According to the U.S. Census Bureau's website, E-Commerce accounted for $31.9 billion of sales in just the fourth quarter of 2008, and $133.6 billion for the whole year. That's a pretty staggering figure in and of itself, but yet only accounts for 3.4% of the total sales for 2008 sales. We are still seeing steady and continued growth from as far back as 2000, and it will continue as consumers are feeling more confident about purchasing on the internet and realizing the benefits of purchasing in this way. The US Census chart below shows the steady climb in online purchasing.
How do you get a piece of this E-Commerce market?
It is only a matter of time before we see dramatic growth in this market, since we are still really in the infant stages of e-commerce, from a macro sense. Besides retailers that are bring their products online, many companies are online retailers only. You are only limited by your imagination as to what can be sold on the internet. You obviously have to start with a great product to sell and then have an e-commerce enabled website built. Of course just having this e-commerce website built doesn't guarantee you will get sales. You still need to be visible to your consumers, so will ultimately need some good Search Engine Optimization to really kick-start your venture.
Our Experience with E-Commerce is What Counts
We have been developing E-Commerce website solutions for over 7 years which we leverage to build not only a professionally designed storefront, but a successful shopping cart experience. We have used many solutions over the years but have been implementing a robust shopping cart by Virtuemart, that has surfaced to be powerful and scalable, but very easy to use. Each client requires a different approach based on their particular needs. Call us to determine what solution we can craft for your business model. If you would like to know more about what steps you need to take in order to get prepared for your e-commerce venture, just visit our page, How Do I Get Prepared For E-Commerce.