The competitiveness of the eCommerce market is set by how full it is. Now, even small mistakes and delays can cost you thousands of dollars and stop your business in its tracks. So, people who run online stores need to be flexible, smart, and up on the latest innovations to use them to their advantage.
Retailers do different things, like building a headless commerce structure, to get their websites ready for more users’ needs. Cloud services have also entered the market to make eCommerce more agile and flexible. 2020 has shown how cloud technology can be useful. Organizations that used the cloud could handle the hard months of the pandemic better.
And people who didn’t use them had a lot of trouble getting services and talking to employees. Cloud business tools and computing applications give many businesses the safest way to store sensitive data and get more work done. This article will talk about what cloud computing can do for eCommerce.
Advantages of Cloud Computing for eCommerce
Hosting in the cloud is an alternative to having devices on-site. Cloud technology allows storing information on more than one device instead of just one computer. These devices depend on servers that are very far away from each other.
But each machine is linked to the others and works as a whole. Most eCommerce businesses utilize a hosting server to combine the processing power of several devices. So, they set up a group of servers. This group of things is called a cloud. Online stores are different from other sites in how they work.
They need more help and flexibility to keep databases up to date, keep personal information safe, process payments, and keep track of sales. So, adopting the cloud or moving to it is a great way to solve problems other devices can’t solve. Let’s discuss the five main ways online stores can benefit from cloud computing.
Ease of Scaling
The coronavirus pandemic showed that the retail industry needs to be ready for big changes in what customers want. Cloud computing can help eCommerce businesses stay competitive and meet market needs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, even the biggest stores had to change how they did things to meet new needs.
For example, not all stores, including Walmart, had an online presence in some countries. Self-isolation and quarantine have made stores respond quickly. Cloud computing has helped businesses grow and move into new places.
Businesses that couldn’t rebuild their processes quickly had to lose to those that could. Cloud computing makes it easy to change how powerful an IT solution is. It lets you quickly add resources to an account or take them away from an account.
With this powerful tool, you don’t have to trouble about how much space you’re using or about customers being unable to get to your online store because you’ve run out of space. IT administrators only need to click a few times to add more virtual machines. They can offer and customize services and save money by not having to hire a large IT staff on-site.
As an SEO Bonus, Site Performance
The speed of a website is very important to the success of an eCommerce business. Several studies show that if a page takes more than three seconds to load, people will leave it. During the holidays, a sudden rise in the number of people visiting your site can slow it down. So, it won’t respond anymore. Because of this, the bounce rate and the number of conversions will go down.
Statistics show that eCommerce store owners must ensure their sites load in 0–2 seconds for the highest conversion rates. This number is perfect, but it should take no more than 4 seconds in real life. Every second it takes for a page to load will cause the conversion rate to drop by an average of 1.2 percent.
The cloud makes things more available and speeds up network performance. The point is that cloud service suppliers store their customers’ data independently. It makes it easier to get low latency. The availability is due to a team that works around the clock to provide consistent cloud services.
Also, SEO benefits from high performance and speed. When ranking, search engines will give more weight to sites that load quickly and make users happy. It will carry more people to your virtual store. So, thanks to cloud computing, your website will work perfectly, increase conversions, and have a steady flow of visitors who found it on their own. And you will do well with SEO and making your site easy to use.
Getting less expensive
IT costs go down when you use the cloud. Since stores don’t have to buy equipment, they can use that money for other things. This is very important for stores that are growing quickly. Cloud computing can quickly add more resources because buying new equipment is inconvenient and expensive. Also, big data centers take up a lot of space and electricity. So, cloud applications can help eCommerce stores save money on electricity and make more room.
Also, cloud solutions help save money on labor and upkeep. So, IT staff can use the extra time to work on more important development parts. In turn, employees can use cloud-based tools like video conferencing services and accounting software to safely organize and store company data and finances. These things make work more productive.
Data security
Online stores have access to a lot of private information about their users. Customers trust their addresses, credit card numbers, and phone numbers, so they expect their information to be safe. And if there is a leak, the store could lose its reputation for good.
Cloud technology gives you a safe place to store your data since professionals will be in charge of keeping an eye on your resources. The cloud is safe from attacks and leaks because it uses new technologies and strict rules made for IT environments. Auditors from outside the cloud storage organization ensure that it meets the highest standards.
Standards for System and Institution Controls is one example (SOC). This stability means that a cloud service provider can only get into information systems in certain ways. It also checks the security and availability of the system, as well as the processing integrity and privacy. Also, since there are many ways to pay in online stores, cloud providers must meet PCI requirements.
More effective data analysis
With online sales, you can track what customers do on different channels. From the website to social media, so much information can be hard to keep track of. How can you bring together, store, and share data stored in different places? Cloud analytics will help you.
This term refers to storing and analyzing data in the cloud and using it to get useful business insights. In contrast to on-premises data analytics, moving to the cloud allows combining all of a company’s data sources to get a fuller picture.
One of the best things about cloud analytics is that it makes it easier to share information. All teams, like marketing, sales, and customer service, can quickly get to this information in one place, no matter where they are. Cloud analytics also involves processing large data sets in real-time to look for patterns, predict future needs, and get other information.
Wrapping Up
Technology, like cloud services, is altering how everyone works in the eCommerce market. Cloud services have already shown that eCommerce businesses can benefit from and use them well.
Cloud computing in eCommerce can help and improve online retail sites in many ways, such as keeping data safe and making it easier to find customers through better search rankings. The benefits of the cloud that have been listed are only the tip of the iceberg. At the end of eCommerce, there wishes to be a lot of new ideas and unexpected events that will help businesses grow.
Speed:
Two statistics can directly explain the importance of speed:
- More than 40% of online shoppers have been known to exit a website or page it takes more than 3 seconds to load.
- In a more detailed stat, more than 80% are less likely to return to a website they are not satisfied with.
Thus, e-commerce websites need to be agile and optimal at all times so that they render users with an excellent experience.
Hosting the website on a powerful and reliable cloud platform gives it speeds that no on-site infrastructure is known to deliver. If your website is agile, it draws more users towards your business which leads to an increase in sales and paves the way for positivity.
