Effective use of E-Commerce in the Modern Business World

E-commerce is a major component of almost every business that sells goods in the modern world, some even call e-commerce the key to a successful business.  E-commerce is defined as transacting or facilitating business over the internet. With the internet growing exponentially over the last two decades many people now look to it for a more convenient avenue to shop and do business over.  People can now do everything from paying their bills online to buying groceries and getting them delivered to their home.  With the tremendous growth in the potential for e-commerce, many companies have taken advantage of the increased opportunities for revenue. 

Companies like eBay and Amazon are centered on e-commerce business.  Their profits come almost exclusively from e-commerce transactions that they facilitate.  Recently Amazon has branched out to include other services like music and video streaming services but the bulk of their revenue comes from their e-commerce.  Some major companies have not been able to capitalize on the increased e-commerce activity like Amazon and eBay have. 

Wal-Mart is an example of a company that has had a poor e-commerce track record.  Wal-Mart's website and delivery process were often criticized.  Recently, however, Wal-Mart has taken steps to correct their e-commerce record.  The most visible example of this is their purchase of Jet.com last year.  Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon said that this purchase is an effort to grow Wal-Mart’s e-commerce business faster. Wal-Mart’s work to improve their e-commerce has paid off.  Some industry analysts now predict their online sales to come close to or surpass Amazon’s on Cyber Monday.

If you own a business and are looking to build a stronger e-commerce arm for yourself there are many online resources that can help you.  This blog post offers what they call an e-commerce “blueprint,” and here you can find another set of guidelines to follow for setting up an e-commerce website.  If you are looking to export internationally globalEDGE has resources available for that too.  This learning module is specifically designed for people looking to grow and e-commerce arm of their business to other countries.  Other globalEDGE learning modules assist with exporting and for exporting to a specific country globalEDGE almost always has resources available on our country pages.  If you really need professional help there are e-commerce consultants that you can find by doing a simple google search.  There are many ways to grow your e-commerce business.  Don’t miss out on the money you could be making and start investing your time in improving your company’s online business.