Nowadays setting up an eCommerce site is a simple task. You can hire a developer to build it beautifully or have a go at it yourself. Either way it do...
Nowadays setting up an eCommerce site is a simple task.
You can hire a developer to build it beautifully or have a go at it yourself. Either way it doesn’t take away from the hard part.![Iblesoft Iblesoft](http://blog.iblesoft.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/designed-for-success.png)
Setting your online store up for success is of crucial importance, but it can be daunting.
If you are an entrepreneur looking to gain from your online store then it is indispensable that you pay attention to some of these basic factors for success.
It all starts with a good plan
Until or unless you start with a good plan alongside other promotional strategies, then it may be close to impossible to gain the success you are aiming for. Oftentimes businesses fail to create a reasonable and workable business strategy prior to building their project. Without a strategy you are setting yourself up for failure in business, not success. Therefore, before you take the next step or even before you build your online store, plan it out.
Believe it or not a business plan will help you with way more than figuring out how to make more money. A business plan helps:
- Map out the future – understand your business better, chart specific courses of action to improve business and plan how to best operate within your market.
- Support growth and secure funding – a plan can help you convey your online store’s future to prospective investors and help them feel confident in you and your business.
- Develop and communicate a course of action – assign milestones to specific individuals and ultimately help monitor progress.
What you sell matters
Your products are the heart of your online store. If you are selling something that your customers can’t find anywhere else, then your chances of gaining success will be significantly increased. However, if you are running an online store that sells the same kind of products that others big players in the market are also selling then it may be difficult to reach your target. So, before you start your online store focus on your odds and try to add a twist to your products or services.
Don’t expect people to stumble upon your site
It is unrealistic to think that once your online store launches that it will be visited by millions. So, do not assume you’ll be making millions at the blink of an eye. The web is so big and there are already plenty of sites that are also in the race to reach millions of visitors and equal in revenue. Therefore, it is important that you focus on building your site’s popularity on search engines and making it easily accessible to customers through marketing.
Marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) allows a smaller store to compete with a larger store. This goes back to starting with a good business plan. Within that plan you have to include marketing strategies. When working with an eCommerce platform it’s imperative to focus on online marketing strategies such as ads, blogging, social media profiles, e-mail marketing and so on. But the most critical strategy to gain visitors are search engine marketing and optimization which adds your website to a list of search engine results.
Respond to your customers
Customers would like to receive prompt responses from their service provider. A small delay in response may irritate them and cause them move on to some other service provider. So, make sure to be available for them at any time. This is the reason why successful online businesses provide 24/7 services for their customers.
It also helps to know a customer by name, understand their needs or preferences and provide them customized and personalized services. This will lead to a strong rapport between you and your customers. In time it’ll increase customer loyalty which never hurts.
Going mobile quick
A sure way to lose potential customers is by having a slow website response. Website speed is an important factor for online business success. However, an online store business has a harder time with this due to all of the images and media on one page. As online shopping increases not only through desktops but mobiles as well it is important to make your site mobile friendly and fast. Missing out on mobile sales because of a slow or unresponsive website can cost your business millions. Therefore, targeting the mobile demographic is necessary to build success. Find out What’s Slowing Down Your eCommerce Site here.
Improve the check out proccess
Once you have a responsive and fast website set up, then you have to focus on improving the customer experience. One way to do that is having a secure and simple checkout process. In order for your customers to feel confident in buying from your online store, especially with the insecurity of data leakage lately, then security is necessary. Make sure you use a reliable check out process. In order to help you can:
- Use autofill for returning customers and have an easy login.
- Increase conversion rates with a simple check out with less clicks.
- Make the checkout button easy to find and a different color from the continue shopping button.
- Make sure the credit cards and forms of payment that you accept are clearly stated before a purchase is made to avoid confusion.
Delivering goods & service
Customers want to receive your products as described on the site and well within the time specified. It is certainly a big responsibility to deliver goods both in a good condition and on time to every single customer. If you can meet your customers’ expectations then increasing sales can be a simple task. Always follow-up with confirmations, listen to their feedback and if they have any problems then solve them efficiently. By building trust, your customers are more likely to come back and recommend your site to others too.
Above all, offer your customers the best online shopping experience possible. Take advantage of mobile commerce and the eCommerce boom that won’t be slowing down anytime soon. If you are looking to improve you online store or move onto mobile commerce, then Contact Iblesoft Today. We offer eCommerce solutions for all industries and guarantee customer satisfaction.
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