The western countries and first world economies have witnessed an enormous amount of growth in online businesses in the last decade or so. So much that even top brands are selling online now. For instance, in the UK, superstores like Argos and curry’s have also opened their eBay accounts and directly compete with ordinary people selling their products online. The same type of move has been witnessed in the USA, Canada and Australia. The buying habits of consumers are also changed massively as compared to those 15 years ago. One main factor can be said to be a drop in liquid income. Since the world has been struck with the recession, major brands and stores have been looking forward to cutting costs and compete with online retailers with fewer overheads and retail premises bills.
Less developed countries can have a peek into the systems adopted by advanced countries when it comes to e-commerce and benefits hugely from it. The online trade has expanded vertically, and all sort of business have found some niche to target. Moreover, whoever is the first one to target a new niche becomes the king of that niche by appropriate planning and marketing strategy in place. Countries like India can benefit massively from these new e-commerce platforms and business models. In the UK, even buying companies have also jumped into e-commerce just like those operating in the USA, Canada and Australia. People tend to sell mobile phones over the internet to mobile phones recycling companies more than over the counter. For instance, if you want to sell an iPhone 7 plus, you go to their website, pass on your details and send your mobile phone for free and as soon as they receive your mobile phone, they will make the payment. The company I dealt with is called Rapid Phone Buyer. There is no doubt that the main reason for the success of business models like that is depended on the infrastructure of necessary facilities such as postage system and online banking facilities.
The same is the case with online food ordering business model, over the years, these companies such as eat and Hungry house have flourished to be multi-million-pound empires with millions of users. These business models expand over time with appropriate marketing strategies, but at the same time it’s much easier to copy them in western countries where there are many facilities to support these ventures, and soon your model starts getting challenged by new competition. However, in developed countries, it’s often seen that a new business model takes time to get copied as much work is needed in the background to get the venture successful and accepted via mainstream target market.
After the recent recession, the business has realised the world is have become a global village where making money from production is almost impossible especially when the movement of goods and interbank rate of open currencies play a vital role. China is a significant play in international production, dominates the production market world over. For instance, in the last few years, we have witnessed how China’s involvement has pushed away from the biggest name in international steel trade out of business. So, moving away from production related business to a more service-driven company is the way new business and entrepreneurs should look forward to.
Another trend we have witnessed in online businesses is comparison websites. Most of these websites are not very expensive to get made but are heavily depended on SEO and other marketing techniques used to get them famous and get a sustainable market base with a regular client base. Not easy to get a business model get floated, but at the same time, if done correctly, the returns are much better than jumping into businesses which already are suffering from the competition. Many production related local industries have been challenged and incurred heavy losses due to a drop-in production cost in countries with less business and production overheads such as those in China. As a seasoned entrepreneur and marketing expert with International exposure, mainly dealing with Chinese and European markets, I believe there is still huge potential as far as an online business are concerned. In-depth study of the competitors, market and niche is the most crucial aspect of starting a business venture like these. Also, another most essential factor which is often underestimated is the need for reliable human resources and companies you associate with. Companies which offer cheap rates and promise unexpected high results often disappoint you. You have to very careful with online businesses to make sure you only deal with top industry leaders to make such systems for you which will not only help you reach your potential targets but also help you expand and flourish in your inch with time.