What is e-commerce?
E-commerce is trade that takes place online via the internet. The Danish equivalent term is e-commerce. There are many different types of e-commerce on the internet, and they do not necessarily always involve physical products. E-commerce can include, for example:
- buying a pair of shoes on a webshop
- Purchase a subscription to a music service
- Booking with a hairdresser.
With the above examples, it can be said that these are online stores. E-commerce means that you can shop online, whether it's to order a product or a service.
How widespread is e-commerce in Denmark?
Denmark is one of the countries in Europe with the largest share of the population shopping online. According to Statistics Denmark 70 % of all Danes between the ages of 16 and 89 have shopped online in the last three months of 2019. And it's especially among the over-64s that online shopping has become more prevalent. Read more about E-commerce among the elderly.
And it's not small change that Danes spend online. In 2018, total Danish online sales amounted to DKK 144 billion according to the analysis E-commerce 2018 from the Danish Chamber of Commerce. That's an increase of over 100 % in just 5 years:
How to start an e-commerce business
Below, we've compiled a list of considerations you should make when starting an e-commerce store.
Your webshop needs a name
You can go to DK Hostmaster or one of its subcontractors and find available domain names. The name you choose will be what customers search for when they visit your website / webshop. For example, it could be www.jysk.dk.
Your webshop needs to be developed
Depending on the complexity of your website, there are cheaper and more expensive solutions. If you don't have the experience yourself, you can get a web agency to help you. The price depends a lot on your requirements, which agency and e-commerce platform you choose, so it's a good idea to research the market and not take the first and best offer.
Your webshop must have a payment solution or booking system
Do you want your customers to order products/goods or services directly on your webshop? Then you need to connect a payment solution. There are various providers, such as Nets and Stripe. Conversely, if your website only needs a booking system, you should include it in your requirements specification for the web agency that helps you develop your website.
Marketing and marketing
Of course, your e-commerce business needs to be marketed too, anything else would be foolish now that you've just spent a lot of money and time building it. There are many different types of marketing. At Inbound CPH, we help businesses grow through search engine optimization and Google Ads. Other advertising options include content marketing, SEA and marketing automation.
Frequently asked questions
E-commerce is a term for e-commerce, i.e. trading via the internet.
What it is. It goes by many names: e-commerce, e-business, e-commerce, e-commerce, web commerce, online shopping and online commerce.
An e-commerce manager is a person responsible for running an online store. Tasks may include maintenance, updating and marketing.
