As we head into the New Year, many of us are searching for new techniques or strategies to implement into our business or life. As the digital world continues to grow we must evolve with it and find successful tips for running an ecommerce business. Here are some ideas to liven up your business for the new year.
Think Like Your Customer
“A great tip for success in eCommerce is understanding how your customer thinks. With an online business, the customer is not able to use the products firsthand before purchasing them. Making your e-commerce business easily accessible for the customers will be beneficial in the long run. You want customers to feel like they are making a good decision to purchase your product amongst competitors. You can try things like optimizing website accessibility, product videos, or free trials and returns. Getting into the mindset of your customer will allow you to create an eCommerce business that resonates well and keeps customers coming back for more.”
- Jeffery Pitrak, Marketing and Account Manager at Transient Specialists
Be Mobile-Friendly
“Most customers today will search for your business online before shopping with you, whether or not you have a brick-and-mortar store. And of those people searching online for your business, a majority of them are most likely searching for it via their smartphones. This makes having a mobile-friendly site that is easily navigable and user-friendly an absolute must. A successful mobile site allows for your potential customers to be able to access your store from anywhere. Your site should contain the basics as well; address (if needed), a phone number for product support/general questions, and the name of your brand. A mobile-friendly site is a source of revenue that needs to be taken seriously if you’re looking to be successful in the eCommerce world.”
- Kate Lipman, Sales & Marketing Consultant at Embrace
Know When, Where, and How Much to Advertise
“The recent pandemic across the world has changed the Ecommerce business game, mostly for the bigger and better of course! With in-person businesses closing down and fluctuations of COVID-19 cases going on throughout the past two years, it's no surprise that most major and small businesses alike have turned their attention toward their social media pages, website, and online web presence altogether. Online shopping today has been bigger and more popular than it’s ever been before, so what can you do to step up your e-commerce business and stand out compared to your competitors online? Know when, where, and how much to put into advertising! The first step is to understand what exactly your business is, what you’re selling, what makes you unique, and who your target demographic is. Based on these first four questions, you then should test out your advertising campaigns on any platform, no matter how big or small, to see what times of the month, week, and day your audience is most active online so you can understand when you should be advertising. You must then know where to execute your advertising efforts and which platform would be most effective for getting your name, brand, and products out there (such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, on the web, etc.). The last step is just as important as the first two! Create a budget based on your tests and always know how much money and resources you should put into each of the advertising campaigns you do.”
- Alex Bell, Outreach Specialist at 1-800-Pack-Rat
Make Purchasing a Pleasant Experience
“The last thing you would want as an e-commerce store is to have buyers turned away by their purchase experience, which is why checking out can be one of the most important moments in the overall experience for your buyer. To have success, you need to ensure the checkout experience is fast and simple, not allowing for customers to overthink their purchase. There are multiple ways to make sure the checkout process is expedited. This can be as easy as connecting to a POS system and offering multiple different payment methods. Other tactics include allowing for direct purchase from the product page, eliminating the “add-to-cart” option, or setting up a one-click system for customers to quickly check out.”
- Brandon Hulme, Product Management Lead at Deputy
Regularly Update Your Site
“Keep your e-commerce site fresh with regular updates. Give your customers a reason to come back and check in on your site with new products, product updates, or new sales and offers. Consider even offering a company blog or podcast so your regulars can keep up to date with your organization. Blogs and podcasts can even prove valuable as shareable sources of information can increase outreach and traffic for your e-commerce business.”
-Jason Brandt, Customer Success Director at Podopolo
Creating a Community
“Sometimes improving customer satisfaction often stems from having a strong community rather than the product or service itself. People want to join your community if they see the value in it, so you need to offer a much better experience than they may already be used to. Additionally, the wealth of feedback generated by a community of engaged customers feeds directly into making a better product. As we’ve implemented this within our company, we’ve resulted in overall happier customers and happier employees. Having a space dedicated to your current customers lets them know they're still at the top of your mind even after a deal is closed, and that encourages them to choose you time and time again.”
-Dhruv Sampat, Founder of Studypaq
Don’t Forget Social Media
“Social media provides a great opportunity for your company to connect with and engage with potential customers and there are several new and emerging platforms to do this on. LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and even TikTok are some great examples. Therefore, this should be the heartbeat of your company, no matter if you hire a social media manager it is still important for you to be involved in this process. Being able to speak directly to your target audience uninterrupted is a very powerful thing and social media allows for this.”
-Chris Hunter, Director of Customer Relations at ServiceTitan
Adding Personalization to E-Commerce
“E-commerce businesses are up and growing each year. Therefore, you must find a way to make your e-commerce business stand out compared to others when entering 2022. One great way to distinguish your business from others is to add a personal touch for your consumers. To further explain, you can add a personal touch to your e-commerce by using location, user behavior, and navigating your webpage. To start, you can list your products or resources based on your consumer’s location, that way they are searching for things that are useful and can be found in their area. Then, you can use consumer behavior to have your webpage or ads promote products similar to those they have looked at or purchased. Another option is to add personal experience when they are navigating your webpage. This can be used through a chatbot, drop-down menu, or more. In the end, you want your consumers to feel valued, so adding these personalization tips will make them feel seen and special. “
-Aaron McWilliams, Director of Marketing at 1Dental
Research Quality Keywords Before You Begin SEO
“Before you begin SEO, it is important to understand what keywords you want customers to be searching for to find your business. You could have the most revolutionary product of our time, but if people are not consistently searching for the correct words or phrase that corresponds to your product, then nobody is going to find it. Make sure your business is associated with high-quality keywords before you begin any other SEO processes. Beginning SEO before you make sure keywords associated with your product are being searched can ultimately end up being a gigantic waste of your time.”
- Rich Rudzinski, Founder and Technical Strategist for Oversight.co and Tragic Media
Email Marketing
“A key strategy for promoting your e-commerce business in the upcoming year is email marketing. It’s a channel owned by you so it makes it much easier to manage and take control of. There are plenty of email marketing services to choose from that can make the process reliable and affordable. You can send applicable email campaigns the more you know about your subscribers, which you can do by using a CRM email tool. This will allow you to reach everyone at the right time with the right action. It is important to choose the right welcome email to get users to sign up, as well as choose the right email frequency. Having a balanced email frequency will show that you are staying up to date with your subscribers but that you aren’t overdoing it to a point where you’re bugging them. Always have a set plan so you’re prepared to get the best results possible.”
-Megan Jones, Community Outreach Manager at NutraSweet Natural
Have Good Customer Service
“Everyone likes a brand that can back up their products/services. Some of the ways you can improve your customer service are by reducing your response time to 24 hours, offering multiple channels of contact such as phone, email, or chat –but most importantly, making sure your contact page is easy to reach. If it helps you can start by adding chatbots to your site and having them answer your general FAQs. Then, if someone has a more in-depth question, they can be directed to an appropriate customer service member. You must have the proper training for your members on how to handle various types of questions. By having trained staff and improved customer service tools, your company will have increasing results.”
-Daniel Ward, Editor at Invoice2go
Try Facebook Messenger
“Businesses should use Facebook messenger because it is a great way to target potential customers who are already interested in your business. When people have questions or concerns about your products/services, Facebook Messenger is an easy and accessible way for them to reach out directly to the company. This gives your company a chance to generate email marketing leads, demonstrate your phenomenal customer service, and guide customers to purchase products right in the chat. You can enable transactions through Messenger which creates an easy way for your customers to purchase while on social media!”
-Himanshu Agarwal, SVP of Solutions at WorkBoard
Utilize Social Media Stores
“Social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook have implemented an in-app store function that can be a great way for new customers to find and purchase goods from your e-commerce business. Instagram and Facebook shop can often be a simple setup if you already use a social media account to promote your brand. There is an abundance of tools available to customize your social media store so it can match the design of your site as well.”
-Jacob Dayan, CEO, and Co-founder of Community Tax
Collect Information
“One tip that can help increase your sales is to collect information. It’s so important to get a site visitor’s email and build your database which will help with future promotions!! You should also be collecting site information such as time on page for your different pages to see which are performing well. Other metrics such as abandon rate (customers who left the site after visiting only one page or cart abandonment) and link click rate are crucial as well.”
-Jonathan Finegold, Sr. eCommerce Manager at MedCline
Furthermore, there are many ways to strengthen your eCommerce business. By following one more of the tips above a business will have optimal productivity, growth, and success. E-commerce is something every business should strive to develop and improve on in the new year.