What is E-Commerce Website?
An e-commerce website is one that allows people to buy and sell physical goods, services, and digital products over the internet rather than at a brick-and-mortar location. Through an e-commerce website, a business can process orders, accept payments, manage shipping and logistics, and provide customer service.
Its tough to imagine daily life without e-commerce. We order food, clothes, and furniture; we register for classes and other online services; we download books, music, and movies; and so much more. E-commerce has taken root and is here to stay.
The term e-commerce simply means the sale of goods or services on the internet. In its most basic form, e-commerce involves electronically transferring funds and data between 2 or more parties. This form of business has evolved quite a bit since its beginnings in the electronic data interchange of the 1960s and the inception of online shopping in the 1990s.
In recent years, e-commerce has enjoyed a massive boost from the rise of smartphones, which allow consumers to shop from nearly anywhere.
Much like a traditional physical retail store, e-commerce websites allow consumers and businesses to buy and sell to one another on a designated platform. The main difference between e-commerce and physical commerce, however, is that e-commerce transactions occur entirely over the internet rather than at a brick-and-mortar location.
An ecommerce website is your digital storefront on the internet. It facilitates the transaction between a buyer and seller. It is the virtual space where you showcase products, and online customers make selections. Your website acts as the product shelves, sales staff, and cash register of your online business channel.
Businesses might create a branded store experience on a store like Amazon, build their own commerce site on a dedicated domain, or do it all for a multi-channel approach.
The eCommerce website definition is any website that sells products or services through the Internet. As you may imagine, there are millions of eCommerce sites that sell all kinds of products. Thousands of eCommerce success stories exist with the B2B business model, some are B2C examples, and still, others sell direct to consumer.
In the earlier days of the Internet, setting up an eCommerce website was a dedicated task that could span a day or more. In todays digital environment, an eCommerce site--plus bells and whistles--can be set up in a few hours or less.
There are also numerous types of eCommerce businesses. Whether youre learning how to start a dropshipping business, manufacture merchandise inventory, or are selling wholesale, the opportunities are limitless. You can also have your cake and eat it too with O2O marketing, where you use digital marketing to drive more in-store sales.