Starting an Online Business | The Challenges of Building Your Ecommerce Brand
The impact of COVID-19 while occupying an extremely daunting nature for traditional non-virtual businesses is transforming the E-Commerce industry day by day. Brick and mortar stores which formed the backbone of the retail industry and E-Commerce channels which were previously considered as a purely ‘supplementary’ option have seemed to change places. It is pertinent for the organizations to have a virtual presence but as one goes down the road, it becomes increasingly difficult to decide the right platform: should one go for the multi-vendor website vs make one’s own web store? Each option comes with its own list of pros and cons, however, if one decides to establish a brand in the long run, one must always choose to get an E-Commerce store.
This article will discuss why you should get an E-Commerce website in detail and how it is the only way for you to survive and compete in the hostile environment and make the best out of it.
Reachability
Unlike your traditional store which is hindered by the geographical proximity, Ecommerce platforms allow the business to reach potential customers and target markets beyond the borders giving you the opportunity to widen your business footprint. Your customer can be located in any part of the world, be in a different time zone or speak a different language but he is still reachable. Plus, owing to the uncertainty of the multi-vendor stores such as, Amazon or Ebay, which hold the trump card to suspend your account without any prior warning, an Ecommerce store, contrarily, helps you diversify your risk because you hold the absolute power there. Also, in a situation like the ongoing pandemic, where it is not feasible to operate a physical store your customers can always find your website and make a transaction there. As a bonus, you have the ability to understand your customer’s needs in a better way which brings us to the next point.
Audience Monitoring
With your own eCommerce store, you can track your website traffic enabling you to get additional insights which are not possible through the traditional virtual channels. Let’s assume you want to know how many customers are from a certain geographical region or how many of them belong to a certain age group, you have the absolute liberty to do that. These analytics will help you target your marketing efforts more effectively and even assist you in improving the conversion rate, this is only possible on one’s own eCommerce platform. Moreover, email marketing platforms such as HubSpot, CRM and MailChimp give you the ability to retarget your existing clientele which further refines your marketing efforts to target the right customers at the right time.
Flexibility
When you have an in-house Ecommerce platform, you can create tailored marketing campaigns in any way you believe are most suited towards your target audience. Additionally, you can run A/B testing to improve your website traffic, conversion rates, and overall website theme which brings us to the subject of theme customization. You can give any look to your store because you have complete access to its back-end. Not only that, the E-Commerce channel permits you to develop your own themes, choose or make your own custom layout, and shape the entire funnel process the way you deem fit which would make your store stand out from your competitors and grab the attention of customers.
Build a Brand
As discussed earlier, with your own website you have the freedom to give it a unique look of your choice. However, this functionality does not have to be necessarily confined to the aesthetics section only. You can build a brand image geared towards your audience and generate awareness at your own terms. Your marketing efforts will synchronize with the brand image you intend to build. Traditional platforms prohibit any customized campaign depriving you of the right to modify your marketing campaign according to your business model. Your brand, no matter how much effort you put in establishing your business, cannot be differentiated from the rest.
The Ease of Building E-Commerce Platforms
The availability of multiple platforms has made the process of developing an ecommerce store more than easy. With the progress of time, the process of website development has transitioned from a fairly arduous task requiring hard on coding skills to a relatively DIY approach. CMS platforms like WordPress, Shopify, and Magento give the retailer the freedom to choose from a wide variety of layouts. If the color scheme or any other aspect does not rhyme with the retailer, he can always go for custom layouts using native languages like CSS and HTML. If the retailer has no coding skills, well it is still fine. He can always contact JinnByte at contact@jinnbyte.com and we will take it from there.
In a nutshell, an eCommerce store is much more flexible and provides you with advanced analytics to help you tailor your marketing strategy according to your target segment. Your own store resonates your brand image and beats the competition. The brand can project the image the way you have envisaged it. To amend the words of legendary singer, Frank Sinatra, “You did in your way”.
