Ecommerce has become the future for business. While ecommerce began in 1982 with Boston Computer Exchange, an online marketplace where people sold used computers, the story we know and love is one of an online bookstore in 1995 that grew into the supergiant that we know as Amazon. Jeff Bezos opened a whole new world for us and completely transformed the way we shop, and his continued ability to pivot in challenging situations, such as the pandemic, and anticipate trends that improved his sales, such as same and next day delivery, has not only impacted customers but influenced change throughout the industry.
Similarly, social media networks, smartphone technology and the internet have massively impacted the way we live, work and communicate. Back in 1995, an advertisement in a local newspaper was enough to have queues outside of shops that snaked around the high streets. Fast forward to today, a print ad in a newspaper will likely be seen by 1% of the population and end up as tinder, or lining a pet’s tray: useless, really. So, like Amazon, we must pivot, evolve and anticipate while keeping the business lean, efficient and growing. Here are some tips and tricks to increase your ecommerce sales and grow your business.
This is the case with any business; if people don’t know you exist, they cannot buy from you. In 1995, a print ad would have been one of the best places to connect with and inform a target customer base, but in today’s world it’s a lot more complicated. For B2C businesses, you have to think about where your customer base is, what social networks they are on, what times are they more likely to engage, what influencers they follow, and you have to cast a wide net. But for B2B e-commerce businesses, it’s a little more targeted. While brand awareness is about casting a wide net, you have to think about the right messaging that will connect with a business-based customer, and which of the social networks they will be on, but also what other content they consume that you can sponsor to get your brand advised on it, and what events they attend so that you may be able to have a pop-up shop there. Yes, increasing your advertising budget will also get you good results, but not all ecommerce businesses have the option to throw more money into the pot so this is why brand awareness needs to become more creative.
Now that we’ve established that we need to go where the customers are, you also have to engage with them. Social media has changed the way that we interact with brands, and businesses now have to engage with customers to get them to stay connected and engaged with you, and you have to do this across every form of communication and touchpoint you have with your customers. This personalised engagement will also improve your customer service, which will improve your brand’s equity and the relationship with customers, which turns them into brand ambassadors which in turn increases your brand awareness to their networks and increases sales. Everyone wants to buy from a company with a good reputation for stellar customer service.
Unlike any other business model, everything with e-commerce is traceable with data. This makes decision making a breeze because there is no more speculation or guesswork; the proof of what works and what doesn’t is right there in the data. You can pull reports on which product or service sells better and understand why. It might be that at a particular time of year, your customers are likely to purchase a surplus of an item in comparison to the rest of the year, or they may only purchase at a certain time of year. With data obtained from TradePeg’s software, you can clearly map out your best sellers, worst sellers, seasonal sellers, and also look at a customer or a group of customers to understand their needs in order to anticipate future requirements and drive your own offering development.
Testing is one of the most important ways to properly understand what drives your customers to purchase, but it also tells whether your platform is easy to use for your customers. Customer experience is so very important when it comes to developing an e-commerce business. It informs your platform development team of what’s working and what’s not, which will lead to improving the platform itself to improve the customer’s experience on your ecommerce shop front, which will improve your conversion rates. A solid customer experience with a desired product or service offering will lead to enhanced conversion rates.
TradePeg’s inventory management software solution offers powerful enterprise-grade features to mid-market wholesale and B2B/B2C multichannel e-commerce businesses at a value point suitable for SMEs. Our suite is built entirely in-house, continually evolving to meet customer requirements, allowing you to handle all of your business’ requirements and collaborate with stakeholders using a centralised and integrated platform. TradePeg’s order management software works to streamline your operations, maximise efficiency and reduce errors while seamlessly integrating with your favourite accounting software, carriers and marketplaces.
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