Online shopping has become a popular choice for customers worldwide.
According to the statistics, the global e-commerce market is expected to reach $6.1 trillion in 2023. By 2024, 21.2% of retail sales will take place online.
E-commerce can help business owners reach a wider audience of potential clients worldwide. It has a relatively low cost of implementation and can provide you with marketing insights about your customers, helping you customize your products or services to their preferences. E-commerce offers excellent opportunities to drive business growth, so it’s worth consideration.
This guide will provide information about the advantages of e-commerce for your business and actionable tips on how to get started.
Do you know if business owners need a resume edit?
Contrary to popular belief, business owners should keep their resumes up-to-date. A professional resume can help you attract new customers or start a career with another company.
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Why is e-commerce helpful for your business growth?
E-commerce allows business owners to expand their business worldwide without spending much on operational costs. Here are the main reasons why offering your products or services online can boost your business:
Substantial cost reduction
Starting and operating an e-commerce store can be a manageable investment. You don’t need to rent commercial real estate, pay for electricity, and invest in the security of your business. All you’ll need to do is invest in website development, hosting, and domain name. There are also online platforms to consider if you don’t want to set up a website – the most popular ones are BigCommerce, Shopify, and Adobe Commerce.
Global market opportunities
E-commerce offers infinite opportunities to expand your customer base and reach a global audience. With a solid online presence, you are now free of your physical store and can sell to customers who would not have learned about you otherwise. You can offer products and services to people in your state, across the US, or even globally. For you as a business owner, this means targeting a wider audience and increasing your sales. With e-commerce, you can evolve from a small local shop to a sizeable famous brand.
Personalized customer experience
People in the US and beyond prefer online shopping for its convenience. They don’t have to attend a physical store to make a purchase, as they can buy anything using a smartphone whenever they have free time, even late in the evening. Moreover, they can take advantage of personalized suggestions and customer support. With an online store, you can better cater to your clients’ needs and create a better experience.
Valuable marketing insights
With marketing tools, you can gain many insights about customers purchasing from your online store. You can learn their demography, location, preferences, and other details. These insights are a real asset for understanding your clients and catering to their needs better.
For example, you can emphasize the most popular products or packages on the main page of your website and work on marketing strategies to generate repeat business. Even more important is that you can use these insights to improve customer service in your brick-and-mortar store.
Ability to scale your business quickly
Over 263 million Americans shop online, according to Statista. So, with an online store, you can quickly grow your business. Online stores are overpowering the traditional ones, so the number of online shoppers will continue to increase. Moreover, online business is more accessible to grow at a scale.
If you want to sell your products to consumers in Chicago, you don’t have to go there, rent commercial real estate, set up everything, and hire people. All you need to do is to advertise your business locally. With this approach, you can attract new clients and boost sales without significant investments.
Social media shopping
People use social media to browse new products, read comments, get inspired, and purchase goods directly through the platform. Instagram is the best place to find online customers, so you can set up a page for your business and make money online on this platform. Plus, you can connect with your consumers directly on social media, get feedback about your products and services, and use marketing strategies to expand your business.
Streamlined logistics
It is easy to set up the logistics for your online store. You can outsource logistics and fulfillment to a third-party organization, thus providing your customers with prompt delivery. With an electronic record, you can track sales, returns, and detailed order statistics to optimize your business in the future.
Starting an e-commerce business is easy and has multiple advantages for you as a business owner. Keep reading to learn the tips and strategies to help you stand out from the competition and win customer loyalty.
10 E-commerce tips for small business
Starting your e-commerce store begins with choosing your business model, writing a business plan, setting up a website, and marketing your business to your target customers. Yet, after you’ve taken all the essential steps, it’s no time to rest on your laurels. Here are the e-commerce tips and steps to take to propel your business forward:
Prepare a well-researched FAQ page
As you start a new business, you’ll inevitably face the same questions from new customers. To save time, it is best to create a page that answers the most popular questions people might have about your product, its origins, materials it’s made of, or methods of production. For example, if you sell handmade clothes and gifts, you can add information about people making them or tell them that your goods are organic.
In this section, you can also explain how to place an order on your website, how fast it will be delivered to the customer, and the terms of returns. A well-developed FAQ page will save you or your customer support representatives time.
Leverage the power of email marketing
Email marketing is one of the best ways to strengthen customer relationships, increase brand awareness, and generate more sales. Just to let you know, regular emails from your brand will remind your customer base about you so they can purchase. Here are the strategies you can use:
- Grow your email marketing list. Encourage your website visitors to subscribe to the newsletter in exchange for a discount for their first order. Thus, you’ll expand the list of potential customers you can reach out to in the future.
- Be regular, but not annoying. Sending a weekly or bi-weekly newsletter is enough to stay top of mind and inform your subscribers about sales or special offers. If you send letters too often, people will likely unsubscribe from you.
- Send abandoned cart emails. Please send a letter to people who added items to their shopping cart but haven’t purchased it. According to the stats, this simple step will help you recover around 10% of lost revenue.
- Monitor the open rates. Please pay attention to how many people open emails you send to them. Thus, you will analyze what type of communication your audience is more receptive to and will be able to adjust your email marketing strategy.
Implement a live chat
According to the statistics, 73% of customers believe that a live chat is the most satisfying way of communicating with a business. Setting up a discussion on your website will allow the customers to contact you anytime they have questions, which builds trust and increases the chance they’ll purchase. Nothing beats the personal interaction in a chat if customers are puzzled by something or cannot make a choice.
Could you let the website visitors know that you are always there for them to answer their questions? A FAQ section is helpful, but your clients will appreciate your personalized attention. Could you ask for their email address at the beginning of the chat so that you can save the conversation?
Track your competitors’ activity
Competitive analysis is the essential step when you are launching your e-commerce store. Yet, it is helpful for every business owner to analyze the main competitors time after time to explore their strengths and weaknesses. They may have an intuitive website, a great social media strategy, or a pricing policy. You can use similar marketing strategies to benefit your business, attract more clients, or boost sales during the holiday season.
Perform the competitive analysis regularly (at least once in a few months) to stay on top of what is going on in your niche and use the most advanced strategies in your store.
Use the power of SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) means optimizing your website content and links so that your website appears higher in search results. One of the best strategies for SEO is to start a blog with helpful or entertaining information for your customers. For example, if you run a beauty store, you can write about the latest beauty trends, skincare routines, makeup tutorials, and lists of the best beauty products. You can also feature in-depth reviews and tutorials on how to use a particular product.
Blogging is one of the primary marketing strategies for e-commerce. Unfortunately, some business owners abandon it because it’s time-consuming. Yet, a great blog always pays off as it familiarizes a global audience with your brand and helps build credibility. You can hire a copywriter if you are too busy to write independently. A professional writer will write compelling content and keep keywords and SEO strategies in mind to help you rank higher in Google and help you increase overall sales.
You can watch this video for more effective SEO techniques if you have a Shopify store.
Upsell and cross-sell for success
Upselling is an excellent strategy for growing your revenue. Its goal is to offer customers a package of products or services instead of just one desired item they’ve come for or sell extra products as accessories. For example, if your customer buys a beauty product, you can offer a set of cosmetics that include this product at a discounted price. Or, you can provide personal care products that will complement the main product they’ve bought.
You can go ahead and offer the options listed above at the checkout stage if you like. Alternatively, some online stores suggest upgrading the product (for example, choosing a smartphone with more memory or adding an extended warranty). There’s also an option to offer free shipping for orders over $50. The goal is simple – encouraging the client to spend more money in exchange for additional services and products. For you, these are great methods to increase revenue.
Could you simplify the customer journey?
When it comes to the success of your online store, a seamless customer journey is crucial. Great website user experience will increase the satisfaction of your customers and help boost conversions. Here are some strategies to employ:
- Design an appealing, intuitive website. Today’s customers make the first impression about the company based on its website. So, invest in an attractive, intuitive website design. Ensure that it is easy to navigate and that all pages load quickly. A streamlined checkout process will prevent customers from abandoning their carts.
- Make your site mobile-friendly. The majority of people shop using their mobile devices rather than a desktop. So, optimize your website for mobile and ensure everything works smoothly.
- Analyze customer journey. Identify the main customer touchpoints and how they affect customer behavior. Collect feedback to understand where the client’s needs have not been met and fix it.
Take advantage of social media
On average, people spend 2.5 hours per day using social media platforms. So, it’s unsurprising that businesses leverage their power to connect with the target customers, drive engagement, and increase sales. To achieve this, you must consistently stay in touch with your audience: create entertaining and helpful content, respond to questions timely, and run contests to drive engagement. Use relevant hashtags and keywords to make your posts more searchable.
Could you identify the social media platform that your audience uses? There’s no need to create business pages on all social media – using 2 to 3 platforms is enough. You can incorporate Facebook in your multichannel strategy using the strategies suggested by the article at the link. Consider social media advertising and influencer marketing to attract even more potential customers.
Use personalized marketing campaigns
Offering personalized experience to customers today is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. The customized experience encourages them to return for more and creates a positive customer experience. Use customized product recommendations based on your customer-visited pages and purchase history. This will increase the likelihood of making more purchases.
You can segment your customers into different groups and launch tailored marketing campaigns for each. By understanding their shopping behavior and preferences, you can create targeted promotion campaigns that resonate with their needs. Offer customer loyalty programs and exclusive discounts to build long-term customer relations.
Customer feedback is a helpful source of information, so don’t forget to conduct surveys and address their concerns on time.
Follow up after the purchase
Another good strategy for your online store is sending a follow-up email about the purchase and asking about the customer’s opinion. Such a personalized letter reminds the customer once again about your brand and shows that you care about your clients. Moreover, this letter encourages feedback from the customer so you can receive invaluable customer feedback.
In this letter, you can thank the customer for their purchase, offer advice on how to use the product they’ve bought best, or offer similar products and accessories with free shipping. You can set up the sending of follow-up letters in your CRMS. If you keep it respectful, concise, and helpful, this letter can inspire the customer to come back to you again.
How to perfect your resume: Tips from a resume editing service
You might need a professional resume in various situations as a business owner. Investors often request a resume to learn more about the business before investing. You might also need a resume to get a bank loan. Moreover, a resume is essential for those business owners who want to find full-time or part-time employment.
The fastest way to improve the quality of your resume is to turn to cheap resume editing services at cheapresumeservices.com. Yet, you can take a few steps recommended by experts on your own before showing it to an investor or sending it to a company:
- List running a business like full-time employment. Include your business name, role (Business Owner or CEO), a few words about your business (industry, number of employees, etc.), and your responsibilities in detail. Also, add a few achievements to show off your leadership strengths.
- Use reverse chronological format. Such a format emphasizes your career progression and dates of employment. It is recommended for professionals and business owners with a steady career history. List your jobs and businesses chronologically, starting with the most recent one.
- Keep it under 2 pages. A resume of an experienced professional or a business owner should not exceed two pages. If it is too long, consider removing jobs you have had for over ten years or irrelevant positions.
- Include your education and training. Add your degree and additional education, such as certification programs, online courses, workshops, and more. If you have 2+ years of experience, place education after your professional experience.
- Add management skills. Create a separate Skills section listing both hard and soft skills. Include such skills as strategic planning, project management, employee training and recruitment, digital marketing, business analysis, communication, and more.
- Proofread carefully. Resumes that have typos or poor grammar look unprofessional. Check your resume several times to be confident that it has no spelling and grammar mistakes and that each sentence makes sense.
Conclusion
E-commerce has incredible potential for growing your business. With an e-commerce website, you can attract customers nationwide and globally and increase sales without a significant investment. By simplifying your customer journey, using the power of SEO and email marketing, and creating a personalized experience for your customers, you can attract more potential clients and achieve stable growth.
FAQ
Why is e-commerce necessary in 2023?
According to the statistics, over 263 million Americans shop online. If your business doesn’t have an online store, you miss out on many opportunities. In addition to helping you reach more potential clients with no geographical limitations, it also allows you to reduce operational costs, offer a personalized experience that most of today’s customers value, and learn more about your clients through analytical tools.
How can e-commerce help a business succeed?
E-commerce offers excellent opportunities to achieve stable business growth. Firstly, you can sell to customers without geographical limitations and grow your business at scale without investing much money. Secondly, it is much cheaper than running physical stores and is more convenient for customers. And finally, you can save on logistics and fulfillment and offer your customers quick delivery.
What are the best e-commerce strategies?
The best strategies to increase brand recognition are SEO tactics and growing social media presence to attract more potential clients. Creating an intuitive, user-friendly website and simplifying the customer journey is essential so that all interactions with your brand are quick and seamless. Using email marketing and launching personalized marketing campaigns for different types of buyers can help you increase repeat business and customer loyalty.
