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What is E-Commerce?
E-Commerce is the buying and selling of goods or services online. Another way to look at this is electronically trading via the internet whether that be B2C (business to consumer), B2B (business to business), C2C (consumer to consumer) or D2C (direct to consumer such as from a manufacturer).
E-Commerce has undoubtedly changed the lives of everyone. It’s hard to imagine our lives without the likes of popular E-Commerce platforms such as Amazon, Shopify, eBay and others. From clothes to groceries, to raw materials and services, if it is bought or sold online it falls under E-Commerce.
Benefits of E-Commerce
The main benefit of E-Commerce is that it is D2C (direct to consumer). Before the internet if a person or company required specific goods or services this meant a lot of time spent trying to find the right supplier or service, be it physically travelling to a store or office which sometimes meant a hefty search through the phone book, a careful look at a road map and more often than not a long wait in a queue.
It’s clear to see that E-Commerce has effectively opened the doors up to global trading. All you need is an internet connection and you can buy and sell anything from anywhere in the world.
With a 99.9% accuracy rate a quick internet search, a couple of clicks and a few keystrokes later an order has been placed and fulfilled! It has become one of the biggest industries in the world.
How easy is it to set up an E-Commerce business?
You no longer need to extensively study business in order to set up an E-Commerce business. An E-Commerce business is literally taking your business online.
There are a number of E-Commerce platforms that make this process easier such as the aforementioned, more popular ones like Amazon, Shopify, eBay, Etsy etc. The benefits to these is that you don’t need to buy or build your own website if you don’t want to. All trading is done via these sites.
More traditional ways of E-Commerce of course would then consist of building a website for your business and having a built in store feature. Again there are a number of website hosts that do this such as Wix, Squarespace, Weebly and so on.
What does a 3PL (third party logistics) have to do with E-Commerce?
If you’re not familiar with the term 3PL (third party logistics), it is essentially the backbone of an E-Commerce business and it is usually through a 3PL where physical products are stored and distributed. Amazon as well as being a world renowned E-Commerce platform is also one of the more well known 3PL’s with a number of its fulfilment centres scattered across the globe. The growth of E-Commerce has meant the growth of 3PL’s and warehousing industries.
Our company Rapid Pack Fulfilment for example, is a fast growing 3PL here in the UK. In a nutshell, we store, pick, pack and ship on behalf of our clients who are E-Commerce sellers.
Final thoughts on E-Commerce
Hopefully this article has helped to explain E-Commerce better and the effects it has on everyone's’ lives. It is one of the most proficient advances we’ve experienced from the internet alongside communication!
Are you looking for a UK based 3PL to partner with your store? Here at Rapid Pack we offer all of our clients 60 days free storage on signup. We also include the first pick within the shipping price! Wherever you're shipping to we have great and affordable courier partners to choose from too!
So if you're looking to grow your online store in 2024 and need a hand picking, packing and shipping your orders then consider choosing Rapid Pack Fulfilment ... get your free quote > HERE< Just tell us about your business. It only takes a few minutes.
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