American Women Are Taking E-Commerce By Storm
E-commerce is a great idea for women globally, with the revolution bringing a sense of financial independence along with the potential to improve gender outcomes. Be they microentrepreneurs or women working from home, the number of self-employed women turning to e-commerce and the world wide web is increasing mostly due to the flexibility it offers. Women are now diversifying into a wide range of e-commerce sectors such as healthcare, home furnishing, jewelry, handicrafts, and fashion apparel. Minimum investments, the flexibility of working from remote areas, and global reach are the primary reasons for the boom of an online marketplace as a favorable platform for such entrepreneurs.Â
A market analysis has shown that the e-commerce market is growing at an exponential rate, especially between 2016-2018. It expanded from $1.6 trillion to $2.5m trillion worldwide, and in the US alone, it accounted for 16.5% of the economy in 2018, which is huge. Further, the global pandemic brought about a lot of job losses in the past two years, forcing people, mostly women, to start out on their own and think of launching their own e-retail businesses. In the US, leading brands are investing heavily in the mobile business, making women enter the sphere without inhibitions. Barring the stereotype, women have shown a natural gift for understanding consumer behavior and have outdone men in adapting to social media and online marketing. Women also indulge in online shopping more than men, debunking the fact that men purchase or use technology more than women. Â
The most important draw for women when it comes to online business is the option of time management. In the US, many women don’t have the luxury of delegating household chores and childcare responsibilities as it is expensive. This acts as a significant disadvantage where women chose to stay away from full-time jobs. Being e-retail-oriented entrepreneurs, women do not have to choose between their responsibilities at home and their business. They can now organize their work around their day-to-day chores and delegate aspects of their business, such as logistics, to third parties. Â
Since women are adept at wearing many hats, the nuances of running an e-commerce business will come naturally to them. Media marketing, updating product information, creating content, replying to clients, handling sales queries, fixing online glitches, accounting, and doing research to keep the site up to date are only some of the things that need to be taken care of daily. Small businesses can now have global potential thanks to e-commerce and the Internet, and this heightened economic activity can especially benefit women. Women involved in online commerce generate more revenue than that contributed by those in traditional commerce.Â
E-commerce is at the forefront of global business, and the marketplace is still growing year on year. Online business throws no barriers to entry, and women can take advantage of the technological advances that have never made business easier. With the potential in place, it is important that discussion happens on ways to explore the types of digital solutions that can be adapted to address the barriers plaguing online women-owned enterprises, how feasible these models are, and their potential for scale in different contexts.
A print and digital magazine for businesswomen focusing on leadership, business, and entrepreneurship that made its debut in 2017 has WomELLE Magazine.
