Small Businesses are known for being positive for community advancement – they are involved in their communities by establishing strong relationships with patrons and networking with other industry professionals in their regions. Most smaller companies do a good job of maintaining their local reputation, but with the emergence of the Internet, these enterprises have more opportunities to expand their reach outside of their communities.

While small companies still bring in a significant part of their revenue from local customers, they can miss out on increased sales and clientele by ignoring their Web presence. Ecommerce presents a greater chance of small business success as it allows owners to attract new patrons from all over the country.

However, before embarking on the ecommerce journey, there are a few things that you, as a small business owner, should keep in mind to ensure your Internet operation is delivering the results you want.

Ecommerce not prevalent among small companies
The fact that small businesses are not as invested in the online sale of their products and services as their larger counterparts shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, smaller organizations don’t have the budgets of large retailers and therefore don’t have the same amount of resources.

On the other hand, the Web has become an extremely helpful tool for organizations of every size, and small companies should no longer ignore the use of the Internet in their business operations.

According to a recent study by MasterCard, the cost of the necessary technology appears to be the largest obstacle standing in the way of smaller enterprises and ecommerce efforts. Forty-six percent of respondents cited this as the No. 1 reason for the hesitation to adopt ecommerce strategies.

Another main reason was a lack of knowledge on how to sell products online, as 31 percent of owners gave this reason for their slow adoption of Internet sales strategies for their companies.

Use big data to make ecommerce work
However, none of the previously mentioned reasons should hold small businesses back. After all, when weighing the costs of adopting the needed software and hardware against the revenue that online sales can bring in, it should be clear how this strategy can lead to small business success.

Small Business Computing spoke with Kevin North, CEO of ecommerce analytics firm Terapeak, and he stated that big data can play an important role for small business ecommerce. Implementing this technology doesn’t mean that small companies need to spend large amounts of money, North said.

Taking the time to shop around to find the right deal and the right technology to fit your needs will help you adopt the best ecommerce strategy for your company. Big data gives you insights into what your patrons prefer and how you can shape your online sales methods to grow your operations.

The payoff will be increased revenues, higher customer satisfaction and ultimate small business success.