E-commerce refers to trading online. Almost 80 percent of people prefer researching for products through a search engine before buying online. The huge number shows that there is a massive audience for E-commerce businesses.
However, a study revealed that the average conversion rate is 1.6%. If you have low conversion rates, you make a few sales. As a result, you end up with an unsuccessful online store. As can be seen, you need few tips to maximize your sales.
Established e-commerce businesses may use a high advertising expenditure to reach out to their target audience. However, these tips focus on growing start-up online stores. Here are a few benefits of buying and selling online.
- E-commerce has a wider market than physical stores. The market comes from the high percentage of people using the internet. You need to identify a market gap and supply them with the right products to fill the gap. Besides, you can make sales at night because the internet never sleeps.
- Enjoy the cost-friendly advertising: Unlike traditional marketing, digital marketing can help one reach out to a large audience for a small fee. Also, you can benefit from free traffic sources.
- Practice a risk-free business: You can have a drop-shipping store, where you sell a product without stocking it. The consumer has to pay, then wait for delivery. Here, you don’t incur any charges from your personal cash box.
There are more fringe benefits of trading online. Anyone can start an online store. But not all e-commerce websites make a good profit. So, the following tips will help you to start a successful website, and increase the sales of an existing online business.
1. Do intensive market research
Before anything, you have to know more about the type of business you will be dealing with. Through market research, you can identify gaps and come up with profitable ideas. After identifying a niche, head to forums and see what customers say about particular products.
You can also check reviews on Amazon and eBay. Defining your audience by location, size, age-group, and earnings will help you when targeting. Study the beliefs and current market prices. Make sure you address things of common interest like fast delivery of products.
Also, chances are that the audience may not be aware that a product exists. Do not sell products immediately. Instead, offer all information about a given product through well-researched product descriptions.
2. Use available Technology
You can make use of available automation tools to improve efficiency. With automation, you can do one-click product imports, schedule your emails, and get instant alerts. Besides, you can schedule social media posts to engage your audience as you focus on other important activities.
In addition, you can set up a timer on products with a discount. The timer can indicate when the discount ends. This helps create a sense of urgency and can trigger a buyer to purchase. Videos are better than text. So, look for video making software and show reviews of some products.
3. Social media for E-commerce
The main function of social media for e-commerce is to listen to what consumers say. For this reason, you should reply to each comment posted by your audience. Use social media platforms like Reddit to collect reviews. The reviews will help you improve your services.
You can also attract huge traffic for your e-commerce business through influencer marketing. You have to approach influencers in your niche and request them to recommend your products. Other social media tips include paid advertising, ad retargeting and direct messaging.
4. Have a responsive web design
E-commerce websites are not like ordinary websites. Such websites should be coded from scratch to avoid loading errors. The website should give buyers options to view various products at once. E-commerce websites can also be designed to compare various specifications of similar products.
Responsive web design involves making a mobile-friendly website. The design should be compatible with all phone brands. A good website will make you benefit from the increasing number of mobile purchases. Huge websites are prone to hacker attacks. But with responsive design, you can minimize these chances.
5. Choose a good niche
In our postmodern world, it is difficult to avoid competition. However much you think of a unique niche, chances are, there are other thousands of people doing it online. So, a good niche is not the one without competition.
Choose something that people enjoy talking about it online. Consider getting ISO 9001 products to improve the quality and credibility of your services. Understand that at a constant affiliate percentage, an expensive product will have a bigger affiliate commission than a cheap product.
6. Use strategies that work
Most e-commerce stores are B2C Business-to-community websites. So, Ads happen to be more appropriate as opposed to Business to business websites. Doing free shipping and offering discounts can make your business outshine the competitors.
All in all, focus on maintaining your customers. Always stay where your audience is. Interact with the audience as you collect reviews. Do not tell the results while giving features. Instead, show your results, and sell the benefits.
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