One of the most exciting developments in the world of commerce is the rise of e-commerce. The Internet has changed how we do our day-to-day shopping and even how we do our business. The Internet has made it possible for small businesses to use the web to reach a global audience and for large corporations to use the Internet to reach a local audience, and credit goes to eCommerce development company, for realizing the digital dream into a reality.
E-commerce uses certain technologies to meet these processes’ requirements, including electronic funds transfer, mobile commerce, internet marketing, supply chain management, online transaction processing, and automated data collecting systems. The rise of e-Commerce has profoundly impacted the retail industry, creating new jobs and generating revenue for small businesses and large corporations. Internet retailers have revolutionized how people buy products and services, allowing them to reach a global audience and deliver packages to customers in days rather than weeks. This has profoundly impacted the traditional retail industry, creating new jobs and generating revenue for small businesses and large corporations.
The commercial transaction can take place in 4 ways. Business to Customer (B2C): The process by which a business sells goods or services directly to the public. Business to Business (B2B): The process by which a business sells goods or services to other companies. Customer to Business (C2B): The process by which a business sells goods or services to other companies. Customer to Customer (C2C): The process by which a customer purchases goods or services directly from another customer (‘direct to customer’).
Must read: The 8 Biggest Trends That Will Transform eCommerce Industry
What Should You Know About Digital Commerce?
Digital Commerce or D-Commerce is a subcategory of e-Commerce that delivers products online.
Delivering products online has become an integral part of modern commerce. It allows businesses to operate their operations more efficiently, delivering products to their customers faster and more efficiently than they would have been able to if they had to travel to their locations physically. It also allows businesses to reach their customers more cost-effectively than they would have if they had to rely on traditional marketing, sales, and service methods. All of this has increased the online presence of businesses, which has, in turn, increased their revenues.
Digital commerce has evolved from a series of discrete interactions to a single continuous activity that includes creating awareness, building engagement, tracking conversion, recording transaction history, and making repeat purchases. Over the last decade, companies have invested in sophisticated e-commerce platforms that allow customers to find products and learn about pricing and purchase experiences without visiting a physical store. The result has been an incredible increase in sales and the ability to serve customers in new ways.
Explore the Difference Between E-commerce and Digital Commerce
Digital commerce is the exchange of goods, services, and information in the digital realm. It encompasses digital versions of traditional commerce items, such as digital music and e-books, and entirely new digital products, such as online classes and digital subscriptions. Digital commerce is often synonymous with e-commerce, the buying and selling of tangible products online. The primary difference between e-commerce and digital commerce is that e-commerce products are available in actual form, which can be delivered on a hard drive or in the mail.
This enables you to sell the same digital item by providing a cloud or online storage link, however, the tangible items may require an individual transaction process. For example, you can’t sell thousands of copies of your latest e-book by providing a link to Amazon’s cloud storage where your readers can access the file for free. Instead, you must create a separate e-commerce website for your digital goods and sell them there. This way, you can keep all the money from the sale and not have to share any of it with Amazon.
One of the essential benefits of D-commerce is the ability to deliver products to customers without causing any product-related problems. This means that products are never damaged, and customers never have to worry about them sinking or coming apart. This also means that customers never have to worry about product-related issues such as damage, wear and tear, and the like. Instead, D-commerce enables products to be delivered to customers without causing any of these problems, allowing for better customer experiences and product quality.
The e-commerce boom has driven a dramatic increase in online shoppers, but the sector has also faced its share of problems. Returns and refunds are two of the most significant areas of concern for shoppers; in a d-commerce world, returns are handled by the manufacturer, and the store provides refunds. However, e-commerce doesn’t offer the same level of support. Instead of providing a simple return or refund option, many e-commerce platforms require shoppers to contact support instead.
When you’re selling on a platform like d-commerce, automating your sales process is key to getting the most out of your time and money. It’s also excellent to scale your business and reach new customers. With a couple of taps on your phone or computer, you can set up new sales channels on your platform of choice. You can then automate your marketing and sales efforts to spend more time growing your business.
One of the biggest concerns consumers have when it comes to d-commerce is the idea that they will be required to customize their products to the point where it becomes a burden. This is often the case with services such as Uber, where consumers are expected to dial a number and wait for a driver to arrive. This level of customization is often not required in the case of more traditional retail stores, where consumers can simply walk in and browse various products without having to be personally addressed by a salesperson. Consumers often cite this lack of customization as the biggest drawback of d-commerce, which is why the majority of companies are still focused on traditional retail stores as their primary mode of sales.
Both e-commerce and digital commerce are the same but have different purposes. E-commerce is all about online sales, which enable consumers to buy products and services online. Instead of going to a store, consumers go to their website or app to buy products and services. It’s the ultimate digital experience.
Reasons Ecommerce Is Transforming Into D-Commerce
The advent of technology and connectivity has profoundly impacted our lives and contributed significantly to the promotion of digital commerce. We use our smartphones daily to buy items online, communicate with friends and family, and find information. We’re even going into the physical world with technologies like AR and VR, which allow us to experience the world in a new way. The impact of technology on commerce is only going to continue to grow.
Today, an average shopper has far more touchpoints than ever, from smartphone apps and smart speakers to live chat and two-way text messages. They can even pop into a physical store to touch, feel, try on, and purchase in-person products. But e-commerce has also evolved into an even more immersive experience. It’s now a multi-channel experience, where shoppers can access various channels that help them find the products and services they want and need.
Digital commerce is a holistic ecosystem that touches every aspect of the retail experience. It’s primarily customer-centric, but merchants still benefit from having a presence across multiple platforms and touchpoints. It removes potential barriers between what consumers want to buy and their ability to buy, and it provides an opportunity to build brand affinity and drive sales. Most notably, digital commerce has changed how we interact with brands and how brands interact with consumers.
The Technology Behind Digital Commerce
As the world has grown accustomed to accessing the Internet from any location, commerce has evolved from a linear experience to a complex web that can’t be explored effectively without the right technologies. Today’s most popular internet commerce platform is e-commerce, enabling customers to browse, compare, and buy products online. They’re primarily customer-centric, but they can also provide merchants with the tools to build and manage their online presence and drive sales. The most popular and widespread e-commerce platforms today are Amazon and eBay, but they’re not the only platforms capable of transforming commerce.
E-commerce has become so popular over the years that various all-in-one commerce platforms have been developed to help businesses sell their products online quickly and easily. But, as mentioned earlier, this only touches the surface of what you need to engage with your audience in today’s customer-centric retail environment. These legacy monolithic systems are not designed for rapid change, rapid deployment, or phased introduction or phase-out of new features or services. What if your business needs to add new payment methods at checkout quickly? Or do you want to distribute your catalogue changes across touchpoints on multiple devices? What if you want to automatically collect CRM customer data from all channels while adding new channels to keep up with consumer trends?
Composable Technology
Technology is transforming how businesses operate, and new systems are turning old business practices on their head. One of the most transformative technologies is composable technology, which allows organizations to “configure” the delivery of new features and services in a more beautiful and nuanced way than traditional monolithic legacy systems. Leveraging composable technology in the context of digital commerce can revolutionize how consumers interact with businesses, increasing efficiency, targeting, and ROI for marketing and improving the customer experience across the board. The first step in adopting composable technology is to understand its impact on current business processes, which will help guide the technology’s further rollout.
Online Store
The online store is a virtual business that operates on the Internet. It is required to complete the dCommerce cycle, which includes finding a product or service, browsing and searching, finding, comparing, and purchasing. The online store uses digital technology to enable customers to find, compare, and purchase products and services. The online store can be considered a web-based version of a physical store.
There are typically two types of online virtual stores, one is done via the World Wide Web, commonly referred to as the Web Store, and the other is done through a mobile application that can be loaded onto mobile devices and used to perform e-commerce operations. Both the Web Store and the mobile application are referred to as online stores. The primary difference between the two is that the Web Store is a web-based version of a physical store, while the mobile application is a web-based version of a mobile commerce platform. Both the Web Store and the mobile application are accessed using a web browser, and both are designed to enable customers to find, compare, and purchase products and services.
Shopping Cart
The best way to understand shopping carts is to consider them as the framework upon which your whole store is built and completes the cycle of eCommerce Platform for Your Business . Without a shopping cart, you would have no way to store products in your online store, display product information to prospective customers, or process customer payments. Each shopping cart is designed to meet a specific set of requirements, ranging from the number of products that can be stored in the cart. Also, it allows transactions in a maximum number to be processed without any hassle involved.
The primary purpose of a shopping cart is to enable online stores to process large numbers of customer transactions as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Payment Process
Payment processing for e-commerce companies is integral to running an online business. It allows customers to make purchases and enables companies to collect revenue. In the past, companies that wanted to accept payments online had to use one of the extensive name processing services, such as PayPal or Stripe. Over the last few years, however, online payment processing has evolved to the point where it is possible to accept payments online without using a third-party service.
Traditional payment processing is expensive and time-consuming, leaving small e-commerce companies unable to offer their products to customers worldwide. Fortunately, new technologies can transform the eCommerce industry by simplifying payment processing for online shoppers, even in remote locations, at a fraction of the cost of traditional processing. This has opened the door to new e-commerce opportunities and increased competition, driving down the cost of doing business for small e-commerce companies.
Shipping Management
The online shipping portal allows users to track the shipment on the internet map, where they can view their package’s current location and delivery status using the consignment number or the tracking number. The shipping portal is available on the online shopping platform and allows users to track their packages in real-time. The shipping website is the first step toward building users’ safer online shopping experience. The online shipping portal is a critical technology that allows users to track their packages in real-time.
Order Fulfilling
Retailers prefer reselling their products from other product procurement companies. On the other hand, once the order is received, small business e-tailers offer the order information to the product procurement company. Further, the company purchases the item and sends the customer’s order directly to the delivery service provider. This removes the inventory management hassle and fulfils the order successfully.
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Final Thoughts
In this article, we have understood the difference between digital commerce and e-Commerce. Although these two terms are used interchangeably, they have subtle differences.
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