It can be frustrating when you have an e-commerce business that is struggling to get off the ground, as this is an industry which is incredibly lucrative with more and more people shopping online these days. It is an extremely competitive industry which means that many entrepreneurs struggle to find success in e-commerce even if they have products which are of the highest quality. The key to success with e-commerce is creating awareness about your brand and providing a seamless shopping experience (along with high-quality products). Here are a few different steps to take which could help you to grow and find success:
Shutterstock Licensed Photo – By Andrey_Popov
Rebranding
If you are struggling to attract customers, then you may want to consider rebranding. Branding is hugely important in e-commerce, and it can be the deciding factor for customers deciding between competitors that offer very similar products so you may want to rethink your company name, logo, tagline and color palette. If you do decide to rebrand, you can then do another launch which can be an effective way to raise brand awareness.
Tidy Up the Website
The website is, essentially, your store, so you need to take pride in its appearance. Similar to a real-life store, you will need to think about the layout and style to create a welcoming and easy to use space. In addition to this, you need to make sure you are using high-quality photographs of your products along with detailed product descriptions. With any products being bought online you need to give a clear overview of particular features as this will ensure potential buyers feel more confident with their purchase. Following on from this, it can also be helpful to include customer reviews as these can help the visitor to decide whether or not to buy the product.
Mobile Friendly
You will also need to make sure that the website is mobile friendly as more and more people are now using their devices to shop as opposed to desktop computers. This is expected to continue so having a mobile-friendly website could help you to earn a lot more business.
Secure Payments
In a day and age where cybercrime is on the rise, it is vital that you offer secure transactions so that people can shop with confidence. You will need to accept payments online with a smooth and secure platform, and this should be a priority. The best platforms will have seamless integration, recurring billing for subscription-based services and multi-currency conversion so that you can attract international customers.
Shipping Costs
One area where you could be going wrong is by having shipping costs that are too expensive. This is the main reason that somebody will abandon their shopping cart so consider reducing your shipping fees or even offer free shopping (if they spend a certain amount, for example).
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Internet Marketing
One of the biggest challenges that e-commerce companies face is standing out from the crowd as it is such a competitive industry. You will need to appear as close to the top of search engine results lists as possible as consumers will first turn here when looking for any kind of product. Fortunately, it is possible to improve your ranking with search engine optimization (SEO). This can take a while for results to show, so it may also be worth investing in pay per click advertising (PPC) which will deliver immediate results.
Social Media
Social media is integral to success in e-commerce, so you need to carefully create a strategy. This is a two-way communication avenue, so you will need to share interesting and relevant content and engage with your target audience. This is the perfect platform for advertising your products and getting your brand personality across – be sure to avoid posting anything divisive or controversial and respond to queries in a timely fashion.
Running a profitable e-commerce company can be a huge challenge when you consider how competitive the marketplace is. If you are currently struggling to find success then trying a few of the above could help you to change your fortunes. Running a successful e-commerce business requires much more than great products and competitive pricing (although these are key too) so you will need to consider ways in which you can improve the customer experience and increase your brand awareness. It may take a while for results to show, but it will prove to be worth the extra effort in the long run, as it can be very rewarding to run a popular and successful e-commerce operation.
