When it comes to SEO in Ottawa, GrowME Marketing has the inside scoop. However, where it concerns e-commerce, there is much more to know than what meets the eye initially. As a result, it is imperative that both the benefits and drawbacks of this new and exciting retail opportunity are explored in full.
Below, we look at some of the advantages of e-commerce and how Ottawa SEO can positively affect them. These include the extended reach of the company, the convenience of the shopping experience for shoppers and more. We also look at the drawbacks of this digital service, like the higher initial knowledge requirements, murky legislative oversight and so on. There’s lots of valuable information to be had, so let’s not waste a minute and get started right away!
The Advantages of E-Commerce
The Extended Reach of Your Business
One of the main benefits of e-commerce websites is that they allow businesses of any size to reach customers from anywhere. This allows hobbyists, craft shops and eclectic collectors (to name but a few) to serve loyal and interested consumers regardless of their physical distance from the store. Talk about convenience! Actually, speaking of which…
The Increased Convenience for Your Shoppers
The modern era is characterized by a massive selection of shopping options for any and all consumers. However, it is also characterized by the necessary increase in convenience that this increased selection necessitates by its nature. The result is that e-commerce allows you to serve your customers better, providing more innate value to them and making it easier to facilitate repeat transactions.
The Ability to Use SEO to Your Advantage
SEO in Ottawa is about more than creating a high-converting website that looks attractive to users and crawlerbots alike. It also helps optimize the shopping experience with clear categories, straightforward information and simplified navigation. When you come from a background of technical SEO skills or when you work with a digital marketing company to hone them, the results will naturally translate into a more intuitive user experience on your e-commerce website.
The Disadvantages of E-Commerce
The Higher Initial Knowledge Requirements
While new courses, tutorials, trainers and tools are constantly being developed, there is still a wide expanse between the skillsets of operating a brick-and-mortar store and those of running an e-commerce one. And, to make matters worse, many of the habits that a physical store can perpetuate—lagging inventory management, interpretable pricing, etc.—simply don’t work in an e-commerce setting.
The Murky Legislative Oversight
E-commerce businesses represent a larger trend taking place around the world that takes advantage of the interconnectivity of the internet. This is obviously a great boon, as we spoke of earlier, but it also creates many gray areas where legislative oversight is concerned. Can you ship internationally? What taxes and customs must be paid for these transactions? How do returns take place without a physical address? Questions like these require additional thought and foresight to be properly addressed.
The Loss of the In-store Shopping Experience
It’s seemingly a built-in function of humans to lament the passing of a thing when its progeny arrives on the scene, and the loss of the in-store shopping experience is no exception. Having a conversation with a sales associate, walking around the store while debating a purchase and gravitating towards the discount section are all possible to replicate with e-commerce websites, but they often lack the zeal and appeal of the real deal. However, as chatbots improve, business owners become experienced with the myriad tools at their disposal, and savvy shoppers become the norm, not the exception, it’s not so hard to believe that a better future is in sight.