With Internet access and penetration booming exponentially, the upcoming year is expected to be no exception for this ever-growing trend.
Why choose to start an online business right now?
According to a Smartphone Market in Malaysia study, 71% of adult Malaysians used a smartphone in 2016 and the figures are estimated to grow dramatically throughout 2017.
Nevertheless, online shopping trends have grown according to Preferred Online Shopping Platforms in Malaysia 2020 study, with around 75% of Malaysians shopping online and the most popular categories of items purchased online being fashion and accessories, home and living, health and beauty.
Without any further ado, iPay88 lists five main reasons why you should immediately move online.
Easier to get web traffic, than foot traffic
Thinking deeper about the statistics provided above, there is no question that people tend to spend more and more time online.
What does that mean? We use our smartphones while commuting to work, waiting for friends in a restaurant, before we fall asleep and the minute when we wake up.
This means that if you move online, your customers will not need to pass by your physical store somewhere in the city; they will be able to discover you not even being in the same state or even continent.
Nowadays, the Internet has become limitless, and this opportunity should be well used.
10 pm – no worries, your shop is still open!
By being online, you can serve your customers any time of the day.
Well, imagine that you have 10 customers buying something from your physical shop every hour. This means that if you operate regular hours between 9 and 5, five days a week, it would bring you 400 customers weekly.
Now, imagine that your shop is open 24/7, and keep in mind that more sales lead to more profit! We assume no more explanation is needed here.
Easier to create a company image
Everything on the Internet is connected. By investing some time in online marketing, you can build an e-commerce business and have a strong online presence.
It is today very easy to create a company image online because social media has developed to extreme extents.
Imagine that your satisfied customers can share a link to your shop on their social media accounts, they can rate your service on Foursquare or Yelp, they can even produce a blog post linking your shop.
All this helps you to build up a company image, and it can go very fast and with little effort.
Go global!
Today, most of the things in the world are intertwined, thus doing business online has never been easier.
With a vast choice of post or courier services, worldwide delivery is no longer a nightmare.
With iPay88, acceptance of international payments in different currencies is easy, reliable and fast.
The trends have been indicating that “local” is becoming too small to keep up with today’s technological advancement, thus why not to consider going global?
Collect more data about your customers
In today’s competitive market, there may be many businesses that are similar to yours. Competition is natural and often welcomed.
Running and online business would actually give you an advantage, because you would be able to learn more about your customers.
For example, you would better understand their shopping habits, time spent shopping, particular time and day for shopping amongst the others.
This is important for the growth of your business, because you will be able to serve your clients better if you know and analyse their habits and needs.
Conclusion
No question, it may be daunting, at first sight, to move online, but every business should be responsive to the trends, even if they seem to be dubious at first.
At iPay88 we work to boost e-commerce business nature within Malaysia and the ASEAN.
We have helped thousands of merchants just like you to realise their online dream and make the transition as hassle-free as possible.
We are ready to help you too!
