It’s hard to imagine a world without online shopping. E-commerce – or more simply put, buying things on the internet – has become an increasingly present in the modern world, our culture and even our daily lives. A movement that began in the 90s with the widespread adoption of personal computers and reasonable internet access, and kicked into high gear by Amazon and other fully online retailers, e-commerce is the driving force behind the success of nearly all modern businesses – and doing it right can be the difference between profitability and struggle. With once thriving household names like Sears going out of business, this has never been more true than it is in this current moment in history.
What Exactly Is E-Commerce?
Online shopping takes many forms. We’ve got websites, apps and web apps, Venmo, PayPal, Square – the list goes on. Sometimes you might be selling physical items (like books) or virtual items (like digital downloads), sometimes you might be crowdsourcing funding in exchange for rewards like the popular websites GoFundMe or Kickstarter. Whether you’re a 503(c) non-profit organization looking to field donations from your supporters or a corporate retail giant looking to offload warehouse surplus via online sales, the benefits of developing a platform to help your target audience spend their money with you online are innumerable. Bringing your revenue generating efforts online gets you in front of more potential buyers, increasing your reach and, regardless of your ultimate goals, your overall revenue and profits.
Why are Online Sales and E-Commerce so important?
When most people think of e-commerce businesses and applications, they think of an online store where tangible goods can be bought and sold. Buying something online has not only become a ubiquitous event in our daily lives, but also has become something that can take just a few minutes and can be done virtually anywhere. When getting an online selling platform set up for an existing or new business, there can be a lot of choices. If you’ve read our previous article on choosing between Shopify and WooCommerce, two popular e-commerce platforms, you already know how convoluted the process can be. Regardless of your business model, our hope is that we can help guide you through the e-commerce gauntlet and help you make the right selection that best serves you and your business goals.
To further compound this – almost all of the commonplace platforms cater specifically to businesses selling items where the ownership of that item transfers to the purchaser (think of buying a piece of furniture on Amazon or Wayfair – you buy it, it’s shipped to you, and you own it). While this model covers the needs of many businesses, very few platforms exist that help businesses leverage e-commerce for their rental business. Think about people planning a wedding, corporate event or celebration – extending the previous example, you wouldn’t purchase furniture for these purposes, you would look for businesses in your area offering event rentals.
In a world where you’re bombarded with choices subject to minimal, if any, oversight whatsoever – it can be a challenge to find something as specific as an e-commerce platform catering to businesses that let out inventory items as rentals. In fact, we’ve found only one that checks all the boxes for services that help businesses rent inventory online – TapGoods, a company focused on offering the tools to feature inventory and facilitate sales online for businesses offering a rental inventory as opposed to a conventional sales inventory.
Why We Recommend TapGoods Rental Software
- Versatility: TapGoods gives you the tools and platform you need to manage inventory, collect quotes, and collect purchases for rental reservations. They also cater to not only Party & Event Rentals, but also Tool & Equipment rentals, technology rentals, audio-visual rentals, location and venue rentals, and more.
- Customizability: Looking for e-commerce platforms is always about supporting your business goals without getting painted into a corner. TapGoods offers a full “storefront” web application, but also provides API and plugin-based tools to make custom integrations possible. We’ve used these offerings to help build custom e-commerce websites for our clients that support rental inventories.
- Personalized Support: Any time you’re looking to partner with a platform for online sales, you want to make sure you have continued support even after you sign up. TapGoods has a friendly and knowledgeable support staff based in Austin, Texas (shout out to Joseph, Haley, Manuel, Andre and Candace!) that helps with setup, inventory management and even takes concierge-level steps with their application to ensure that you’ll have success in the ways your business needs.
In summary, TapGoods is an awesome company and a great solution for those looking to promote their rental inventory online. But don’t take our word for it – have a look at some of the custom websites we’ve built for our clients that feature a TapGoods integration to help support e-commerce for rental based businesses:
Event Party Rentals
EPR is a family-owned and operated event rentals business that’s been serving our hometown of San Diego, CA for many years. Their inventory is used for things like weddings and corporate events, and we helped build them a site that showcases their unique items, venues and collections and promotes the gathering of quotes and leads via the TapGoods system. Read More
Big Dawg Party Rentals
BDPR and their subsidiaries are headquartered in Brooklyn, New York and other markets in the Northeast and furnish rentals for events, parties and celebrations of all kinds. They’ve even rented their inventory to major governmental organizations and gatherings focused in New York City. Read More
How can we help your online rental business?
Whether you’re looking to get started featuring your rental inventory, customize your existing online offerings, start selling things online or just bring your web presence into the modern era, Mission Bay Media has you covered. With a custom-tailored approach to everything we do and clients spanning a multitude of industries, we’ve got the experience and vision to take your project to the next level. Contact us today to see how we can help you realize your business and online goals.
