Scope of e-commerce in 2021 and How to set up an Online Store in 2021, is something everyone is looking forward to. In this article, we have discussed How to set up e-commerce sites. And what is the future of e-Commerce in 2021?
COVID 19 has been nothing more than a thunderstorm. A storm which has made the world go upside-down. Work offline is facing major lash back. This is because everything because of COVID 19 has shifted on a “No contact side”. Hence for a health concern, it has become important for customers to shift online. During COVID 19 after doctors & Government officials if someone has worked a lot. Then it has to be Online firm. We can not even deny the fact that Online firm has faced the least loss as compared to offline firms. From every end of the edge Online business and stores seems to make all the profit all alone. This is so not fair. Hence, everyone from small to large scale business is shifting to Online mode.
Here are some Advantages of shifting business online.
- Exposure to Global Marketing
- 24hrs/7 visibility in the market.
- The online transaction which are instant safe and fast.
- Low-cost set-up of online business as compared to offline business.
- Customers do not have to step out, that builds comfort.
- Shop any time, anywhere.
- You get your business updated as per latest trends etc.
Future of e-Commerce
As mentioned above the world is undergoing drastic change. The world is forced to adapt to a new normal. All because of COVID 19 crisis. But, if we take a look back in 2019 with or without future of e-Commerce would have been brighter. Even brighter than the disco balls actually. And with this, I would like to state some facts in front of you. These facts are the study of 2019 Online business’s growth and profit. This will help you understand. Why online business will rise in 2021 and will show the great margin of profit.
Key Points
There have been backdrop and decline moments. Online firms had seen all the horror yet stood strong. Global e-commerce has risen by 20.7% in 2019 to $3.535 trillion. However, a decline in 2019 has been seen from when e-commerce grew 28.0% in 2017 and 22.9% in 2018. By 2021, global e-commerce will approach the highest peak. As per recent circumstances of COVID 19, there are some aspects of Online firm which need to be considered. Because of health concerns of course. The most important aspect is the import and export of goods. While 2020 has created a situation for everyone to depend upon Online firm to save themselves. On the other hand, it has pressurized Online firms to produce more goods. But it has also made these online industries think thrice is it safe.
Well talking about the rising and future of e-Commerce in 2021. It seems flooded. With or without COVID 19 it would have shown a rise. This is because customers have been accepting Online stores in every firm. Be it education, medicine and health care, shopping everything is turning online. The question is WHY?
Why Online?
Everything turning online because of Global Market. Global Market means “Market Place which allows you to compete in Global Market”. Global Market has its own advantages which every business firm wants to compete in. The global market opens opportunities for you to grow globally rather than locally. By global growth we mean, customers across the world. Everyone focuses on the bull eye. And in a business firm, Global Market is that bull eye.
The conclusion is to grow every e-Commerce site wants to stand strong in the Global Market. Hence, it is important to step in Online Firm. Secondly, people are cutting off ties from offline stores and business this isn’t complete but to an extent due to which offline business can suffer. The third is there is no point or scope of growth, so it is important to have an online presence if you want to have growth.
Well let’s move on to How you can set up Online business it’s process. But before we jump into this let us have look on “Average Budget to set up any e-commerce site”.
Budget
For understanding about Budget. You need to understand about types of websites you can build. Web apps and Responsive websites are in demand in 2020. Most probably they will be in demand in 2021 also and so on. This because most of the browsing is conducted over Phones. Hence a responsive site which can detect and resize according to the display is very important. Now web apps save storage and work seamlessly. So to compete for other sites you have to provide your users advantage of web app and responsive sites. Now, let’s discuss the type of website you can build and it’s average cost.
- Custom Made Sites, time-consuming websites which costs INR 14,728.76. This is an average cost for which you can build your site. Domain charges, hosting, SSL Certificate, e-commerce functionality, SEO & Marketing etc. Costs more.
- Single Page and Template based websites are no use as they do not rank good on Google. However, they are cheap. But what is the point of talent when you do not have a platform to show it?
So, the solution to your problem is WordPress. It is a content management system. But it provides you with more than one option to be in a lime-light and make as much as the profit you want. So let us see how to set-up an e-commerce site on WordPress. And yes! for your convenience it will not burn your pocket as much as Custom Made sites do.
NOTE: We do not suggest you switch to WordPress if you have budget and Business plans to go for Custom Made Sites.
7 Pros of WooCommerce
For all of you wondering Why you should choose WooCommerce site. Here are 7 reasons or say pros why you should choose WordPress + WooCommerce.
Open-Source
WooCommerce software is free to use and is open-source. This means anybody can use WooCommerce. You can edit the coding. In comparison with WooCommerce competitors like Magento, Shopify. WooCommerce provides extra features and is providing its user with advanced features. WooCommerce provides its user with premium features as well. But that totally depends on you. If you need those extensions you should go for them. WooCommerce doesn’t even let you compromised over speed optimization.
Custamization
If you are already familiar with WordPress. You already have an idea about this pro. Thousand+ themes and plugin for customization. This possible only because WordPress has CSS, HTML, PHP style coding. Since WooCommerce is set-up on WordPress you get all the advantages of the same. Hence, WooCommerce is beginner-friendly, as well as professionals can also use it.
Flexibility
It has emerged as a platform. Which is open and accepts any type of business. You do not even have to worry much about visibility of your store online.
Security
Since WooCommerce is part of WordPress. WordPress updates their platform constantly. WooCommerce also updates constantly. Since both platforms are providing constant updates. That means with each update you get better functionality as well as security updates. This platform is safe and updates security to protect the user from cybercrimes. A little drawback for people not using premium features. Premium have better security support.
Large Community
WooCommerce provides you with a community of users, developers, and contributors. There are many articles, documentation to help you out during the mess. It has forums which help you understand how you can solve your technical issues.
Different Dashboards
According to products and categories. Dashboards are provided for convenience of owners.
Great Features
Marketing feature for better recognition. Scalability and localization. It has back end analytics and WordPress integration system. You can add a shopping cart, checkout list, access to multiple inventories. These features add up making WooCommerce best at functionality and professionalism.
Cons of WooCommerce
Security
You have to use WooCommerce premium. You have to use the premium option due to security issues. Security is best when users are on premium. So you have to spend some money. However it depends on you. But as of security concerns this looks little forceful.
Lack of Support
They do have support and community forums. But it doesn’t have central support team. That means a support team totally dedicated towards WooCommerce. If you face incompatibility issues. You have to search a lot for a correct solution.
Set-up
The set-up isn’t really painful. But for person who is beginner it can become painful. Hence have look at the set-up procedure below.
How to set-up e-Commerce site
Setting up an e-commerce site on WordPress is an easy, fast and least expensive way. To set up an e-commerce site on you need two main things.
- Domain Name
- Host
Once you get a Host now it’s Host’s responsibility to find you best Domain. One of the WordPress recommended Host is Bluehost.
Step 1: Selecting your Online Store Platform
It is really important to have a good space to work on. Hence, you should be very careful about choosing the platform to work on. For e-commerce two most popular platforms are Shopify and WordPress + WooCommerce. The reason we would not suggest Shopify is it costs $29/month. This is equivalent to spending half of the revenue per month if you are a small business. However, the site is developed for e-commerce specifically. Alright, that is enough Shopify is a topic for another day. To cut off expense you should go for WordPress + WooCommerce. This way you do not have to compromise over the quality of the website. This most flexible option. You do need to do some settings but it is worth it.
To set up your dream, you need SSL Certificate, Host, Domain name
- The domain is your web address
- The host is placed on an internet server your website lives on.
- SSL Certificates are ones which add special security levels on your website.
Question might be haunting you why to go for WordPress site. If i have to pay for all of this, Shouldn’t I be going for custom made site. So for you guys here is the calculations.
- Custom made site web development on an average estimate costs INR 14,728.
- SSL Certificate costs INR 5,086.
- Web Hosting costs INR 516.
- Domain Name INR 736.
- TOTAL = INR 21,066
- If you go for WordPress + WooCommerce you cut off Web development cost. So your average estimate total is INR 6,365.
In case you are out of budget Bluehost is for you. Providing their user’s free Domain and SSL.
Step 2: Setting up WordPress
Once complete your set up of host. You need to set up WordPress. When you sign in for Host WordPress is automatically installed on your website along with WooCommerce. The welcome message will flash on your screen. Options like Business and Personal will flash along with “I don’t need help” link click on it. As soon as you close that tab you will be directed to your Dashboard.
- Go to Settings > General, Change your site title to your site name add tagline of your choice. Scroll down.
- Scroll down to WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL), now change HTTP into HTTPS. This is done in order to configure your site.
- Click Save changes.
Step 3: Setting up WooCommerce
So before starting your business, you would first like to do some settings like payments, shipping, currency etc. Move to Dashboard where you will find a notification Run the setup Wizard. Click on it. Likewise, WooCommerce will launch on your site. Welcome Page of WooCommerce will open click Let’s Go! On the next page which will open consist of important e-commerce features like Cart, Shop, Checkout, My Account. To set these Click Continue. Now the next page opened will ask for details like the location of your store, Currency, unit measures etc. Select appropriate options and click Continue. The third page consists of shipping and tax setup select options according to your preferences and Continue. On the fourth page choose payment option sadly they have only two options PayPal & Stripe. And the last page which shows your store is ready to make you proud.
Step: Adding Products
- Go to Dashboard > WooCommerce on the sidebar.
- Click on Products > Add new.
- Edit Product category and images.
- Click publish.
You can further customize your website just go Appearance > Themes. And for better functionality of your website add plugins. This is all for the topic scope of e-commerce in 2021 and How to set up an Online Store in 2021.
Wrap up
So this article was based on “Scope of e-commerce in 2021 and How to set up an Online Store in 2021”. COVID 19 is creating a mess. This is the time stand strong. In this article, we have discussed an e-commerce site. Advantages of e-commerce site and the future of e-commerce site. Which is most probably bright. Even if COVID 19 wasn’t part of our world in 2020. By 2021 the future of online business would have been bright. We have stated some facts which shows the future of online business on the internet. And why people will move online by the end of 2020. This article also helps you understand moving business online its budget. And platform which best for e-commerce business. That is WooCommerce. We have dicussed a few pros and cons as well. So that before choosing any platform you know all about it. At last, you can have a look at the process of setting up WooCommerce site. This a complete guide fore you.
Hope this article helped you understand the topic “Scope of e-commerce in 2021 and How to set up an Online Store in 2021”
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