The online retail industry has grown leaps and bounds over the past decade. Its growth has been so rapid that some experts have even speculated that it might root out the brick and mortar industry entirely. Estimates have put the expected sales to grow to almost $ 4.5 trillion by 2021. The extent of the market can be estimated by the fact that the Amazon, one of the largest online retailers in the world, captured only 4% of all sales throughout the country. Staggering when you compare it to the revenue they generated.
Online ordering is therefore one of the most beneficial features any website can have. Even conventional stores have realized the benefits and have started shifting their focus towards opening digital platforms for their users to place orders. The trend is catching up quite fast and if you’re still not convinced, here are a few other factors to help you change your mind:
Why is it so important?
Humans have lost track of time because the world has suddenly stepped up in terms of responsibilities and roles that each person handles. As a result we’re hard pressed for time and want technology to make our lives easier and more convenient. Online ordering is the embodiment of this need.
Offers convenience to consumers
It offers customers the freedom to not only shop from their homes but with the introduction and popularity of smartphones, it has given them the freedom to order from anywhere they like and shop for almost anything that they fancy. Consumers love it. The extent of the growth of the market is a clear indicator to this cause.
Makes bookkeeping much easier
Online ordering makes record keeping quite easy because instead of having to manually enter various types of information, everything can be integrated into the central ordering system and processes become streamlined. Orders are placed, invoices are generated, inventory is updated, financials are created, and user data is collected at the same time.
Saves time and costs by eliminating certain functions
This accumulation of different tasks under one function helps small businesses eliminate a number of overhead costs that they could do without. These include having extra workforce to handle multiple functions or manually sifting through enormous amounts of data to get the desired results. This process frees up time and money that can be utilized to revamp other operations for the business.
An online ordering system is only as good as the effort behind it
The important thing to consider is that there has to be a lot of effort that goes into creating the ideal and effective online ordering system. This is because the average shopping cart abandonment rate for online shopping is around 67% which is staggering. Therefore the need to create efficient processes is important.
Simple development is just as effective as complex methods
An online order forms doesn’t have to be based on complex coding done by an expensive professional developer. It can be a simple form created on an efficient platform that is user friendly and cost effective. The real effort lies in how the things in the background are managed by the business.
