Building your e-commerce company requires knowing which opportunities can help you grow and thrive. At the same time, you likely have numerous possibilities from which to choose. How can you figure out which ones are worth investing in and which you should overlook?
What Are the Opportunities for your Ecommerce Business?
According to Insider Intelligence, e-commerce sales will exceed $1 trillion for the first time ever this year. Prior to the pandemic, experts felt the current level of online sales wouldn’t hit the same level until 2024 or beyond.
With such rapid growth comes a lot of opportunity for change. Figuring out which technologies work best for your industry can mean the difference between success and failure. Here are some top business options your e-commerce company should consider.
1. Improve Marketing Efforts
Machine learning has exceeded expectations in how it can analyze trends and automate processes. One of the areas where artificial intelligence makes an impact is in marketing your brand.
Save time by automating posts. Track how well each campaign does by digging into the data and initiating computer-generated reports. Machine learning saves your company time and effort and lets you scale up more rapidly by putting the focus on creative endeavors.
2. Consolidate Vendors
The supply chain has faced issues in the last couple of years, forcing many companies to turn to a consolidated approach to keep products in stock. The number of procurement officers for a product shrank from around 15 to about three, forcing those contacts to take on more items than in the past and presenting chances for consolidation.
Combining efforts also means those specialists can buy more of a product from each supplier. The practice lowers costs and ensures a steady supply.
3. Choose Cloud Computing
Although you need people on site to physically pick and pack orders, there are many jobs in e-commerce people can complete at home. Invest in cloud computing so you can take at least a hybrid approach with your company.
You’ll save money on office space if some of your workers are remote. You’ll also have the tools at everyone’s disposal no matter where they’re working that day. For example, your sales and customer service teams can easily work from anywhere if they have secure access to your databases.
Even if you aren’t quite ready to go fully remote, getting your information uploaded to the cloud helps with client communication. If you do decide to go to a work-from-home model at some point in the future, the heavy lifting of uploading data will already be completed.
4. Accept Cryptocurrency
More people use cryptocurrency today than ever before. In 2017, cryptocurrency usage reached a market cap of 800%, with more e-commerce sites choosing to accept Bitcoin and others as payment.
Come up with a plan that allows you to cash in immediately. Digital cash has been a bit volatile recently, so it isn’t a good idea to sit on the funds too long as they could drop in value. Evaluate the opportunity for risk and make the best decision for your business’s needs.
5. Buy Robots
As your business grows, look for more ways to automate your processes. Robotic abilities grow constantly, creating more humanoid machines that can make decisions and even rationalize.
One area where those selling products might see an opportunity is in warehouse robotics. Invest in an inventory system that assigns a product to a bin. When you receive an order, just input the code and the robot finds the item and drops it into a bin.
No longer will workers have to go on the hunt for an item. The computer takes care of everything. Robots can be hefty investments but you’ll also save ongoing costs for staff and benefits by allowing a machine to do the work. You can free up your top workers to seek new clients or come up with fresh ideas.
Find Fresh Opportunities
Figuring out what options work best for your e-commerce business requires a bit of investigation. Talk to other business owners, join groups for your industry and read widely on new technologies and advances in your category.
The more you know, the more opportunities you’ll see. Pay attention to what your competitors invest in and consider whether it’s smart for your business or not. Not every investment will pay off, but some will make your work easier and better and will help you scale up over time.
