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E-Commerce
B.com 6th Semester Study Material

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Introduction

E-Commerce or Electronic Commerce means buying and selling of goods, products, or

services over the internet. E-commerce is also known as electronic commerce or
internet commerce. These services provided online over the internet network.
Transaction of money, funds, and data are also considered as E-commerce. These
business transactions can be done in four ways: Business to Business (B2B), Business to
Customer (B2C), Customer to Customer (C2C), Customer to Business (C2B). The standard
definition of E-commerce is a commercial transaction which is happened over the
internet. Online stores like Amazon, Flipkart, Shopify, Myntra, Ebay, Quikr, Olx are
examples of E-commerce websites. By 2020, global retail e-commerce can reach up to
$27 Trillion. Let us learn in detail about what is the advantages and disadvantages of E-
commerce and its types.

Types of E-Commerce Models

Electronic commerce can be classified into four main categories. The basis for this
simple classification is the parties that are involved in the transactions. So the four basic
electronic commerce models are as follows,

1. Business to Business(B2B)
This is Business to Business transactions. Here the companies are doing business with
each other. The final consumer is not involved. So the online transactions only involve
the manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers etc.
2. Business to Consumer(B2C)
Business to Consumer. Here the company will sell their goods and/or services directly to
the consumer. The consumer can browse their websites and look at products, pictures,
read reviews. Then they place their order and the company ships the goods directly to
them. Popular examples are Amazon, Flipkart, Jabong etc.
3. Consumer to Consumer(C2C)
Consumer to consumer, where the consumers are in direct contact with each other. No
company is involved. It helps people sell their personal goods and assets directly to an

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interested party. Usually, goods traded are cars, bikes, electronics etc. OLX, Quikr etc.
follow this model.
4. Consumer to Business(C2B)
This is the reverse of B2C, it is a consumer to business. So, the consumer provides a
good or some service to the company. Say for example an IT freelancer who demos and
sells his software to a company. This would be a C2B transaction.

Advantages of E-Commerce
 E-commerce provides the sellers with a global reach. They remove the barrier of
place (geography). Now sellers and buyers can meet in the virtual world, without
the hindrance of location.
 Electronic commerce will substantially lower the transaction cost. It eliminates
many fixed costs of maintaining brick and mortar shops. This allows the
companies to enjoy a much higher margin of profit.
 It provides quick delivery of goods with very little effort on part of the customer.
Customer complaints are also addressed quickly. It also saves time, energy and
effort for both the consumers and the company.
 One other great advantage is the convenience it offers. A customer can shop
24×7. The website is functional at all times, it does not have working hours like a
shop.
 Electronic commerce also allows the customer and the business to be in touch
directly, without any intermediaries. This allows for quick communication and
transactions. It also gives a valuable personal touch.
Disadvantages of E-Commerce

 The start-up costs of the e-commerce portal are very high. The setup of the
hardware and the software, the training cost of employees, the constant
maintenance and upkeep are all quite expensive.
 Although it may seem like a sure thing, the e-commerce industry has a high risk
of failure. Many companies riding the dot-com wave of the 2000s have failed
miserably. The high risk of failure remains even today.
 At times, e-commerce can feel impersonal. So it lacks the warmth of an
interpersonal relationship which is important for many brands and products. This
lack of a personal touch can be a disadvantage for many types of services and
products like interior designing or the jewelry business.

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 Security is another area of concern. Only recently, we have witnessed many

security breaches where the information of the customers was stolen. Credit card
theft, identity theft etc. remain big concerns with the customers.
 Then there are also fulfillment problems. Even after the order is placed there can
be problems with shipping, delivery, mix-ups etc. This leaves the customers
unhappy and dissatisfied.
Most Common E-commerce Applications:
In the previous section, we briefly touched upon the two perceptions of e-commerce
applications. Now, let us delve into them in more detail.
1. Retail and Wholesale
E-retailing or online retailing refers to the transaction of goods and services through
online stores from businesses to consumers. It is achieved through means such as virtual
shopping carts and e-catalogs. The applications of e-commerce in this sector is
numerous.
2. Finance
Finance and e-commerce is more connected today than ever. Banks and stock markets
use e-commerce significantly in their operation. Online banking provides provisions such
as balance check, bill payment, money transfer, etc. Online stock trading enables people
to carry out trading electronically by giving information about stocks such as
performance reports, analysis, charts, etc. through websites.
3. Manufacturing
In manufacturing, e-commerce forms a medium for companies to execute the electronic
exchange. Combined buying and selling, sharing market status, inventory check
information, etc. enables groups of companies to fluidly carry out their operations.
4. Auctioning
Applying e-commerce to auctions takes it to a more significant level where people can
participate without any geographical boundaries. That leads to more participation, more
negotiation, and helps to make auctions successful.
5. Marketing
Marketing activities such as pricing, product features, and building customer
relationships can be strengthened using e-commerce to provide users an enhanced and

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customized shopping experience. Digital marketing strategies have become a significant

way to promote businesses.
6. Online Shopping
The shopping preferences of people have undergone a massive change in the last few
years. “Go online” has become a mantra for all businesses to succeed. Online shopping
is comfortable, convenient, and at most times, cost effective. The prosperity of online
shopping apps such as Flipkart, Amazon are proof of this.
7. Mobile and Web Applications
Popularly called mobile commerce or m-commerce applications, this is a subset of retail
e-commerce. Mobile or web application development has become a staple for brands to
showcase their business capabilities. The consumer carries out purchases through
mobile or web applications that are optimized for the retailer. These applications also
ensure payment security through safe e-payment methods.
8. Online Booking
Travel and tourism is a thriving industry today, and online booking is an ecommerce
application that is growing as a result of it. Online booking helps people book travel
essential services like train/flight tickets, hotel rooms, tourism packages, transportation
services, etc. It makes travel very convenient and easy for people as everything can be
set from the tip of the fingers.
9. Online Publishing
Digital magazines and e-books are slowly replacing traditional printed books. It has
several advantages such as portability, lightweight, accessible from everywhere, etc.
They are also environment friendly as they help in reducing paper and saving trees. Due
to these reasons, online publishing or e-publishing has been seeing a rise in popularity.
10. E-banking
E-banking or internet banking is an e-commerce application that has simplified time-
consuming and complex banking processes for people. It enables bank users to perform
transactions easily online without having to wait in long queues in banks. Every major
bank has its own online application today to provide virtual banking services to its
customers.

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E-commerce Framework
The term e-commerce framework is related to software frameworks for e-commerce
applications. They offer an environment for building e-commerce applications quickly.
E-Commerce frameworks are flexible enough to adapt them to your specific
requirements. As result, they are suitable for building virtually all kinds of online shops
and e-commerce related (web) applications like the Aimeos e-commerce framework
does.
An e-commerce framework must:
 allow replacing all parts of the framework code
 forbid changes in the framework code itself
 contain bootstrap code to start the application
 be extensible by user-written code
E-Commerce frameworks should:
 define the general program flow
 consist of reusable components
 be organized in functional domains
Examples of e-commerce frameworks are:
Aimeos (Laravel, Symfony, TYPO3, SlimPHP, Flow)
Spryker (Symfony only)
Sylius (Symfony only)
E-Commerce framework architecture:
E-commerce frameworks must be based on a strong architectural model. Usually, they
make heavy use of interfaces and design patterns like
 Dependency Injection (make components independent of used object
implementation)
 Factories (create objects at a central place that instantiates the actual
implementation)
 Decorators (dynamically add functionality to existing objects)
 Publish/Subscribe model (notify listening objects about changes instead of polling
for updates)

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A “design pattern” is re-usable solution that solves similar software design problems in
an elegant way. They require programming language templates which enforce public
class methods and their signatures called “interfaces”.
The basic requirement are independent, side-effect free components that form the
building blocks. One or more components care about the functionality of a business
“domain”. Such a domain can be the HTML front-end, a JSON REST API and the
administration interface.
What is encryption in E-commerce?
Security and the Basics of Encryption in E-Commerce. One of the most effective means
of ensuring data security and integrity is encryption. Encryption is a generic term that
refers to the act of encoding data, in this context so that those data can be securely
transmitted via the Internet.
Similarly, what is the role of encryption in e commerce explain?
E-commerce relies on encryption to secure data transmission by controlling data access
and protect information on the internet and in the end improve consumer confidence.
Encryption transforms data into some unreadable form to ensure privacy.
Furthermore, what is encryption with example? Encryption is defined as the conversion
of something to code or symbols so that its contents cannot be understood if
intercepted. When a confidential email needs to be sent and you use a program that
obscures its content, this is an example of encryption. Your Dictionary definition and
usage example.
Hereof, what is encryption and decryption in e commerce?
Encryption is the process of translating plain text data (plaintext) into something that
appears to be random and meaningless (ciphertext). Decryption is the process of
converting ciphertext back to plaintext. To encrypt more than a small amount of data,
symmetric encryption is used.
What is encryption and how does it work?
Encryption is a process that encodes a message or file so that it can be only be read by
certain people. Encryption uses an algorithm to scramble, or encrypt, data and then
uses a key for the receiving party to unscramble, or decrypt, the information.

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Firewall
A Firewall can be simply explained as a barrier built between a network of users and the
external environment that establishes a common security policy between the connected
users and the outside world which consists of possible intruders. Firewalls help in
building up trust on the network between multiple users and with the advent of the
internet in all major spheres of life in recent years, the popularity and importance of
Firewalls have increased in multiple folds.
The requirement of Firewalls increases since a major part of the currently existing
operating systems does not essentially hold security-oriented designs and was devised
under the assumption of an everlasting trust between users and machines. Let us look
at the importance and role of firewall.
Therefore, the system of Firewalls is built to avoid any sort of unauthorized access to or
from a private network that can be implemented in hardware and software, or even a
combination of both. Under the system of Firewall security, all the messages entering or
leaving the internet will have to pass through the security network that will assess every
passing message and block those that do not meet the security standards. One might
wonder what the role of a personal Firewall is or what is the role of a Firewall in
computer security.
Before that it is important to know the two broad categories of Firewall:
1. Software Firewall: These Firewalls are in-built in the operating system and can
distinguish between the programs on the computer system. These programs thus allow
the users to use specific data and channel out data which is not required. They require
regular updates and administration.
2. Hardware Firewall: A hardware Firewall is the one that intervenes between the two
independent connected networks. In simpler terms, it protects the system from external
agents.
Both the Firewalls are necessary for anyone working on the internet. Since the internet
is a vast place filled with a multitude of unethical agents, the coordination of both
hardware and software Firewalls help the users to safely surf the internet.
A) ROLE OF FIREWALL
1. Network Security
Network Security corresponds to the ways to stop the internal and external threats to a
network system. While working on the internet, the router of the system connects the
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institute’s internal network to the external network or the internet. Firewalls are
entrenched between two different networks to monitor the incoming and outgoing
traffic. Since the organization’s network is vulnerable to the internet, Firewalls play a
pivotal role in network security.
The role of a Firewall in network security is to ensure network security by inhibiting the
external threats coming from potent sources such as hackers and avoid any kind of
connection between the two. Along with it, it guards the internal infrastructure of the
network by occluding the viruses and malware. Such hazardous agents damage the
internal software and sometimes even disclose confidential data (such as passwords) to
potential attackers.
The importance of firewalls thus reflects in funneling out the incoming and outgoing
data, inhibiting the undue connections with any suspicious agents, and keeping viruses
and malware at bay!
2. Computer Security
As per research, an unprotected computer system when connected to the internet is
susceptible to attack from external agencies in just the first fifteen minutes. The role of
Firewalls in computer security is crucial. Most often, they prevent the computer systems
from spam emails which may sometimes contain Trojans and malware. Along with all
the roles mentioned before, Firewalls also prevent the computer systems by operating
as proxy servers.
Anytime when a user interacts with the external networks, first the proxy server
interacts with the internet and receives the data. Only after performing the security
check, it forwards the data next to the system. In this way, the system doesn’t directly
interfere with the external traffic thus reducing the vulnerability to malicious agents. It
also helps in keeping the system’s address hidden and by operating as a proxy server,
the Firewall stores the accessed web page in the cache files for quick access in the
future.
Sometimes together with the proxy servers, the Firewalls offer a DMZ or the
Demilitarized Zone. It is like a boundary network that houses the sources, not within the
premises of the primary Firewall.
3. Personal Firewall
Desktop Firewall or Personal Firewall is a software program intended to prevent the
single computer system connected to the internet from the suspicious external agents.
Firewall software is very useful for the users having cable internet connections because

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these connections use a static IP address which is very easily vulnerable to potential
attackers.
Personal Firewalls operate in the background and inhibit dangerous computer codes
from penetrating the system. It thus prevents the integrity of the system.
Unlike the conventional Firewalls which operate to prevent the areas of the network,
the personal Firewall software works exclusively to save the infrastructure of a
particular system.
Typically, the desktop Firewalls work as layers of application that funnel out the input,
output, and access from any foreign agent or by the internal network.
The roles of a Personal Firewall and its advantages are:
1. Policing the traffic.
2. Blocking keyloggers.
3. Inhibiting access to hackers.
B) IMPORTANCE OF FIREWALL IN AN ORGANISATION
The role of a Firewall is most evident in the mass organizations or businesses. For any
business to run lucidly, authorities need to keep their data and their clients’ data safe.
The Firewall provides an array of features for ensuring the safety of large scale data that
the businesses deal with. In practical modern-day scenarios, there is no better
alternative for organizations to safeguard their servers and data than a Firewall. It helps
the administrators to keep the viruses at bay and prevent any intruders from accessing
confidential files and data.
While initially, the organizations were still susceptible to threats even after installing
Firewalls but since recent times, the importance of Firewalls in an organization has
burgeoned and they have been able to forge stateful Firewalls that grasp their entire
working structure and perform a variety of versatile operations.
Firewalls work as the mainline defense mechanisms for the organizations and prevent
the dangerous Cyberattacks that may lead to breaching of data. Organizations are thus
helped by funneling and authorization of safe incoming and outgoing data.
C) IMPORTANCE OF FIREWALL IN E-COMMERCE
The business models which deal with the customers on the internet and allow them to
buy and sell things over the same require a stringent security service. Since millions of
people are involved in daily transactions on the e-commerce website, it becomes

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extremely crucial for the administrators to ensure safe transactions. If the Firewall
security on the e-commerce website is not healthy, hackers may find their way inside
the servers which may lead to loss of data, capital, and trust.
The servers of the large-scale e-commerce website must be guarded against any kind of
malicious agent. All the incoming traffic and access must pass through the Firewall.
The importance of Firewalls in e-commerce is similar to that of its role in organizations.
It ensures safe trading transactions along with the confidentiality of the data thereby
helping the business to stay intact.
CONCLUSION
Firewalls greatly reduce the vulnerability of the system. While there are certain things
such as spam popups and messages which the Firewalls cannot prevent, it is always
advised to have healthy Firewall systems!

Consumer-Oriented Applications in E-Commerce

1. Personal Finance and Home Banking Management:
The newest technologies are direct deposit of payroll, on-line bill payment and
telephone transfers. The technology for paying bills, whether by computer or telephone,
is infinitely more sophisticated than anything on the market a few years ago. In 1980s
were the days of “stone age” technology because of technology choices for accessing
services were limited. For home banking, greater demands on consumers and expanding
need for information, its services are often categorized as basic, intermediate and
advanced.
(i) Basic services

 These are related to personal finance

 The evolution of ATM machines from live tellers and now to home banking
 The ATM network has with banks and their associations being the routers and the
ATM machines being the heterogeneous computers on the network.
 This interoperable network of ATMs has created an interface between customer
and bank that changed the competitive dynamics of the industry. See in next
figure
 Increased ATM usage and decrease in teller transactions
 The future of home banking lies with PC’s Engineering

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Intermediate Services
The problem with home banking in 1980 is, it is expensive service that requires a PC, a
modem and special software. As the equipment becomes less expensive and as bank
offers broader services, home banking develops into a comprehensive package that
could even include as insurance entertainment.
Consider the computerized on-line bill-payment system. It never forgets to record a
payment and keeps track of user account number, name, amount and the date and we
used to instruct with payment instructions.
(iii)Advanced Services
The goal of advanced series is to offer their on-line customers a complete portfolio of
life, home, and auto insurance along with mutual funds, pension plans, home financing,
and other financial products. The Figure explains the range of services that may well be
offered by banks in future. The services range from on-line shopping to real-time
financial information from anywhere in the world. In short, home banking allows
consumers to avoid long lines and gives flexibility
2. Home Shopping:
It is already in wide use. This enables a customer to do online shopping
(i) Television-Based Shopping:
It is launched in 1977 by the Home Shopping Network (HSN). It provides a variety of
goods ranging from collectibles, clothing, small electronics, house wares, jewelry, and
computers. When HSN started in Florida in 1977, it mainly sold factory overruns and
discontinued items. It works as; the customer uses her remote control at shop different
channels with the touch of a button. At this time, cable shopping channels are not truly
interactive
(ii) Catalog-Based Shopping
 In this the customer identifies the various catalogs that fit certain parameters
such as safety, price, and quality
 The on-line catalog business consists of brochures, CD-ROM catalogs, and on-line
interactive catalogs
 Currently, we are using the electronic brochures
3. Home Entertainment:
 It is another application for e-commerce
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 Customer can watch movie, play games, on-screen catalogs, such as TV guide.
 In Home entertainment area, customer is the control over programming
Advanced Services
Size of the home Entertainment Market:
 Entertainment services play a major role in e-commerce.
 This prediction is underscored by the changing trends in consumer behavior.
 It is shown in Table
Impact of Home entertainment on traditional industries:

 This will have devastating effects on theater business

 Economic issues might allow theaters to maintain an important role in the movie
industry
 Today average cable bill is approximately $30 a month Industry Estimates of
consumer Expenditures
4. Micro transactions of information:
 One change in traditional business forced by the on-line information business
is the creation of a new transaction category called small-fee transactions for
micro services
 The customer by giving some information away for free and provide
information bundles that cover the transaction overhead.
 The growth of small-money transfers could foster a boom in other
complementary information services
 The complexity is also increased in micro services when an activity named, re-
verification is entered.
 It means checking on the validity of the transaction after it has been approved

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Electronic Data Interchange

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the computer-to-computer exchange of business
documents in a standard electronic format between business partners.
By moving from a paper-based exchange of business document to one that is electronic,
businesses enjoy major benefits such as reduced cost, increased processing speed,
reduced errors and improved relationships with business partners.

Some major sets of EDI standards:

 The UN-recommended UN/EDIFACT is the only international standard and is
predominant outside of North America.
 The US standard ANSI ASC X12 (X12) is predominant in North America.
 GS1 EDI set of standards developed the GS1 predominant in global supply chain
 The TRADACOMS standard developed by the ANA (Article Number Association
now known as GS1 UK) is predominant in the UK retail industry.
 The ODETTE standard used within the European automotive industry
 The VDA standard used within the European automotive industry mainly in
Germany
 HL7, a semantic interoperability standard used for healthcare data.
 HIPAA, The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability ACT (HIPAA), requires
millions of healthcare entities who electronically transmit data to use EDI in a
standard HIPAA format.
 IATA Cargo-IMP, IATA Cargo-IMP stands for International Air Transport
Association Cargo Interchange Message Procedures. It's an EDI standard based on
EDIFACT created to automate and standardize data exchange between airlines
and other parties.
 NCPDP Script, SCRIPT is a standard developed and maintained by the National
Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP). The standard defines
documents for electronic transmission of medical prescriptions in the United
States.
 The NCPDP Telecommunications standard includes transactions for eligibility
verification, claim and service billing, predetermination of benefits, prior
authorization, and information reporting, and is used primarily in the United
States.

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 Edig@s (EDIGAS) is a standard dealing with commerce, transport (via pipeline or

container) and storage of gas.

This includes a variety of technologies, including:

 mModem (asynchronous and synchronous)

 FTP, SFTP and FTPS
 Email
 HTTP
 AS1
 AS2
 AS4
 OFTP (and OFTP2)
 Mobile EDI
 And more technologies

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Marketing Techniques
1. Produce original content
The first step in setting up an ecommerce website is creating the content for it. Creating
high-quality and original content will set you up for success because it will resonate with
your customers in a way that makes them want to interact with you, purchase from you,
and maintain a following.
Promoting original content is a great way to make a statement, strike a compelling idea,
and make a mark on the user’s mind. There is a fine line between content that engages
users and content that deters them.
Why not take an extra step, put in a little effort, and create something that will be
genuinely compelling? It’s an ecommerce marketing strategy with lasting effect. One or
two well-written pages can drive revenue for years to come.
2. Optimize your ecommerce website’s layout
After launching or redesigning your ecommerce site, it’s important to test your
website’s layout, language, and placement of conversion elements. When customers
visit your website, you want to make sure it’s easy and simple to check out, that they
feel naturally inclined to purchase your products, and that it’s abundantly clear how to
do so.
You should test the language displayed on your landing and product pages, the language
in your conversion elements, and even the strategic placement of icons and elements.
You can use various usability testing methods for this.
One really nifty tool is Mouseflow — a heatmap software that reveals valuable patterns
in customer behavior on your website. One of their most popular heatmaps, the
movement heatmap, reveals the most attractive parts of your website — based on
visitor movement data to your website.
With a color guide, Mouseflow will tell you where your customers spend the most time,
and the least amount of time! If a specific area of your page receives more attention (in
white), you should consider moving your conversion elements to those more attractive
areas to increase click-through rates (CTR).
Test it for a week and see how your conversions change. Mouseflow’s heatmaps can
help improve your conversions, increase sales, and keep prospects interested.
Mouseflow is truly one of your competitor’s best kept secrets — and they offer a free

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account, so there’s no cost to you. Take your ecommerce marketing strategy to the next
level with an ecommerce conversion rate optimization strategy.
3. Content marketing
Proper ecommerce content marketing can attract more positive attention, interaction,
and sustainable conversions in a way no other marketing method can. By creating and
promoting original content, you are ensuring that your audience is receiving new
information that matters to them on a continual basis.
Content for your website, like mentioned above, includes home page, category pages,
product pages, and the like. Content marketing on the other hand is content specifically
geared to attract customers and is promoted to get their attention.
Brainstorm with your team to create a list of the different types of content you wish to
create. This can be blog posts, videos, and newsletters. Also, make sure you are utilizing
your marketing budget by consulting with experts, outsourcing work when necessary.
Invest in high-quality software, subscriptions, employees, and training for your team.
You will also find that if you work with the right people, many of the things you’ve paid
for in the past can be done internally. Create diversity within your team and listen to
everyone’s ideas.
We also suggest that you create content based on Pareto’s 80/20 rule, which means
that your promotions should comprise of 80% informational content, and 20%
promotional content. All of the content you publish should be relevant, interesting, and
unique.
4. Social media marketing
Social media ecommerce marketing is a very powerful tool. It allows you to
communicate with your industry, customers, and market in a personal, public way. You
can utilize social media to generate engagement and interaction, boost traffic to your
website, and develop a larger base of customers.
Utilizing different social media platforms for different purposes also creates a rich
presence for your company that diversifies your abilities and efforts. This will ultimately
help you cater to your customers’ needs in a way that grows your business over time.
Maintaining a solid tone and personality of your company through social media is very
important because consistency is what will create trust within your audience. In order to
develop and maintain brand recognition and authority, make sure your outreach efforts

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are unified by ensuring your team is on the same page with your company’s
communication style.
5. Email marketing
One of the most effective forms of reaching out to your customer base is through email
marketing. Although you have to be very careful about the content within your emails
and who is included in your outreach, the reason email marketing has been around for
so long is because it works.
In order to reach your audience most effectively, provide useful content within your
emails. Make them as personal as you can, offer valuable promotions, and use it as an
opportunity to socialize.

Open up about what your business is doing, any events you are attending, new features
or products, and be transparent about your company. You want to relate to your
customers on a level that gauges their interest and keeps them engaging with your
emails.
As always, make sure you are monitoring the analytics of your email marketing efforts,
and any ecommerce marketing strategy elements, for that matter. One great tool that
can help you with this is the Google Analytics Dashboard, which is a free solution that
gives you useful data about your email marketing efforts.
You can also track users who entered your website from your email campaigns with the
previously mentioned tool, Mouseflow. All you have to do is set a custom URL that users
“visit” when entering your site, and their entry page will contain that unique URL. A
great way of doing this is to append UTM variables to your URL.
You can use Mouse flow filters or the search feature to find users whose sessions
contained your custom URL. From here, you can save and export the list, perform
analytics, and watch how they interacted on their site.
You can also filter your heatmaps for this data to analyze how they engage with each
page of your site, which elements they find most attractive, and more!
6. Search engine optimization for ecommerce
One of the most important and manual methods of improving an ecommerce website is
making sure it’s optimized for search engines. With today’s Search Engine Optimization
(SEO) standards, it’s now more important than ever to make sure your website is

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constantly updated with rich and relevant content, promotes a good user experience
(UX), and is optimized to be as error-free as possible.
The content within your website should be rich, reliable, and provide information to the
public that is useful and relevant to what they’re looking for. For example, if you have
an ecommerce store selling camping supplies, it’s wise to provide detailed product
information and possibly even host sections of your website that offer generous
amounts of content that elaborates on the topics of camping, supplies, or related
subjects. Using keywords within your content in a genuine way will also flag your
website as a matching result in search engines when users are looking for something
specific. Search engine optimization is one of the lowest-cost, highest ROI ecommerce
marketing strategies you can deploy.
7. Pay-per-click advertising (PPC for ecommerce)
There are three basic elements to any pay-per-click marketing campaign: the ad, the
offer, and the landing page.
All three must be in good harmony and synchronization if you want to maintain the
interest of the lead. The landing page must be a continuation of your ad, delivering what
was promised as the reward of clicking on the ad, in order to take the visitor through
your conversion funnel. It must also be customized for keywords to appear somewhere
near the top of search engine results. Likely, these keywords will play into the rest of
your ecommerce marketing strategies, too.
Keep the landing page free of distractions and unnecessary bells and whistles. Also,
keep in mind that your landing page is the most appropriate place to boast your product
benefits to the customer.
8. Optimize for mobile
It is absolutely crucial to make sure your website is responsive to any user layout.
Mobile users are starting to dominate the sea of internet use, especially in ecommerce,
and it’s important to accommodate their needs to provide a good user experience (UX)
for everyone.
People who visit your website do not want to be redirected to an app or web version of
your website, they want the full-meal-deal. So, make sure you deliver what they are
expecting and make the investment to enhance your website so that it’s fully
responsive. UX strategies are often to most essential ecommerce marketing strategies
you can have — a user that bounces isn’t worth much!

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You can also use mobile marketing techniques to target mobile users specifically. One of
the most popular marketing trends is called geo-targeting, which advertises to mobile
users based on their location. This technique enables you to reach out to customers
who are within a specific distance of your business, and provide them with an incentive
to stop by or make a purchase.
9. Target wearable and VR
Targeting wearable and Virtual Reality (VR) technology is a trending technique that
grabs users in a new and exciting way. People are still getting used to this technology,
and are not yet overwhelmed by or habituated to advertisements.
Your target audience for these mediums will be very refined, as these users are the part
of the population that carries the latest technology at the palm of their hands at all
times, keeps up to date with trends, and doesn’t mind dropping some extra cash for
items they desire.
Although creating campaigns that are designed for these technologies can be expensive,
the right approach can be worth the initial investment because a filtered audience is
more likely to convert. This isn;t one fo those ecommerce marketing strategies that will
work for every business, either. Be sure wearable and VR tech are familiar to your
audience before making the investment.
10. Humanize and personalize
Consumers have become the power player in the ecommerce industry. Which means
your business needs to stand out in a unique way. Because of this, it’s more important
than ever to customize your user experience (UX) to cater to the needs of your
audience. This is just as much a crucial part of your ecommerce marketing strategies as
it is a total brand strategy.
Make your outreach efforts personal by taking the time to learn about your customers.
People love it when they feel special, and if you make sure to add personal touches like
addressing your prospects by name, sharing videos and pictures of your employees, and
being transparent about your company processes and procedures, you will reap the
benefits of a loyal customer base.
All of this adds to the overall ‘face of the business’. This will hopefully make its way to
the hearts of your customers.

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11. Retargeting
Customers who have already shown an interest in your website are more likely to make
a later purchase.
Retargeting is a technique that tracks customers who have visited your website and
displays ads to them while they’re browsing the internet with the intent of getting them
back on your website. When these visitors enter your website again, they are far more
likely to make a purchase.
To effectively manage a retargeting campaign, make sure your ads are as specific as
possible. Was the customer looking at a specific product? Make sure the ads displayed
to them are ads of that specific product and link to the page of the product. Just like
with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing, it’s important
to display the information the user is looking for the instant they click on your ad.
If they click on an ad for hiking boots and are redirected to the home page of your
camping website, they aren’t going to be thrilled. But, if they are directed to the exact
hiking boots they were considering, or even had added to their cart, before leaving your
website, they will be much more likely to continue with a purchase.

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