There's more to running an Ecommerce store than just buying products, a website, and waiting for the sales to roll in.
You probably know this already, but expecting an Ecommerce website to run itself is commercial lunacy. From making sure your stock is of good quality to securing a safe and effective delivery service, running a shop online is in many ways harder than running one on the High Street.
Standing out on the online High Street is much more difficult too. This High Street is much larger and more diverse, and unless you are well established and famous, what you're selling ought to be something that simply cannot be found anywhere else.
Running an Ecommerce store as a side line
If your business is successful in its own right, then the success of the your ecommerce store may not be as imperative as a business that is exclusively eCom. Even so, not following marketing principles can be a missed opportunity.
Many successful ecommerce ventures begin as side lines to the main services of the business. Taking time to think about the many opportunities out there in your sector, and fill a need that no other product can, often leads to immense rewards.
Whichever way you run your Ecommerce business, here are six essential tips for running an online store.
1 - Make the process simple
From choosing a product to paying for it and having it delivered, the act of buying what you sell should be as easy as possible. Using a simple and no-nonsense payment system, and having a simple and self-explanatory structure to your shop, will result in more sales overall.
Better still, minimising snags, extra charges and delays makes the transaction more enjoyable for your customers. The easier you make it to purchase your products the more you will sell.
2 - Support your customers
Not every transaction will run smoothly. Whether the product has a defect or there's a hitch in the delivery, making sure your customers are happy is paramount. One poor review can enormously damage an online business. Even if it is a tough pill to swallow, appeasing an awkward customer, even if it results in a loss, will usually be worthwhile in the long run.
Deciding when to stand your ground against difficult customers is a personal business decision of course, but in most circumstances, you can let a suspicion slide for the sake of overall public relations.
3 - Keep an accurate inventory
Keeping track of how much stock you have may seem obvious, but it can be very difficult to do in practice. If you have large amounts of stock, or products in a range of different colours and sizes, for example, you may suddenly be unable to fulfil an order if you don't have a tried and tested system for keeping track of stock levels of all your items.
Organising your stock levels, whether it's digitally or mechanically, so you know how many of each that you have, will save you time and money in the future.
4 - Have a clear shipping and returns policy
Having shipping timings clearly laid out on the website sets customer expectations straight away about how and when their order will arrive. This is highly important for managing shipping questions, and gives both you and your customers an idea of whether the product is on time, or whether they need to ask about its location.
Having a reliable and consistent shipper and delivery service is all-important in this too.
5 - Market your products
This is the most important thing of all. Making sure people really want your products, with advertising, promoting, and product placement, is vital to your ecommerce success. Unless your product is unique, well-known, and in high demand people will not come to your shop automatically, even if it has perfect SEO.
Promoting your products through social media, sponsorship, or advertising is what will make the difference in your ecommerce success.
6 - Use data
While you are making sales, and running your online store, you may have a sense of which products are selling most, but sitting down and studying these numbers is paramount to ecommerce success. Which products give the best profit margins? What are you selling most of? Is there a cheaper supplier, or a faster way to make a product, that could improve margins? Which products are your customers asking most about?
Always remember with customer data to use it responsibly, and store it securely at all times, as per General Data Protection Regulations.
How DotGO can help
By providing a versatile and reliable ecommerce platform, DotGO gives you a head start in your ecommerce venture. We make it easy for you to link to product pages, add enticing and unique descriptions, and add shipping and delivery rules.
Our stores are easy for customers to use as well as for yourself to add and amend products. Why not give our team a call if you are interested in starting an ecommerce website?
Why settle for second best?
Get an online shop to be proud of.
Our brilliant team of dedicated designers and content writers work closely with you to determine the precise needs of your online business, keeping you in the loop throughout and producing a stunning ecommerce website that works hard for your business.
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