The Top 5 Ways eCommerce is Different from Traditional Commerce

One of the fastest growing business sectors in America, and throughout the world, eCommerce sales have grown from just 2 percent of all retail sales to 7 percent in less than 10 years. In addition to being very popular with consumers, eCommerce has also grown in popularity among entrepreneurs and small businesses who are interested in reaching more customers online and finding new revenue streams. In order to do so, it’s important to understand how eCommerce differs from traditional commerce. The following are five ways that eCommerce is different from traditional commerce.

1) Pricing Transparency

In traditional commerce, businesses are able to get away with charging whatever they want for their products or services. This isn’t the case with eCommerce. Customers are used to being able to see the price of a product before they buy it, and they expect the same level of transparency from businesses selling online.

2) Customer Service 24/7

In traditional commerce, businesses are typically open during set hours and closed outside of those hours. This limits the ability to provide customer service outside of those hours. eCommerce businesses, on the other hand, can provide customer service 24/7 thanks to the internet. This gives customers the ability to get help or ask questions whenever they need it, which can lead to better customer satisfaction.

3) Free Shipping

1. In traditional commerce, businesses have to cover the cost of shipping products to customers. This added expense can make it difficult to compete on price with online retailers.

2. eCommerce businesses can offer free shipping as an incentive to encourage customers to purchase items from their website. This can help increase sales and attract new customers.

4) Return Policy

An important thing to keep in mind when selling online is that you will likely have more returns than if you were selling in a brick-and-mortar store. This is because customers can’t try on or inspect products before they purchase them. Returns should be easy to initiate and customers should be able to track the status of their return.

5) Online Shopping Has Made Comparing Pricing Easy

In the past, shoppers had to physically visit different stores to compare prices on items. Now, with a few clicks, shoppers can easily compare prices from different retailers online. This ease of price comparison has made it difficult for brick-and-mortar stores to compete on price alone.