3 fatal mistakes in e-commerce you must avoid

When you own or help run a company that sells products or services online, you'll need to do a lot to help it grow. Marketing, customer service, and even speedy load times are all important.

With e-commerce businesses on track to generate over $490 billion in U.S. sales by 2018, now is a good time to establish a foothold in the arena. However, if you really want to grow your ecommerce business over the coming years, you must stay up-to-date on trends and statistics that will impact the industry. Here are some key online numbers that will help you plan.

E-Businesses In Africa Have A Responsibility To Help Alleviate Internet Poverty

In Soshanguve, a township just north of Pretoria in South Africa, there was a small kiosk that sold fruit, cigarettes and snacks to passersby. The owner of the kiosk had recently installed Wi-Fi and, soon after, placed tables and chairs out front. And then her customers soon began to linger. They bought more items; they socialized. Her business became a hub, transforming from a corrugated tin to a kiosk and then to a cafe, growing 800 percent. The Internet anchored passersby to her business and made her — and the community — see things differently. Operate differently. Shop differently.