Mark Zuckerberg once said:
"But things will continue to develop and change, rapidly, and if we can't cope with that, if we are not willing to take risks and chances to stay in check with the world, we´ll get left behind."
Every retailer should take this quote to heart. If they don't have a strong online presence, they should establish one right away.
Forbes economist Tim Worstall believes that e-commerce is quickly replacing many brick-and-mortar retailers. Businesses that fail to develop an online platform will quickly lose sales to their more tech-savvy competitors.
"About 80 percent of the country's 1,200 malls are considered healthy, reporting vacancy rates of 10 percent or less," Worstall writes. "But that compares with 94 percent in 2006, according to CoStar Group , a leading provider of data for the real estate industry. Nearly 15 percent are 10 to 40 percent vacant, up from 5 percent in 2006. And 3.4 percent — representing more than 30 million square feet — are more than 40 percent empty, a threshold that signals the beginning of what Mr. Busch of Green Street calls "the death spiral.""
If you are a B2C company, then you should create a strong online presence. Here are some things every e-commerce store needs.
Web Platform
You obviously need an online platform to sell your products. You can either develop your own website or use a third-party service such as eBay or Amazon.
You will have a lot more control if you choose to develop your own site. You won't be subject to the rules of third party providers or risk having your account banned by customers that file petty complaints. You can host your website with Hostgator, Bluehost, Godaddy or another popular hosting provider.
Make sure that you choose a reliable plan with at least a 99% uptime guarantee and enough bandwidth to accommodate at least 300% of your expected traffic. You may grow faster than you expect.
Data Center
Big data is becoming more important than ever. E-commerce companies collect data to identify sales trends, learn more about their customers and optimize their business strategies. You need a reliable data center. You can choose from Iron Mountain, HP and a variety of other data centers.
Payment Provider
You will need a payment provider so customers can pay for their purchases. It's a good idea to choose a payment gateway with multiple payment options, such as:
- PayPal
- Credit card
- Skirll
- Bitcoin
Some popular payment providers include Stripe, Authorize.net and First Data Clever Gateway. Make sure that you choose a payment provider that is compatible with your site.
Customer Support Solution
Your reputation hinges on customer satisfaction. You need to be able to address all customer concerns as quickly as possible.
If you are using a third-party platform such as eBay, customers can quickly raise concerns. However, if you are using your own website, you'll need to develop your own solution. Zendesk, FreshDesk and HappyFox are a few of the best customer service solutions for e-commerce businesses.
Online Listing
Too many eCommerce sites live by the principle "if you build it they will come." Unfortunately, you need to actively list your site to earn customers. Many local retailers generate online sales with local business listings.
Make sure you have a clear message for your target customers. They need to understand why your solutions are better than your competitors.