eCommerce has changed the world of commerce. Every small and big seller is today selling on eCommerce platforms (Amazon, eBay, etc. The eCom platforms are changing how businesses and customers buy and sell online.
The eCommerce market size is estimated at $8.80 trillion in 2024 and is expected to reach $18.81 trillion by 2029. The eCommerce market is growing at a CAGR of 15.80% during the forecast period.
By 2025, 23% of all sales are expected to happen online. The future of commerce lies in eCommerce platforms and they’re not going anywhere.
In this guide, we’ll discuss the future of eCommerce and its impact on the future.
There are Different Models of eCommerce Businesses
- B2C – Business to consumer; it refers to the sale of goods and services to the final user of the product.
- B2B – Business to business, refers to the sale of the goods and services/ facilities to another business, and the business consumes it. For example manufacturing materials, car parts and semiconductors, etc.
- B2G – Businesses to government, it refers to the sale of goods and services directly to the government agency. This agency could be a local, country, state, or federal agency. For example, items of defense and space science technologies are bought and brought by India from the companies of the USA.
- C2B – Customers to the business, refers to a model where customers or consumers deliver value to a business by their tweets and by influencing their friends and relatives to purchase certain products and services.
Advantages and Importance of eCommerce
- Sellers can reach globally and sell products and services all over the world. Without opening stores across the world, businesses can sell to global audiences.
- Small businesses can increase their profits by increasing their audiences.
- E-commerce can help businesses save money as they don’t have to open physical stores to sell around the world. This is why eCommerce businesses can sell their products at much cheaper.
- E-commerce websites are open 24*7 so customers can buy products/services any time of the day.
- A single eCommerce platform has a wide range of products.
- These businesses are easily scaled by any rating agency.
- By selling their goods via online retail sites like Amazon, Flipkart, etc, small traders’ and manufacturers’ products become legitimate.
Challenges of e-commerce on businesses
eCommerce industry isn’t perfect, even though it’s growing at an incredible pace. Here are some of the biggest challenges of running an eCommerce business.
- Growing Competition
As the eCommerce market is growing, so is the competition. Before you jump in, you should know that the competition is fierce. But that shouldn’t stop you from starting an eCommerce business. It can take some time to stand out from the crowd.
- Keeping Up With Customer Expectations
As there are tons of businesses in the industry, customers’ expectations have increased. With so many options available, customers want low prices, a seamless shopping experience, and even personalized recommendations. If your customers’ needs aren’t met, they will choose someone else.
- Limited Customer Engagement
Engaging with your customers requires you to maintain a perfect balance between providing them with helpful information and without being overwhelming. You want to keep your customers engaged with your business, but you also have to make sure they don’t feel bombarded with useless information.
- Poor Conversion Rates
One of the biggest challenges of owning and operating an eCommerce store is that you have to convince someone to buy your products. After all, there are a number of stores that offer similar products and services. You need to convince your customers that they’re getting a unique offer.
- Cart Abandonment Rate
Around 60 – 80% of shoppers abandon carts online, which leads to low revenue for a lot of businesses. Customers can leave products in the carts for a number of reasons, such as:
- High shipping fees
- Complicated checkout process
- Hidden costs, and more.
- Complicated Product Return & Refund Process
All eCommerce businesses face this issue. Product returns happen to every single eCommerce business. Sometimes it can get tough to track all the returns, refunds, and exchanges. As an eCommerce business, it’s your role to offer an excellent shopping experience, even after a customer has finished shopping.
- Poor Customer Retention
To keep your business running and thriving, businesses need to have a retention strategy. You can’t run a business just by customers buying your product/services just once, you need to make them repeat their purchases.
What can people expect from the future of e-commerce or the scope of e-commerce?
The future of the e-commerce business is shining and growing. eCommerce businesses are growing and most of them are trying to provide the best possible shopping experience.
We are living in a phase of “consumerism” where people want to have all the latest goods and services. Through e-commerce, people can use new products from different countries. Therefore e-commerce makes an environment for boundary-free trade.
Today’s trends show that the future of businesses is 100% online.
