Many entrepreneurs are wondering if having an online store is necessary for businesses in 2024. After the COVID-19 pandemic, users worldwide turned to online shopping. Instead of going to a physical store, people can now purchase their favorite products and services with just a few clicks.
It is estimated that the profit from global online sales will reach $58 trillion by 2028. This is why entrepreneurs are increasingly turning to distribute their products and services online. However, in addition to financial benefits, owning an online store offers many other advantages.
In this blog, we will explain why an online store is essential for businesses.
An online shop operates 24/7
The first and most important advantage of online business is allowing customers to purchase products and services from the comfort of their home. Whether it’s day or night, they can visit the online store and, with just a few clicks, find their favorite product.
There’s no need to visit stores that are limited by working hours. By simply visiting an online store, customers can browse products, compare prices, read reviews, and make purchases – at any time.
Tracking user behavior
The traditional way of doing business makes it significantly harder to identify potential customers and offer them the right products. To create a successful marketing strategy, we need a lot of data, which can be easily obtained if we have an online store.
From the customer side, an online store allows users to engage in various activities, such as:
- Creating a profile
- Product search
- Sorting products according to different criteria
- Adding products to the basket and making the purchase.
Entrepreneurs monitor the above activities of customers and use this information to create special offers and discounts. For example, a list of the best-selling products or services can help to properly position them on the site so that users can easily find them.
For more tips on how analytics can improve your online sh
Positive online reputation
Online reputation is crucial for an e-commerce business as it directly affects its credibility and visibility. This is why companies are increasingly turning to the distribution of quality content through various online channels and maintaining good interaction with customers.
Social media is an excellent channel for building online reputation, however, if a potential customer types your company’s name into Google search and cannot find a professional website, there is a real chance that you might lose them. Therefore, it is important to have an online store in addition to social media.
An online store is a central place that brings all your customers together. It provides them with the opportunity to learn more about your company, browse and purchase your products and services.
An online store reduces business costs
Running a traditional business in 2024 is extremely challenging. Most of your earnings will be allocated to costs such as renting space, utility bills, and employee salaries. On the other hand, competitors can quickly surpass you by using modern e-commerce tools.
Switching to an online business model is easy and cost-effective. If you decide to create an online store, you will eliminate unnecessary costs, and your business will benefit from new capital that can later be used for further investments.
Although online businesses also have costs, such as web hosting, site maintenance, and marketing activities, they are significantly lower compared to traditional business expenses.
With an online shop, your business knows no boundaries
Traditional stores are usually limited to a specific city or country. However, if you decide to create an online store, your business will not be strictly tied to a particular location. Even if you are not currently thinking about expanding to foreign markets, you should consider that there will come a time when this will be possible.
By using modern tools for automatic translation, you will be able to expand your customer base and enter foreign markets with different languages. For example, once you enter products in Serbian, they will automatically be translated and adapted to markets in other countries.
E-commerce localization allows users to view product descriptions in their own language and select the appropriate payment method in their currency. Most importantly, you will save valuable time that would otherwise be spent on manual localization and you will drastically increase the company’s income.
Learn more about our development services and how we can help build your e-commerce site on the Web Development Services page.
