5 Creative eCommerce Business Ideas and Opportunities for 2017

So, what is an eCommerce business? Simply put, eCommerce is the purchase and sale of products and/or services over the internet. If you’re looking to create an online store or business that caters to the online community, you’ll be looking to start an eCommerce business.  

Although it accounts for just a small percentage of total retail sectors presently, “eCommerce Business is growing extremely fast and is expected to increase by 45% in 2016.” This is great news for entrepreneurs looking to enter the digital realm of business before the market becomes too saturated and competitive to even get noticed.

To help you decide on your specific niche, here are 5 creative eCommerce business ideas that are showing high profitability for 2017. 

 5 Innovative eCommerce Business Ideas 

Online Personal Shopper and Reseller

“From individually created recipe ideas and ingredients lists in supermarkets to intuitive, customer inspired fashion recommendations, retailers have the chance to transform the retail industry.” – Craig Sears-Black

The Digital Age we live in today has redefined the expectations of consumers. Customers that used to travel to clothing shops to make their purchases are now shopping online for their wardrobe. In America, $26 billion is spent annually on online clothing purchases, representing approximately 13% of the domestic market. This annual growth rate is predicted to reach 17.2% by 2017.

The future of online retail shopping rests around being able to personalize your visitor’s shopping experience. Many entrepreneurs with an eye for fashion and a passion for business are looking towards the growing trend of bringing personal styling to the masses.  

If building an eCommerce business that focuses on styling your customers and becoming an online boutique interests you, there are many useful resources online. Fashionista.com shares an informative article here, which showcases how startups were able to combine tech smarts and a human intuition factor to create the ideal eCommerce fashion consultant sites.

* How We Can Help:     Our eCommerce call center can provide your new personal shopping site 24-hour telephone customer service support. 

Foreign Language Content Writers & Translators

As globalization gains even more popularity, businesses will be required to open their products and services to new markets. Stepping into new countries, territories and cultures create an immediate need for foreign language content writers and translators.

If you have a business or educational background in writing, this niche eCommerce business might be right for you. MarketingProfs shares three different in-demand roles you can fill for a company in search of multilingual content writing.

1. Translation Services

If you speak multiple languages, you can offer your translating services to businesses. Your customer will provide the exact content they would like translated into a specific language. 

2. Copywriting Services

Copywriting or content writing is created from scratch with no exact template to be followed. Your customer will inform you on the general message they would like you to convey to inspire your content.

3. Transcreation Services

Transcreation is a process that combines both translating and copywriting services. Your customer will provide you with specific content to translate into another language, but with this style, you’re given certain creative liberties to refine the message.

* How We Can Help:Our digital call center can provide your eCommerce business with multilingual customer service agents to assist your callers in their native and preferred languages.

Mobile Website Support

Mobile devices are starting to outshine the alternative methods for accessing and searching the internet. Marketing Land shares that, “Mobile now represents 65% of digital media time, while the desktop is becoming a ‘secondary touch point’ for an increasing number of digital users.”

Mobile use is projected to increase even more; taking up a larger slice of the eCommerce pie. As such, any eCommerce business that is geared towards providing solutions for mobile websites will be in high-demand this upcoming year.

Having a responsive website was all the rage a few years ago. However, some businesses still haven’t adopted a clear and user-friendly mobile site and will need professionals to assist them. If you’re technically savvy, consider one of the these mobile support team roles to inspire the best eCommerce business ideas:

• • Mobile Website Designers and Developers
• • App Designers and Developers
• • Graphic Designers and Artists
• • Mobile User Experience Strategists

* How We Can Help:     Our expert virtual receptionists can be on-call 24-hours day to act as your troubleshooting and/or sales team. 

Freelance and Agency Brand Influencers

A fairly new method of marketing has taken shape due to the increase in social media. In the past, companies were responsible for sharing the bulk of their product and service information with their consumers. The Digital Age has cut the business out of the equation by providing a forum for consumers to speak directly with others consumers about a product or service. 

Influencer marketing has replaced what we know as paid advertising. Think of Mad Men and how in the past there were advertisers that were responsible for creating an emotional and universal connection to a product. These paid advertisers have been replaced with popular influencers.   

Brand ambassadors, social influencers, bloggers, consumer storytellers are all different job titles for this emerging marketing method. Influencer marketing derives its value from 3 sources: 

1.)  Social Reach

Influencers are able to reach millions of consumers through their social channels and blogs.

2.)  Original Content

Influencers produce original, and oftentimes effective, marketing content for the brand.

3.)  Consumer Trust

Influencers maintain strong relationships with their audiences, who have a certain level of trust in the influencer’s opinions.

In order to build a successful influencer agency or freelance service you must first focus on building your own audience. BrandWatch shares this excellent resource that shares the top tips for becoming a brand influencer.

* How We Can Help:     Our business answering service can assign unique telephone numbers for all of your customer accounts. By assigning specific numbers, you’ll be in a better position to accurately document the ROI for your new service. 

Big Data Solutions

We now have the ability to obtain an infinite amount of data regarding how customers view eCommerce business products and services. These days, everything is tracked so that businesses can create more strategic marketing and business plans that convert users into paying customers. 

The term of “Big Data” has been designated to describe extremely large data sets that reveal patterns and trends associated with human behavior.  It’s interesting to note that, “The amount of data we are generating is increasing at such an astounding rate that 90% of the world’s data has been created in just the last two years.”

Knowing how to analyze, organize and act on Big Data is becoming the modern business owner’s main challenge. Reviewing a website’s analytics can help you create a better user experience just like discovering useful cookie data can lead you straight to your ideal customer. Both of these tasks require businesses to outsource their Big Data tasks.

Forbes Magazine shares, “The Hiring Scale is 73 [out of 100] for jobs that require big data skills.  The higher the Hiring Scale score, the more difficult it is for employers to find the right applicants for open positions. Nationally an average job posting for an IT professional with Big Data-related expertise is open for 47 days.”

Creating an eCommerce business that is focused on assisting companies with their Big Data needs will only increase as more data is collected. As such, look into opening an online business that focuses on analyzing Big Data and creating informed strategies based on the trends discovered. 

* How We Can Help:     Since most data specialists and analysts work in a do not disturb bubble to avoid confusion, a ringing telephone could bring great work to a halt. Allow yourself to focus on what you do best while we answer your incoming calls to prevent constant disruptions.  

eCommerce Businesses Need to Prepare for 2017

In short, any of these eCommerce business ideas will be in high-demand as businesses prepare to:

• • Provide a personal and customized user experience;
• • Publish useful and highly targeted content and information;
• • Make use of omnichannel marketing practices to improve brand exposure;
• • Offer real-time customer service and assistance 24 hours a day.

We hope this article gives you inspiration in finding the best niche for your future eCommerce business.