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Future of Drop shipping in "INDIA"

Do you fancy yourself as a digital-savvy marketer?   Are you proficient with social media, SEO and online advertising? Drop shipping has taken the world and India by storm and is a business model that utilizes an entrepreneur’s digital skills and marketing acumen. According to a market report by  ResearchAndMarkets.com , the drop shipping market was valued at  US$ 162.44 billion in 2019  and is expected to grow to  US$ 591.77 billion by 2027 . Drop shipping is essentially a business model where an entrepreneur does not manufacture, hold inventory or physically arrange delivery of goods to the consumer but builds a digital store and an online customer base. The seller has to identify the right partners for supply and distribution and ensure a seamless buying experience for the consumers. Like any business model, drop shipping has certain core elements. The Right Supplier:   One may think that the products need to be selected before starting any business. Drop shipping differs in this

Product Protection

Arnie looked at the cracked screen of his Apple iPhone 12 in dismay. He dropped the phone just as he was about to put a new protective case on the device. He cursed himself for not adding Apple care to this purchase.  Extended warranty is one of the ways purchased products are protected and according to Allied Market Research, the extended warranty market is expected to grow by a CAGR of 7.4% to USD 169.82 billion in 2027. Customers want product protection depending on the nature of products and e-commerce businesses need to consider this as a part of the consumer experience and product strategy. For example, the likelihood of online consumers buying electronics such as set top streaming boxes, gaming consoles, smart TVs increases by 21% and more when extended warranty is offered. Product protection can cover repairs, replacements and additionally accidental damage at different levels of premiums. Some protection plans are offered by online and offline retailers such that they come in

Enhanced Shipping Methods in the industry of E-Commerce

  According to invesp , 93% of online buyers prefer to buy if free shipping is offered and 58% will add more to qualify for free shipping. As evidenced, 78% of Amazon Prime users signed up for the Amazon Prime Loyalty program because of free shipping. A survey by AlixPartners found that 36% of consumers abandoned their shopping cart because they found delivery costs too high.   Choosing the best shipment method is crucial to the success of any e-commerce platform.  Before the company decides on the optimal shipping method, it needs to decide on the market strategy. An online retailer needs to decide on whether it wants to sell only to the domestic market or also sell internationally. International shipping is obviously more costly and time-intensive, and the terms and conditions would differ from domestic shipping. Sellers need to be clear about factors that affect international shipping such as the time it would take for an overseas customer to receive the product, the packaging

How Artificial Intelligence is redefining the future of E-commerce Industry

Artificial intelligence (AI) is proliferating in every way in every aspect of our lives. It is only set to increase its presence rapidly with major technology companies investing or acquiring other companies offering AI tools and expertise. In 2019 alone , Facebook acquired GrokStyle (visual search), Crtl-labs (device-AI interaction), Eero (mesh network), Canvas Technology (warehouse robotics) and Sizmek (ad tech); Apple acquired Laserlike (machine learning), Drive.ai (autonomous mobility) and Fashwell (computer vision); Microsoft acquired Jclarity (machine learning) and Promote (automated product marketing); Alphabet acquired Onward (machine learning and natural language processing), Superpod (Question-and-Answer app) and Socratic (education technology using Question-and-Answer). A survey done by Tractica found that AI in e-commerce is expected to reach US$ 36.8 billion by 2025.   Exactly how is Artificial intelligence redefining e-commerce? We can categorize the impact in four di

How to Implement a Returns Strategy on E-commerce Orders

Returns can be an opportunity for online retailers to create and sustain a loyal base of customers. Although it does add costs to the online retailer’s’ business, 51% of customers say that they avoid shopping at online retainers that have a strict returns’ policy. In surveys conducted on online customers in 2018, 62% of customers would buy again from a brand that offered free returns and exchanges and 69% and 67% are deterred from online purchases if they were charged for return shipping and restocking fees respectively. On an average, an e-commerce retailer faces 20-30% returns of its total transactions as opposed to an approximate 9% returns for a brick-and-mortar retailer so a returns  strategy is critical to the success of an e-commerce business. The top two reasons why customers return the product is (1) the product does not match the description and (2) the product is faulty or damaged. Around 72% of returns in fashion product categories stems from the first reason. Other common

History of E-Commerce

Most of us assume that Amazon was the first to launch an e-commerce platform on the internet, back in 1995. The first e-commerce business was actually the Boston Computer exchange in 1982 where used computers were sold online. In 1992, an e-commerce store called BookStacks Unlimited was launched to sell books, which was later taken over by Barnes & Nobles. It can be said that Amazon could really only take off after Netscape Navigator developed and distributed a user-friendly web browser with encryption certificate in 1994.  The earliest form of e-commerce is attributed to Michael Aldrich, who in 1979 created the connection between television and telephone lines using a real-time multi-user transaction processing computer, giving birth to the word and concept of ‘teleshopping’ . During the 1990s, the internet became user-friendly with the development of the first browser known as WorldWideWeb and the National Science Foundation in the US charged fees for domain names to businesses

E-Commerce Virtual Assistants

You have your e-commerce platform idea and the products that you want to sell. New sellers have the traditional option to organically work on their e-commerce site and build as the brand grows. But that significantly impinges the customer experience while shopping on the site. E-commerce sellers now have a myriad of options to outsource functions or tasks of the business to low-cost efficient specialists known as  virtual assistants , resulting in quicker turnaround and growth in the business. The options can be classified according to important pillars of any e-retail business: Design Website:  Your website is the face of your brand. If the design and feel of the website is unprofessional or generic from free templates, it could turn away the customer from shopping or dampen their experience. Once there is an understanding of who the target market is, websites need to be designed to capture their attention and foster brand recall. The design of your website can be outsourced to virt

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