什么是电子商务？ 启动和发展在线销售渠道

“电子商务”（电商）是互联网上商品和服务贸易的总称。它将熙熙攘攘的市中心商业区和实体店转化为信息高速公路上的网上商店。全球预计有 21.4 亿人会在线购买商品和服务，在亚马逊商城购物的 Prime 会员人数已达到 2 亿。

电子商务是零售业中人们买卖商品的一种方式。有些公司仅在线上销售商品，另一些卖家则将电子商务作为其业务的一部分，将其与实体店和其他分销渠道一起形成了一个更为广泛的战略体系。无论作为哪种形式，电子商务都可让创业公司、小企业和大型公司大规模销售商品，并吸引全球各地的买家进行购买。

Along the way, many ecommerce tools and technologies work together to help make online purchases possible. On the technical side, the transaction can depend on data, logistics, warehousing, supply chains, and other systems and processes.

在线购物的形式每天都在不断演变和改进。人们可以从电脑、手机、平板电脑和其他设备进行购物。他们浏览网站、访问社交媒体页面，并全面参与到蓬勃发展的各类虚拟渠道中来。以下是目前电子商务中的三种独特形式，我们在此对其做简单了解。

Check out our guide to starting an ecommerce business for more details.

与任何销售方式一样，电子商务也有利有弊。电子商务是否适合您？ 这将取决于您的业务目标、目标消费群体和其他因素。以下是一些考虑因素。

2021 年，在亚马逊商城开店的美国中小企业出口了超过 2.25 亿件商品，国际销售额高达 20 亿美元。亚马逊买家购买了 39 亿件商品，约为每分钟 7,500 件。

过去，企业营销的覆盖范围仅限于实体门店买家。现在，电子商务能让您触达全球买家。互联网使用率的上升和社交媒体的迅猛发展，让电子商务企业所有者可以更轻松地接触到多样化的新买家群体。

In the past, a business’s reach was limited by the number of people able to physically enter through a store’s front doors. Today, the internet allows you to reach customers across the world. Make use of a wide variety of digital marketing and advertising options like cost-per-click (CPC) ads and virtual bundles to reach a diverse new mix of customers.

得益于种类繁多的电子商务类型，买家只需点击几下，即可浏览所需选项，并从任何地方购买商品。亚马逊让您可以按照商品价格或功能，轻松对商品进行排序和比较。Amazon Pay 等在线付款创新功能可进一步简化结算流程。

网站的创建和维护费用低于传统实体店的运营支出。无需租赁零售空间、雇佣员工团队或拥有大型库房，即可启动电子商务业务渠道。

所有这些优势都削减了开销。您无需支付租金或为建筑物维护问题忧心。您的店铺一经上线即全天 24 小时开放，无需像实体店铺一样需要看店或雇佣员工。

您可以使用网站构建工具和服务快速创建自己的电子商务店铺，也可以绕过建站这一步骤，选择在社交媒体或亚马逊等商城中发布您的品牌。许多企业通过多种在线渠道销售商品。

电子商务品牌可借助互联网直接与其目标受众建立关系。您无需依靠付费投放大型广告牌或电视广告来吸引受众的注意力。您可以根据买家的意愿和需求定制您的品牌和营销策略，包括特价优惠和个性化商品推荐。

If your business relies on interacting with customers in person, it could be a challenge to expand into ecommerce. Alternatively, if you prefer communicating with customers via email or phone, this drawback might be a huge plus. But keep in mind customers could be deterred by a limited ability to test out or try on products. You’ll also need a system for handling returns or exchanges.

A related challenge? If you work with a third-party fulfillment provider like a dropshipper, you might not have the ability to inspect products and assess their quality.

In contrast to visiting a brick-and-mortar store, online customers can’t instantly take home the products they pick out. Sellers need to find a way to get products to customers. This might involve working with delivery options and third-party providers of other fulfillment services, from storage and packing to returns and customer service. Learn more about logistics in our guide to fulfillment.

While technology can be a major benefit, technical difficulties can negatively impact sales. Just as a hiccup in your supply chain can prevent timely delivery of products, internet issues or a hard drive failure could cost you time and money. Remember, for every technical issue you might encounter, there’s probably a solution or a preventative measure you can take, like backing up your data regularly. You can also lean on the reliable infrastructure of an established store like Amazon.

Placing a purchase online and sharing payment details and other sensitive information can be a big barrier for customers. To earn customer trust and convert shoppers to buyers, transparently share details on your privacy policy and security precautions, like secure payment processing and how you safeguard personally identifiable information. You can communicate this via your web presence and in your terms and conditions.

High-quality products and services are at the heart of successful online brands. Your product should solve an unmet customer need or challenge at a compelling price point. Product quality and pricing can make or break your business. Do some market research to get a sense of what types of products your competitors are selling, as well as the value of similar products. You can also use ecommerce tools like Amazon’s Automate Pricing.

面对面沟通对于某些业务和交易是不可或缺的。每个卖家的商品、服务或销售风格各有不同，因此，您可能无法将所有精力投入到线上销售中去。

虽然没有神奇的解决方案，但优先讲述您的品牌故事可让您获得可靠稳定的线上收入。另一方面，如果您原来倾向于通过电子邮件或电话与买家沟通，不能与买家面对面沟通可能会成为您的巨大优势！

技术方面的挑战可能会对销售产生负面影响。供应链问题会延后商品的交付时间，同样，网络问题或硬盘故障也会耗费您的时间和金钱。

请牢记，对于可能出现的每个技术问题，基本都能找到解决方案或预防措施。请务必定期备份您的数据。亚马逊等商城已建立起值得信赖的技术基础结构，可帮助您降低这些风险。

买家关心信息的储存和共享方式。提供您的隐私政策详情，以赢得买家的信任。这样做可以提高信息透明度，并向买家保证：您将保护其个人身份信息。

亚马逊一直致力于打造安全的购物体验，在亚马逊商城销售商品的企业将从买家的长期信任中受益。当您使用自己的域名建立电子商务店铺时，您需要找到安全的付款处理服务并采取合理的措施，以避免买家数据面临风险。

在您刚开始从事电子商务时，从您的车库或备用房间包装和配送订单可能非常简单。但是，随着业务的不断发展，订单配送过程会变得更加耗时。订单的激增会让您在配送订单上耗费心神。使用亚马逊物流等服务有助于减轻您的业务压力，同时也能让买家满意。

了解如何选择合适的电子商务配送服务来拓展业务。