While setting up an online store or business is easy, growing it and increasing sales isn’t. You might get a few sales at first and become excited, thinking that you’re going to succeed soon. But the reality is different. For start-ups, that is where the expectation ends. To keep the sales coming and grow your business, there are many more things you need to do. However, for some e-commerce startups, it’s also where the turmoil discontinues. To prevent those tells coming and to grow the business into an extensive empire or at least a successful project becomes an enormous challenge.
Why? The most common reason is that the e-commerce business wasn’t set up properly. Key parts are missing, which is therefore difficult to both attract and keep people over a long term. But it doesn’t have to be the end of the road. You can bring the missing bits together and get things moving again.
Whether you’re still in the planning stages of starting an e-commerce business or want to test why auctions are slow-going, you can use the points below as a checklist.
The Right Product
It requires a lot of market research before you decide which product(s) to list on your store. So, you shouldn’t just set up because someone has reported success in a particular niche or probably because you have something you want people to buy.
Selling what your target market wants to buy is always easier than selling what you want the market to buy. The hottest products are those that already have a hungry audience, with very litle competition. Use resources such as keyword research to discover trends. When you have the right products on your site, meaning that you’ve verified that there’s a real demand for them, everything else is easier.
Keep in mind that your inventory handling can affect your operating costs and your cash flow. There are some costs associated with high inventory and low sales, and low inventory and high sales. You’ll want to strike a happy medium so you’re not wasting money.
Strong And Attractive Branding Strategy
To set yourself apart in a marketplace dominated by monsters like Amazon and eBay, devote some time to your branding. Branding includes fundamentals like your store’s name and logo and extends to your customer service philosophy. Think about what sets you apart from the rival. What do you want your customers to remember you for?
Do you offer 2-day shipping? If not, why should your patrons wait for your product to arrive, rather than purchase with Amazon Prime?
If you’re selling on a few different sites, like your own site, Amazon, eBay, or others, remember that it is vital to keep branding textiles consistent across all platforms.
A Fully Optimized Website
If you have your site already set up, it’s time to optimize it for sales. The best e-commerce websites feature easy navigation, readable texts, clear product images, easy to load the cart, simple checkout process, compatibility across multiple devices, and fast loading times.
The key here is to approach website optimization as something you’re always testing and refining, from the organization of your homepage to your product pages and descriptions to the colors of the call-to-action buttons on your site. The customer’s journey through your site should have as little friction as possible. Don’t make it hard for people to find what they’re looking for but make it as easy as possible to make a purchase.
Easy Sign Up/ Sign In And Payment Path
Reducing friction on your site and avoiding lengthy registration forms is the goal here. Get their name, email address, and payment information, just the essentials.
You’ll want their email address so you can reach out to them if they abandon their cart before they complete their transaction.
One way to make it super easy for customers to complete the purchase is to integrate sign-in options like Facebook or Google. Also, look at your payment options. Do you offer PayPal? What about Stripe?
Can your customers securely save their credit card information on your site so they don’t have to pull out their credit card and type in their number for every transaction? Do everything you can to lower barriers between intent to buy and a completed purchase.
Killer Marketing Strategy
One of the biggest mistakes a lot of businesses make is thinking that setting up a website is the last bit of work. It’s easy for a brand new online store to get shed in the crowd. An effective marketing plan and strategy are essential to grow your store and win customers. Every marketing plan requires these points:
The first thing you need to understand is your target market. What do your customers think about your product? Do they purchase a product on their first visit? What do they say about your product? Are they satisfied with the price? To build a marketing strategy, you first need to ask these questions.
Your business needs to stand apart from the crowd. There are already established online stores out there, and it’s tough to compete with them. It is best if you do something different from the competitors.
Hassle-Free Easy Return Policy
When a customer buys a product, the first thing he/ she checks if there is a return policy in place to see how quickly the product is replaced or you will return the money.
If you don’t have a clear return policy, most customers will leave the site immediately.
Place a return policy in a prominent place on your website that will curb future frustrations. Keep it clear, concise, and practical.
Attractive Referral And Affiliate Program
As long as there is some profit attached to the product or service you’re selling on your website, sharing these profits with affiliates for more sales is not a poor option.
The bigger e-commerce store, Amazon pays affiliates anywhere between 3 and 8% commission on sales, so you can decide what percentage of your earnings you will share with affiliates and set up such a system on your e-commerce site.
Your store will get more exposure this way, as affiliates help put your products in front of as many people possible that you might not have otherwise exposed to.
Make Reviews Visible
Encourage customers to leave a review of their experience on your website. Place the option strategically so that new customers can get to read them. Positive reviews will convince them to buy from you.
Tip: Don’t hide the bad reviews. It will only open a window for skepticism from the customers.
Email Marketing
Build an email list where you can email campaigns and send useful information to your customers. Remember to be respectful and approach email marketing with a lot of caution. Just remind them of your existence occasionally and inform them of any offers whenever you have them.
Consistency
Once you’ve implemented all the steps we mentioned above, my final opinion would be to be consistent. When you research aspects of your optimization business, make sure you can afford those tests, and have enough time to yield data that helps you make excellent decisions.
There isn’t a single correct formula for building an e-commerce business, each company is different, and the industry landscape is changing all the time. But if you start with this checklist, you’ll find plenty of possibilities for starting the changes that keep your business expanding.
Ecommerce is the future of business. If you already have your foot in there, you are one step ahead in the market compared to those who haven’t. There is a lot that you can do for it to thrive, the above tips are just a starting point, but they will go a long way.
