Ever since the pandemic of 2019, the sudden shift in businesses to the eCommerce industry has been exponential, to say the least.
In order to survive in a contact-free world, merchants have had to seriously consider changing their business strategies and move into a world that for most, are nothing short of an audacious move.
So, it’s understandable that a lot of these merchants new to the eCommerce world are foundering and are unable to figure out how they should carry out their business in this sudden competitive environment.
Noticing that merchants have to close shop because they don’t fully understand how the business works in an eCommerce world; we as Shopify Experts and Shopify Plus Developers from Singapore talk about how to take your eCommerce business online right from scratch.
Below mentions the necessary points required to build a sustainable eCommerce business. Once they have been mentioned, we will discuss each point in detail:
- Research
- Build your Store and make it eCommerce ready
- Be discoverable
- Bring in traffic
- Evaluate your position
1. Research
As per unctad.org, the eCommerce boom from 2019 to 2020 in the US was from $598 Billion to $791.7 Billion. This value is only growing as each year passes.
Given that you as the merchant might already have had an offline business of your own, the process of taking your business online might turn out to be different.
Here you must:
- Evaluate the viability of taking your offline business online
- Understand online inventory management
- Determine your product pricing
What the above pointers mean is that you should know if there is potential for sales of your product in the online market.
Inventory management in an offline store might have been easy to keep track of, but in the online market, sales happen 24×7, which means tracking your inventory can become a challenge. What you as the merchant can do for example, in terms of online inventory management, is to provide countdown timers on your product when it’s running low on stock. Hence, you never promise a delivery that you cannot manage.
When you open up a new market for your products by taking your business online, you should evaluate whether you should change your pricing strategy based on the new opportunities and risks. It’s very possible that your online store will cost you much less to maintain than your previous offline store. This means you can lower your prices or keep them the same and enjoy better profits. But, you may want to consider changing your pricing strategy to take advantage of the new opportunities and minimize the new risks (Ex: Abandoned Carts).
2. Build your Store and make it eCommerce ready
Now that you have validated your need for an online store, you need to focus on building your new online store. This process includes:
- Choosing the right eCommerce platform for your business
- Determine a name for your new online store
- Designing your new online store
You could choose any eCommerce platform that you see fit for your business. Do some research beforehand and decide which platform gives your company the most mileage.
Domain names are like storefronts. They can be a differentiator for your business and choose the right domain name as it represents your brand. It’s the first impression about your store for customers.
Choosing the right eCommerce website development agency is of utmost importance unless you plan to design the website by yourself. Find out who is best suited for designing your website and remember to check out their portfolio.
If you choose Shopify as your eCommerce platform, consider speaking to us as we as we are one of the most coveted Shopify development agencies out there.
3. Be discoverable
Being discoverable is the make or break point of your store. In this huge online marketplace, you must carve a niche for yourself that will make customers visit your store. And once they do so, it’s of utmost importance that you hold on to them.
What you can do:
- Keep your store Search Engine Optimization (SEO) friendly.
- Setup a Google my Business page
- Have a Social Media presence
In your SEO, keep all relevant information about your business tagged so that Google’s search engine bots know who you are and what you do. Trust me, Google does this for a living! Keep all information about your store like who you are, where you are, and what you sell ready for google to absorb.
Google my business pages are simple to create and bring you plenty of traffic. Plus, customers can google your name and know where to find you. This also acts as proof that your business is legit.
Keeping your Social Media presence online is social proof that you are a genuine brand interested in selling your items. Word of mouth is still the fastest mode of advertising your brand. And people love to review businesses. Make sure, your social media presence is there so you can also update your channel with the latest inventory so your followers don’t miss a thing!
4. Bring in Traffic
With your Social Media presence active and people knowing who you are. Keep your website as clean as possible with a clear Call to Action (CTA). The customer would never be lost on your website. Know that you are now in a digital world where the confines of your offline store don’t matter anymore. It’s easy for a customer to get lost in your store and if they realize they can’t find the item they’re looking for, they are sure to bounce from your site. As per statistics, a lost customer is probably not going to come back to your website again. This means a potential buyer was lost because your site was not organized properly.
Being organized is not the only objective here. Your site must be responsive too. It’s an old statistic that most customers bounce from sites that take too long to respond to. In fact, 40% of consumers will wait no more than three seconds before abandoning a site.
5. Evaluate your position
Now that your website site is up and running with the proper presence all over the internet. It’s time to check how many people have landed on your site and what their behavior patterns were. This will tell you if you need to invest in advertising. Today’s online advertising costs way less than renting a hoarding. Along with that, in the old days, you couldn’t say how many people saw your hoarding, but in the digital world, there is the count of every person who has engaged with your advertising along with details on what their response was.
Some things you should keep an eye out for to manage your online eCommerce business:
- Organic traffic acquired
- Abandoned Cart rate
- Email clickthrough rate
- Reach and Engagements
If this article motivates you to consider having an online store, it’s absolutely mandatory that you speak with an expert like us, who will guide you the right way into the process of having an online eCommerce business.
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