While e-commerce may seem like the land of possibilities, there’s a reason why some businesses thrive while others fail. Inexperienced e-commerce entrepreneurs attribute this to luck when a lack of adequate business practices is a far more probable culprit. In order to avoid falling into this trap and repeating the same mistake, here are six e-commerce tips you should try to apply this year. Needless to say, they range from improvements to your content marketing all the way to boost some of the technical aspects of your e-store.
1. Make Sure it’s All About the User:
A lot of people know about the trend of storytelling as a marketing technique, yet they make a mistake in believing that this means telling a story from your perspective while regarding yourself as the protagonist. As an e-commerce business, you’re merely a tool, an agent or a plot device. The real protagonist is always the consumer, so make sure to incorporate that into your marketing strategy. Present your customer’s problem as a conflict that they can resolve by purchasing your products or using your services. It really is that simple.
2. Don’t Get Discouraged by High Shopping Cart Abandonment Rates:
Conversion rates in the e-commerce industry are overall lower than with the rest of the internet. The key to this problem lies in the idea that most people aren’t ready to make the purchase right away. About 17 percent of all your visitors are just there to check your price, which means that they will return if they find your offer superior to those of your competitors. For this reason alone, you shouldn’t get discouraged by high shopping cart abandonment rates. After all, the person who just left is more likely at the wrong stage of the customer lifecycle instead of being generally uninterested in your offer.
3. Utilize Your Visuals:
By organizing your categories in a way that makes them easier to visually interpret, you’re actually boosting their effectiveness, as well as contributing to the overall user experience. As for the photographs of your products, this is a completely different story. First of all, it all depends on the product in question. Your goal is to depersonalize an item in order to allow everyone to get a higher level of immersion. For instance, cosmetics and small appliances are usually best depicted in flat lay photography. On the other hand, items like photography might benefit more from ghost mannequin or some other technique.
4. Stay Competitive with Your Prices:
The next thing you should keep in mind is the fact that unless your prices are competitive, you won’t make much of a splash in your industry. Even with the most dazzling photographs, the best-optimized website, and the most assertive service, no one is going to buy from you if your prices are ridiculously high. Therefore, you need to ensure that you’re always competitive and the best way to do so is to check your closest competitors. Sometimes, by conducting this independent research you can also discover a couple more trends you can use to your advantage.
5. Focus on Return Customers:
Too many small businesses and inexperienced e-commerce marketers focus on attracting new customers and by doing so, allow some of their regulars to slip unnoticed. In order to maximize your sales and your profits, you need to focus on return customers. The reason behind this is the fact that only 8 percent of your return customers bring in a bit less than 50 percent of your entire profit. Of course, not every industry has the same return rate but it is almost always better (ROI-wise) to focus on customer retention.
6. Simple Check-Out Process:
Finally, in order to ensure people are coming back, you need to make your check-out process as simple as possible. One of the greatest advantages of e-commerce over traditional retail is one of convenience. In other words, your customers want to be able to make a purchase in just several clicks instead of having to undergo a complex process for every item they buy. Needless to say, this can be equally important for both first-time buyers and return customers.
Conclusion
The last thing you need to keep in mind is the fact that there are so many aspects of your business that could benefit from some improvement. The above-listed six may be just the beginning, but each of these trends takes you one step forward in the right direction. By learning how to enforce these rules properly, you will not only make your e-commerce business more lucrative but also increase the chance of success for any consecutive enterprise in this industry.