Do you want to start an e-commerce business? Savvy entrepreneurs who wish to enter the lucrative e-commerce world have a lot to learn about this exciting industry. And if modern enterprises are to survive and prosper, knowledge and skills in e-commerce are vital to success.

e-Commerce courses, such as The Certificate of E-Commerce, are ideal professional development for new online business ventures or for anyone wanting to monetise a website.

The Certificate of E-Commerce is an online professional development course designed to provide you with an understanding of e-business, e-commerce and its associated technologies.

 

Learning Outcomes 

In this e-commerce course, you’ll discover the foundations of online commerce and the elements that are central to an electronic marketplace.

• Develop effective sales strategies for online business success
• Learn a range of Internet marketing strategies
• Optimise sales for your online business 
• Use targeted marketing and customer acquisition and retention strategies
• Create value for your online customers
• Manage an Internet sales and marketing budget
• How to build online credibility
• How to use social media tools for customer engagement
• Discover the foundations of HTML, web design and web content principles
• Develop e-marketing communications
• How to protect a business 
• Warranty and conditions 
• Legal issues (privacy, consumer protection, copyright, patents) 
• Consumer laws and manufacturer and sellers’ liability
• Automating supply of goods, services, and cashflow 
• Payment gateways
• Drop shopping and outsourcing 
• Change management and corporate structure 
• Web analytics 
• Information currency Vs cash currency 
• Insurance 
• …. and more 

 

e-Commerce boom after COVID-19?

E-commerce and professionals in this sector are likely to be the big winners during and post-COVID-19 according to digital marketing expert Mitchell Kelly.  

“Digital marketing specialists, Shopify and WordPress developers, graphic designers, UX and CRO specialists are all likely to be in demand.

“The reason for this is that slow adopters to online shopping are now being forced to switch their shopping behaviour online.”

 Mr Kelly says that while most people under 40 are comfortable shopping online, others have been resistant to switching their shopping behaviours.

“With in-store shopping options shrinking, many of these people have had no other option but to switch their shopping online.

 “The longer this drags out, it becomes more likely that these individuals will maintain their online shopping habits going forward even after this crisis ends.

 “With this in mind, there’s a strong chance that the overall e-commerce market will be much larger once the world negotiates COVID-19.”

 As a result, e-commerce stores will thrive, and the market will increase, particularly drop-shippers, explains Mr Kelly.

“This will lift demand for graphic designers and front-end developers that specialise in e-commerce friendly CMS (content management systems) like WordPress and Shopify.

 “Bigger retailers are likely to push more marketing dollars into their online stores to capitalise, which will mean a greater need for digital marketing specialists and UX and conversion rate optimisation specialists that can increase the return on investment of an online store.”

 

e-Commerce Platforms for Business 

If you’re looking for an e-commerce platform, consider Weebly, Shopify, Wix, WooCommerce, Square Space which each have strengths and weaknesses to consider when setting up an e-commerce business.

Weebly 

Weebly is a website and e-commerce service founded on the belief that anyone should have the tools to take their business from idea to launch to growth. This platform claims to make it easy to build a professional, mobile-optimised site and to grow a business with integrated marketing and advanced analytics.

Shopify 

Shopify is a subscription-based e-commerce platform that can help you to develop a website and use their shopping cart to sell, ship, and manage your products. This software allows access to a simple administration panel where you can add products, process orders and enter data.

Wix 

Wix Stores allows you to sell your products and get paid online. You can also market your brand further by designing a customised logo using Wix Logo Maker and get discovered in search engines with Wix SEO Wiz. 

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a flexible, open-source e-commerce solution that’s a plug-in for WordPress. It is designed for small to large-sized online businesses using WordPress. It’s popular for its simplicity to install and customise and has a free base product.

Square Space  

Whether you’re a new venture or an established brand, Square Space’s powerful platform can help your business to grow. The simple software platform offers a service building, hosting and monetising. It’s pre-built website templates and drag and drop feature makes creating webpages a breeze.

 

Booktopia – Australian e-Commerce Success Story 

Booktopia is an Australian online bookstore founded in 2004. The company is a family business owned by brothers, Tony and Simon Nash and their sister, Elana Traurig and her husband, Steve Traurig.

What started as a side project for the Nash siblings with little more than a $10 budget, a dream and a lot of hard work – has now become a $100 million-dollar e-commerce success story.

The company now employs over 200 staff, stocks $150,000 titles have donated over $750,000 in cash and books to literacy-based projects. 

From humbling beginnings – it took three days for their first book sale to come through – to having an item sold every six seconds, Booktopia is an e-commerce success story and an inspiration to those considering an e-commerce business. 

 

Are you interested in starting an e-Commerce business? Study an e-commerce course such as the Certificate of e-Commerce and gain foundation knowledge about this exciting and rapidly-expanding industry today!