Statistics show that the popularity of online shopping and e-commerce continues to grow at very rapid rates. Most people are now very comfortable with making online purchases, and this gives the average person or small business owner a powerful opportunity to do business in a way that was never before possible.

Here we will discuss some of the reasons that e-commerce websites are more effective and a better decision than traditional brick and mortar stores for entrepreneurs.

1. Very Low Costs and Expenses

If you want to own a traditional brick and mortar store, the costs and risks involved will be very high. Each month you will have expenses related to the rent or mortgage, upkeep of the property, other overhead costs, salaries of employees, inventory, and that is just the beginning. Anytime there are high costs involved in running a business, the risk is also going to be pretty high.

Quite the opposite, with e-commerce you could possibly start an online store with less than $100 and you could be in business the same day. That’s not to say that it is easy to have a successful e-commerce business, but the risks are astronomically lower because you’ll need to invest so much less.

2. No Employee Necessary

Managing and supervising employees can be one of the biggest downsides to owning and operating a traditional store. Aside from the headaches, employees also represent one of the largest expenses for business owners. Most business owners don’t really enjoy babysitting employees.

Another huge advantage to doing business via e-commerce is that you can avoid the need to hire and manage employees. Most e-commerce sites can be run by just one person, and if you want to grow you can always hire employees as you see fit.

3. 24/7

If you run a brick and mortar store you most likely have hours when you are open and hours when you are closed. If you’re not open no one can buy anything from your store.

With an e-commerce site you will be “open” for business around the clock. Online stores can makes sales in the middle of the night while you are sleeping, and there is no need for customers to shop during certain hours.

4. Low Barriers of Entry

If you want to start a traditional business there are all kinds of things preventing you from getting started, and even more preventing you from being successful. Startup costs, acquiring financing, competition. It’s all more than most people are able to overcome.

Starting an e-commerce business presents very low barriers to entrance. You’ll need very little money to get started, and you may not even need your own products to sell. You will face some competition in e-commerce, but you will not need to be able to compete with the major players in order to be profitable.

5. Worldwide Market

One of the limitations to running a brick and mortar business is that you can only sell to people in your area. If someone lives at the other end of the world, or even hours away, they won’t be coming to visit your store (unless they are traveling). This severely limits who you can market to.

However, as an e-commerce business owner you can easily do business with people in all corners of the world. Anyone with internet access can shop at your store. Yes, there are some disadvantages including shipping to other parts of the world, but it can be done if the buyer is willing to pay the added shipping, or you can sell electronic products that don’t require shipping.

6. No Need to Dominate a Market

Because of the costs associated with running a traditional store, you’ll need to outperform your competition in order to be able to turn a profit. Stores that are not one of the leaders in their industry will usually go out of business.

Because of the low costs and on-going expenses that go along with operating an e-commerce business, if you are able to simply take a small piece of a big market you can remain profitable with no threat of going out of business. You don’t need to dominate your market, just take a piece of it.

7. Flexible Hours

Owning and running a traditional store will require long hours, and you’ll typically have to be working just about whenever the store is open.

Running an e-commerce business no doubt requires real work, but your schedule will be much more flexible as opposed to running a traditional store. Most of the work that you will need to do can be done around your schedule, during the hours that you choose to work.

Steven Snell is a web designer from New Jersey. He maintains CartFrenzy, a gallery of the best e-commerce websites.

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