As the web continues to evolve, smart businesses look to
use its new features in ways that can help them expand, compete and
remain profitable - even at a time when the economic outlook seems
bleak. This is particularly true when the web gives us
opportunities to make money
When Moonfruit.com was created, its aim was to allow
anyone - from individuals through to small business owners and
beyond - to control, maintain and customise their online
identities, without needing big budgets or technical expertise.
Together with the proliferation of social media platforms, this
created a more equal playing field for people vying for online
exposure.
Since then, people's online priorities have progressed from
controlling their presence to boosting their sales. Online
platforms use a number of methods to focus on money-making:
traditional ecommerce, where people can buy products or services
online using electronic payment; ad-supported platforms, which
offer a service or content funded by commercial advertising; and
paywalls and micropayments, which allow sites to monetise
individual units of content.
What's new in ecommerce?
So why has ecommerce been so important for smaller businesses
with a mandate to grow? Since launching our ShopBuilder tool -
which allows people to publish online shops across a number of
platforms, including their own site, Facebook and mobile - we have
seen some innovative ways to make money using ecommerce functions.
Some of these go way beyond simply selling products for
payment.
Our customer Yoga Bellies, a pre- and post-natal yoga class
that takes place across the UK, has done something very interesting
with ShopBuilder. Its online shop function collects customers'
payments for classes that take place offline. Similarly,
the King's College London Symphony Orchestra is using ShopBuilder
to allow people to purchase concert tickets in advance of the
event.
While this isn't new in itself (most people have purchased
tickets for a concert or holiday online), Yoga Bellies and King's
College are integrating ecommerce into real life without using the
complex online registration or billing systems required by tour
operators and ticket vendors. This is hugely significant for small
businesses and micro-traders because it removes some of barriers
that may have inhibited growth in the past: customers not carrying
the right cash, for example, or not possessing a chequebook.
Ecommerce vs. social commerce
Social commerce is a concept that builds on ecommerce by adding
interactivity and sharebility to the traditional buy/sell
structure. A number of studies have shown that people trust the recommendations made by their family and
friends online more than they trust other types of promotion. It
makes sense: Why would you trust an advert or even a third-party
endorsement when you can access unbiased advice from the people you
know in real life?
Facebook is a particularly fertile platform for social commerce
not only because it has so many users, but also because ecommerce
functions have started to be integrated with company pages. It's
powerful because it allows people to buy within their own network
without needing to visit other websites - and because they can
engage with the brand in ways their friends and network can see.
This process introduces a viral effect into the selling chain, and
enables smaller businesses to grow organically using popular
platforms such as Facebook.
We originally launched ShopBuilder to allow site owners to set
up shop wherever their customers wanted to buy, and to fill a gap
in the ecommerce market. So it's interesting to see that our users
are most excited about one specific ShopBuilder feature, and that's
Facebook integration! Thousands of our shops are already using this
feature to publish their whole product catalogue into the social
network to allow buying and selling inside Facebook itself. It will
be even more interesting to see how they innovate with social and
ecommerce in the future.
Fund out more about moonfruit.com by clicking
here
Smarta Business Builder
Moonfruit comes as part of Smarta Business Builder. The complete online
tools package for growing your business. Website, Business
Planning, Accounts, Legal Docs and Email - all in one place - from
just £20 per month with no contract! Try it out today!