Ever since the internet gained popularity, e-commerce websites have started popping up everywhere. And why not, it is easier to build a successful business idea now. We have seen a lot of local e-commerce businesses gain momentum and go up against multinational organizations such as Amazon. So what is it about E-commerce that is so attractive and alluring?
There are many reasons why so many businesses are into eCommerce such as
- Low capital venture
You don’t need to have huge pockets to start up an eCommerce business. All you need is to pay for the basic structure you want online and your business is up and running. - Easy to set up
With the digital advancements, all you need to run a successful business is the knowledge of code. If not that is okay too because there are many services that can do the hard work for you. You just need to know how to implement the idea. - Next to no infrastructure
Everything is online and there is absolutely next to no infrastructure needed to start a business these days. Contrary to a few years back when you had to have an office to get the work done. - No manpower needed
It is good to have employees but not necessary. All the work can be done and handled by a single person. The various digital tools easily available online assist in achieving almost anything. Helping in working more efficiently.
The eCommerce industry is at its all-time high and almost everyone wants to make the most of it. However, even though there is such stiff competition and participants in the industry, we don’t see many businesses succeeding or doing very well. In fact if you look at the statistics, you will notice there are not many who have established themselves.
Although Ecommerce is a very lucrative business, not many make it in the industry, despite the high demand and vast opportunities.
The problem is not the demand or opportunities but how organizations respond to those opportunities. Even though it is very easy to start an eCommerce business and any individual can solely do it but it requires a lot of effort.
The main backbone of any eCommerce business is its website, which is often the cause of failure for the business. There are thousands of organizations if not millions who want to run an eCommerce website but cannot because they don’t have a functional website. Since almost all the sales and management is done behind the scenes, digitally. It is very important to have a flowing structure in order to run the business. Not to forget the digital efforts should match the physical ones in order to create a successful loop of business. There are a lot of things you need to get right in order to be successful in eCommerce. Industry. But the most important of them all is to have a functional website. So here are some tips on how you can improve your website to increase sales for your business.
- Navigation Sells Products
Believe it or not but navigation is the most important aspect for sales on an eCommerce website. The customer will visit your website for a number of products and not all will be displayed on the front page. In most cases, the customer will have to search for the product and that is why navigation is important. It helps your customers find the desired products. It is like one of those signboards you see in the supermarket that help guide the customer to the products. Without proper navigation, the customer is bound to run around in circles and you may risk losing them, as no one likes to wander around these days. Especially if they are looking for something specific. Streamline your navigation and make it easier to understand. Use simpler and more direct words so that the customer may not be confused. The faster the customer can find what they are looking for the better. - Search algorithm
You need to set your search algorithm in such a way that it assists and recommends the customer products similar to what they are looking for or products that may be used together. This will help you sell more than one product with one pitch and if the customer is interested in the product, chances are they will be interested in the other product too.
- Add to
A must-have feature on an e-commerce website, the add to cart or wishlist is the bookmark equivalent of the internet. By allowing your customers to add products to the cart or a wishlist, you allow them the freedom to buy the product at a later date. The customer can be interested in the product but there are multiple reasons why they are unable to buy it at the given point of time. The add to button helps them to save the product and buy it at their convenience.
Another use for the feature can be, it allows the user to browse through other products while booking what they already have decided to buy. This allows the customer to pay for an entire lot of products together. Enabling you to sell multiple products and getting more business out of the customer. - Support
One of the most prominent arguments the local vendor will give you when competing with an e-commerce website is how they are always available for customer support and how little some person on the internet cares for the customer. Well, that is partly true. While local vendors are strategically on the advantage when it comes to helping local customers, every business values its customers. The argument is right but is not necessarily a problem.
While a customer support team requires a lot of capital. You can have a live chat option on your website. Chatbot technology is one of the best support assistance you can find out there.
What is a chatbot?
When dealing with customers you might have figured out that most have the same problems but answering the same problem over and over can be very hectic. Enter chatbot. It is chat assistance fixed with pre-recorded answers to the customer queries. An interactive chat in which the customer can choose from a tree of multiple-choice questions and the bot will respond accordingly. A chatbot should resolve your basic problems and save you a lot of time.
- Social Connection
Sign-ups are the best way to get user information and create a database of customers. However, it should not be overcomplex and uninteresting. There are no two ways about it, you need customer data for your business and you need them to sign up, filling the relevant information. But instead of filling out forms, allow users to sign up from their social accounts. This will help save the customers time and get you the relevant information required.
An additional incentive can be that it will help you establish a social media presence as well. Signing up from their social media accounts will help other users see that the person is using your website. It will also help connect with the customer better as they can review and comment on your products via social media making the review more credible.
- Image is everything
You need to work on the images that display the product. Make the products look presentable so that the customer likes what they look at. Very often, many customers buy a product because they look stunning. You need to attract the attention mo the customer and hence you require to brand the product as a desirable commodity.
- Security
The last thing you want is to lose the trust of your customers due to hackers. Many people are reluctant to pay online on a website that is not very well know or established. It is of utmost importance that you pay attention to the security of the website. There are professional hackers out there who make their living by hacking websites and servers. You need to create a firewall to prevent such incidents from ever happening because there is no coming back from it, as the customer will never be able to trust you again and do business with you.
- Reviews and testimonials
Be honest, why should the customer trust you? You may have the best intentions in mind but your customers don’t know that and you should not assume the customer will trust you anyways. There are literally thousands of businesses doing the same thing out there. So how can you win the trust of customers? Simply add the testimonials of other users.
Reviews, ratings, and testimonials from other users help the customer be assured that others have bought the product before and it good enough for them. It helps clear any possible doubts that the customer may have before buying. In other words, the reviews and testimonials are the certificate of quality for your product on the internet.
Make sure you have genuine reviews and not spam. Also, it is not possible to always have positive reviews so learn to take criticism.
- Vivid product description
If you don’t already have a product description under every product then you probably don’t want your business to succeed. Not everyone knows what your product does or what it contains or other details that are worth mentioning. You need to have an engrossing description of your product so that your customers can relate to the product and want to buy it.
In addition to that, having a description helps you improve your SEO. The search engine algorithms automatically scan your website’s content for ranking and a vivid description of the product can go a long way in improving the overall SEO ranking of the website. Helping your product be more visible to people who are looking for similar products.
- State of emergency
Sometimes the customer may procrastinate buying the product and needs a little more incentive to buy. You can create a sense of urgency by offering limited-time deals. You can offer attractive discounts or deals that will get the attention of the customer. The time frame on these deals will create a sense of urgency to buy the product before the clock runs out and help improve sales of your product.
- Payment
The final step of the online journey for the customer. The payment is potentially the step that really matters. It does not matter how good your product is or how much the customer likes it if you are not able to receive payment for your efforts. So make sure to make the step as perfect as you can.
- Add multiple payment methods
- Make sure to get the job done without any hassle
- Make the payment gateway secured
- Add a thank you note at the end of completion
- Try to create an automated refund process
All of the above are very important for your business. These help your customers to trust you more and facilitate faster payment.
In the end
You probably knew this before thinking about starting an e-commerce website but let us repeat it for you for good measure. The e-commerce industry is very lucrative but harsh. There are thousands of businesses doing the same thing you have decided to do. Anyone with internet access can start an e-commerce business. But to run an e-commerce business is a totally different story.
Sure the technical and managerial know-how is very important but those can be substituted by tools. What is of importance is how you implement the knowledge and ideas into your organization. The website is the entry point for the customer and needless to say is the most important element of your e-commerce business. Be practical with your approach and prioritize functionality. Creating a unique and beautiful design is very important but what is more important is for the website to work according to your plans. The customer should not face difficulty finding products on your website and the website should be responsive to all digital platforms.
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