It is the nature of things now when it comes to retail, the vast majority of stores are now moving from a physical presence to an online one. It is a trend that every business is following, from the older, more established companies to the brand new startups. The very nature of e-commerce has increased the demand for product more than ever before. We require an item to be delivered as soon as possible after clicking on the checkout icon. So, if you are a new store making its way online, here are some industry best practices you should know about.
Strong marketing USPs
Why Your Online Store Needs a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) to Thrive
An incredibly important aspect of e-commerce is marketing. You need to figure out your USP against the other, potentially hundreds of different e-commerce websites, all with the same goal as you. And less you are marketing your own specific products this can be a potentially difficult task. A couple of ideas can include rewriting the product descriptions to give your own unique spin on them, or take your own images of the products. Understanding who your competitors are, not just in your own marketplace, but in comparison to any websites that operate with the same keywords as you will help you to better prepare an SEO strategy. You can search for a keyword that you are wishing to establish yourself in on a standard search engine and you can compare the results. If you see slick and well-designed web pages, you will know how much effort you need to put in to make your business stand out.
The right eCommerce platform
How to Choose the Right Platform for Your Online Shop
From a technical approach, there are many systems that are built on redundant code. Going down this route, there is a likelier chance of slower page loading times, which can translate to a loss of customers. Therefore, choose a system that is either popular and reliable or well supported by e-commerce WordPress plugins such as Jigoshop. Or if you are trying to avoid code, you can go down the hosted platform route, such as Shopify, which gives you a monthly plan depending on the amount of items that you wish to sell.
Effective anti-virus software
How to Protect Your Ecommerce Store from Payment Fraud
Computer issues are a very common thing now due to computer viruses rogue software, so you need to make sure that your systems are up to date and you are employing the best antivirus software that your business can afford. One slip up in the virus stakes could mean a decrease of custom, or even worse, customers’ details being stolen. Thanks to credit card machines being more portable in its nature and card machine suppliers catering especially for ecommerce, it has now become much easier to accept payments online.
Understand your target customers
Why it pays to profile your customers
The final piece of the puzzle is your customer base. They are your key to understanding how to sell better, so use them. Customer feedback is a very common approach to helping businesses self-improve, and people like to give feedback, whether it is good or very, very bad! Establishing trust with your customers is what will help you progress as a brand.