure that customers can browse through your site with ease.

Since you are in the business of selling products online, your website should definitely have order forms and delivery services. If you are in business then the way to go is e-commerce.

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