Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, e-commerce is experiencing a boom. Many businesses have taken this as a cue to start their digital platforms to serve customers better.
But for owners and entrepreneurs who are relatively new to this, where do you start?
Make the necessary software and technology investments
There are a couple of ways business owners can go about this.
For one, you can invest in building a website from scratch. If you don’t have in-house expertise for website development, consider hiring a contractor who can implement your vision.
Your website or your digital platform should make it easy for customers to view your offerings. Purchasing and payment should be seamless. In other words, customers shouldn’t experience any glitches or issues when making transactions.
Similarly, when pondering on what is the best shipping software to use, choose a platform that can integrate well with your online store or business. A platform that makes it easy for you to monitor deliveries and report delivery status will help in ensuring satisfied customers.
Ultimately, a website or platform that is not intuitive can discourage customers from visiting your online store.
Constantly make improvements
The field of e-commerce is extremely competitive. Businesses and online stores are always trying to outdo each to attract new customers and generate more revenue.
Always make it a point to monitor your business performance and make the necessary improvements. These improvements can be made in almost any area of the business — be it the website landing page, online catalog, or product descriptions and photos.
To effectively track progress, it’s crucial to identify your key metrics. The latter will depend on your specific industry and unique objectives. However, in general, these are the ones that you can track to determine if your e-commerce strategy is working:
- Annual and monthly revenue
- Cost of acquiring customers
- Conversion rates
- Customer traffic coming from other digital channels
Focus on customer acquisition
For businesses that are just starting with e-commerce, the cost of acquiring customers will be considerably high.
In this scenario, not many people are aware that your products or services exist. Hence, you would need to make a significant effort in reaching out to potential customers. Under the broader umbrella of digital marketing, you can deploy several strategies.
For instance, you can use search engine optimization to improve how your website content ranks on Google searches. The higher your blog or your product page appears in search results, the more likely that customers will click through and see what you have to share or offer.
You can also engage in social media marketing if a large portion of your target market is frequently navigating various social channels.
No matter what the specific strategy is, the goal is the same. You need to get the word out about your business.
Nurture relationships with customers
In today’s digital age, the customer wields a powerful voice. They can use this voice to express their love or hatred for a brand. Businesses that aim to be successful in e-commerce should strive to be on customers’ right side.
That’s why customer engagement is essential, and there are many ways to approach this.
Give customers a space to voice out their honest feedback, whether it’s through your website or another digital platform. Acknowledge and reply to their posts and find ways to end conversations on a positive note.
If a customer had a bad experience with a product or service, look for ways to make it up to them. Send a free replacement or special discount to show that you mean well.