As a trusted third-party logistics partner providing ecommerce fulfillment to countless companies, we at Envoy Warehousing & Logistics see firsthand how consumers are increasingly doing much of their shopping online. With the ecommerce industry projected to grow beyond its $5.5 trillion in global sales in 2022, businesses hoping to snag customer dollars will need to ensure they can reach the online marketplace. After all, by 2025, 23.6 percent of all purchases worldwide will be done online, so it pays to get yourself set up online if you plan on selling products and building a successful brand.
To do this, some businesses may opt to sell their products on a marketplace such as Amazon, Walmart Marketplace or Etsy, but there are a few reasons why you should consider otherwise. Here are six benefits of having your own ecommerce website.
Having your own ecommerce website gives you more visibility and direct contact with your customers than if you worked through an intermediary like a marketplace retailer. Having this direct line to your purchasers allows you better control the customer experience while giving you valuable opportunities to educate them on your brand and products and address any disputes or issues that may arise.
As the owner and proprietor of an ecommerce business and website, you have direct access and better visibility over the data that comes through about your customers and their purchases. From this, you can leverage this data to gain a better understanding of their spending habits, purchase preferences and more, allowing you to further tailor your business to your target market.
Establishing strong brand recognition and loyalty amongst consumers is a top priority amongst most, if not all, businesses. When you list your products through an online marketplace, though, this ability to continue establishing your brand is diminished since the marketplace seller will place their own branding above yours and list your products according to their parameters. But having your own ecommerce website allows you to have full control of how the site works, how you list your products, where you list them, their visuals, descriptions and more!
Everything related to deciding how to run your ecommerce site, from how the site works and where to display your products to pricing, product groupings, and more can be executed much faster when you’re the one calling the shots. Having your own ecommerce site allows you to operate your site the way you want without having to deal with the preferences of another stakeholder like a marketplace seller who will look out for their own interests first.
It’s clear that having your own ecommerce site gives you ultimate control over the things that affect sales and consumer perception about your brand, and while it takes strategic effort to bring in buyers, you can market your brand better than anyone else, marketplace sellers included! When you run your own ecommerce business, you can create a winning marketing strategy and creative campaigns that are tailored to your target audience and their unique shopping habits.
If you’ve decided to sell product with a marketplace seller like Amazon or Etsy, then opening up your own ecommerce website is still a worthwhile venture. Here’s why: keeping your business open to opportunities for omnichannel fulfillment protects you should something go wrong with your marketplace seller. Whether it’s a downed site or an unwarranted account suspension, losing access to customers (and sales!) via your marketplace seller is a damaging hit if you have no other way to reach your audience. Luckily, having your own ecommerce site gives you continued visibility and revenue should something happen with your marketplace seller.
Our established logistics network has been built over years of experience in providing effective ecommerce fulfillment across Canada. With warehouses strategically located in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada’s consumer hubs, we successfully execute omnichannel fulfillment for ecommerce businesses across Canada and beyond.
Contact us today to learn more, or get a quote!