It’s a crazy time in history right now. Businesses all over have been completely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and smart business owners are rapidly repositioning themselves to make the best of a bad situation. eCommerce is not new, but what was seen as an optional sales channel, even a couple of months ago, has quickly become the only viable sales channel under our current government mandated restrictions.
Here are 5 reasons why you should be adding eCommerce to your business website now
I think it goes without saying that selling some stuff is better for your bottom line than selling no stuff. An eCommerce setup can be easily managed by a minimal number of staff in a location that is not opened to the public. Orders come in via the website and can be fulfilled from a closed location
Since transactions are done via your website, payment can be handled completely digitally. This removes yet one more level of customer contact. Payment processing via credit cards costs about the same through a digital storefront than it does using a card machine at your store. There’s no equipment to rent and no fees to pay beyond the transaction fess (around 3% for most processing companies) you pay already.
You may want to start off using eCommerce to sell to your local customers, but it’s not much more work to scale up and start selling to a larger audience. You can set up a local delivery or pickup system for now, and then easily scale up to incorporate shipping to a larger area. The sky is the limit.
Maybe your business does not sell a traditional type of product. If you sell services, memberships, or digital downloads, for example, eCommerce can work for you. Let’s say you’re a lawyer. You could sell the service of creating a will, a power of attorney, or an incorporation. If you’re a landscaper, you could sell subscription services like mowing or gardening. If you create digital content, you could sell access to that content. If you are a consultant, you can setup paid consulting appointments done over video chat. There are a ton of ways to incorporate eCommerce into a website to sell not only the products, but services you provide.
If you’re already got a website, it can be pretty straightforward to add eCommerce to your existing site. If you’re on a DIY builder, most offer it as a paid add-on. If you’re using a WordPress platform, there is an extremely popular open source eCommerce platform called WooCommerce which is freely available. There is certainly cost associated with setting them up, since certain features may require plugin licenses, and web designers and developers will charge for the time required to set up, but it’s no longer the case that eCommerce is the domain of large businesses.
Here are a few things you’ll want to look into before you launch your eCommece site:
Mission Bell Communications Inc.
A-44 Frederick St.
Stratford, ON N5A 3V4
Canada
+1 (226) 921-5070