E-Commerce: Because Its 2017
Since history books were written, the retail experience has largely gone unchanged. You enter a store, you grab what you like and you pay/trade for it. Although there are the obvious advantages of touching and feeling products, there are just as many disadvantages, one of which are the barriers to entry. Maybe its time we move out of the dark ages of shopping.
There are thousands, if not millions, of useful products that go undiscovered due to the fact that they cannot enter their market of choice. Many entrepreneurs are stagnated by retail markup; everyone needs their fair share before it reaches the consumer. The e-commerce world is the solution to these problems.
With e-commerce, product vendors can sell directly to consumers without paying any middle-men. This provides savings for customers and business owners alike. Everyone loves to save money, right?
Take Kate for example. Kate lives in Florida and started to knit as a hobby. As her skill increased, she found that mittens were her specialty. She started making mittens with all kinds of colours and patterns. Obviously in the Florida climate, Kate had little use for mittens, so she knitted a few as a Christmas present for her Canadian relatives. Boom, the rocket took off. Suddenly her family from the great white north are saying that they love the mittens, all their families love the mittens and all their friends love the mittens. "Can you make more mittens?", they plead, "We can pay you for them!". Kate thinks its a great idea, but how does she sell and send mittens to Canada and other chilly places? Enter Shopify.
As a Launch Manager with Shopify Plus, I recognize the merchants will be on a much larger scale, but the principle is still the same. I want to get merchants started on Shopify Plus, navigate their way through all the different features and functionalities that we have to offer, and ensure they are using the best solutions for their unique business. I want to be part of the team that instills confidence in any business owner and demonstrates that I'm here to help someone like Kate achieve their goals and that we can do it together.
Of course, Kate's story is only one of thousands whose issues can be overcome by e-commerce. The world needs more people like Kate, willing to go out on a limb and pursue her passion even when her target market is no where to be seen. Lucky for Kate, there are companies like Shopify who make it possible.
Personally, I only use e-commerce for about 50% of my purchases. Why? Well to circle back to square one, I want to touch and see the product before I buy. Is VR a solution for that? Can e-commerce increase their market cap by leveraging new technology? Can pricing models be so good that I take a gamble on a product I saw online? I think so, and I want to find out with Shopify.