The Power of E-Commerce: Even Small Businesses Can Grow Big Online
Today, it's hard to imagine a successful, growth-oriented business that sells its products only in its own store. A physical retail location drastically limits the customer base, as not all potential customers can visit it frequently enough. Therefore, online trading has become an integral part of business operations. And while just a few years ago, concerns about investing in an online store stemmed from fears that some customers wouldn't know how to use the new options, the pandemic has put everything in perspective.
Now, even seniors are clicking items into their digital shopping carts and heading to parcel lockers to pick up their orders or receiving them from couriers at their doorstep. The expansion of the parcel locker network across the country has greatly facilitated online shopping, as delivery has become relatively cheap and fast. This means that manufacturing and trading companies that still don't have their own online store should act now to implement this digital tool. Even the smallest ones.
Cheaper than renting premises
As e-commerce has been thriving globally for a couple of decades, users are offered a wide range of solutions for choosing a virtual trading venue. The prices for these solutions are quite reasonable, significantly lower than renting premises for a physical store. For example, a small online store can be created independently using ready-made modules and templates, and its monthly maintenance costs range between 15-25 euros. If the turnover is at least a few hundred euros, building a digital trading venue already pays off. Moreover, it helps increase revenues by reaching customers in other cities and even countries.
The e-commerce data platform Littledata surveyed online store owners last September and found that Shopify merchants earn an average of 90 euros per customer annually. Meanwhile, the best-performing stores sold goods worth about 320 euros. On the WooCommerce platform, average revenue per customer was around 100 euros, while the Top 10 stores earned over 620 euros. On Adobe Commerce, previously known as Magento, the average figure is even higher—over 130 euros per customer annually. These numbers are convincing enough to make anticipated expenses seem less of a barrier.
Marketplace or your own store?
Where to start with creating an online store? First, it's advisable to define your goals. You can connect to major trading platforms like eBay, Amazon, or Etsy, creating your "kiosk" in the giant digital marketplace and trying to get noticed using the advertising options offered by these sites. Another option is to create your own online store tailored to your taste, requirements, and possibilities. For small businesses, programming a store from scratch may not be financially viable, so it's more pragmatic to choose one of the popular platforms used by thousands of other businesses in Latvia and abroad. These include WooCommerce, Shopify, Squarespace, Mozello, Weebly, and many others. All of them offer free trial periods, after which the costs are quite similar. WooCommerce's base version can be used for free, but you'll need to pay a commission fee for each transaction. Shopify costs about 27 euros per month, Wix - 25 euros, Squarespace – 17 euros, Mozello - 12 euros, and Weebly - 20 euros.
Clarity and ease of use
Once the platform is chosen, you need to create your store's design, which includes both visual appearance and functionality. This means how products will be arranged on the site, grouped into categories, searched, compared, and added to the cart. This is the most critical and complex part of the work, as the buyer's experience depends on it—how clear the page is, how quickly it loads, and how easy it is to find what is needed. Popular platforms simplify this work with various modules that have been refined over the years based on user recommendations. Additionally, there's an opportunity to "borrow ideas" from successful examples.
Once the design is ready and products are added, payment and delivery options need to be integrated. Most platforms support bank transfers, card payments, and PayPal transactions. They also allow you to add delivery methods of your choice and assign different prices to each. This enables you to offer in-store pickup, courier delivery, or parcel locker services.
The finished store needs to be placed on a server of your choice or one recommended by the platform and linked to your company's website. Often, the website is merged with the online store so that customers can find all necessary information about the company and products in one place.
The more recognizable, the more customers
Afterward, the work of strengthening the store's visibility begins. Starting with SEO optimization, which ensures the store appears as high as possible in search engine results, and ending with advertising on social media or in mass media. This is essentially an ongoing process, but it determines how many people will notice, visit, and shop at the store. Of course, you must never forget about product quality and customer service, which also includes delivering goods to customers as quickly as possible.
Equally important is ensuring a quality accounting program that helps quickly and conveniently compile incoming payments and prepare necessary reports for state institutions.
Even if creating an online store initially seems complicated, once you start, the process can be genuinely engaging. Especially with the first successes. The arrival of the first customers is thrilling and motivates you to continue developing the site so that revenues keep growing. And digital commerce truly knows no boundaries.