It’s cheaper and easier to get into eCommerce than ever before. It’s also becoming the preferred method of shopping for consumers. Over the holiday, shoppers opted to buy online rather than fight the crowds in brick-and-mortar stores. Analytics research firm RetailNext reported overall sales up over twenty percent online at 1.73 billion during Thanksgiving while spending in physical stores fell ten percent over the holiday weekend.
If you are looking at starting an online store, there may be no better time to launch as the e-commerce economy is expected to continue its upward trajectory and rapid growth. Here are some keys to launching your own successful eCommerce business.
1. Find a niche
Find a group of people who are searching for a solution to a problem but not finding many results. The internet makes this kind of market research easy. Visit online forums to see what questions people ask and what problems they’re trying to solve. Check out other companies by visiting their site. Then you can use what you’ve learned to create a unique product to drive market demand.
2. Don’t force the launch
One of the biggest mistakes is forcing the launch of the website. Have all the implementation materials ready before hand and map out a timeline. This will save you a lot of stress and make the launch go smoother. If you purchased a custom domain throw up a “Coming Soon” page, this give you the time needed to launch the site.
3. Test everything
Before, during and after the launch test everything and run test orders. Think like the purchaser and figure out what’s working and what’s not. Make the appropriate changes to make the shopping experience as simple as possible for the shopper.
4. Drive traffic with SEO
Driving traffic to your by increasing search engine optimization. As ecommerce continues to experience rapid growth, more and more businesses will be entering this space and it’s more important to stay on top of SEO.
5. Go Mobile
If you aren’t building your e-commerce site with mobile in mind, you may be irrelevant in 3-5 years. More users are comfortable ordering with their phones and tablets. Mobile sales are expected to jump from $204 billion to $626 billion in 2018.
6. Incorporate Social
It’s a good idea to include social elements on an ecommerce site. Things like products reviews and follow buttons and social login options all help to create the online experience.
7. Continue to Evolve
Technology, trend, and taste change so continue to change with the times and be one step ahead of the curve. Updating the site whether a rebranding or simply refreshing the messages, products mix and images.
