It’s not easy to run an eCommerce Business successfully, but it doesn’t have to be hard, either. With some solid planning and basic knowledge of what your customers want, you can be well on your way to success as an online retailer. Here are ten tips to get you started on the path to creating and managing an ecommerce store that makes money and helps you build your brand name!
1) Product
If you’re going to make money, you’ll need products. The more products that are on your ecommerce platform, or sold by your business in general, the greater revenue potential there is. So instead of just saying I’m going to sell XYZ product or service (which is also good), also identify how many of these things you plan on offering for sale. More products means more revenue opportunities. Why isn’t it number one on our list?
2) Logistics and delivery
As with any physical product, e-tailers need to consider logistics and delivery options—from shipping costs, minimum order sizes and estimated delivery times. Also think about how you’ll handle returns, particularly if you have no physical storefront where customers can bring items back. In an online environment, people expect instant responses; longer than usual wait times may affect your reputation. If a customer is unhappy with her purchase for whatever reason, make it easy for her to return it without hassle or cost.
3) Shipping costs
When you’re in charge of shipping costs and figuring out how much you should charge your customers, things can get tricky. But even more than just looking at how much it will cost to ship each order, you need to consider every aspect of shipping – including what shipping option(s) are best for your business. This can mean looking into flat rate options, as well as determining whether or not a lower priced but slower option is worth it or not.
4) Communicate with customers
In order to achieve success in any type of business, whether it’s physical or virtual, it is absolutely critical that you put your customer’s needs first. It is hard for companies who have failed in other areas of marketing because they did not realize that customer service needs to be their number one focus. For your ecommerce business, customers need to know they can trust you and they should feel secure in knowing what will happen if there are any issues with their order.
5) Have Promotions and Giveaways
Promotions are not only great ways of getting traffic, but they also provide incentives for your customers to make purchases. Make sure you have consistent promotion running, and then get creative with different types of giveaways or contests. You can run simple like-to-win contests on social media sites, as well as offer discounts for followers on those same channels. Other options include offering free shipping or free products in exchange for shares on Facebook and Twitter.
6) Do Customer Service on Social Media
It’s not enough for businesses to have beautiful products and great copy. Customers expect excellent customer service when shopping online, too. At least once a week, reach out to customers and ask them how your business can improve or if they need help with anything. This is an easy way to show potential clients that you care about your customers and will be there for them when they need assistance.
7) SEO or SEM?
While SEO and SEM may seem like similar concepts, they’re actually quite different. SEO refers to organic search engine optimization, while SEM (or pay-per-click) is all about paying for ad placement. Both are effective ways of drawing traffic to your site, but there are subtle differences between them. Here’s a breakdown of each one ~~SEO~~~ Organic or Natural Search Engine Optimization: Organic or natural search engine optimization relies on creating compelling content and targeting long tail keywords. It usually takes time for results to start showing up in search engines, but once it does — wow!
8) Use different marketing channels
Where are your customers? Make sure you have an active presence on platforms and in forums where they’re likely to be. This is an effective way of reaching out and providing them with an opportunity to hear what you have to say and see what your products can do for them. At first, starting up conversations might seem like hard work, but it’s better than having no idea who your audience is or how you should approach them. So get networking!
9) Keep in Touch with your Customers
As an e-tailer, it is important that you stay in touch with your customers. They are what make your business. You want them to leave positive reviews on sites like Amazon and eBay. In addition, if they are not satisfied with their purchase, you would want them to contact you so that you can rectify the problem and keep your reputation intact.
10) Get Free Traffic and Leads
For your business to grow, you need traffic and leads. Whether you’re launching a new website or trying to increase sales for an existing business, free online advertising is your best friend. Check out our free internet marketing guide for more information. Additionally, if you’re looking for some hands-on help with growing your ecommerce business , let us know what we can do to help .
Avoid The Busy Trap: Being busy has nothing to do with being productive. The two are actually mutually exclusive. If anything, being busy prevents entrepreneurs from maximizing their productivity levels. This means they can waste hours a day multitasking instead of dedicating those hours toward meaningful work that moves their business forward. To avoid the busy trap, be sure you know how to prioritize tasks based on importance and urgency.
Conclusion
This is your short, pithy conclusion. Consider ending with an action item or call-to-action: use language like if you want more traffic, or as you can see... and make sure you include a link to your landing page for whatever it is you’re pushing (e.g., You can get started by clicking here!). This doesn't have to be a sentence; in fact, sometimes it helps to summarize your points in bullet form at length and then wrap up with something quick. If you want to avail the best eCommerce developers' services, then you should get in touch with an eCommerce development company in India.
Still other times you might choose just one main point that makes sense here—or not write anything at all! Whatever works best for your post is fine, though what I'd recommend avoiding is jumping right into another paragraph or story after concluding. To ensure you don't lose any readers while they try to figure out where on earth they are now, put some extra space between lines or even insert some blank ones between paragraphs so there's no confusion as readers go back over their previous lines/paragraphs/etc.
