Tag: online sales

The Rise of B2B Ecommerce

When talking about Ecommerce, most of us picture a customer like you and me ordering something online for personal use. In other words, we think of a B2C online transaction.  And just like we think of someone buying an item online for personal use when thinking Ecommerce, people tend to picture sales reps and face-to-face negotiation when talking about B2B sales. However, B2B is happening more and more online. Most people don’t know that B2B Ecommerce is much larger than the B2C Ecommerce market. In fact, the B2B Ecommerce market is valued at close to $15 Trillions, five times the B2C market. Forrester also estimates that online sales will grow to  17% of all B2B sales in the U.S. by 2023, from 9% before the pandemic.

Let’s see why B2B Ecommerce is growing so fast and what companies need to do to be successful in B2B Ecommerce.  

Continue reading

How to Find New Products Ideas

I have met many aspiring entrepreneurs over the years. While some were quick to start their first business, most were struggling to get started. I have heard many reasons (some would say excuses) why they wanted to start a business but could not: lack of funds, not enough education or experience, or too busy with their job. But the one reason that comes up the most is finding the right idea. It is easy to convince someone that they can start a business without a Harvard MBA or a million dollars in the bank. But getting them to acknowledge they can find a good business idea is more difficult.

Continue reading

Why Do Customers Leave a Website During the Checkout Step (and What Can be Done to Avoid it)?

If you like sports and fitness, you might have seen one of these videos on your social media feed. A long-distance runner does an amazing performance. He probably trained for years or even decades and was in a very good position to win the race. Only a few yards from the finish line, he gets too confident, starts celebrating too early, and ends up losing the race (here is an example: youtube.com/watch?v=38fffcRexi4). Not only do I think this is a good life lesson, I think many ecommerce entrepreneurs can learn from it.

Continue reading

The Worst Product you Can Sell Online

Behind this provocative title, I want to highlight a grim reality in the ecommerce world: too many unsuccessful entrepreneurs are actually trying to trade commodities on Amazon. You probably know that commodities are products like steel, sand, or oil. But if you think about it, many products sold to online consumers are close to being commodities. And being a commodity seller isn’t where you want to be as an ecommerce entrepreneur. Let’s see why.

Continue reading

Do You Need a Shopping App for Your Business? (Answer: Probably Not)

“Everyone is glued to their phones these days.” We’ve all heard that dozens of times, yet it is more true than ever. Smartphones are a big part of our lives, and we now have the ability to shop online from anywhere at any time. Technology creates massive business opportunities, and entrepreneurs will always take advantage of it. In the ecommerce space, there are now thousands of mobile shopping apps available for download. As an entrepreneur, you’ll find many people recommending that every online business should have its own app. So, should you jump on the bandwagon, or would creating a mobile app be nothing more than a huge waste of time and money?

Continue reading

Free Shipping : Necessity or Margin Killer?

If you shop online, I’m sure you’ve been there: you find an item you really like at a decent price, you add it to your cart, begin checking out, and find out that shipping will add an extra $7 to your bill. What an awful surprise. The idea of paying for shipping greatly upsets you, and you give up on your purchase. Does this sound familiar? I’ve certainly done that many times. In the age of Amazon Prime, should other online businesses offer free shipping? Is charging for shipping a thing of the past?

Continue reading

6 Ways Technology Can Lead You to Massive Success

“Metaverse”, “Cloud Computing”, “Datafication”; these days, it feels like every other news article about business is trying to use as many technology keywords as possible. We hear about innovation and disruption in the entertainment, medicine, and transportation fields everyday. I’d say that half of the people using these buzzwords have no idea what they are talking about, but they feel they have to use them to sound smart. It is easy to get a sense of technology being important for businesses and entrepreneurs, including those operating online. A huge part of top companies are tech for certain reasons. Technologies and technical processes can create opportunities and improve operations. After all, the internet is the reason ecommerce exists in the first place. But technology can also kill businesses unwilling to adapt to the ever-changing environment. Let’s see how.

Continue reading

© 2023 François Maingret

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑