eCommerce is the ultimate market-leveling tool for SMBs. Through eCommerce, the positioning and size of a business no more matters mhrb powder for sale.
Essentially, the Internet has created a jumbo-sized virtual shopping mall in which any and every conceivable retailer can be a tenant.
Yet, cyber mall occupancy alone doesn't guarantee long-term commercial success. Rather, nextgeneration site functionality and ultra-reliable, highly responsive site performance are necessary ingredients for increasing eCommerce revenues. Retailers with the deepest pockets gain a decided market advantage since they've the amount of money both to develop next-generation site functionality, and to construct and maintain an eCommerce platform effective at delivering the entire impact of this functionality to each and every site visitor.
In fact, options today offer small business more choices that assist in leveling the competitive playing field. With today's web hosting environments -- optimized for next-generation eCommerce -- platform investments are reduced to a portion of the price of individually owning and operating an eCommerce site. With this process, small retailers gain a substantial market equalizer that allows them to compete effectively against their larger rivals.
In this article, we will describe the direction of next-generation eCommerce sites and also highlight how web hosting can dramatically reduce the IT costs required to effectively support next-generation eCommerce. Consequently, SMBs can increase eCommerce sites and simultaneously decrease their IT costs.
o 360° product views - One of the eCommerce drawbacks is the physical separation between shoppers and products. Products such as for example books and DVDs - for which physical touch isn't a choice variable -- are two products that have sold well via an eCommerce channel. Other products, such as for example apparel, do benefit by physical touch. And even though apparel comes online, the lack of physical touch plays a part in cases of shopping on the net but buying instore.
Next-generation eCommerce sites will do more to transform the internet shopping experience into online buying by presenting the item in user-controlled 360° views. In this manner, the shopper gains a richer perspective on the product's appearance, similar to the instore buyer behavior of supporting and turning the item for closer examination.
o Layered informational mini-screens - In current-generation eCommerce sites, shoppers commonly click through several full screens to achieve a greater knowledge of the item being considered. This web site design dictates back and forth navigation by the shopper to re-visit information. Consequently, the entire breadth of information sought for a purchase decision seldom resides on a single screen. Next-generation eCommerce sites will offer mini-screens overlaid on the first product screen, which allows shoppers to zoom in and out of relevant product details and, along the way, never lose experience of the item being evaluated.
o Upfront alerts on product availability - A powerful benefit of eCommerce is the capacity to present the entire array of products and product features. Inventory costs and space limitations of brick and mortar stores are challenged to equal this capability. At the same time frame, product presentation within an eCommerce site without availability status is frustrating for shoppers, particularly those who have expended time loading their shopping carts and then be informed that availability of one or more products or even a specially designed product is going to be delayed. This scenario is much less common with in-store shopping since the number of inventory is directly visible to the shopper. In next-generation eCommerce sites, product availability status may be wanted to the shopper through the shopping and selection process. By presenting product alternatives when there are availability delays - which may be built as an option into the website design -- allows shoppers to balance their desire for product immediacy and selection range.
o Streaming video - Brick and mortar stores are naturally restrained in the contextual presentation of their products, with actual product benefits restricted to a shopper's understanding of the item and imagination, and possibly the creativity of in-store displays and external advertising (print, audio, and video). In next-generation eCommerce sites, streaming video propels contextual presentation to an entirely new level, with streaming video mini-clips that spotlight beneficial product features in multiple real-world contexts. Not only can streaming video stimulate a shopper's imagination and strengthen intent to purchase, it can be effective in cross-selling other products and optional features, which provide an invaluable way to increasing sale size and revenue growth.
o Live chat - An eCommerce site enabled with live chat can address a shopper's questions or site use issues on the spot. Consequently, these sessions subscribe to impromptu purchases and a decrease in abandoned shopping carts in addition to repeat visits. Live chat offers two specific benefits:
(1) the on-demand availability of sales representatives enables quicker and more effective customer communications than serving customers generally in most brick and mortar settings;
and (2) sales reps have fingertip usage of a wide range of product information and are usually better product knowledge experts. With the advent of VoIP (Voice over IP) in a nextgeneration eCommerce site, live chat expands from text exchanges to more personal voice conversations. Text and voice communication also can deepen loyalty and spending by premium customers and can transform intermittent customers into regular customers if both text and voice communications are strategically employed and supported.
o Personalized sales assistance - As well as being product experts, online sales reps can also become dedicated customer aides. Electronically armed with real-time knowledge of customer identity, profile, and past online and in-store purchases, these sales reps can personalize and enhance the customer's shopping experience. While similar personalization is possible in brick and mortar settings, location and in-person relationships are limiting factors on the number of customers that could receive this personalization. eCommerce doesn't have problems with these same limitations.
This next-generation eCommerce functionality isn't free. Clearly, there are costs to develop, test, and deploy. These costs, we believe, are unavoidable for retailers that are serious about increasing their eCommerce revenues.
Equally important, but not necessarily fully considered, are the expense of an eCommerce platform effective at delivering the entire impact of this functionality to each and every site visitor. In our view, scrimping on the platform can have serious eCommerce revenue implications. Among the absolute most notable in order to avoid is creating a platform that results within an uninspired shopper. For instance, if the functionality doesn't perform to its potential - through slow responsiveness, jerky video, or voice quality inconsistency - the web result is that shoppers leave the eCommerce site and never return.
In order to avoid this scenario, companies today will need to have world-class Internet-connected data center and web servers. To attain world-class, multiple components should be in place. Lacking any one of these brilliant jeopardizes eCommerce potential.
o Redundant and highly scalable Web servers - Accommodates all cases of peak visitations and minimizes the danger of server downtime.