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How to Make Your Small E-Commerce Business Stand Out and Succeed
E-commerce is an incredibly competitive business. There are over 110,000 websites out there making meaningful revenue, and among these are some of the biggest, most powerful companies in the world. How is a budding e-commerce business to stand out amongst the likes of giants such as Amazon, Walmart, and eBay?
The good news is that it is possible, and the market for e-commerce continues to grow exponentially every day. However, you will need to think smart and use the right strategies to make sure your customers can find you among the crowd of competitors.
Pick a Niche
Niches are the lifeblood of small companies. Unless you have the resources of a big company, it doesn’t make sense to advertise to the general public — you want to identify the specific subset of people who are likely to buy from you.
You can identify your niche in a few easy steps. To get started, list your passions and interests, figure out which problems you can solve, research your competition, and assess how profitable your niche is likely to be. You may then want to test it by setting up a landing page for your business, paying for online advertising, and gauging interest.
Refine Your Brand
Independent businesses don’t have household names to rely on, so they need to build a strong brand from scratch. A strong brand is more than a logo; as well as a consistent visual identity, the components of a strong brand include your purpose, your promise to the consumer, your target market, and a marketing strategy. All of these have to be clearly defined before you even start selling, as they will guide everything you do.
Nail Your Pricing Strategy
Better prices are among the top reasons why people shop online. You may not be able to outprice Amazon, but you can make sure your pricing strategy is consistent. Are you a budget option or something more premium? Remember, if your products cost more, there needs to be a clear reason why, whether that’s higher quality or strong brand affiliation.
Whatever you do, don’t try to undercut your prices just to compensate with at checkout with higher shipping fees — this is the number one reason customers abandon a shopping cart.
Brush Up on SEO
If you are going to run an ecommerce business, you have to know the basics of search engine optimization (SEO). At the very least, you should work to produce high-quality content for your website to drive traffic and learning to use specific keywords to rank better on search engines. There are several free keyword research tools you can use to get you started.
Delegate and Automate
When you start out, chances are you will be doing everything. However, as you grow, always leave room in your budget to delegate and automate the tasks that you are not an expert on. Some, like graphic design, content writing, and admin support, can easily be done by people seeking freelance jobs — just make sure to use a quality jobs board. Other, more complex tasks, like designing a marketing strategy and in-depth SEO, are best done by a professional agency like Baytech Companies. There are also many tasks that can easily be automated with the right software, such as email marketing, social media planning, or inventory management.
More and more people are shopping online these days, and more and more people are willing to shop around to find what they want. This not only means that there is a huge demand for e-commerce businesses, but they also shouldn’t be intimidated by the bigger players in their industries. With the right strategies and approach, your target audience will find you.
