Connective eCommerce is a new and exciting concept that is revolutionizing the way online businesses operate. It refers to the practice of integrating different e-commerce channels and systems to provide a seamless and personalized shopping experience for customers.
Connective eCommerce fundamentally revolves around bridging the divide that frequently exists between various online sales platforms, including social media, online marketplaces, and your personal website. The goal is to establish a unified, comprehensive customer experience that permeates multiple touchpoints.
The term “connective eCommerce” was introduced by entrepreneur Cortney Fletcher to encapsulate a strategy aimed at minimizing risk, which she believes will aid new business owners, particularly women, in achieving success. However, the effectiveness of this strategy remains a topic of debate among experts and online commentators.
The central premise suggests that you can employ these principles to mitigate costs and risk when establishing an online retail venture, such as an online boutique or a dropshipping business. Instead of paying a company to develop “connective eCommerce” for you, consider utilizing these guidelines to create a vibrant online presence on your own. This approach could help your business grow quickly and effectively without having to pay upfront for expensive services like website design or paid ads. Implementing connective eCommerce principles allows you to leverage different sales channels more efficiently and potentially expand your reach, leading to enhanced profitability.
What is Connective eCommerce?
Definition of Connective eCommerce
Connective eCommerce addresses the fact that there are 3 main areas where time and resources are wasted when creating an eCommerce business.
- Hiring a web developer to create your website
- Storing inventory and doing fulfillment yourself
- Paying for advertisements off the jump and burning cash
Connective eCommerce is a method of selling online that removes these 3 areas of risk.
With connective eCommerce, at a high level, Fletcher proposed removing these 3 core areas of risk by doing the following:
- Instead of employing a web developer, we use tools, instructions, and templates to quickly and easily build an eCommerce store with good conversion rates.
- We have ways to find reputable suppliers who are willing to send your products on your behalf while you keep all the earnings, rather than keeping inventory and converting your garage into a fulfillment center.
- Employ free strategies to increase traffic to your store rather than paying for adverts and hope for sales. You don’t have to continually invest money in advertising to test.
Building Your Own eCommerce Store
Setting up an eCommerce store requires a small monthly hosting payment of $20-$30. Without a designer, building a professional-looking website is simple thanks to services like Shopify, BigCommere and WooCommerce.
Finding ways to entice customers to visit your website and online business is a tougher problem. If customers are unfamiliar with you or your goods, this is difficult. The main issue is how to build trust with others and draw them to you.
Figuring out how to advertise their online businesses is the main element that the majority of merchants lack. It won’t take off quickly, and it needs to grow organically since paid advertising would be too expensive.
The most prosperous online merchants already have a following on Instagram or YouTube. Instagram is a wonderful social media platform to create since it easily integrates with Shopify, making it simpler to direct customers to your website. The best customers are those that already know you, trust you, and have a relationship with you.
Inventory Management With Connective eCommerce
Keeping an accurate inventory is laborious, that much is indisputable. The ability to acquire merchandise at the optimal price is the most important factor in determining your level of success. In addition to this, a large outlay of financial resources is necessary to stock inventory in warehouses.
You don’t need to keep inventory or turn your garage into a warehouse because there are options for connective eCommerce that allow you to find reliable suppliers who will ship your products.
The connective eCommerce method should have you thinking about dropshipping or affiliate marketing as a potential possibility. Both of these opportunities have a low barrier to entry and will provide you the opportunity to get practical knowledge about the myriad aspects of managing your eCommerce business.
Advertising With Connective eCommerce
Just as with website development for your online retail business, the philosophy of connective eCommerce posits that it isn’t necessary to hire professionals for essential marketing tasks, especially if you’re a novice in this area with a restricted budget.
The framework of connective eCommerce proposes that you can commence with the initial promotion of your business without shelling out significant capital on advertising. You don’t need to use paid methods and pin your hopes on them to bring about a financial boon, especially when there are several cost-free strategies at your disposal to ramp up website traffic. It’s wise to keep any paid advertising on standby during the trial phase of your business.
Later, when you do make up your mind to initiate running some ads, the methodology of connective eCommerce recommends managing these ads independently, at least in the beginning. Be prepared for the steep learning curve and the accompanying hiccups. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising schemes are invariably somewhat experimental and necessitate consistent monitoring and adjustments.
The key to connective eCommerce is to get your e-commerce business validated in the least possible time. The focus is on refining your store’s messaging, offerings, and configurations to make it fully operational and revenue-generating.
At this stage, having earned money via non-paid strategies, you’re ready to reinvest in your business using sponsored advertisements. Your organization is now better managed, your products are well-aligned with your target market, and your messaging is more potent.
The Connective eCommerce strategy opens up avenues for more consistent growth and a more direct route to success in the market. This framework aids your business in addressing the trio of concerns mentioned above to minimize expenses and risks. It provides a model for running a successful online store without the need for holding inventory and fulfillment.
How Does Connective eCommerce work? Connective eCommerce Strategy
The goal of connective eCommerce is to mitigate risks, minimize expenses, and streamline the path to success. The concept reimagines the traditional approach to eCommerce by addressing the three common areas of resource drain: website development, inventory management, and paid advertising. Connective eCommerce encourages budding entrepreneurs to seize control of these elements, thereby amplifying their chances of success in the eCommerce industry.
At the outset, one of the integral parts of setting up an online store involves building a website that fosters user engagement and drives conversions. However, it’s not necessary to hire a professional web developer and shell out a significant sum of money. Connective eCommerce promotes the use of user-friendly tools, templates, and guidelines to quickly and efficiently create your online store. The idea is to empower you to build your own web platform, perfect for those finding their way to start an online venture.
Inventory management, particularly in terms of sourcing and fulfilling orders, often poses a major challenge. Traditionally, one needed to source quality suppliers, hold inventory, and personally oversee order fulfillment. But with the connective eCommerce approach, you can bypass these complexities. It provides a more practical way to manage your eCommerce business models without the need to transform your home into a makeshift warehouse. In addition, the method encourages non-paid traffic techniques to attract potential customers. Instead of squandering resources on expensive ads from the get-go, connective eCommerce folks are urged to leverage free strategies to ramp up their sales without initially investing heavily in paid advertising. By aligning your business objectives with these strategies, connective eCommerce helps new entrepreneurs make a mark in the eCommerce space.
FAQs About Connective eCommerce
Who is Cortney Fletcher?
Cortney Fletcher is an online entrepreneur who became an eCommerce millionaire. She claims that her online jewelry business, Transcend, brings in up to $24,000 every day.
Is eCom babes a real thing?
Yes. Ecom Babes is an online course by Cortney Fletcher (The creator of the Connective eCommerce method). It is a six-week course that will teach you how to launch your own eCommerce website and get paying customers within a month with Shopify dropshipping.
Can You Start an eCommerce Business With No Money?
Although it is theoretically feasible to launch an online store with zero capital, doing so is extremely difficult. To create a successful and rewarding eCommerce business, it is common practice to allocate funds to essential functions including website creation, product development, marketing, and customer support.
It might be tough to attract and retain customers and set yourself apart from the competition if you don’t make these investments. But, you may get your business off the ground with little to no outlay of capital by employing tactics like selling on internet marketplaces and making use of free website builders.
The Final Word on Connective e-Commerce
Connective eCommerce is a unique approach to starting an eCommerce business for people who have extremely limited access to capital. While it is a nice methodology to follow, it does still requires knowledge about the fundamentals of web design and development, inventory management, and marketing & advertising.
Will you be trying connective eCommerce?