Today, there’s nothing that you can’t buy online. From a small pin to a car, everything can be found online. And the eCommerce business is growing at an exponential pace. According to experts, eCommerce sales are expected to reach 6.3 trillion by 2024.
The numbers are pretty solid and clearly show that now is the perfect time to launch that eCommerce business you’ve been thinking so long about! But you may still feel a bit reluctant to take this step because of all the competitors you’ll be up against.
The competition in the eCommerce business is fierce. Today, there are 12-24 million eCommerce websites across the world. So, anyone planning to step into the market will need to work hard if they want to get to the top.
In this article, we’ll talk about critical things you need to analyze before launching an eCommerce business.
1. Have a business idea first, and an eCommerce site second
Before beginning to develop your eCommerce shop, make sure you have a very clear business idea. As the competition is pretty fierce out there, you need to distinguish yourself from others. There are millions of websites where users can buy products, and every successful website has its own unique selling proposition (USP). Think about what your USP is and why customers should choose you over competitors.
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2. Focus on security
Your eCommerce website will be handling important information like people’s credit card information, names, addresses, and phone numbers. Protecting this information should be one of your utmost priorities. Should your website ever experience a data breach, your business reputation will be ruined, as well as any prospects for future success.
To keep your eCommerce website secure, keep it encrypted with an SSL certificate, use up-to-date software, and make all of your passwords strong. There are many cybersecurity tools like NordPass for Chrome or Avast Chrome Extension that can make this process much easier.
3. Know your audience and match them with your products
You should always know who your audience is and what they want. Ensure that the product or service you offer is something your audience would be interested in. Just because you think your product is good and that you’d buy it yourself, that doesn’t mean others will feel the same.
You have to analyze your product carefully and determine who your target audience is. Once you know the specific demographics and other details of your target audience, it will be much easier to adapt your marketing efforts toward that specific crowd of people.
4. Know how to attract traffic!
One of the biggest challenges in an eCommerce business is bringing traffic to your website. A good part of your desired traffic will go to competitor websites, so you’ll need to put in lots of work to increase your own share of traffic. There are many ways through which you can attract visitors to your site.
Some of the best ways are:
- Paid ads on Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat,
- Social media posts,
- Search engine optimization (SEO),
- Google ads.
5. Focus on content and SEO!
As mentioned in the previous point, SEO is an effective way to attract visitors to your website, and content is the cornerstone of SEO! Therefore, it is critical that your website has superb quality content.
For instance, if your eCommerce website has a well-written About Us page, it should effectively inform your customers about your company’s motives and strategies. On top of this, various pages on your eCommerce website, like homepage, product pages, etc., should have the required information in the most concise and understandable form.
However, the textual content is not the only type of content you should be aiming for. You should also consider using high-quality images and videos. Around 73% of visitors are more likely to purchase a product if they are presented with a video of it.
Despite how great your website’s content may seem, it won’t matter much if you don’t also focus on SEO. Search Engine Optimization is a great way to bring users to your website organically, but it takes time and effort. To ensure that your website ranks at the top Google search, ensure that you have done the SEO part carefully.
Some crucial parts to take care of are:
- Ensure that your content has targeted keywords distributed uniformly across the page.
- Keep your on-page images and videos optimized so that the page loading time is reduced to a minimum. Around 70% of users say that a website’s loading time affects their willingness to make a purchase.
- Keep the sentences concise to improve readability.
There are countless other aspects that require your attention. But the key thing is that SEO is equally important as high-quality written and visual content.
6. Don’t be isolated!
You might think that you can do everything yourself. Well, staying confident is crucial for success, but at some point, you’ll need some outside perspective. You need someone to challenge you so that you can make better business decisions. So before launching your website, do some networking!
Go to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or wherever you can find experienced people in your field, and try to build healthy, professional relationships with them. They can be really helpful for you in case you want any advice regarding your business in the future.
You may like: 5 UX Guidelines for Building Better Ecommerce Sites (Infographic).
7. Invest in a good eCommerce platform!
There are many different eCommerce platforms on the market to choose from. You must do your research well before investing in any of them.
When looking for an eCommerce platform, consider features like:
- Email marketing,
- Product recommendation engine (which helps offer a more personalized experience to visitors),
- Scalability,
- Mobile-friendliness,
- Speed,
- Security,
- Software integration.
All of these need to be considered as they can help make your overall operations as smooth as possible.
If you’re completely new to the market of eCommerce platforms, here are a few of the top ones that should be the first ones you consider:
8. Study current and future trends
New trends are what keep the market alive. Whether you are about to begin an eCommerce business or already have one, never fail to keep up with the trends in your industry.
Some industries change more rapidly than others, and if you’re in one of these rapidly changing industries, you should always be prepared to adapt to the market. For example, if you’re in the fashion niche and spot a new fashion trend, publish some new blog posts about it and add new and trending products to your shop.
9. Plan your finances smartly!
Money is the key element of your eCommerce business. If you don’t spend it well, it will affect your business in a bad way. To ensure that you invest every penny efficiently, consult an accountant, lawyer, or financial analyst. They can guide you in terms of how to manage your money smartly.
As you move forward with your business, you should remain flexible in how you allocate your budget. We all have our good and bad days. If your revenue unexpectedly drops one day, your savings will run out pretty fast. Therefore, avoid spending money on things that aren’t crucial for your business. As your revenue stream becomes stable again, you can start investing more money into your business again.
10. Talk to suppliers and delivery partners
If you are planning to sell products from third parties, talk to the suppliers and set up a product delivery system. Talk to logistics service providers and hire them to take care of the delivery services. Make sure everything is planned out for maximum efficiency and in a way that reduces the likelihood of product shortages or excess inventory.
To make the job simpler, you can use your eCommerce platform for inventory tracking, shipping, order tracking, and much more!
11. Be patient and focus on building trust
You need to understand that your brand will not grow a solid customer base overnight. It will take time, patience, and hard work. Before you start getting orders, you need to build your website’s authority and ensure customers know that you’re legit and trustworthy. Building trust isn’t easy, but it will help your business earn revenue for a lifetime if done correctly.
Here are some ways for you to build trust with customers:
- Provide them with the best deals on your products.
- Make them feel valued by asking for feedback or providing them with attractive yet affordable (on your part) discounts on products.
- Be responsive. Answer any questions or complaints as quickly as possible.
- Handle returns effectively and ensure the timely delivery of orders.
- Keep the checkout process easy.
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Conclusion
ECommerce is a new way of business, and the market is here to stay. If you wish to be successful at it, your main focus should be on marketing products and services that sell well without overspending. Some of the most important things to consider are delivering quality content, spending every penny efficiently, and keeping up with the trends of your industry. If you work on all of these points, nothing can stop your business from becoming a hit!
