Advantages of e-tailing

E-tailing is selling goods or services to customers online. Selling this way can give a business advantages that a shop relying on passing trade cannot easily match.

An e-tailer can widen its target market beyond its local area because customers can buy from anywhere with an internet connection. A small pottery in a seaside town might sell mugs to customers in another county or another country, rather than only to tourists who visit its workshop. More potential customers can mean more sales without opening branches in new towns.

Online selling lets customers shop at any time, which adds convenience. Someone who finishes work after shops have closed can still order a birthday cake for collection two days later. The business can take that sale overnight, so it earns money from customers who could not have visited during opening hours.

E-tailing can also reduce premises costs because a business does not need an expensive customer-facing shop on a busy high street. A seller of phone cases might run from a small unit on an industrial estate and send orders by post, avoiding the high rent and heating bills of a large shop. It does not make selling free: there are still costs such as packaging, delivery and running a website.

Finally, selling through e-commerce lets product information and prices be changed quickly online. If a supplier raises the cost of reusable water bottles, the seller can update the website price in minutes rather than reprinting shelf labels or changing a window display. The business can keep its offer accurate and respond to competitors without waiting for new printed materials.