So, while operating at a single location, you can serve customers all across the country. As your business reach widens, your customer base would grow, which will directly impact the number of sales. Thus, it will boost your revenue. With increased revenue, you can increase your product line, or invest more in marketing to capture more audience. Reaching out to an audience by sending emails, contacting via phone, or pushing marketing messages can be a tiresome task.
But, thanks to the search engine traffic, attracting people to the store has become much more comfortable. Through the means of an eCommerce business, you can land well in the search engines and start receiving recurring traffic to your store.
Slowly, with the best eCommerce practices, you can convert these to a steady flow of customers for your business. You just need to make the website SEO-friendly to appear in the searches and attract more traffic.
This will keep your business operational cost on the lower side. For example, a florist could put up a link to a local bridal shop's site and vice versa.
It's one thing to get visitors to your site and another thing entirely to get them to come back. Here's some advice on setting up a site that tempts users to stay and return:. Hit 'em hard. Put all your company's key information, including your e-mail address and toll-free number, on the first screen.
That way, potential customers will not have to wait until all your information loads to get an idea what your company is all about. Make connections. If possible, hyperlink your e-mail address; this means visitors can simply click to open a blank e-mail message and send you a note.
Have fun. People who surf the internet are looking for fun. You don't have to be wild and wacky unless you want to. Just make sure you offer original content presented in an entertaining way. Add value. Offering something useful customers can do adds tremendous value to your site. For example, customers can track their own packages at FedEx's site or concoct a recipe for a new drink at the Stolichnaya vodka site. You don't have to get quite that elaborate, but offering users the ability to download forms, play games or create something useful or fun will keep them coming back.
Stage a contest. Online businesses should consider not excluding an eager marketplace just because it seems difficult to serve. There are several services that make it easier for international visitors to order from a U.
PayPal, for instance, accepts payment on behalf of merchants in U. The major U. Some online companies absorb shipping charges; others include them in the listed price and offer "free" shipping. All the major postal carriers have websites that allow merchants to calculate the shipping charge for any item, based on weight and location. Shipping efficiency and pricing can be major competitive advantages or hand grenades in an online store's shopping cart.
Try to make a profit on shipping charges--your store is more likely to lose the sale than gain the margin. An important aspect of customer service is deciding how quickly the business will respond to customer inquiries and complaints phone or e-mail.
This response time should be realistic and consistent. If the policy says all phone calls will be answered within two minutes or returned the same day, that timeline becomes a pledge to the customer. Nothing frustrates an online shopper more than sending an e-mail to an address listed on a shopping site and waiting hours, days or interminably for a response.
To keep customers on the site, businesses must keep them in the loop. Good websites begin with a good design that is simple to use. The graphic design and content on the homepage should grab the consumer's attention, and the interior pages should be easy to navigate.
Information must be easily found and should be expressed in the "language" of the customer, rather than the company's internal lingo. Here are 10 simple tips to consider when deciding on how the site will look and how customers will navigate through it:.
The most important step merchants can take to sell almost any product online is to include a lot of photos. Online shoppers expect to see what a product looks like, especially since they can't pick it up and examine it before making their purchases.
Merchants should use photos showing their items from a variety of angles and, in some cases, position them next to something else to show the relative size a cell phone the size of a lipstick, a bench that's knee-high. There are several methods to open up a site to new visitors--search engines and e-mail communications have become popular choices in an online marketer's arsenal. Search engines. With hundreds or thousands of competitors, how can a business get its product upfront in online search engines?
Gaining a listing in the first page or two of a search engine's results is often considered the "Holy Grail" of e-commerce. So, how do merchants get to the front of search results? There are two approaches to ensuring that links to your company's website appear high on a search engine page: "natural search" and "paid search. To rank highly in natural search, the content on your company's website should include the keywords a consumer might type to search for what you offer.
These keywords should also be included in the links to your website from other websites. For example, if you own an online jewelry store, you may want your company's website to show up when a consumer searches for the words "diamond earrings. There are various strategies to improving your company's rank in natural search.
Most are legitimate, but there are some vendors that don't comply with the rules and regulations that the search engines have in place to ensure honest marketing. If you decide to work with a third-party to implement a natural-search strategy, be sure to check references, look at other companies they've worked with, and make sure they are forthright about their policies on working within search engine service agreements.
For paid searches, companies get to the top of search listings the old fashioned way--they buy their way there! A company called Overture, for example, allows businesses to suggest keywords that relate to their products and services, to create a description and even to choose a geographic area that they want to reach. The company's listing appears high in the results of search engines like Yahoo! One of the most popular search engines, Google, also has a cost-per-click pricing plan based on keywords.
Here, business listings called Sponsored Links with short descriptions appear next to the list of related search results, attracting attention and clicks. Business owners should explore a variety of search engines to see which kind of program works best for their products or services. E-Mail marketing. If done correctly, e-mail marketing can deepen customer relationships and add a personal touch to the sales process. Carried out improperly, an e-mail campaign can turn a customer off to your business forever.
E-mail newsletters for customers who "opt in" request or otherwise sign up for them are a terrific marketing tool for online businesses. A popular outdoor and camping-gear store, for example, sends its customers a newsletter with information on camping trips and outdoor activities.
As an incentive for opting in on the company's website, the store offers new subscribers a coupon for 10 percent off their next order.
In fact, e-mail newsletters commonly are used to promote special offers or discounts to their subscribers. They are an inexpensive way to place a company's brand and products in front of a highly receptive customer base that already has demonstrated interest by signing up for the newsletter. And because it's in digital form, the business has no printing charges for an unlimited number of newsletters, a big advantage over paper publications.
Now that your business has a plan and a strategy for its online store, what do you need to build it? Just as with a brick-and-mortar store, the first two lines on the checklist are a name and a location.
In cyberspace, they're usually the same thing. Keep in mind that most products must meet regulatory guidelines, so it's essential to know if a manufacturer is equipped to do that in your chosen industry. If you're ordering wholesale products, you need to know what kind of quality control they will undergo from their creation until they land on your doorstep.
Deadlines can be a big point of contention, so keep a clear line of communication open and have a plan of action for unexpected circumstances in your initial contract.
You will want to consider the future in every aspect of your business plan. From your initial negotiations with a supplier to hiring decisions, scalability absolutely should be in the forefront of your mind. You'll need to work with a manufacturing or wholesale facility that is prepared to do that with you. Beyond your physical product, the website platform you choose needs to be able to handle a greater volume of orders without losing any speed.
The frustration customers feel when websites don't load correlates directly with bounce rates. As your business grows, you'll likely reach global audiences, so make sure you also have a plan in place for accepting all types of currency, for international shipping, and for staying abreast of a variety of foreign regulations and tax laws. Loyal customers love to be immersed in the brands they love. When they walk into the quaint local shops they frequent they want to smell the smells, admire the perfect decor, snap selfies in front of interesting backdrops, and be greeted by friendly service people while they browse.
It's an experience. While the brick-and-mortar shop is not part of an e-commerce brand, the touchable, multisensory experience absolutely can and should be. The way to do this well is with exceptional service and the right kind of packaging. Successful e-commerce entrepreneurs will be on the lookout for packaging ideas that are more than just functional.
Your packaging should tell an entire story about the purchase inside that makes shoppers want to share that experience with their friends. Watch for trends with felt cartons, personalized notes, scented linings, and biodegradable boxes and bags.
More than anything, the packaging you choose should fit the overall mission behind your products. You want that moment of unboxing to be just as shareable as a beautiful mural on a store wall. A little extra investment in beautiful packaging upfront can result in the kind of viral marketing that money just can't buy. All good things are hard. Building a business might be one of the hardest. It's easy to get bogged down in frustration when your launch doesn't take off right away or your traffic plateaus, but if you don't keep trying, you are guaranteed to fail.
If one idea isn't working, it might be time to switch gears. As much as possible, arm yourself with data about the people you are trying to reach.
Customer surveys can go a long way in helping you replicate and build on positive results. Use this information to keep a solid plan with measurable goals in front of you and your team at all times. Always keep reaching for that next great idea, and don't give up. Boutique brands are being sold in million dollar deals all the time -- there's no reason you can't be next.
E-commerce is definitely a great space for entrepreneurs looking to get their feet wet.
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