The Benefits of E-Commerce Conversion – What happens when you move online?

Mehta and Sons have been selling electronic goods for more than 25 years. They’ve built a sturdy reputation over the years, but so far, their business has flourished on a few regular corporate clients.

The real game started when they moved to the next level – taking their business online. Apart from the three physical stores in and around Delhi, products from Mehta and Sons were available online as well!

Yes, moving over to ecommerce opens up more business opportunities for offline sellers like Mehta and Sons and can help increase sales within a short span of time. The internet has taken centre stage in nearly every facet of life in the 21st century. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the very business of retail and wholesale have also moved towards the digital frontier.

From the old brick-and-mortar style of business selling goods to physically present customers, there is an obvious shift towards ecommerce conversion. We aren’t just assuming things, it’s based on the trends we see – at its current pace, the Indian e-commerce market is poised to grow up to nearly USD 84 billion dollars in 2021. The possibilities for a digital market ecosystem are limitless.

However, just like with any new technology, there is scepticism and concern. Most sellers view the e-commerce environment with uncertainty – especially those who have a strong, well established offline retail presence. Some major challenges that affect the overall online store conversion rate include:

Some offline sellers stop and think before their big ecommerce conversion because of these reasons. It’s time to do away with the worries and see the ecommerce world as an opportunity instead of a mystery, with several factors at play:

Launching an online storefront can seem very intimidating at first. But with the right research, the right mindset, and the right ecommerce partners, it can be a major step forward for any business. And the benefits that you gain after this ecommerce conversion far outweigh the doubts.
In fact, here are a few key points that will surely help you to see the brighter side of taking your business from a brick and mortar store to an online platform.

Let’s state the obvious first – if you’re a seller worried about finding customers for your e-commerce expansion, then you should know that your customers are already online and are awaiting you! And these are not just people sitting in their homes and browsing for products on their computers online. The customer base of a good ecommerce portal also includes smartphone users that need to shop on the go. These are buyers who go online to compare, save, and purchase products by investing as little time as they can. Having such a large market already available online is a good enough reason for getting an online store.

This, however, does not mean that your existing offline store will cease to be profitable. Many customers are willing to use a “click and collect” model – where customers book a product online before going to the store to pick it up or have it delivered to them. Amazon India has a similar model, a pickup service where buyers get their parcels at selected locations. There are centres in Bangalore that are connected to 800 points spread across 45 cities like Ludhiana, Thanjavur, Kolhapur, Vijayawada, Rajkot etc.

Another prominent worry that prevents sellers from making a conversion to ecommerce is customer engagement – more specifically, facing negative feedback and/or abuse from their buyers. However, this is no different than the physical stores where customer interaction and word of mouth is a major deciding factor for the success of a business. And yes, you can use this opportunity to get constructive feedback and interact with your customers.

When you sell your products through a credible ecommerce marketplace like Amazon, you have a much more coordinated and streamlined system for customer engagement. You can track customer feedback and suggestions in a way that allows you to adapt or cater to changing buying behaviours or market patterns.

You can communicate with customers personally as well, address their issues and take measures to solve them; encouraging better relations and repeat business. Communication tools like chat windows, review systems, specifications, and detailed product-features pages will enable better customer engagement, leading to happy buyers and a chance to get more sales.

An online store does not have an opening or closing time – customers can essentially look for products and buy them any time they like, as per their convenience. What this also means for offline sellers is that once they make a shift online, they don’t have to worry about paying extra for manpower or logistics during those hours!

There are also immense savings on shelf space, storage, and start-up costs. In fact, it’s actually cheaper setting up an e-commerce website than it is running an offline business.

With an online store, sellers can use a virtually unlimited digital catalogue for all their goods, which can then be delivered directly to eager customers. No longer will offline sellers have to worry about stocking or displaying inventory once they make the shift to e-commerce.

As discussed, an online retail venture can end up saving you a lot of money. These funds can be channelled towards improving other aspects of your business. Also, you can earn a much higher profit because of the large-scale reach and availability of e-commerce.

By no longer limiting your revenue to one physical store, you will gain a higher cashflow from multiple online sales thanks to a large customer base across the country, with access to more payment options that help boost your overall revenue.