Digital Marketing and eCommerce

Did you know that the first sale entirely online took place in 1994? In that sales transaction, a man named Dan Cohn sold a CD for $12.48 via an encrypted website that he created himself.

These days, it’s much easier to sell things online – whether you’re an individual, a small business or a large retailer. E-commerce has come a long way since the 1990s, evolving into a global, multi-billion dollar industry. This is because e-commerce tends to be cheaper, more convenient and more accessible than selling through a storefront. And as the online marketplace has grown, entirely new industries and career paths, such as digital marketing, have also been launched.

When exploring e-commerce and digital marketing, you need to consider how these modern tech solutions add value to businesses.

So what are they?

E-commerce is a broad term that refers to buying and selling goods and services online. Most e-commerce purchases fall into one of four categories: physical goods, such as books or household goods; digital products, such as e-books or online courses; services, such as playing casino games at nolimitway.com or visiting the doctor; and software, such as word processing or photo editing software.

The very ability to buy or sell anything, big or small, using computers, tablets and phones has completely changed the way business is done.

A significant advantage in this case is that you don’t need a physical storefront to start an e-commerce business. Many retailers have physical shops alongside e-commerce websites, but others operate entirely online. Without the cost of running a shop, it was easier than ever to start a business, which meant that more and more people around the world began to enter the online marketplace. But it also meant that the e-commerce market became overcrowded very quickly.

In order to stand out and get the attention of customers, companies also put their advertising online, and that’s how digital marketing came about.

Marketing Today…

Today, digital marketing is the practice of interacting with consumers online through digital channels with the aim of converting them into customers. A digital channel is any communication method or platform that a business can use to reach its target audience online.

This way of doing business may involve websites, search engines, email or social media platforms. If the aim of e-commerce is to sell products online, then digital marketing helps businesses to do so. But that’s not all. Digital marketing also helps companies build trust, increase loyalty and better serve their customers. In this way, it is similar to traditional marketing, such as print advertising or billboards, but has several additional benefits for both businesses and consumers.

In today’s environment, digital marketing is very cost-effective. Advertising budgets on the Internet today are noticeably larger than on television, radio and print media. This is because digital marketing specialists can very accurately show the right ads to the right audience at the right moments. But clients also have the ability to spread the word through platforms such as social media.

At the same time, digital marketing can reach more people than traditional campaigns based on local platforms such as newspapers and radio stations. This creates brand awareness in new, sometimes even global, markets, which can drive sales and make products and services available to a wide range of people.

Digital marketing can also produce faster results. If a customer comes across a product they want in a print newspaper advertisement, they may or may not remember to buy that product later. But digital advertising gives customers the opportunity to act in the moment, which can increase the chances of making a purchase. It also allows businesses to build relationships with customers through direct communication.

Channels such as email and social media provide a level of personalisation that traditional marketing simply cannot compete with.

Over the past few decades, e-commerce and digital marketing have fundamentally changed business. While the goal of e-commerce is to increase sales, digital marketing helps companies do just that by connecting with customers and building relationships.