Today, consumers are more and more likely to shop online rather than at an actual brick and mortar retail location. With the emergence of online retail giants, like Amazon and Shopify, we can find and buy anything we want online and have it shipped to our homes in a matter of days.

In a 2016 report for eMarketer entitled “Worldwide Retail Ecommerce Sales: The eMarketer Forecast”, ecommerce sales on a global level are expected to increase by $4 trillion by the year 2020. Here’s how ecommerce software can help your small business increase your sales revenue and consumer base:

1. Know your customers

Firstly, ecommerce software provides a unique inside scoop on your customer and potential customer base. So companies can gather analytics on consumers and tailor every interaction based on consumers:

• Shopping habits
• Likes and dislikes
• Reviews and expectations

2. Open 24-hours

Ecommerce solutions also allow small businesses to cater to audiences on a larger scale (potentially around the globe) and provide company and product info, and sales around the clock via a retail website where they can place orders 24/7.

3. Grow your business

Ecommerce solutions open your business to the world. You can suddenly use your website to reach consumers in different neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries that were never available to you as a brick and mortar location.

4. Get competitive

Regardless of if you’re a small or medium sized retail company, thanks to ecommerce software, the entire Internet is suddenly your retail oyster. Making you a competitive force to be reckoned with. If you sell speciality or hard to find products, you can get a jump on larger, less personalized companies of almost any size.