If you are constantly looking for new products on the internet and tend to shop online on websites such as Amazon and eBay, you are a regular consumer of the e-commerce industry. From electronic appliances to groceries, you can order everything online. According to Statistica.com, this growing industry is expected to hit approximately $5 trillion by 2021 from $1.3 trillion in 2014.

With such a remarkable growth rate, the e-commerce industry is expected to flourish for years to come. A career in this industry can prove to be fulfilling, financially rewarding and full of exciting challenges. A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) degree is a great place to start a career in this thriving industry.

Read on to find out more about e-commerce, its success stories, the innovations in the field, and how a BCom degree can help you prepare for this multi-trillion industry.

E-commerce — the trending industry

Since the advent of the internet, the e-commerce field has proven to be one of the fastest-growing domains of the online world. Online shopping continues to grow in popularity for all age groups. In fact, more than half of the people above the age of 65 reported that they liked shopping online according to a survey conducted by the UK Office for National Statistics.

The e-commerce industry in Canada is on a similar upward trend. In 2018, the e-commerce sales in the country amounted to $1.6 billion, which is expected to surpass $55 billion by 2023. This boom in e-commerce is due to tremendous innovations in the sector, which brings us to our next question.

What are the innovations contributing to the success of e-commerce?

With technological inventions transforming every sector, the e-commerce industry is not left behind. The following innovations in the market have made the processes faster and more efficient.

  • Social commerce: This is a combination of e-commerce that utilizes the marketing strength of social media. Many social media platforms such as Facebook Marketplace and Instagram allow you to list products as well as spontaneously interact with customers. You can also have pages reflecting your brand that can redirect potential leads to your website.
  • Geotagging: Geotagging is a technique that allows e-commerce websites to track details of all the sellers near the geographical location of the customer. This technology helps them cut down drastically on the costs of storage and logistics.
  • Pay balance accounts: Filing in credit card details every time you purchase something online can be frustrating. That is why, many e-commerce websites have come-up with the concept of having personalised accounts for their customers where they can store purchase credits or pay balance. This eliminates the tedious task of entering information for making online payments for each purchase.

Success stories in e-commerce

To properly understand the benefits of e-commerce at play, you should turn to the success stories in the industry.

  • Amazon’s affiliate marketing strategy
    An e-commerce success story that everyone is familiar with is that of Amazon. Originally founded as an online bookstore, Amazon stood out with the help of its pioneering work in the field of the affiliate marketing model. Before Amazon, e-commerce websites selling their own wares on the internet could seldom garner a lot of attention even with huge discounts or expensive marketing campaigns.With affiliate marketing, Amazon could persuade bloggers and internet influencers to take their own share of pie by recommending products from the website and earning commissions every time a customer bought a product based on their recommendations.With the internet celebrities vouching for Amazon, their loyal audiences soon followed and Amazon sales shot through the roof. It also increased Amazon’s popularity among the masses and made their other marketing campaigns successful.
  • Swift Medical’s partnership strategy
    Swift Medical is a Toronto start-up that showed the world that you can achieve success through building strong and reliable partnerships. The organization had a medical background and made immense advancements in the field by allowing highly precise wound and skin assessments any time, any place with the help of cell-phone cameras.However, a unique idea did not launch their immediate success. Not to be left behind, the company entered into partnerships with several medical e-commerce websites like Axxess that could bring in more leads and customers and help them enter the big leagues.

What is the scope of a career in the e-commerce industry?

The convenience of shopping from the comfort of a couch, secure digital payments and same-day delivery are getting people addicted to online shopping and e-commerce websites. E-commerce also cuts down on energy costs required to operate huge showrooms and can be good for the environment.

E-commerce is not just beneficial to consumers. With the number of consumers increasing every day, the industry is undergoing radical transformations, which are generating thousands of jobs across the world.

Here are some job roles in the field that may interest you:

  • E-commerce consultants
  • Customer relations managers
  • E-commerce trade analysts
  • Logistics managers
  • Fraud detection managers

How can a BCom degree prepare you for a career in e-commerce?

A bachelor’s degree in commerce provides unique perspectives that enable you to better understand the e-commerce field. Here are a few ways that a BCom degree can help you establish a successful career in this industry.

  • Overview of different commerce subjects: To work in e-commerce, you need to have an in-depth knowledge of the different aspects of commerce and financial transactions. You may be required to maintain financial log sheets or highlight transactional discrepancies. Pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce degree can help you gain a range of skills needed for a career in this field.
  • An introduction to the business perspective: Not only does this program provide a solid overview of commerce, it also introduces you to certain business essentials such as marketing and business communications which you can adapt to a broad spectrum of future job responsibilities.

A BCom degree builds your foundational knowledge in various areas of commerce and finance that can be useful as you pursue a career in the field. If you are eager to start your career in e-commerce and are looking for various BCom options, enroling in the Bachelor of Commerce program at University Canada West can be a good option. This program will help you learn how modern e-commerce businesses operate and analyse different business insights to make profitable decisions for your company. Click here to know more about the course and begin your e-commerce career today.