What is ecommerce and what type of business is considered ecommerce?

Ecommerce is “the sale or purchase of goods or services, conducted over computer networks by methods specifically designed for the purpose of receiving or placing orders”, as stated by the main acknowledged resource, the OECD.  W20 UK, which Ann-Maree Morrison contributed to, summarizes ecommerce simply as “sustainable trade, growth and productivity” in their Ecommerce, Economic Empowerment of Women and Girls report.  

Most businesses are involved in ecommerce of some sort now. Why? Convenience is the main driving factor for the customer while increasing market share, revenue and profits is the main driver for businesses.  Note that an important difference is that a website is NOT ecommerce. Also, digital marketing is also NOT ecommerce. So, for a website to be seen as ecommerce it must be transacting money and goods online, money being paid via the website or app in exchange for the purchase of goods or services.

In summary, ecommerce stores can be online, or omnichannel (online and high street presence or warehouse). Also they can be via a website, an app or both. And ecommerce can be D2C, B2C, B2B or marketplace. Even Fintech could be seen as being ecommerce if they are buying and selling financial goods or services online.  Fintech is also embedded in all online market places as facilitating the way that payments are processed via online stores.

Digital Marketing vs Ecommerce

Digital marketing is just one way of driving sales to ecommerce stores.

Ann-Maree Morrison MBE believes “Ecommerce is a complete retail model for selling products and services via a website or app, while digital marketing is one method of driving sales to an ecommerce store”.

Ecommerce or online retail is just much more than digital marketing as it requires specialist skills encompassing multiple specialist skills, all of which are very fast moving.  What are these skills? Well, ecommerce includes the following skills, and more:

• Digital Marketing – social media marketing, email marketing, pay per click advertising, content marketing, blogging, affiliate marketing, mobile marketing, influencer marketing
• Trading website build and updating
• Payment solution integration – fintech
• Fulfilment and Logistics solutions
• Merchandising
• Photography
• Graphic Design
• Business Planning
• Product Planning
• Stock Control and Warehousing
• Search Engine Optimisation
• Customer services and customer review systems
• Customer Retention Optimisation
• Data Analysis
• Financial Tracking
• Marketplace Integration
• Website Development
• Internationalisation and Localisation

• Translation.

  In summary, “Digital marketing is a group of marketing methods helping to increase brand awareness for your ecommerce business. However, it is just one small sub section of a much bigger industry. Ecommerce also covers many traditional sectors of a business as well and is highly complex”.

Are there different types of ecommerce businesses?

There are different types of ecommerce businesses. All operate in much the same way with variations. The different types of ecommerce businesses are:

B2B = Business-to-business sales. This includes wholesale distributors, industrial suppliers, and business-oriented service providers, for example Trichem Scotland.

B2C = Business-to-consumer may be D2C, or may be selling via a reseller or merchant, or via a marketplace online. Examples are Snag Tights (Snag Group) or Tool Stop, or online streaming such as Spotify. See below for this is split into 2 most common forms of ecommerce, D2C and Marketplace. 

B2G = Business to Government, usually via a procurement platform like PECOS, used in Scotland, but can be operated also by linking up the business ecommerce website in that process.

 C2C = Consumer-to-consumer. Examples of C2C ecommerce include online marketplaces like Etsy, or sharing platforms like Airbnb.  

C2B = Consumer to Business, usually via their trade website which is also an ecommerce site if it is transaction and moving payment via the site, or just a website if it is a contact form like this website currently operations (get in touch contact form with no payment transactions).

C2G = Consumer to Government, not as common as this would mostly be via procurement systems that Governments operate or via a tendering process.

These are shown below in the SEMRush diagram. However I would also add the most common being these 2 specific ecommerce methods that are included in B2C but also in other versions listed above:

D2C = Direct-to-consumer from a business. While similar to B2C this does not include selling via a marketplace but is instead selling via your own website.

Marketplace = Sold via an online marketplace like Amazon, or Ebay. Etsy could also be called a marketplace.

An ecommerce business can have all of the above on offer and therefore can be very complex to run. Larger businesses often sell to all of business, government and consumers. Not only that, they also sell in different countries, and in different methods, like wholesale, distribution, retail, and omnichannel. 

The latest office of national statistics indicates a continued growth in online shopping since 2006 at least. The trend has massively increased during COVID-19 lockdowns then dipped on an off with the cost-of-living crisis but is still and upward trend and is likely to remain high growth.

While Statista latest results show an increasing trend also despite the massive boost due to lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. 

Value of online retail sales in the UK from 2012 to 2022 (in billion GBP £)

In terms of the most popular goods and services purchased online the latest statistics are from 2020 during lockdowns but the trend is not massively different now. By type purchased Statista show the following increasing sales trends.  

Goods and services ranked by share of individuals who purchased online in Great Britain in 2020

Ecommerce income is expected to have an annual average growth rate of 12.6% according to the International Trade Administration of the Department of Commerce, USA. The UK is the 3rd largest in the world after China and the US. In 2022 UK ecommerce sales had the highest annual grow since 2007 of 36% and this is post COVID-19, not during lockdowns when ecommerce was the only choice. Read more via their guides: https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/united-kingdom-ecommerce.  

While Amazon is the biggest ecommerce business in the UK followed by Sainsburys and Tesco according to the above resource, these are not the only businesses online. Indeed, most SMEs are also now online and doing well and you will find that businesses really need to be online to compete these days, even with a high street presence. Many are omnichannel trading via their ecommerce website or via a channel like Amazon, Etsy or other reseller and maybe also via a premises.

Emarketer states due to the cost of living crisis ecommerce sales dropped in 2023 while consumers continue to tighten their purse strings and not spend on non-essential items. This can be demonstrated by the growth of the supermarkets online.  However the share of total retail sales remains consistent and the percentage change fairly stable and growing, despite the difficulties with living costs at present. Ecommerce retail sales still continue to rise. See below.

What is the impact of COVID-19 on ecommerce?

During COVID-19 many businesses tried to get online who were not already online and those in particular industries like foods and supermarket and home deliveries did exceptionally well once they were allowed to open to deliver. While other businesses with home decor products like paint and decoration also did very well. In addition, there was a massive peak in online shopping as people could not go into the high street. However, since everything re-opened the ecommerce sales dropped back. What is interesting is that they did not drop to below the already consistent upward trend, as seen by the ONS data in the section above. Sales online just dropped back to continue their upward steady progress.

In addition, stores re-opening did not encourage people to just drop online deliveries and return to the high street. Why? Because the public of all ages discovered just how easy online shopping is. That’s because ecommerce now makes it easy to get fast deliveries, fast and sometimes free returns, and has a bigger range in the warehouses or businesses ready to delivery than is displayed in the high street.

Therefore, in order to compete the high street needs to offer free, easy parking or public transport, more range in store in terms of all the sizes and designs, and allow order to deliver to the home if it is not available in store. The lack of staff numbers to assist in store is also an issue as people expect to go into town to see a real person and get help. Otherwise, they may as well just continue to buy online. High street stores need to offer something different to succeed. The rise in coffee shops and bookshops with coffee in one spot is an indication of this trend. 

The future of ecommerce in the UK and the impact of the cost-of-living-crisis

The W20 UK Ecommerce: Economic Empowerment of Women and Girls Report in 2022 indicated that the UK dropped back and is now number 3 in ecommerce sales, having been surpassed by China and the US. So, what is holding back the UK? The Chinese invested massively in ecommerce training and development in universities and schools over the past decade as they saw the potential for growth. This has paid off. The are also at the forefront of alternative delivery methods, such as by drone, and shared delivery options. However, the UK has the highest online share in the retail trade compared to other countries according to Statista. 

With the availability of ever faster high speed internet and mobile devices, and the expansion of faster delivery options, even if they are not drones yet doing these in the UK as common practice, ecommerce is here to stay. Consumers can shop any time, any day, anywhere. They can compare prices and reviews and make decisions online before checking the products out in store or by home delivery and return, depending on the size and type of product. A TV is much more difficult to buy online and return if you don’t like the look of it than clothing for example. There is also the ability to reserve, or add to wish list, think about it and then go back and just press checkout at a later stage and the online checkout processes are becoming much more one click solutions to avoid the time and hassle of multiple form filling. The increasing use of Artificial Intelligence for data tracking and response will continue to aid ecommerce stores to grow and become more and more user friendly and fast responding. Ecommerce is driven by data and that data productivity is growing, which, when done right, leads to more customer satisfaction and loyalty.

What is a Cookie? No, not a treat you eat

A cookie is not an edible treat in the case of ecommerce 🙂
A cookie on a website is best described by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)…a file downloaded on to your computer when you visit a website to help remember your preferences or what is in your shopping basket and it also counts how many people visit that site which is helpful for data analytics for website owners. Ecommerce stores, since they are also websites, have cookies initiated onto your computer. The ICO enforces cookie rules and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (see Ecommerce laws section of this blog) state the rules on them.

You can control what cookies are kept on a website from your website browser (chrome, edge or other) and delete, block or allow them. Certain cookies need to be downloaded in order for the website to be able to function to process your online order. These are called mandatory cookies. Advertising cookies should always be optional however.

There is a cookie policy on websites that pops up on the site for you to accept or reject. If you reject them you will not be able to place an order. You should also be given the option of agreeing exactly which cookies are kept, mandatory and optional. The latter includes advertising and may include passing on your details to third parties if you agree to that.

Ecommerce laws to be aware of in the UK

1. 
   What are Consumer Rights? The Consumer Rights Act 2015 protects all consumers in the UK whether online or offline. Retailers need to give clear information on their products and services to the customer. This should include pricing, delivery and a fourteen-day cooling off period, which does not apply to personalised goods though many stores still offer this on personalised product. Retailers should also clearly state how refunds and returns are handled. Check the terms and conditions which should be on their website. If they do not offer these they should be doing so and the consumer would have a right of approaching consumer trading standards about their issue if the retailer does not deal with the issue satisfactorily.
2. 
   What is Distance Selling Regulations? These been replaced by the Consumer Rights Act since June 13, 2014. However, it is still expected that the requirements that were in these previous regulations of displaying clear contact information, cancellation rights, return and refund processing details remain.
3. 
   What is GDPR? Data Protection and GDPR was introduced in May 2018 and is controlled by the Data Protection Act 2018. GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulations.  Consent must be given by the consumer to process their data and retailers must ensure their details are kept secure with the right for any consumer to access their information on request, to have details changed if incorrect, or have them erased. While not an exception as such, details are required to be kept in order to be able to process and order and dispatch it to the customer so there are essential details that a retailer must keep in order to satisfy this request by the customer, and of course the tax representative. If you do not agree to processing cookies then the retailer cannot process an order for you as it is physically not possible if you do not know your name, address and where to post to. Non-compliance of the rules leads to severe penalties. At the time of introduction many retailers entirely deleted their email listings or deleted those who had not purchased of the past 2, 3 or more years. It was very arbitrary which was correct and after some time solicitors started to clarify that the real reading into the legislation was that it was fine to email previous customers with marketing details and hold their data if, and only if, they had actually purchased from you as a verified customer, and where not purchased email listings. The whole system seems to have now settled and most businesses are complying but the hassles for retailers of complying with the legislation remain. One reason for that dreaded “cookie policy” on any website you visit. There is some debate that this may disappear in future as a pop up on the site and just be inbuilt in the terms
4. 
   What is PECR? The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR)  sit with the GDPR requirements above and require a Cookie Policy to be displayed obtaining consent by users to process their information and let them choose their option of whether to receive marketing calls, emails, texts. It also lets the user decide which cookies are kept by the retailer (processing required cookies or also advertising cookies). These rules include processing of information being kept secure and what is kept on their traffic or visits to the store online, their location data, their billing, identification and directory listings. Data cannot be shared without consent by the ecommerce customer/user.
5. 
   What are Advertising Standards? Advertising Standards Authority is an advertising regulator.  They advise businesses to ensure any advertising is honest and truthful, and not misleading in any way. These regulations could apply to your business if you are not clear on product descriptions, pricing, terms of sale, delivery, returns and refunds, or not displaying contact details (email and phone number) including the legal requirement to display the company registration number, business name and registered address on the website. This is usually displayed in the footer of a website. It should also be on any invoicing and dispatch notes. It is necessary to be careful with what you write online so that you are not open to a potential Defamation Case under UK law. 
6. 
   What Are Consumers Cancellation Rights? The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 made places additional obligations on website operators who deal with consumers as well as introducing cancellation rights for consumers. Noted that personalised products do not have the same cancellation rights as other off the shelf products.
7. 
   Are there Unfair Trading Regulations? The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 prohibits various unfair practices by traders, such as misleading actions or omissions, and include a “blacklist” of prohibited commercial practices.
8. 
   What is the EC Directive? The Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 covers any ecommerce business. The rules cover all information society services so not just ecommerce. It excludes tax, gambling and data protection and public notary work. The laws apply to where your business is established and not where the server for the website is based. The main meaning of the rules in the EC Directive are that ecommerce sites must meet the laws of their Member State (their country of establishment), not just UK laws. For example, if you are selling in Germany you must apply with German consumer laws, etc. A translation alone is insufficient.
9. 
   Are there complaint handling standards of practice? The Provision of Services Regulations Act of 2009 requires traders to specify information available to customers and meet certain standards when handling complaints. Guidance can be found by the UK Government on how these operate. 
10. 
    Are there Online Privacy Regulations? The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 governs direct marketing (both solicited and unsolicited) by means of electronic communication.

    The main regulations explain how consent must be obtained from the customer before installing cookies on their machine for tracking the data for their online use of the website or their ordering.  This was the reason that online businesses were forced to introduce that dreaded “cookie policy” pop up messages on their websites that you need to accept essential and/or marketing cookies to continue using the website. Specific consent is required for processing of sensitive information, for example children’s details or photos, before you can contact the user with electronic marketing, such as emails, telemarketing, etc. If an individual has opted out of receiving marketing information, you are not allowed to send it. When marketing companies also have to identify themselves clearly and clearly state their contact details, including address and freephone number.  Online businesses, and also normal service websites, have to tell all visitors to their website that they use “cookies” to track data and get consent. As mentioned before in the section on cookies, without essential processing cookies being accepted the retailer is physically unable to process your order so do be aware of that. They need to retain basic order and payment and contact details to send out products!

11. What are Web Content Accessibility Guidelines?  WCAG make sure that websites are able to be read or heard, operational, understandable and robust or future proof. They cannot cause the user seizures or physical reactions. They need to help usability for those with disabilities. For example, the size of the text, no flashing images. This is one reason that “flash” was dropped from websites years ago.

12. What are business user online platforms obligations? The Online Intermediation Services for Business Users Regulations 2020 is also called the P2B. The law imposes obligations on providers of online platforms like search engines that are used by businesses to reach consumers.  What is an online platform? The OECD describes an online platform as “digital service that facilitates interactions between two or more distinct but interdependent sets of users (whether firms or individuals) who interact through the service via the Internet”. The regulations are vast and a good summary of the obligations can be found at Kempitlaw website. The 2 main types covered by these regulations are OSEs and CWUs. Online search engines (OSEs) and corporate website users (CWUs). The main obligations are complex and detailed but in summary all platform providers must be clear, transparent and communicative with the user, give terms, 30 days’ notice and explanation for changes or termination. You will see these details on just about every website you visit, ie terms and conditions, policy, contact details etc but there are additional laws here that apply to businesses with 50 or more employees and with a balance sheet or turnover over Euros 10 million. As a small business under that level you will find that most online shopping templates include all the reguirements of these regulations that you need to worry about. It is still good to be aware of them. 

13. What are Payment Processing Regulations for Ecommerce? In the UK all payment processing is regulated by the Payment Services Regulations 2017, whether regarding e-processing online, or offline transactions. The regulations summarise how the whole process is to work and the details explained below. For ecommerce, payment processing is the part of the ordering process from when an online store accepts a customer payment for goods or services, to when the ecommerce merchant receives the payment into their bank account. Payment processing includes the refunding of money by the merchant from the time they process that to the time the money lands in the customer’s bank account. The processing includes authorisation of the transaction, securely sending the card information, and ensuring the money arrives into the right account quickly. There is a payment gateway and a payment processor in this process.

    What is a payment gateway? The payment gateway is the technical encrypted software (and organisation) that connects your ecommerce website to the online payment processor. It’s like a messenger encrypting the secure message from the details of the payment card or account that you input into the site directly or via another page, such as 3rd parties like Paypal. As soon as the customer presses “proceed” after inputting payment details on the website, the payment gateway then opens up either on the same website, or via some other one like Paypal, Amazonpay,  Googlepay, Applepay, Stripe, or other approved payment gateway. The information on this is then encrypted and securely sent on to the payment processor, which checks and accepts or rejects the transaction (see below) then electronically notifies the payment gateway if the payment was accepted or rejected. The payment gateway then updates the ecommerce website for the customer to see if the payment proceeded or not. All this is done lightening fast as far as the consumer and retailer are concerned. 

    What is a payment processor? The payment processor reads all the encrypted and secure payment details and actually does the transacting of the money movement between the bank accounts. The payment processor first ensures all the details are correct and match those on record, that there are also enough funds to make the payment in the customer’s bank account, and checks for fraud. The payment gateway and payment processor can be the same in some cases, but often they are not. If there is insufficient money to make the transaction in the customer account, or some details of name or address or card details are wrong they may reject the payment. So it is the payment processor who accepts or rejects payments for ecommerce retailers, not the retailer themselves as customers often assume. The retailer plays no part in this process and relies on the payment processor as the secure and technical expert. The payment processor electronically goes back to notify the payment gateway of the transaction succeeding or not. 

    What is a merchant account? Your money then goes from the customer bank account, or paypal or other account, into the retailer’s merchant account. The merchant account is a business bank account that is set up specifically to be able to receive the money from the payment processor in various currencies. Why not just have a normal bank account? Do I need a merchant account? For ecommerce payment processing you need to have a merchant account that connects to a payment processor. A normal business account does not do this. The merchant account is set up by the bank and there is a charge to operate a merchant account. For foreign payment processing you may need to have more than one merchant account for each currency being transacted. There will be a charge to the retailer to operate each of these merchant accounts each month. This charge should not be confused with card processing charges which are different/additional. You link your merchant account to your regular business bank account.

14. What are Intellectual Property Rights? The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is the official UK government organisation for any intellectual property rights protection, including patents, designs, trademarks, and copyright. Even if you trademark your business name and logo you would still have to take a legal route to tackle another business copying these on their website and this will cost a lot of money. You can claim that you have the trademark, or the patent if they are copying a product, and get a solicitor to write to them with these details asking them to cease and desist. The reality is that if they do not you will have to take legal proceedings, they may stop and may start again later, or you just live with it and do better than them online. Whatever decision you make you need to consider the benefits of having a trade mark or patent that you need to renew regularly, and the cost of taking legal action, versus the loss of business. This is something unique to each business so do take legal advice. Make sure your website is not copied from elsewhere and add your Copyright and the year at the bottom of your site. Keep this information updated.

15. What other ecommerce laws should I know about?
    Other laws are applicable to financial services, healthcare, gambling and other industries. You may need legal advice on this depending what your website offers. See the Gambling Commission for their specific rules. 

Ecommerce vs Retail on the High Street – Pros and Cons

Ecommerce vs Retail is a hot topic with the cost-of-living crisis. When considering ecommerce vs retail you need to consider that other than cafés almost all retailers now have some form of online presence. Without this they are only bringing in sales from those who have been in store and may be repeat customers. To bring in new customers and grow your footprint you need to be online. The large ecommerce stores are also wanting a high street presence to gain different audiences and showcase their products.

The reduction of high street stores has been a result of many factors, not just COVID-19 lockdowns. Increasing rates and cost of raw materials have added to the costs of high street stores. There is also the fact that they need to be delivering what the customer wants. If the customer has more choice of range, size and price comparisons online then the only reason go to a high street store is to touch and view and item, or try it on. However most online stores now offer free returns, the convenience of a larger range and fast delivery making it just as easy to buy online, have it delivered and then either have it collected or dropped off to numerous locations to return an item easier than going to a store. Parking at home is not an option or an additional cost either, and there is the convenience of not even leaving the comfort of your home.

High street stores need to compete on an experiential level in order to bring in customers to see and buy in store. The rise of so many coffee shops in the high street is an example of this. Ecommerce has been driving some customers to stores with the expansion of pop-up shops and of shared retail spaces, plus smaller retail stores allowing someone the ability of viewing an item in person but without the large running costs of larger premises. This trend is likely to continue. Tesco Metro instead of Tesco is one example of a smaller store experience.

Advantages of ecommerce – ecommerce pros

The advantages of ecommerce for sellers are:
• Fast scalability
• Lower cost and overheads
• Lower set up cost
• Quick time to market for product introduction
• Access to a wider market nationally and internationally
• Longer opening hours as can open 24/7 without the need for 24/7 staff
• Higher turnover levels per staff number required to operate
• Increased revenue
• Potentially higher profits and faster growth
• Data tracking of all areas meets faster response time for all areas from stock levels to product changes.
• Cheaper advertising than print and faster response for those methods not giving return on investment
• Available to rural areas to grow a business quickly, while still living in a rural location
• No business rates. However, there are other costs associated with going online.

The advantages or ecommerce for buyers and staff are:
• You can buy from anywhere in the world
• 24/7 opening times to buy at the time that suits you
• Comparability of price and quality is easier to do online
• It is easier to search the product details online in more detail
• Fast delivery
• Fast and often free returns
• Time saving with no trip to town or added parking charges
• Much larger choice of range, sizes and colours as filled from warehouses
• Fast buying process often in one click or just a few from anywhere in the world at any time
• Reviews from other customers makes decision making easier
• Personalised shopping experience
• Immediate notification of product and service deals by email, text or whatsapp
• In stock notifications so you can go to store to view but you know if it is actually in store before you do so
• Trying on at home in the comfort of your own space at your convenience
• Accessibility and flexibility for staff – an inclusive career which has quite an even number of women working in the field and is easily open to those with illness or disabilities due to the flexible working and remote working opportunities.

Disadvantages of ecommerce – Ecommerce Cons

The disadvantages of being in ecommerce for sellers are:
• Doing it wrong – wrong platform, wrong set up, wrong marketing, wrong software, wrong staff, not outsourcing the right tasks, not tracking, not reacting to the data, not targeting the right market or customers, too much competition, and more
• Not knowing what you don’t know! This is a common one
• Knowing what you don’t know but not addressing it quickly
• Believing that setting up a website is ecommerce and that once it is set up you do not need to touch it. A fatal mistake
• Not knowing your numbers and taking the eye off the ball
• Keeping on top of internet security
• Fast set up of any new competition
• Issues with IT going down as with any business IT system
• Doing skill of doing customer services right as you are not meeting face to face.

The disadvantages of being in ecommerce for buyers are:
• Knowing when and how to trust a website
• Paying attention to your privacy acceptance and email marketing opt-ins
• Keeping your password access secure
• Delayed delivery if you need something fast and there are postal issues
• Buying from a replica spam site
• Having to return an item to a postal depot if no free collection available.

Overall, the advantages of operating and of buying from an online store way outweigh the disadvantages. There is then also an opportunity to rejuvenate any high street or physical presence by driving sales to the store with special deals only available in store.

How to succeed in ecommerce

To succeed in ecommerce a business must not just have a well-designed ecommerce site that is easy to use and a reliable payment system. There are definite tricks of the trade in automating as much as possible with the right software to help track your data. With higher costs of living and post COVID-19 the rise of online shopping, brands are finding it harder and harder to compete. Everyone is chasing the same traffic and almost everyone has competitors to content with. Competition is a great thing as it shows there is a market for your product or service. However, with everyone selling online it is even more important that you do that right and be listed on Google, Amazon, Bing, Tik Tok, or whatever platforms you are listed on above your competition.
It is important that you are on the right platforms for your business, you focus on putting effort and money into the right target customers with the right advertising methods, and you offer a superior customer experience.

How to decide if your product or service will sell well online

In deciding if your product or service will trade well online you should ask yourself these questions:
• What do you want to sell and where?
• What is the demand locally and further afield?
• Is there competition and how strong are they?
• What is the cost of investment?
• How technical are you or do you need outside help?
• Is your offering just a local service that you do not plan to expand outside your own town or city?
The process of deciding what to sell starts with brainstorming and for ecommerce there are several tricks and tips for generating product ideas in particular. These will also help you determine some of your answers on which ecommerce platform may be right for you. Google Trends is a great platform for researching trends for products or services, or any keyword, over the past years and if the trend is flat, dipping or increasing. I would not invest in a new idea that has a 5 year dipping trend!

How to start an ecommerce business

Just as you research to start any business there are similar steps starting an ecommerce business. In a traditional business model you do your research, develop a business plan with full product and loss, balance sheet and cash flow, get funding, create a name, register the company name, develop and test your product or service, choose a store location or office, choose how you will take payments, develop a marketing plan, set up banking and accounts and insurance, hire staff or maybe just start alone, then you launch. In ecommerce the steps are identical except your location is online. Unless of course you are “omnichannel” and decide to sell via a store location as well as online.

The difference is that you need to have your front and back door (your ecommerce site) locked to intruders with secure online systems including having a secure hosting platform and an SSL certificate. You won’t have to pay rates but you will have additional domain and hosting costs, and also the cost of developers or customer support from your SAAS (Software as a Service) provider. You also will have domain name (your website name) and hosting to set up.

How to  choose the right ecommerce platform

Here is a non-exhaustive list of some of the questions you should be asking yourself before diving into the wrong ecommerce platform:

• Are you a brand or a merchant? Does it matter? Yes, it does.
• Is it a product or a service you are selling?
• Is your product personalised?
• How many products do you sell, are they your own or are they being resold?
• Can you fulfil from a warehouse or do you need to fulfil yourself?
• What logistics are required?
• Will you be working alone or bringing in others expertise earlier?
• Will you be exporting?
• Do you need other languages and currencies?
• How large do you think your market will be nationally and internationally?
• Are there restrictions on the products or services you are selling, such as food and drink?
• How much competition do you have and which platforms and countries are they in?
• How much time do you have to do things yourself?
• How technical are you and in what areas? Where are the gaps?
• How do you think you will drive traffic to your website and do you need a website at all?
• Should you be using an app or another platform instead of your own? For example, Amazon or Etsy?
• What are your margins?
• How easy can you ramp up production?

A brand can be a product identifier or a company identifier. For example, you don’t just sell trainers you sell “Nike trainers”, or you don’t just sell trainers, you sell “zoom” ie the product descriptor. Either of these if they are big sellers for your business make you a brand for that product, or group of products. People look to buy either “zoom” or “Nike” or both, “Nike Zoom”. Margins on a brand’s products (normally products but could also be services) are much higher than merchant margins. A brand has control over what they sell at and what their recommended retail price is for any resellers (merchants), if they decide to have any. Brands generally sell less number of products (SKUs) and have less online business automation as a result. Brand owners selling direct to consumer usually use more social media marketing methods to attract customers also.

A merchant is a “reseller” of goods and/or services over the internet, or from a store or warehouse. More specifically an “ecommerce merchant” sells over the internet/online. Merchants, just like merchants in old fashioned market stalls, can sell just about any product or service. They mostly sell products that are not their own. They buy them in to sell on at a markup and this is where they make their money. Merchants generally sell a very large number of SKUs/products and need a lot of automation integrated into their online shop.

The difference is you can buy that product from a number of merchants. Many sports stores online would sell Nike trainers. These stores are ecommerce merchants. Many high street stores could sell them also and they are merchants. The only business that can sell bespoke Nike trainers is “Nike”. Nike is a brand.  Merchants do not have as much control over the retail price and therefore not as much over their margin. Brands who sell via merchants set a “Recommended Retail Price” which is the price they would prefer that you do not drop below and if you do drop below this level in most contracts the manufacturer will be able to insist on removing supply due to breach of contract.

All these questions will be tackled in future articles. In short, choosing the right ecommerce platform is not a straight forward choice based on what is available and the cost.

The main aim of ecommerce stores

Like any business, an ecommerce business is about optimising return on investment. The aim is to make the most profit so this entails selling as much as you can for as low a cost as you can. However, just like a high street store, if you sell a rubbish product or service, if you have poor quality, or have poor customer service, word spreads fast. With an online business you will rapidly be out of business if you do consider the customer as king or queen!

High customer retention, and word of mouth communication to grow customer following, is just as important as it is with any retailer. The difference is that one poor customer experience will very rapidly result in poor online feedback which will damage your reputation and your sales. Less traffic to your site will also affect your online ranking on Google, as well as affecting your ranking on whatever other platforms you are on.

The list below ignores of course that there are often other main business aims such as sustainability, climate change, fairness in employment, and other things that all businesses consider in their vision or mission. The list of aims below considers how, additional to your overall business aims, you would make an ecommerce store financially successful and in growth phase. Many are similar to any business aims but there are specific ones that relate to ecommerce, or online retail as it is also called. The main aims can be summarised as:

• To sell at the highest margin with the highest profit,
• to increase turnover or revenue,
• to reduce costs,
• to increase customer acquisition and reduce the associated costs,
• to increase customer retention,
• to optimise word of mouth sales,
• to grow their customer base,
• to maximize the sales funnel,
• to minimise the drop offs throughout the customer journey,
• to expediate steps to and through the checkout process,
• to optimise processes and efficiency,
• to automate as much as possible to drive efficiency, speed and growth,
• to drive positive brand awareness,
• to be able to cross sell, up sell and offer add-ons to the basket during checkout,
• to automate as much as possible for as low a cost as possible and with the right technology, and
• to re-platform as little as possible as this often causes ranking problems and costs money and time.

Do you need a website developer?

These days a website developer is less not needed as much as before but they are also handy to have on tap. With online platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce, these have tempates and are known as SAAS, Software as a Service. You can quite easily build your own basic Shopify store by selecting a relevant template and following the instructions by Shopify for example to get you started.  However, I would still suggest that you find a good developer who you can go to for bespoke or technical changes that you cannot make via the platform you choose. Ecommerce stores can go offline for a number of reasons and depending on the level of service you pay for via a platform like Shopify, ShopifyPlus, BigCommerce or Magento the response time and attention can be low. No live store means no sales. Sites can go offline at any time and a store going offline in the middle of peak period can mean disaster for income.

There are often bespoke changes you would like to make that cannot be done by the provider of your platform. If you have a good developer this can be done much faster. Also, and most importantly in my view, the right developer will also help you set up the ecommerce site so that you are linked with Google Analytics and all the other tracking software you need for 3rd Party Logistics and Fulfilment (or “3PL” for short) or anything else from email marketing to financial tracking. If these are right upfront then business growth should be faster as you can identify where the issues are and address them faster. Also Google should be more easily able to rank your site if the Analytics has helped you identify issues with your website and you have addressed those.

Where to effectively allocate your online marketing spend

Allocating your online marketing spend very much depends what is working for you and if you are doing it correctly. Spend allocation all comes down to using tracking software. In ecommerce we talk about spend on ecommerce marketing being approximately a third of total revenue. It’s a large chunk of your business expenses. It is also where you can lose a lot of money if you are pouring money in to the wrong channels. Even international research by Deloitte highlighted spend at 25.19% of total revenue for consumer packed goods, and Hubspot listed the top 5 channels for 2024 as shown above.

You will often hear that you should be on TikTok or Instagram. Or you should use influencers or be on Youtube. The answer is that you should be on as many channels as you can be on for exposure but only on those that are right for your business and your product or service and done in the right way for return on investment or there is no point at all being on those platforms at all. The wrong exposure can be bad for business. In most cases the only way to know what is right is to experiment and to track. Data is key!

Far too little marketing attention is paid to email marketing. Email marketing was initially killed off big time with the introduction to GDPR legislation in the UK  and Europe but since the dust settled GDPR actually works email marketing has made a huge come back and is a key area to drive growth in customer base, drive sales from existing customers and to turn on turnover in quiet times. I know when I used email marketing in my labelling business in the right way delivering the right products in front of a customer at the time they were looking we had a massive uplift in turnover for the week after. That said, swamping all customers in the same general emails is the wrong approach. There is a definite right and wrong approach to email marketing, just as there is to any digital marketing channel. Done right it can be financially rewarding. Done wrong it can ruin your business. Segmentation and regular contact is vital.

Quick wins and tips for successful ecommerce – site structure and navigation

A quick win for any new site is to plan and build the structure of the site right to start. The navigation needs to be clear and logical to the consumer and the analytics need to be correctly set up and actively tracking data. In addition, of all the digital marketing methods you can use make sure the first segmented, planned out and working correctly is your email marketing. The quickest sure way to grow your ecommerce sales is then via optimisation of your site while continuing to maxise the return from your existing customers, and getting them to spread the word.  The customer is king or queen and can make or break any business, online or offline.

These are simple steps that make all the difference. No point marketing a site where the navigation and the products are unclear, and there is no signposting for google or other search engines to understand the logical navigation and ranking of each page of the website. Customers also need to have a clear route from what they are looking for to the checkout and they need to land on the most appropriate product page from their online search without having to hunt for the right page.

When customers have to hunt for their results they very quickly jump ship to a competitor.  This is similar to you trying to find what you want in a supermarket and they have changed the layout so you cannot find it!

Before you even start on social media and associated additional costs, be sure your site:
1. Clearly displays your brand and product categories, and product pages,
2. Is clear to read on mobile and desktop, what we call “responsive”,
3. Has clear navigation that is logical to find the required product,
4. Includes search options,
5. Includes contact details including a phone number,
6. Has clear photography,
7. Has H1, H2 and H3 tags,
8. Has page titles and descriptions that are different for each page of the site,
9. Has a trusted product and service reviews platform embedded for genuine customer reviews, and include the good and the bad,
10. Is linked up for email marketing your customer base in segments,
11. Has as few steps to the checkout and through the checkout as possible, less than 3 if you can.
12. Offers a variety of payment options,
13. Offers cross sells, up sells, add-ons to product pages and checkout page without navigating the customer away from proceeding to the checkout,
14. Does not send the customer off the checkout process to external sites,
15. Does not ask the customer so much information that they get frustrated with the checkout or registration process,
16. Has a secure payment system and security with a Secure Sockets Layer “SSL” Certificate (see below),
17. Has live chat facility embedded (not just the bot as this frustrates customers, you also need live chat personnel available when they can respond),
18. Has a clear returns policy and shipping policy, both of which are clearly displayed, including costs,
19. Includes GDPR regulations and these are displayed clearly (see below),
20. Includes registered office details and company number are displayed clearly in the footer,
21. Details of the privacy policy and terms and conditions included in depth.

What is an SSL Certificate?

An SSL certificate or “Secure Sockets Layer” will only be provided to stores that have secure systems and this is indicated by the website browser bar having a padlocks and the website URL starting with “https”, eg https://www.linkedin.com/ . The SSL means your site has data encrypted, data has integrity or is untampered with, it shows you can trust the site, it shows the site is legitimate, and Google and other search engines prioritise sites with SSL certificates which can help your website ranking but of course other factors will also play a part.

When to outsource ecommerce tasks and when to do in-house

When to outsource a task from your ecommerce business comes down to what your own, and your team’s, experience level is. I often hear from ecommerce owners “I know how to do that so I don’t need any help with it and I don’t need to outsource it”. I wish I had a penny for every time I heard this and then watched that area of their business struggle to grow, the same people finally then reaching out for help.

In-house work should be on ecommerce tasks you can do better as you know the brand, product or service and the customers best. There are also many tools and with the right ones you are less likely to need to outsource tasks. Think about these things:
• Get the basics right first and you will grow faster. Get the site set up right, the right tracking in place and the right people in place.
• Where is your expertise?
• What do you really NOT know?
• What area could massively drive business growth if done well?
• Split Technical SEO, on-page SEO and off-page SEO and local SEO and devote outsourcing to some of your on-page and off-page SEO. Local SEO should always be done in-house (by your team).
• Have you had a recommendation of those to outsource to from another business like yours that you know is doing well from their data? Don’t just go on word of mouth but see some data from the person recommending or from the company doing their work. Data is key in ecommerce.
• What is your budget for salaries and for outsourcing? Outsourcing will always be more expensive than doing something in house but there is a trade-off. If done by experienced ecommerce people who work on the particular task all the time then part time this can be better than bringing the job in house to be done in a much less effective way by someone less experienced and learning on the job, as it is done faster and more efficiently and effectively in the right structure to start.
• Are you able to handle customer services best in house and what can you automate within the process without annoying the customer?

Whatever you do, I advise NEVER outsource any task you have no knowledge in at all within the team. You don’t need to be an expert but you need to understand if what the outsourced person is recommending is the accurate and sensible advice. If you know nothing on the topic then you are outsourcing blind and this could be an expensive mistake.

An example of this is when I was recommended to outsource some SEO on labelling to a particular resource which had achieved really good results in another ecommerce business. Being unsure of their understanding of my industry but needing some more hands on the job in the business I took a very minimal risk as I downloaded a spreadsheet of all our SEO data and asked them to list next to the Title, Description etc all the replacement ones they would implement for 20 top products. Just as well I didn’t let them into the live site…they named sew on labels as “strip names” and some keyrings were named as some sort of pipe! We of course parted ways and nothing was paid or implemented.

In ecommerce you need eyes on everything and never let anyone touch your site without someone with knowledge of the business and what is being changed having oversight and sign off of the changes. Damage can be done very quickly with the wrong information in the site.

Why is Ecommerce Customer Service Excellence so important?

Provide excellent customer service: Providing excellent customer service is key to building trust and loyalty among your customers. This applies as much online as it does in person within the high street. Respond promptly to customer inquiries and complaints, and offer helpful and friendly support. Never get aggressive or ignore customer complaints. This is what I would class as “turning a molehill into a mountain” as they will respond in kind. Poor reviews are bad for your image and bad for business growth. It is all to easy these days for customers to put poor experiences out there to the world online and these spread like wildfire if not addressed.

Engage rapidly, efficiently and effectively and sort their problems. If you personally have a problem, what do you want? You just want it fixed. No excuses, no delays. Don’t offer then a replacement or a refund if that is not what the customer wants. LISTEN. Listen to what the customer wants, listen to the rant if there is one, then ASK them what they would like to resolve the issue. The customer will almost always tell you exactly what they are wanting. Most will be reasonable requests. Give an option that will keep the customer happy or give a couple of options. It is always best to address a problem by telephone directly with the person before responding online. You can then respond online to any negative review that was left in advance by saying you have contacted the customer and resolved the issue.

How to get started in Ecommerce

If you are interested in starting an ecommerce business there are several steps you can take to get you started.
1. Answer all the questions we mentioned earlier in “How to decide if your product or service will trade well online” and in the section “How to decide on an ecommerce platform”,
2. Research online which platforms are the right fit for those answers and the prices,
3. Ask the advice of an adviser who has actually operated an ecommerce site of their own, or an agency who runs different sites and specialises in ecommerce,
4. Do your own follow up research and comparisons,
5. Find a developer who can help you set up the one you choose correctly and integrate the analytics required up front, and
6. Never choose a platform where you do not have full access yourself to make many required changes.
Even with thorough research there are a lot of people who have been caught out choosing the wrong platform for their ecommerce site as the company grows or the market grows or they struggle with logistics and operational issues, or trying to internationalise their site.

Ecommerce on a shoestring – how to get started with £5000

For a very low budget then I would either use a marketplace like Amazon, or for crafty items then Etsy. Alternatively build a Shopify site. Starting with under £5000 is unusual if you want to set up right to start and not have to reinvent the wheel and re-platform at a later stage. I always say re-platform as few times as you need to and put the money in the bank! Every time you undertake a re-platform of your ecommerce site your SEO will take an initial dip, even when you do it well at the time you make the move. Then it can take around 3 months, or more, for your google listings to recover.

What are the best ecommerce platforms?

Given the number of SAAS (Software as a service) Platforms and Open Source Platforms that now exist bespoke builds are generally not the way forward in ecommerce.

What is Software as a Service? SaaS are software applications accessed over the internet. There is no need to download them and users pay a subscription instead.
The applications are accessed via web browsers and are hosted remotely and maintained by the provider. Microsoft is an example. These software applications remove the need for upfront higher costs but do tie you to monthly charges which can and usually do increase. They are updated and maintained by someone else, which is a bonus, but you do not own the actual software. That is owned by the provider. SAAS is described by Microsoft:

“Software as a service (SaaS) allows users to connect to and use cloud-based apps over the Internet. Common examples are email, calendaring, and office tools (such as Microsoft Office 365). SaaS provides a complete software solution that you purchase on a pay-as-you-go basis from a cloud service provider. You rent the use of an app for your organization, and your users connect to it over the Internet, usually with a web browser. All of the underlying infrastructure, middleware, app software, and app data are located in the service provider’s data center. The service provider manages the hardware and software, and with the appropriate service agreement, will ensure the availability and the security of the app and your data as well. SaaS allows your organization to get quickly up and running with an app at minimal upfront cost.”

What is an Open Source Platform?

Open source software (OSS) is software a person or business has written and distributed together with the source code. Anyone can then use, modify or distribute it also with the original use rights by using this under license. A website developer or programmer would use this code to control your website to build one the way you want it. The programmer can add, change or fix the code and there are usually many programmers out there that have done this so there are often forums or communities of programmers which help each other to find problems to any bugs in the software. Be aware that updates and changes need to be done by a website developer or computer programmer. Again you do not own the actual software as you just use it, with modifications, under license. Note that if there are too many bespoke changes to your software this can cause issues. Sometimes other software you have to run various other systems is linked to your website software and when these are updated they can stop working with main site software. Your programmer or developer would then need to find a fix to this or write one, and install it. Updates are not automatically done over the cloud as they are with SAAS software.

Best ecommerce platforms?

Below is a list of some of the best platforms in ecommerce and comments on when these may be the best for your ecommerce site. WordPress is listed first as most small businesses, not necessarily in ecommerce, use this. In ecommerce Shopify is currently the most popular in the UK.

• WordPress site with WooCommerce – Free to install with hosting being the biggest expense but there are additional ecommerce related costs that will need to be factored in for other modules as well as developer time in helping with the set up. Ecommerce wordpress is more complex to set up than Shopify, requiring an ecommerce plugin, and WooCommerce is the most often used, though there are others. Turnover on wordpress sites is generally up to £250K with limited growth potential. WordPress does not specialise in ecommerce as Shopify or Magento do. It is more often used for blogs and for basic websites that are not trading online than for ecommerce but it is sometimes used by those starting out in ecommerce. Average page loading time is twice as much as Shopify which is another reason this is not the best option for ecommerce, particularly in busy periods. There are also a lot less payment integration solutions available though the SEO performs well on WordPress. In terms of security WordPress is by far the least secure of the other options like Shopify, BigCommerce, ShopifyPlus and Magento 2 and relies much more on you finding plugin integrations to suit what you need rather than integrated ecommerce solutions.

• Shopify – Turnover under £2million. Shopify is built on a SAAS platform with half the cost of Magento 2. Shopify ecommerce stores have under 20 point of sale locations and not requiring dedicated customer support help from Shopify direct. Most stores using Shopify hit around £500K turnover. £344 a month with no minimum contract period.

• ShopifyPlus – Turnover under £2million. Shopify is built on a SAAS platform with half the cost of Magento. A next move up from Shopify. £1600 minimum per month but after £650,000 in turnover per month the cost changes to a revenue based model where the maximum paid is £33,000 per month. There is a minimum one year contract period.

• BigCommerce – Turnover under £2million but more limited than Shopify. BigCommerce is also a SAAS platform with half the cost of Magento and works best for B2B not B2C, or for merchants rather than brands.

• Magento 2– Internationalising and/or with estimated turnover of £500K upwards on average. Particularly good for sites with turnover over £1million pounds as the ongoing costs are lower and the total cost of ownership is also much lower with Magento 2 once you have a turnover of £2million given the cost of potential integrations and the ongoing fees.

• Bespoke Website – Large business where the available SAAS or open-source software platforms cannot produce what is required to link existing systems up. This is a costly option.

• Amazon – A brand not a merchant, and not personalised, easy to fill via Amazon fulfilment centres nationally and even internationally.

• Ebay – Selling 2nd hand goods or antiques D2C, or business to business sales.

• Etsy – Personalised small volume product such as one off or small volumes of one design in craft and art works.

• Social media shop like TikTok Shop – When you have something easy to trend online like makeup and you are an influencer yourself.

Best Practices for Ecommerce Marketing

The image above from Martech indicates the massive growth in marketing technology since 2011 to 2024 growing from 150 platforms to now 14,106, and growing! So finding the best practices for ecommerce marketing will depend on finding the right platforms for your brand and products. Marketing tips for an ecommerce business include:

1. Implementing the correct GDPR regulations into your site and marketing methodolody and ensure your tracking is set up correctly;

2.  Having a planned marketing calendar and plan and communicate this to your team at least 3 months ahead of the busy period;

3. Setting up your email marketing correctly including the segmenting and flows and retargetting basket dropouts and email customers when they are hot to buy;

4. Concentrating on customer attraction, retention and word of mouth marketing;

5. Building trust with great customer services and trusted reviews on all platforms possible;

6. Ensuring your photography and brand look standard and clear with white backgrounds and clear, correct resolution, enlargeable lifestyle and product imagery;

7. Ensuring you give offers for your customers to spread the word to family and friends or buy higher quantities over a certain value to grow basket value; and

8. Finding the right marketing platforms to use for your social media presence, which will depend on your audience and your product. There are also many platforms that can help you speed up the creation of artwork and scheduling of your posts. However scheduling and artwork are useless if you are on the wrong marketing platforms for your business. Much of this is from evidence of what works for your competitors and data analysis once you start to use a platform. Is it paying off in terms of return on investment or are you just blasting out posts no one is reacting to?

Successful ecommerce businesses in Scotland

There are five examples, of many, listed below which are successful ecommerce businesses in Scotland:

1.  Ooni Pizza Ovens

2. Chisholm Hunter

3. Jamieson Brothers

4. Oh Polly

5. SNAG Group.

Note that “digital marketing businesses are not ecommerce businesses”. While online businesses use digital marketing as a route to market, these businesses have ecommerce sites that generate most of their business. For example, Oh Polly and SNAG make the most of the use of digital marketing to capture new customers as a market acquisition and retainment tool driving sales to their website.

Successful ecommerce businesses in the UK

Ten of the top UK ecommerce businesses, in no particular order, are:

1. Amazon

2. Sainsburys

3. Tesco

4. ASOS UK

5. Argos

6. Next UK

7. Marks & Spencer

8. Argos

9. Asda

10. Etsy UK

It is interesting that many of these are omnichannel businesses with both stores or high street presence as well as online websites. This highlights the fact that ecommerce can be even more successful when combined with somewhere that you can see and feel the product, where you can choose if you want it delivered to the home or click and collect or just to view online and buy in store, or view in store and buy online. Therefore, as shown by this list, choice is the key factor that ecommerce offers.

Successful Chinese Ecommerce Giants in the UK

In the list of successful UK ecommerce companies I did not list Shein and Temu. These are massive Chinese clothing manufacturers, not UK companies. Temu also sells furniture and electronics and is owned by the ecommerce giant PDD Holdings, which also runs the online marketplace called Pindoudou, another huge business in China. It is the Amazon equivalent in China, but larger and provides some of it’s data free to merchants, while Amazon charges for data.

Based out of Ghangzou these large ecommerce giants export mass production clothing and other items all over the world and according to the BBC news report on the 8th August 2024 they are quite legally and legitimately taking advantage of skipping customs and import duties when exporting to customers abroad by shipping direct from factory to customer under the “de minimus rules” in the UK and US, and also other countries. These rules in the UK say if an items is £135 (£39 for gifts), or less, there is no customs charge on the transaction.  This gives these businesses a massive advantage in making money and reaching the thousands, growing market share quickly and achieving higher margins. Temu, for example, sells cheap to grow market share and gather data rather than focussing on profits.

It is difficult for small retailers to compete against these giants of Temu, Shein and Amazon. However the market for consumer goods is huge and there is space for smaller retailers too who have the right website, product and tactics. Ecommerce businesses are mostly, like any business, in business for profit. Even if that is going to charity as their main aim. And a small slice of a big pie is better than no slice at all.

How to start an ecommerce business in Scotland

The 10 steps to starting an ecommerce business in Scotland from scratch are:

1. Research the product and audience potential locally, nationally, internationally and be sure there is an increasing trend over the past 5 years for what you plan to sell.

2. Research your competition and list them, then keep track of them. Who are they? What platforms are they selling on? How well ranked are they on each platform? What are their produtcs called? Which are selling the best? What is their pricing like? Do they have good reviews?

3. Create and test your product thoroughly and do market research per area and product you plan to sell. What potential regions are their for growth and what potential product diversification is there?

4. Research and register your business name but first also check that the website domain name is available and register that then apply for the company name also with Companies House for the UK. You would register your business as a Scottish business for legal and locational purposes.

5. Establish your brand colours, design and logo. Think carefully about what colours and images work in your various country and regional markets as “localisation” is important. For example in China red is good luck. Also some colours are not good for colour blindness or visual appeal. A swastika, as a very clear example, has several meanings and many are not good for business.

6. Determine the costs of manufacture and production and the processes along the way, how can these be reduced, investigate manufacturing locations in the UK and abroad and quantities for importing will play a factor in the early days in particular.

7. Research pricing and do your financial planning for the next year, 3 years, 5 years. Invest in good financial software like Xero upfront or hire an accountant to keep track of this is numbers are not your thing. You can’t do everything yourself and your accounts must be promptly updated. Hiring an external or part time bookkeeper is worth it’s weight in gold. Cashflow is KEY.

8. Develop a marketing plan over the same year, 3 years, 5 years and stick to your budget on marketing spend and cash flow. There is another argument here that the more you spend on advertising/marketing the more you make. Not until you crack the code though, and you need to also have the cashflow to allow you to do this as well as building up stock and paying any staff or expenses. One third of all spend on e-marketing is quite usual in ecommerce.

9. Set up your social profiles for all the platforms you may need at some stage, even if you don’t initially use them. You may decide they are good for your business and try them in future so secure the social profile names that match your brand up front.

10. Create your website and allow twice the time you think this will take to do it right. It could take you 6 months to do this or it could take 2. Shopify is a great platform to start with as a general rule but this is only if a website is the right platform for you. You may be better to sell on Amazon or Etsy. It all depends on many factors from being a brand selling your own items at a higher margin, or being a merchant, or reseller in other words, and what you are selling, where.

The Ecommerce Scotland Conference

Together INDEZ and Ann-Maree Morrison MBE also run the Ecommerce Scotland Conference. The Conference was held for the first time in March 2024 at the IMAX in Glasgow so is very near Glasgow Airport for those flying in, and has a multitude of accommodation options all right next to the city centre. The inaugural event was a massive success with over 23000 employees and over 880 high street stores represented, a combined turnover of attendees of over £3.9 billion and over 230 attendees.

Some of the largest ecommerce and omnichannel businesses in Scotland attended, including Walkers Shortbread, Whyte & Mackay, SNAG Group, Ooni Pizza Ovens, Stages Cycling, Arran Aromatics, The Paint Shed, and more.

You can sign up to get updates via the INDEZ sign up link. This will put you on the list for updates on both the Ecommerce Club and the Ecommerce Scotland Conference.

If you are interested in funding, or taking a stall, for the Ecommerce Scotland Conference, and/or funding the Ecommerce Club, please contact Ann-Maree Morrison MBE via the contact form.

The Ecommerce Club in Scotland

The Ecommerce Club in Scotland was set up by Ann-Maree Morrison MBE in 2010 for ecommerce owner managers or ecommerce managers to compare notes and help each other scale. Ecommerce support for businesses at start up stage was easier to get, albeit not always correct, but is mostly online. Knowing which is the right advice is very difficult, from start up through to internationalising and big business stages.

Ecommerce scaling is difficult to get right and has not been well addressed well via any available online or offline help. The ecommerce club network meets every second month via Linkedin live streaming and Youtube. The meetups give educational tips and hints, and also training, for Ecommerce Managers in high performing businesses, but also for those scaling at an earlier stage.

Ann-Maree and a team of ecommerce specialists which includes the Glasgow agency, INDEZ, support the club with administration and technical input for streaming as we are unfunded and looking for financial support to expand and we stream every 2nd month.

Ecommerce Club in Scotland holds the odd face to face meet up and is looking for funding to help with the administration and growth as we have over 100 regular attendees online each meeting and members want to help each other scale faster and more efficiently with less wasted cost. We also work with INDEZ to delivery Ecommerce Scotland Conference in March at the IMAX in Glasgow.

The ecommerce club network continues to grow rapidly and we have members now attending from as far afield as Italy, Sweden, the US and also England and Northern Ireland.

Please share the LinkedIn page with your audience and come along.