If you’ve made the brave decision to start an eCommerce business, you probably have many questions and fears about the process and what it will take to be successful. While many eCommerce business owners experience great success, not all do.
Fortunately, plenty of experts are willing to offer advice based on their own experiences. Their insights should help you start your new eCommerce venture on the right foot.
Don’t Be Afraid to Outsource
It can be tempting to tackle all aspects of an eCommerce business by yourself, especially since it’s your special project and you undoubtedly want to be hands-on with all parts of it. However, delegating to creative design agencies and eCommerce fulfillment services might be how you free up your time to focus on more important tasks.
The less time you spend designing, packaging, and shipping your goods, the more time you have to grow your business into the success you hope it will one day be. So for instance, if you are a cosmetics manufacturer, you can concentrate on making your products the best they can be whilst a delivery company can fulfill your cosmetic products orders and deliveries for you.
Don’t Rush Your Website Launch
Customers don’t immediately trust a new eCommerce site, even if it offers products they want and need. It can take a significant amount of time and effort to develop trust, not to mention a high-quality eCommerce site with all the kinks ironed out.
You might be in a hurry to launch your new website but tread carefully. Ensure all back-end and front-end tasks are taken care of for customer satisfaction and safety. Otherwise, you might make crucial mistakes that limit your growth potential and damage consumer trust from the outset. At this stage, you will also want to establish a fair pricing structure using tools like Conjointly’s Van Westendorp PSM to help ensure your prices align with customer expectations. Getting these details right can have a lasting impact on your business.
The same can be applied to payment transactions. You need to ensure that your customers can pay safely and efficiently so there are no delays. Taking a look at digital wallets and comparing them, e.g. paze vs apple pay, for example, will help you with making the right decision that will benefit your company and your customers.
Emphasize Mobile-Friendliness
More consumers than ever before are making purchases from their mobile devices. After all, the average smartphone is more than capable of loading eCommerce sites and providing a seamless shopping experience.
If you haven’t factored mobile-friendliness into your new eCommerce store, make it a priority. If prospective purchasers aren’t able to effortlessly navigate your menus, add goods to their shopping carts, and check out, they’ll be more inclined to shop elsewhere.
Don’t Forget Marketing
It’s easy to assume that simply having an eCommerce site is enough for people to start purchasing your goods. However, customers will not know your business exists unless you advertise it in all the right places.
Consider social media marketing, with ad campaigns run on Facebook and Instagram, along with Google ads and possibly even flyer drops if you want to try out-of-the-box marketing methods as a point of difference.
You might also see the value in ethically collecting customer information and building databases so that email marketing can form a core part of your marketing efforts. This is a great way to secure repeat shoppers going forward.
Prioritize the User
You might have preferences around how your eCommerce site looks and functions, and those preferences will likely allow for the best customer experience. However, it’s essential to prioritize your customers and site users at every stage of the website development process.
Think about site navigation for ease of use rather than innovation, and add features you know will provide convenience, such as product filters and multiple payment options. If you’re unsure whether you should add a specific design element or component, ask yourself: Would I like or hate this as a shopper?
Starting any new business can be daunting, and eCommerce sites are no exception. However, you can improve your chances of success by taking note of the tips above. Something as simple as outsourcing fulfillment and prioritizing marketing may just lay the foundation for an eCommerce venture that’s more profitable than you ever could have imagined.
