Evolution of eCommerce

Starting in the world of ecommerce is fairly easy these days compared to what online merchants had to go through 5 to 6 years ago.

First, online retail store templates have become more accessible with several companies offering free web store templates. Only five years ago, getting an online store would mean hiring a web designer and developer, thinking through the design and going through hours (if not days) of wireframes, layout, functionality discussions and rework. That timeline doesn't even consider the number of hours spent on actually developing the website.

Today, web store templates are a dime a dozen. They're offered at affordable prices, if not absolutely free. And it isn't even limited to just a template, some package it with hosting, inventory management software and more.

But more than just the online store, the entire process of building eCommerce stores and selling online have also been streamlined. One of the main contributors to this development is the advent of dropshipping.

Dropshipping is a phenomenal supply chain management method that removes the burden of physical transfer of products from the supplier to the retailer to the buyer. These days, all the online seller has to do is to connect with the dropshipping company and browse through their online catalogue. Once the final set of products are chosen, these can automatically be displayed in the merchant's online store. It all happens online, there is no physical exchange of products - meaning no more need to wait for the supplier to ship to the warehouse, take inventory and reclassify all the products for selling.

Now, it's as using feeds to fill the inventory of an online store. Once a purchase is made on the online store, the transaction is process like any other where the seller communicates with the buyer regarding the transaction and payment is collected.

The eCommerce store's owner then pushes this order to the dropshipping company. Payment for the item is taken from the payment already remitted by the buyer. Once the dropship supplier receives this, the order is processed from their end and is sent directly to the buyer. This last step takes away the hassles of shipping and handling from the online merchant's plate. Even better, it widens the capacity to service different countries around the world. The physical limitations of shipping by the seller is no longer an issue. Having different dropship suppliers across the world would mean even wider market coverage for the seller.