Twenty years have passed since the first online shopping transaction was processed. Some claim this purchase was a Pizza Hut pizza, while others say it was Sting’s 10 Summoner’s Tales CD, but whatever it was, the internet would never be the same. Over the next eighteen years, what started out as a single small transaction has grown into a 1$ trillion industry. According to Bigcommerce’s research of 55,000 clients, by the end of 2015 online shopping is expected to exceed $2 trillion in sales. Within the retail market, eCommerce is now the fastest growing segment.
Part of what has changed the game and fueled the explosive growth for small and medium sized online businesses is the reduction to the cost of entry into the online world. Within the past ten years, automated processes and plug and play online payment systems have brought the price to create an online presence from $100,000 and months of development time to minimal expense and a few hours. Small and medium sized ecommerce businesses are showing significant growth and at $100 million, their annual revenues will soon top those of Amazon and eBay.
What all of this means is that the small and medium sized players are poised to take business from the giants in the online game. Small and medium businesses account for 21.5% of the U.S. retail commerce market. The lack of barriers to entry allow anyone to compete, and in 2015 there is an expected 25-30% growth in this segment. Many of the big players are still using legacy systems, giving small and medium businesses the opportunity to disrupt the marketplace. If there was ever a time to jump into the ecommerce world, it is now!
