E-commerce is evolving  faster then ever with the rise of mobile commerce or m-commerce and  its critical to stay current with the latest technologies that could impact your ecommerce website or online business. Its time review your eCommerce strategies and get ready to take your business to the next level. More and more businesses are expanding online and almost any product or service is available via the click of a button or the swipe of a finger. What’s more, studies show online customers are exceedingly loyal , perhaps even more so than customers who shop in-store. The 10 tips below are a summary of some important aspects to succeed in your ecommerce business.
Image Above: Global ecommerce Growth Chart by Continent.
Ecommerce presents countless opportunities for retailers and brands, so businesses seeking to take advantage of the benefits must also address some tough decisions like site design, mobile and social media marketing strategies, customer service and product pricing, to name a few.
Lets Review These Top 10 Tips to Improve Ecommerce Strategy & How to Best Achieve Your Goals for Your Online BusinessÂ
1.Optimize Your  User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI)  – A well designed ecommerce website that is easy to use and provides all the required information at the click of a button is crucial to attract and retain a customer. Test often and improve constantly using A/B testing and get user feedback !
2. Pretend You’re a Customer – Test your own website. This would give you an insight on how to improve the shopping experience on your website.  Is your conversion below 5% ? Then you must improve your site’s user experience (UX) and user interface (UI)
3. Speak With Your Customers – Nothing compares to actual customer feedback and interacting with customers as both store management and as customer will tell you exactly how you can improve your site functionality.
4. Social Media and Content Marketing – It is time to jump on the Social media bandwagon. Once again it allows you to get in touch with your customers or potential ones. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, are some of the most popular channels that can bring you instant exposure to your customers. Content is the key to any successful internet marketing strategy. Every online business can benefit from developing a strong content marketing plan.
5. Gear up for M-Commerce – Smartphone users are increasingly using their mobile phones and tablets to shop. In fact consumers regularly use their smartphones in-store to find a better deal online and compare prices. A responsive website, which conforms to the display screen of mobile devices  (Tablets , ipads, iphones, smartphones ) with easy to use interface is must have for any eCommerce businesses. Keep it simple !
6. Use Customer Loyalty Schemes & Incentives – Promotions, discounts, free shipping, loyalty and other incentives really work for your website. Use them to your advantage to build your customer base and drive sales. Similar to frequent flier miles marketing used by Airlines for decades now to attract loyalty among customers. It works !
7. Analyze Your Competitors – Constantly keep track of other ecommerce websites who you are competing and adjust your ecommerce strategy to keep abreast of trends. Savvy competitors will help you stay up-to-date with emerging technologies and keep your strategy current in the global ecommerce marketplace.
8. Customer Service with Streamlined Order Processing – A robust Inventory control system based on a  Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)  software platform and a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system to manage customer orders and any issues that may arise is must for efficiency. Enabling great customer service by delivering orders on time are crucial to your ecommerce business. For example, Zappos proved excellent customer service was the key to  success by achieving over $1 billion in sales despite stiff competition from Amazon and other big brands. The online shoes ecommerce market is one of the toughest to compete in and Zappos is #1 !
9. International Expansion Strategy – Only small percentages of the world’s online customers are willing to shop in unfamiliar territory so make it as easy as possible for them to do it successfully. If your products and services are of global appeal, make sure you have local websites for your customers. Have you implemented localization and other languages yet ? Do you know where your website visitors come from ?
10. Shopping Feeds, Affiliates and Marketplaces– Submitting  your products to Google Base (Google Product Listing Ads ), Yahoo Shopping, Amazon.com, Shopzilla, PriceGrabber, Shopping.com and  other major shopping channels is a must for getting additional visitors to boost your overall sales.  Marketplaces and affiliate networks will help you to increase traffic and sales on your site by exposing your site to a wider audience and improving your overall presence relatively fast.
Incorporate these tips into your ecommerce strategy and revise your strategy to improve your Key performance indicators (KPIs) . By constantly improving, your ecommerce business with our Magento Expert developers are sure to stay fresh and continue to grow
