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E-commerce has become a common method for small and large businesses alike to sell their products. According to Adobe Analytics, E-commerce has increased by 49% during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, simply having your product on a website does not ensure success- digital marketing has become a vital skill for all businesses choosing to sell their products online, and can help them reach their specific target market or buyer persona. There are several resources that can help businesses learn this skill.

With increasing demand for virtual opportunities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, e-commerce has emerged as an important economic development opportunity. As resource providers for their business communities, economic development professionals can help provide information on the different e-commerce players and platforms. Banks and online transactional platforms are essential to e-commerce, and understanding what services are available is the first step to successfully expanding online opportunities in your community. 

Over the past several decades, we have seen a major shift in how transactions are completed. While the types of transactions remain the same (i.e. Business to business, business to consumer, consumer to business, etc.), the platforms where these transactions take place have begun to rely heavily on e-commerce. Couple the rise of new technology and the ever-changing markets with the Covid-19 pandemic and it is easy to see how important e-commerce has become. From simple marketplaces to personalized website builders, there are many types of e-commerce platforms for different kinds of exchanges.

E-commerce, or transactions conducted over the internet, has rapidly gained popularity since the first online purchase in 1994. Consumers began to shift their buying experience from brick and mortar businesses to online shopping at the beginning of the century, and the majority of all retail sales are now conducted online. According to e-commerce statistics for 2020, 95 percent of retail sales are expected to be via e-commerce by 2040. Economic developers are grappling with this shift as they learn to incorporate e-commerce support for small businesses into their traditional business retention efforts.