6 Essentials Every eCommerce Business Needs To Succeed
You may think that selling online is the easiest option to choose when running a business. Indeed, there are many advantages of operating entirely online such as lower overheads, great reach, and the ability to be open for sales 24/7. However, for your eCommerce business to be successful, there are some vital things you will need. Read on to discover what they are.
A well-chosen product
Many people get things the wrong way around when it comes to choosing a product to sell online. They come up with the product first and then do a lot of work into finding out what demographic will buy it.
However, to ensure success, it is much more effective to understand your target market first and then create something that matches a specific need that they have. Of course, this means plenty of market research needs to be done, far before you decide on a product.
You can deal with this yourself by using social media, and SEO trends as well as keywords to discover what people are looking for the most. Although some eCommerce businesses like to have expert market research complete this task for them.
The right people
In addition to the right kind of product, you will need the right people to be involved in running your business as well. One of the most important employees or outsourcers you will need access to is a marketing specialist. This is because their job will be to make sure that your target audience knows about your site and product and is motivated to visit.
Of course, there is a range of tactics that your marketing specialist will use to encourage visits to your site including SEO, both on and off the page, email marketing, special offers, and content marketing.
Working with influencers with the right following can be a very valuable way to market your eCommerce store’s products as well. Although your target demographic and their follower demographic must be similar enough to be effective. Otherwise, you could end up wasting a valuable opportunity and the money that you will need to pay out to gain in. However, it is useful to know that you can lower the overall cost of working with an influencer by choosing one that is up and coming rather than already established.
A simple way for customers to return unwanted items
Returns can be a real pain point for customers, especially if your eCommerce business doesn’t get them right. Indeed, customers may be put off buying if they know they have to go through a complex or confusing process to return items that aren’t suitable.
With this in mind, offering a free returns service is best. Yes, it may cost you more money in the short term, but it will keep your customers happier, and encourage them to take a chance and try out products even when they aren’t 100% sure.
Many businesses are choosing to use logistics providers to handle their returns for them now too, something that can help keep the cost down. Such service tends to come with a ready-made portal which means it’s nice and easy for your customers to use.
A high-quality eCommerce website
When it comes to eCommerce success, businesses usually choose from one of two options, building a custom site, or using a platform that is already set up, like Shopify for example. However, it is now possible to get expert website development that bridges these two options. Indeed, getting your own custom-designed & developed Shopify website gives you the best of both worlds, and allows your business to maximize sales.
Of course, no matter which website option you choose, you will need to ensure that it’s optimized to make as many sales as possible. The good news is there are several tactics you can make use of here including ensuring your site is easy to read, and navigate, as well as quick to load. Investing in high-quality product images, and a fast and easy purchasing system will help optimize your sales too.
Stellar objective reviews
You probably already know the huge value of getting reviews for your eCommerce business. However, there is a marked difference between reviews or testimonials that you display on your site and the ones that are recorded via an independent provider.
Indeed, reviews on independent and objective sites like TrustPilot, tend to hold a lot more sway with customers when they are making their buying decision. This is because they cannot be changed, edited, or removed by the retailer and so represent a much more objective evaluation of their product and service.
When it comes to encouraging customers to leave your eCommerce business a review, it’s best to steer clear of tactics such as offering rewards, or discounts. Instead, focus on providing customer service that goes above and beyond and truly makes a positive impression.
Great customer support service
While we are on the topic of great customer service, you must have a strategy that will make sure that your eCommerce business stands out for all the others. In essence, this means making it as easy as possible for your customers to get in contact with you whenever they have questions or complaints.
This means having a dedicated phone number and email address. Yet there are tactics you can use to provide even more immediate service. One of these is to offer a live chat function on your site, something that can be particularly beneficial because it helps to de-escalate problems before they end up on your company’s reviews. Additionally, live chat can replace the function of a store assistant, answering the questions that customers need to be sorted before they feel comfortable in making a purchase, thereby increasing your sales.
Additionally, many eCommerce companies have begun to offer customers service functions over social media, with Twitter in particular often being used for this function. Again, by making your representative available on an instant platform you can help to meet and exceed your customers’ needs in a way that will both delight them, and keep them coming back time and time again.
