Digital Marketing ,Virtual Branding

Why Do You Need E-Commerce Marketing?

What is e-commerce marketing?

Before we can understand e-commerce marketing, we must define some other terms. Commerce is simply the buying and selling of goods and services. These transactions can take place almost anywhere – in shops, petrol stations, and pubs, to name a few.

E-commerce moves this buying and selling from a physical location to one that is online. Whatever a company has to sell can be viewed, selected, ordered and paid for on the Web.

E-commerce marketing, therefore, is the promotion of those products and services to customers while they are online. And its purpose is to attract people who want to learn about what you sell to your website. But that’s only half of it. The second part is that once you get them to your site, you then want them to become your customers.

The market is changing so fast that up-to-date information with respect to the importance of e-commerce marketing is difficult to pin down; but here are some facts that should get your attention.

• >40% of retail shoppers research products online before going to an offline store to buy them.

• In 2012, the UK’s online sales were £50 billion.

• By 2016, 25% of all retail purchases will be online in the UK.

These few statistics alone make it clear that whether your business is online or offline, e-commerce marketing must be included in your overall marketing strategy. If you don’t have a web presence, then you’re not a serious player.

How do you create an e-commerce marketing plan

There are three steps that you need to follow in order to create an e-commerce marketing plan.

1. Just like any other part of your business plan, you need to start with a comparison between where you are and where you want to be.

This can be particularly challenging for businesses that need to have a website, but do not intend to sell online. Very often these sites take on the appearance of an elaborate brochure, albeit a confusing one.

2. The next thing is to compare what you are doing with what you need to do.

By that I mean that the bottom-line results that you’re getting right now are a direct result of your marketing, both online and off. If you’ve omitted e-commerce marketing from your overall strategy, then you’re leaving money on the table.

3. Once you know where you want your company to go, and what to do differently, you need to think specifically about what achieving your goals will look like.

Are you aiming for a financial target? If so, what is it now, and what is your goal?

Are you aiming at market share? If so, what is it now, and what do want it to be?

Business owners often find these questions particularly difficult to answer. But that doesn’t’ mean that they shouldn’t be asked.

The bottom line is that without a deliberate e-commerce marketing plan, you’ll be unable to achieve your financial goals.