4 Secrets For Managing A Successful eCommerce Business
/If the last two years have proven anything, it's that eCommerce is an industry that has an incredibly lucrative future. In fact, during the sweep of the pandemic across the globe, eCommerce is one of the only industries internationally that saw unprecedented growth.
Not only is the industry itself growing, but the tools, platforms, and associated solutions are also becoming more and more sophisticated and evolving, allowing for more growth in the industry itself. Indeed, eCommerce has an incredibly bright future.
So, are you looking to get into eCommerce? Or are you currently running your business but looking to grow in 2022? We took a look at some of the top ways you can successfully run your business this year, and what you need to get right to make it work. Let’s get stuck straight in.
Get Your Business Basics Right
One of the biggest mistakes most people make when starting an eCommerce store is forgetting that they are starting an actual business. A lot of attention is focused on the website, digital marketing, and products. But, business management principles are also essential. Think people management, finance management, and operational strategies.
So, when you start, create a guideline for yourself to get the basics right. Focus on your financial management as a start. You are going to need to consider things like taxes, business fees, and permits. You are also going to need to get business insurance. Now, you might wonder why. I don’t have a brick-and-mortar store, I don’t have clients and customers coming into it.
Online retailer insurance is critical for all eCommerce businesses. Whether you are dropshipping, or have a warehouse and supply chain, you will still need to protect your brand and the products you sell. Moreover, this will give you peace of mind and demonstrate to both clients and partners that you are trustworthy. Luckily, nowadays, you can purchase your business insurance coverage online in a matter of minutes.
Focus On Your Online Security
Cybercrime and online fraud are even more prevalent than most people think. And, they don’t only target huge corporations and organizations. They seek out and target vulnerable targets with lower defenses. So, spend some time ensuring that you are as protected as possible. What you need to keep in mind is that the cybercriminal is constantly evolving and that the cybercrime landscape is incredibly sophisticated.
So, what are you looking out for? Well, phishing scams are one of the biggest threats to smaller businesses, as well as the exploitation of remote workers. This is a very popular element of startups, due to the affordability of remote workers and the lack of office overheads. But, the fact is that it does open your business up to a plethora of online threats.
Luckily, there are several great solutions for you to choose from. There are a large number of security tools and partners which have elegant and updated tools to assist you in protecting yourself from online threats.
Consider Amazon Web Services, for example. AWS provides you with the confidence to run your business safely by providing the most secure cloud computing environment today. You just need to bear in mind that if you start using AWS, you’ll be required numerous security credentials, like an AWS access key ID to make programmatic calls to AWS, for instance.
Spend Time Perfecting Your Landing Pages
Let’s take a look at your website now. Your website is your calling card, your brand representative, and your sales platform. It should be optimized to convert as many visitors to paying customers as possible.
So, it is well worth your time conducting a full UX exercise while you are creating it. You will need to map out the journey that the customer is going to take through your site and ensure that each stage is optimized for them to want to convert.
Take your product pages, for example. You are going to need to ensure that these have several basic elements:
High quality, yet web-optimized images;
Simple, yet highly descriptive product descriptions that sell;
Eye-catching and well-placed CTAs;
Vital information like shipping information, added fees, and payment instructions;
Other customer reviews;
Any additional information the customer will need to know before moving on to the payment process.
Each page needs to be carefully thought out and laid out to direct the customer to the sales funnel. It also needs to be SEO optimized for your online store to be found in Google searches. So, make sure your descriptions have enough information in them, as well as have the relevant keywords.
Measure, Monitor, Track and Test Everything
Many companies forget or fail to do this to their detriment. When you create a website, you need to constantly check whether what you are doing is working. Are you generating traffic to your site? Where is your traffic coming from? How is it behaving on your site? Where is it dropping off?
Google Analytics is a great tool for you to keep an eye on what is happening on your site. Have you launched a new campaign and want to see if it is bringing in any views? Well, this tool allows you to track this kind of information and see what is working for your site and what is not. You are also able to track what pages are working and which aren’t for your customers. So, if you see a large amount of drop-off on one page, you can ascertain what is wrong with that page and fix it.
There are also other great tools like HotJar that allow you to monitor what is happening on your page. Which buttons do people click more? How far do they scroll down? What is catching their eye more? With this information, you can continuously update your page to ensure that it is optimized for your customer journey. Lastly, A/B test everything.
The Bottom Line
Keep in mind that your business needs to serve the needs of your customers. When you are creating a site, you are creating something that they want. So, make sure that you are constantly checking in with them when formatting your company.
