One of the most important trends in retail is the increase in the number of sales that take place online daily. The number of internet stores is increasing faster than the number of brick-and-mortar stores. Online merchants bring in more than $500 billion to the United States each year.

According to the US Census Bureau, online businesses accounted for more than 9% of all sales in the United States. Online sales in the United States are increasing at a rate of between 15% and 17% per year. The global influence of e-commerce is considerably greater. There are currently over 1.66 billion internet buyers who spend at least $2.3 trillion.

E-commerce has impacted the retail industry that some of the largest internet businesses are e-commerce enterprises. Furthermore, most organizations are rapidly expanding into online shopping in order to increase sales and maintain market share. It is critical to assess the significance of e-commerce platforms and how affiliate marketers might capitalize on the trend.

What exactly is e-commerce?

The purchasing and selling of services and products through the internet are referred to as electronic commerce (e-commerce). Because the services are delivered online over internet networks, it is also known as internet commerce.

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There are four different ways to conduct business:

  • Business to Business (B2B): This is when one company sells a service or product to another company.
  • Business to Customer (B2C): When a company sells a service or product to a single customer.
  • Customer to Business (C2B): transactions occur when a consumer sells an item to a business.
  • Customer to Customer (C2C): This refers to business transactions between consumers who directly touch with one another. A firm may or may not be involved or maybe participating exclusively through dropshipping. This is where affiliate marketing is located. Affiliate marketers sell products and services to customers directly.

E-Commerce Benefits for Affiliate Marketers

It will assist you in circumventing the geographical limits of real stores. The entire globe is a potential market for your goods and services. E-commerce gives you access to over 1.6 billion online customers worldwide.

Through search engine availability, e-commerce allows you to gain new clients. Search engine traffic drives online shopping and affiliate marketing. Customers frequently click on a link in search engine results to visit an e-commerce site. Increased traffic sources could be a game-changer for e-commerce enterprises.

E-commerce will help your internet business save money. The savings can be passed on to your clients in the form of decreased prices. The absence of a noticeable physical presence, as well as leasing payments, lowers business expenditures. Furthermore, e-commerce necessitates automation in inventory, checkout, inventory management, and other procedures, reducing or eliminating labor costs.

E-commerce saves time and money on trips. Customers may have to travel significant distances to their favorite stores in some cases. E-commerce, on the other hand, allows customers to virtually visit their favorite store, identify the best products, and make a purchase. It enables customers to compare various products and purchase their favorites.

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Targeted communication and advertising are possible with e-commerce. E-commerce merchants can obtain sufficient information by installing cookies on the consumer’s computer. It also enables affiliate marketers to conduct business through other venues, such as social media. Affiliate marketers can sell their items to customers who are more likely to make a purchase via targeted advertising.

Because e-commerce websites are always open, so are e-commerce platforms. It will raise your earnings due to higher availability. It also helps to build a market for specialty products. Many people conduct internet product research before making a purchase. Search engines increase your visibility and your chances of reaching people who are inclined to make a purchase.

The following are the best e-commerce platforms in the world:

Alibaba

Alibaba is the largest e-commerce company in the world. Alibaba.com, Taobao, and Tmall are its three primary websites. There are hundreds of millions of users on the site and millions of businesses and merchants. It has the most businesses of any e-commerce corporation.

In 2018, its online transactions totaled over $248 billion. It is a reliable website, and affiliate marketers can use it to find products and services to sell. Furthermore, because of the large number of users, you can easily find clients on the site.

Amazon

Amazon is one of the world’s largest internet merchants. The business is centered on an online store that sells books, toys, music, electronics, housewares, and a variety of other items. Notably, it also serves as a go-between for businesses and millions of customers worldwide.

Affiliate marketers can locate businesses looking for clients, sell things on their behalf, and earn a commission. Amazon is such a large online retailer that in 2012, nearly 1% of internet traffic in North America passed through its data centers. It provides an excellent possibility for affiliate marketers to supplement their revenue.

JD.Com

JD.Com, originally 360buy, is one of the world’s largest B2C enterprises in terms of revenue and transaction volume. It is one of Alibaba’s primary rivals. Its online portal was established in 2004. It sells a wide range of products, including electronics, laptops, mobile phones, and a variety of other items.

It had net revenue of more than $67.2 billion in 2018. It also has more than 330 million active consumers. Notably, more than 90% of their orders are placed online. Because of the availability of clients and advertising, it is an excellent area for affiliate marketers to earn additional cash.

eBay

eBay is an e-commerce corporation that sells goods and services through its classifieds, marketplace, and StubHub platforms. It links sellers and buyers all over the world. The platform enables retailers all around the world to arrange and distribute their inventory. Buyers, on the other hand, locate inventories and select the best items to purchase.

The network currently has over 183 million active buyers and over 1.4 billion listings. It offers desktop as well as mobile phone applications. Millions of affiliate marketers looking for products to promote and sell on the network can find chances on the site. Furthermore, it has a global presence, and you can sell things to any buyer anywhere in the world.

Shopify

Daniel Weinand, Tobias Lutke, and Scott Lake created Shopify in 2004. Shopify, unlike most e-commerce companies, does not have a centralized marketplace. Instead, it provides a platform for small and medium-sized businesses to sell things through their own websites.

It currently boasts over 600,000 merchants and one million enterprises scattered throughout 175 countries. Single entrepreneurs to multibillion-dollar brand merchants are among the merchants. Shopify will allow you to market your products on the platform. There is also a monthly cost for using the platform.

Rakuten

In Japan, Rakuten operates an online shopping center for big companies. It also has e-commerce operations in the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, and France. Its e-commerce portals sell a wide range of products.

Its primary competitive edge is its distribution network. In comparison to most businesses, the organization provides goods to clients at a reduced cost. The company’s goal is to build an ecosystem of services and goods that can meet all of the needs of its clients. The company has expanded into a variety of products. It enables affiliate marketers to select the most appropriate products to promote.

Admitad

Admitad is a global affiliate network that assists advertisers in increasing online sales while monetizing traffic for affiliate marketers worldwide. Admitad was founded in 2009 by Alexander Bachmann. 

Furthermore, it brings affiliate marketers and advertisers together on a single platform. The corporation has steadily increased its influence in new foreign markets and improved cross-border trade.

Admitad offers a variety of e-commerce alternatives to affiliate marketers. By the end of 2018, the platform’s total sales had reached $3.4 billion. It employs 400 people and has offices in seven countries. There are currently over 1700 advertisers and 613000 affiliate marketers. The platform provides an excellent possibility to increase your earnings.

Magento

Magento is one of Europe’s most popular e-commerce platforms. The company was formed in 2007, but it has since been sold to various companies, including eBay. Adobe paid $1.68 billion for the company in May 2018. The platform currently contains over 100,000 online stores. In 2019, the corporation will sell more than $155 billion in goods.

Its e-commerce platform aims to break down geographical barriers by enabling affiliate marketers to advertise and sell products globally. The platform allows for unlimited scalability while also allowing you to apply unique sales methods. It also provides training to its affiliates in order to help them increase their sales.

PrestaShop

PrestaShop was founded in 2007 by Igor Schlumberger and Bruno Leveque. The firm controls 9% of the market for open source e-commerce websites. You may use the platform to customize your online store, manage products, attract traffic, and sell globally.

One of the most important aspects of the website is the ability to present your online store in a variety of languages and currencies. It also lets your customers sign up as affiliates and earn commissions or rewards for recommending consumers and making purchases on their behalf. In addition, the platform assists you in driving traffic to your account.

OpenCart

OpenCart is one of the top e-commerce platforms for launching your online store, managing your inventory, generating traffic, and making sales. The platform is free and open source. It signifies that the primary OpenCart script is available for free. In addition, the platform provides free software updates and support.

The platform has an infinite number of manufacturers and items. It also allows customers to view your store in a variety of languages and currencies. It also provides over twenty payment options. Affiliates can access information such as total commission paid, total clicks, and other payment information. The software allows you to create unique text banners.

Techniques for Increasing Traffic to Your Online Store

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Developing a Sales Campaign

You must plan how you will attract customers and persuade them to buy from you. Every customer appreciates a good offer. To attract people to your online store, you should have a plan that creates a sense of urgency, offers prizes, banners, and other approaches.

Making Use of Social Media Campaigns

More than 75% of shoppers use social media before making a purchase. Make use of Facebook and Instagram ads to keep your clients up to date on business news. Social media ads provide targeted advertising and will assist you in reaching your target audience globally.

SEO

SEO is the practice of optimizing visitors who come to your website by ranking high in specific search results in Google. Use keywords in your title, headings and sub-headings, descriptions, and throughout the content of your website. You must also be patient in order to appear on page one of search engine results.

Email Promotion

Most specialists feel that email marketing is the most successful method of acquiring and retaining customers. It is an efficient method of directing customers to your online store. You may improve your email marketing by using textual content, images, and calls to action (CTA).

Making Content

You can create a blog or develop and most important information about your product. It may assist you in establishing yourself as a trustworthy authority in your niche, as well as driving visitors to your online business. Your blog can also be used to market your company and products.

Making Use of Influencers

You can use influencers outside of your network. Social media influencers are those people who have established a high level of trust in their sector and have a huge social media following. An endorsement from an influencer can drive a huge number of new customers to your online store.

Conclusion

By the end of 2021, the retail e-commerce business might be worth more than $4 trillion. The market has been pushed by the booming market and influence of smartphones and millennials’ comfort when purchasing online. The expansion provides an excellent chance for affiliate marketers to earn bigger commissions from their online stores.

E-commerce platforms increase your scalability, and regional boundaries will no longer constrain you. Your online store will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and you will have more clients. Because you will not suffer storage charges, having an online store will be handier and less expensive. There are numerous benefits to e-commerce, and you should be a part of the digital market’s progress.

Last Updated on December 16, 2020

Author

Elizabeth is a Senior Content Manager at Scaleo. Currently enjoying the life in Prague and sharing professional affiliate marketing tips. She's been in the online marketing business since 2006 and gladly shares all her insights and ideas on this blog.