Last Updated on June 27, 2016 by Tim
Retail businesses date back as early as the 1900s where people would walk to small neighborhood stores to purchase items. By the 1920s, people began to operate automobiles and travel farther to more conglomerate businesses to shop. This led to the expansion of mass retailers that were built in the 1950s through the 1980s. By 1991, ecommerce became a more popular way to shop online when the Internet was opened to the public for commercial use.
Currently, shopping online is one of the most popular ways to purchase products. Ecommerce sites provide the convenience of shopping at any time of the day, logging in to your account, creating a profile and verifying your purchases. According to Statista (The Statistics Portal), 40 percent of Internet users worldwide have purchased products online, and this amount is expected to continuously grow overtime.
In 2013, ecommerce sales amounted to more than 38 billion U.S. dollars. With the growth of mobile commerce and alternative payment methods, Internet users are finding that shopping online is easy and convenient. The process eliminates the hassle of traveling to stores, waiting in lines and rifling through large quantities of store products.
Setting Up an Ecommerce Store
Whether you already own a retail business or starting a new one, setting up an ecommerce site may be one of the most effective ways to grow your enterprise. Not only are you able to market to local consumers in your area, anyone around the world with Internet access can view and purchase the products on your website. Starting an ecommerce business is now easier than ever. With convenient shopping cart ecommerce software, you can market your products quickly and efficiently. Web hosting companies, like 1Shopping Cart can help you create the platform that allows you to maintain full control of your inventory and make the customer checkout experience as seamless as possible. With a few clicks of the mouse, you can update your pages, manage orders and examine your progress.
Preparing Your Business for Ecommerce
Starting an ecommerce business involves taking a few steps to establish your company in the market. The first step is to come up with an idea to sell products that are in demand and determine your business structure. You will want to file the appropriate documents to legalize your business name, and purchase the correct business licenses that will enable you to operate your business, sell online and collect sales taxes from customers.
Building your Inventory
Retail entrepreneurs make their own items to sell or purchase products directly from manufacturers and suppliers to resell them to consumers. You can purchase large amounts of products in bulk from suppliers and store these items in your inventory. If you don’t have an inventory space, many warehouse companies will stock your inventory and even ship them directly to your customers.
