E-commerce: Complete Guide for Beginners

E-commerce: what is it? How to open one and the important aspects to consider if you embark on this business challenge—a complete guide of all the most important steps and phases.

Everyone talks about it; everyone wants it. What is it? Many have surely heard of e-commerce, especially in this historical moment in which we find ourselves, many activities are pouring their business on e-commerce. 

However, it is not certain that we know exactly what e-commerce is, and not even if it represents the best alternative to choose when deciding to launch into the world of online marketing. 

It is not said that all businesses must necessarily skillfully make e-commerce to sell online, in some cases, such as the one concerning small companies with few products and a warehouse that is not as well-stocked, perhaps e-commerce. Nevertheless, it is not the best choice. 

Today, however, everyone wants to sell online. You also need to learn how to fix the price of your products and you need to take into account several factors like the fees charged by the platform, your manufacturing cost, packaging cost, profit margin etc. There are certain tools online that come very handy in this aspect. eBay fees calculator is one such tool that you can use.

The points we will address in this article will be basic and help you better understand what e-commerce is and how and why you might want to start one.

The Topic of This POST

• 1 What is e-commerce? Definition and meaning
• 2 A brief history of e-commerce
• 3 How to build an e-commerce site
• 4 E-commerce: advantages and disadvantages
• 5 The e-commerce legislation
• 6 E-commerce manager: who he is and what he does
• 7 How to promote an e-commerce

What is e-commerce? Definition and meaning

Let’s start from the basics and begin to understand what e-commerce is.

The most exact definition is the following: all selling and buying products and services online via the Internet.

Let’s start with a concept to explain e-commerce: all internet sites that sell products and services technically can be defined as e-commerce.

Except that when we think of an online store, our thoughts immediately turn to sites such as: 

• Zalando
• Amazon

In reality, there are not only these big names. Many types of shops sell online, even niche ones. Indeed, I can safely say that there is an infinite type of small e-commerce that has a great desire to grow. 

As I specified a little above, when we think of the world of e-commerce, however, we must not reconnect our thoughts only to online stores that sell products. 

Even sites like Airb AMP stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages, is a system to speed up the loading times of sites from mobile devices. With AMP, you can create …; b, WeRoad are examples of e-commerce, only they sell services related to the world of tourism. 

So, if you intend to sell your service online, know that that too will be an e-commerce and that consequently, it will follow the same logic of thought, albeit with different strategies. 

Another great distinction that must be made when it comes to e-commerce is that between:

• B2C
• B2BB2B (Business-to-Business) is an adjective used to describe companies that sell to other companies. For example, Studio Samo is primarily a B2B company because it sells …

What do you mean? 

B2C e-commerce is all those that go from the producer to the consumer directly. The type of online sales, in this case, is closely related to the relationship with the customer that must be treated with constancy and consistency over time, through multiple marketing strategies, which also involve the construction of ad hoc social pages, for example. 

B2B e-commerce, on the other hand, is all those that go from company to company. For example:

Example of e-commerce that sells plastic materials for other large companies. Or a company that sells supplies for other manufacturing companies. 

A brief history of e-commerce

The origins of e-commerce, closer to how we know it today, date back to the 70s, when EDI – Electronic Data Interchange – was born, which allowed the transfer of information and commercial documents electronically. 

But the first-ever e-commerce seems to date back to 1982 in France following the birth of Minitel, a commercial network promoted by the state’s post and telecommunications company.

Returning, however, to EDI, which interests us more closely in terms of evolution, it was a system devised by transport networks, which became very relevant in industries in which large volumes of stocks were circulating to be distributed.

We assume that at the time of EDI, the Internet as we know it today did not exist, and the system was supported by private telecommunications networks. 

The system was undoubtedly very expensive. Moreover, as there were multiple I database Put, it can be said, a database in … of the users who connected and since the latter was little used, it made everything much more artificial in operation. 

Furthermore, EDI did not allow the interactivity that the Internet can offer today, and there was no possibility of discussing and negotiating the prices of goods. 

When exactly was the first online purchase ever in the USA?

It seems that the first online transaction was the purchase of a CD: Dan Kohn, a 21-year-old US entrepreneur, who had a site called NetMarket, and on August 11, 1994, sold the Sting Ten album Summoner’s Tales to a friend. Who Purchase it by credit card from Philadelphia. 

The Price is the amount of money required for a product or service. In a broad sense, the Price is the sum of all … the purchase was $ 12.48 plus shipping.

Instead, it seems, hypothetically, given that we do not have certain proof, The Internet Shopping Network carried out the first online sale. This company began selling computer equipment via the web in 1994.

In the early 90s, e-commerce met the Internet, and thus the magic that we all know very well today began to be born, which is undoubtedly part of our reality. 

Like all great evolutions, this one too involved an incredible number of experiments, failures, and attempts to achieve success. 

How to build an e-commerce site

What did it mean to open an e-commerce today?

As if we wanted to open a physical store, the commitment is the same, perhaps even more.

Not many know this, but the first royal shops did not have a window as we know them today. 

The idea of ​​making a showcase came by chance, like all great discoveries. From there, the figure of the window dresser was born, who had to take care of embellishing the shop windows to bring people to enter, and therefore to make purchases. 

The investments that physical stores have had to make over the years have been substantial but have led to great results. 

Then there was a change of direction since the Internet arrived, and in particular, e-commerce completely changed the way of shopping online. 

As it was for physical stores, and as in reality it still is, the same procedure applies to all those who decide to embark on this great online adventure. 

Opening e-commerce involves a lot of investments. 

 What are the most important steps? What should we start from?

Let’s see it right away.

You must first define: 

• Goals – surely it is to sell the goal, but we establish a roadmap, plan the purposes of our business and try to understand what we need to do to achieve them;
• Budget.- how much do we have at our disposal to invest in this new project? Opening e-commerce is not a joke, and it requires attention to many aspects, both of the site’s internal management, the resources we employ there, and the management external to the site.

Here is what we need to do to create e-commerce: 

• Choose the platform on which we want to create our online store. 
• But be careful with this choice. Many will tell you about Magento -CMSA Content Management System, often abbreviated to CMS, is software that helps users create, manage and modify the contents of a site …open source, as well as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Prestashop – but it is not necessarily the right platform for you.
• Ask yourself the following questions first: I have so many products that I need a platform like Magento, which is intended for online shops with a very large stock of products? Do I want to have a proprietary platform – that is, a platform developed ad hoc by a group of programmers? Or do I want to rely on Shopify? A platform that acts as the site owner or administrator providing thehostingTo publish any website online, you need …of your online store, sells you the name for your domain and gives you tools for marketing, accounting, shipping, and more. The store is independent of Shopify for you, and you’ll need to manage it yourself. 
• Once you have chosen the platform, depending on what you prefer, you will have to invest in content creation and choose a professional who deals with web copywriting. 
• Necessarily, next to this figure, there will have to be an expertSEO. which helps you to structure a positioning strategy for your business area, within your market. Suppose you have decided that your site should also sell in other countries. In that case, you will also have to invest in translating your texts into the languages ​​of the countries you have chosen. Therefore, most likely, you will need to select an international SEO from the beginning for your strategy. Positioning. 
• Investing in a User Experience expert, especially regarding the checkout methods – that is, the final phase in which the customer must proceed with the purchase is also fundamental. Many abandon the cart because the menu and the payment form are not clear. So pay attention to these aspects.

Beyond these basic points from which to start, you must keep in mind that although e-commerce all follow the same development logic, every business is different and must pay attention to several factors. This is because so many needs will arise during the realization process. 

For this reason, many prefer to entrust everything to agencies that take care of the management of the online store. 

E-commerce: advantages and disadvantages

Today, creating e-commerce certainly has many advantages. Still, at the same time, it requires a greater concentration on other aspects, which very often are not considered when deciding to embark on this adventure. 

I will list immediately what are the advantages: 

• Possibility to get in touch with a greater number of customers all over the world, thus greatly expanding your market share;
• Your business will have no opening and closing hours, and you can sell night and day. And that’s because an online shop is always available even at 3:00 am. Making customer care available also involves an investment of resources, but it depends a lot on your budget;
• It is much easier to sell niche products with e-commerce. Therefore, through specific SEO and paid strategies, the target refers to a group of potential customers to whom a company wants to sell its products or services. The Target is consequently also … you wish to refer to;
• You can track the customer in a much more precise way, thanks also to geolocation; 
• There will be no more queues outside your shop, and you can sell to multiple people at the same time;

What about the disadvantages?

And yes, there are those too. I don’t think they aren’t there. Let’s see them:

• You cannot see your customers face to face, which implies that you have to write very explicit content for your e-commerce. Create a specific FAQ page for your potential customer and attract the target with a very well-built virtual showcase. Remember the discourse of shop windows made a little above, even for e-commerce, it is important to create a “digital showcase” that attracts the customer ; 
• If your shop can always sell, it means that you too must always be available. There are no free Saturdays and Sundays, if the customer contacts and wants more information, you have to answer;
• You have to learn how to keep in touch with the customer effectively and create a very effective shopping experience;
• You will have to adapt your regulations to the rules for protecting privacy. Please consult with an expert for this, as it is by no means a given when selling online.

The e-commerce legislation

How does the e-commerce regulation work? First, as we have already specified in this article, opening e-commerce is like opening a physical store and consequently involves regulation. 

First, you have to choose the sales channel:

• Third-party sales channels – refer to other websites such as eBay and Amazon. In this case, you must follow the regulations that indicate them when you decide to sell on one of the two;
• Direct sales channels – manage online sales yourself; 
• Affiliate channels – you refer to intermediaries for selling your products. 

Each of these possibilities has its regulation. 

But let’s summarize here some basic points: 

• To sell online, you must have a VAT number; also in dropshippingDropshipping is a method of retail trade, mainly used in e-commerce, in which a seller does not stock the products that …; 
• You can also choose to do temporary e-commerce, but for no more than 30 days; 
• Then You must register with the business register at the chamber of commerce; 
• Also You must register with the INPS merchant management;
• You must obtain a certified start-up report, which has specific regulations depending on the municipality to which you belong;
• Depending on the business, you need to get a tax license. For example, if you want to sell food. 

It can be complex, I know, so perhaps it is better to rely on an accountant who can guide you. However, the steps are not few to follow. 

E-commerce manager: who he is and what he does

E-commerce, however, is certainly not an online store that runs on its own, it certainly needs a figure to manage it, and for this, there is the e-commerce manager. 

It depends on whether yours is a large company or a small Insurance company. In the second case, usually, the e-commerce manager could be you because you take care of everything. In the first, however, this figure supports that of the entrepreneur and helps him manage the whole activity. 

So what should an e-commerce manager do?

• Design a business, then create the sales strategy that will characterize e-commerce;
• Set the business objectives to follow and the time frame within which to achieve them;
• Plan and manage marketing campaigns, such as seasonal promotion activities;
• Monitor and analyze the progress of the strategies.

In addition to these activities, he must also: 

• Manage internal resources;
• Manage relations with couriers and ensure that deliveries are guaranteed within the designated times; 
• Take care or monitor the updating of the online warehouse and contact the suppliers to update the physical warehouse as well;
• Manage the logistics that concerns the packaging
• Monitor customer care and intervene where there are problems, such as returns;
• Improve the platform with automation and integrations;
• Manage payments and collections; 
• Take care of the legal aspects of privacy and the different legislations of the markets in which it operates, unless it works in only one. 

If it is a large company, you will also have employees. This implies that in addition to the figure of the e-commerce manager, there must also be that of a project manager who supports him in monitoring all projects. 

To become an e-commerce manager, you need a structured strategic and organizational vision. 

How to promote an e-commerce

Probably the most interesting part of this article is about how to promote e-commerce. I can immediately tell you that there are both online and offline activities that you need to do, indeed they must go hand in hand.  

Content marketing side

We must start from the basics; that is, it is necessary to create a content marketing strategy that involves the site and the contents of the social pages, video marketing strategies, and email marketing activities. In short, you must certainly work a lot on the contents concerning both your site and those must be done satisfactorily, especially the product sheets of your e-commerce and the third-party content activities to support the general strategy to sponsor the online store. 

In this regard, it is important: 

1. Do not copy the description from the manufacturers’ catalog. We remind you that these factors also give the shopping experience;
2. Have beautiful photos of our products taken, do not take pictures from the manufacturers’ catalog. Most of the time, they will be too large and slow down the site loading.

Social media side

For example, you can also take advantage of Influencer. An influencer is anyone who has the power to influence the purchasing decisions of others due to his or her authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with the …who advertise your product on Instagram.

However, the rule for social media is: always diversify your online presence. 

Use user reviews

Who better than your target can tell you how to improve your service? Listen to your audience’s opinion and do negative reviews your strong point to enhance the benefit of your online store. 

Use automation

It would be best if you created an email marketing strategy that is consistent over time. For example, it is useless to send a newsletter every day the first week and then disappear the following weeks. You have to keep yourself constant over time and to do this. Again, automation can give you a great hand. 

Here are some of the services you can rely on: 

• Mailchimp
• Getresponse

Two other tools you can use to automate your entire marketing process are: 

• Kajabi
• Hubspot

Other important aspects to promote your e-commerce concern the personalization strategies of your content. 

Remember: the customer always wants to feel pampered, and you have to. 

 

Automation is also ideal for social programming. Postpickr, for example, is a great tool to use. 

Other important aspects of promoting your e-commerce:

• Always optimize your site for mobile – it is essential to selling online since today everyone buys from mobile;
• If you are targeting multiple markets, translate your site into the target market’s language – obviously, the currency also changes, and the times are based on the country’s time zones.
• Invest a lot of time in checking your potential target, and he will be able to tell you everything you need to optimize your strategy;
• Start campaigns of advertising Advertising (abbreviated ADV) mean advertising; it is a paid message that a company sends intending to inform or influence the people who receive it … targeted at specific promotional objectives;
• Upsell your products to increase the chances of sales;

If you have read the whole article up to here, you are ready to take on this challenge.