Ecommerce – the practice of selling and buying things online – has grown significantly in recent years. As the internet has expanded in the last couple decades, so too has the realm of ecommerce. In fact, ecommerce has become so prolific that by 2016 ecommerce in the United States had a revenue of more than three hundred and ninety billion dollars. If ecommerce sales continue as is expected, by the year of 2020 (less than three years from now, at this point), sales are anticipated to top six hundred and eighty billion dollars, rapidly nearing seven hundred billion dollars.
Part of the popularity of ecommerce stems from its ease of use. Almost everyone has internet access nowadays and smart phones are hugely widespread among first world nations such as the United States. Shopping online has become wildly popular via cellular and mobile phone, as the vast majority of such phones can perform such tasks with ease. Buying online via a mobile phone has become so convenient and therefore so popular that around thirty percent of all ecommerce sales were purchased from the platform of a mobile phone. And shopping online has become viable for many different products and services, even ones that you would not immediately think of. Grocery shopping, for instance, has become more and more popular – though just five years ago many people would be horrified to even consider buying their produce online. But now, for the thirty six percent of people in the United States who have or who have plans to grocery shop online at some point this year, being able to get groceries is just another way to help to streamline a busy life. For those who have children or those who have exhausting and time consuming lines of work, being able to buy the essential everyday products online and have them delivered to your door can help to improve overall quality of life by a significant margin.
But aside from convenience, ecommerce relies on extensive marketing, including a comprehensive catalog management system. For ecommerce establishments, having a catalog management system is hugely important, as a catalog management system can provide the very necessary information to consumers. A catalog management system can help to list products in a way that is easy to comprehend and navigate, and the product catalog management system that an ecommerce company employs should be widely accessible to the general population. Ecommerce images are also hugely important – particularly a grocery images database – as who wants to buy a product with out having any idea of what it looks like in the first place? Aside from images and a comprehensive product catalog management system, structured data has also proven to be important. Just like with a brick and mortar location of an establishment, it is hugely important to keep on top of trends of sales as well. Sales should always be tracked, as well as who is buying the products.
The importance of ecommerce establishments cannot and should not be underestimated. Though they were not prevalent as recently as twenty years ago, online shopping and purchasing has skyrocketed with the advent of the internet. Even sales on mobile phones are now possible, and it is more convenient than ever to shop online. From clothing to children’s toys to furniture to groceries, nearly everything you could ever want is just a click away, ready to be delivered to your door step. Ecommerce has grown immensely because of this, and is expected to continue to grow at astounding rates in the years to come.
