eCommerce, What Is That Really?
There is much ado about eCommerce, and as a landscaping contractor you may not give it a lot of thought. Let’s get to it: what is eCommerce, and why should you care?
The history of ‘online shopping’ begins in May 1984, when Mrs. Jane Snowball in England used a piece of computer technology called “Videotex” on her television to purchase groceries from her local Tesco shop in the world’s first recorded online shopping transaction from the home. (source: Wikipedia). Now in 2020, worldwide online purchases expect to hit a staggering $4 trillion dollars. All of us want a piece of that pie!
eCommerce is a shorthand for ‘electronic commerce’ (or ‘internet commerce’) and refers to the buying and selling of goods and services, as well as the transfer of money and data using the internet. These transactions can be Business to Consumer (B2C), Business to Business (B2B), Consumer to Consumer (C2C) or Consumer to Business (C2B). The transactions are tied to retail, wholesale, drop shipping, crowdfunding, subscriptions, physical or digital products, and services.
Let’s see how these transactions apply to your landscaping business, or what you may need to make them happen.
- Buying Goods
- Buying Services
- Selling Your Goods
- Selling Your Services
- Money Transfers
- Data Transfers
Buying Goods
As a contractor, you buy products for your business. You buy equipment, supplies, tools, fertilizers, irrigation, drainage, lighting, water features, hardscape materials, plants, shrubs, trees, and many more goods. Some of these you may pick up from a wholesale location or you may get them delivered to the jobsites.
More and more products are being sold online. When you buy online using your computer, phone or tablet, you participate in eCommerce. Even when you call a company and place an order over the phone, the sales rep is likely entering your order into their system, which uses the internet to fulfill your order.
Buy the landscape supplies you need directly from Wolf Creek’s Customer Portal
Buying Services
You buy services for your business as well: accounting and taxes, bookkeeping, fleet/truck maintenance and repairs, utilities, website and marketing, software subscriptions. If you track just for a day, you’ll be amazed how many transactions happen over the internet.
Selling Your Goods
You also sell goods to your customers: irrigation, drainage, lighting, water features, hardscape materials, plants, shrubs, trees and others. You likely include them in your proposal, for which you could use a 3rd party service, or offer that on your website.
Selling Your Services
You may think that you don’t need to use the internet to sell your landscaping services, but think again. Customers look for your business online, so you should have an online page that shows what services your company offers. This make your business more profitable and viable for the future. Read all the reasons here ‘Do Landscapers Need a Website?’
At minimum, create your Google My Business page – the best online advertisement, for FREE. List the services you offer, pictures, little videos, and promotions you may have. When people search for a ‘Landscaper Near Me’ they will see your company listed in the search results.
You can also have a business page on Facebook or other Social Media. It is interesting to find out how your business shows up on the internet. You want to ‘Be Found: Check Your Business Online’.
Money Transfers
When you buy products or services online, the money transfer also happens electronically. The website takes your credit card and a 3rd-party credit processing service (called a payment gateway) transfers money from your bank to the supplier’s bank. Also, when you log in to your bank account you can often make payments from your account directly, which is another part of eCommerce.
For your customers, you may offer them payment services such as PayPal and Venmo that will process their payment and deposit into your account, for a fee. You possibly carry a credit card reader which is connected to a Square account or directly to your QuickBooks, which is also an electronic transfer.
Data Transfers
Lastly, data transfers. When you create an account online, data transfers happen. The information you type at your computer will be stored in some server somewhere else. Your order history, shopping lists and payment history should be kept in a secure database and you can pull up that information for your own record keeping. Whenever you do business online, you want to make sure the information transaction is secure.
When you offer your services online you want to offer your clients the same peace of mind and make sure it is on ‘Your Mobile-Friendly, Optimized, and Secure Landscaping Website’.
