How to boost your e-commerce business in 2021
How to boost your e-commerce business in 2021
In 2020, we witnessed an unprecedented acceleration of online sales resulting from the COVID-19 global pandemic, as online shopping became the new normal. Now more than ever, eCommerce stores need to work tirelessly to stand out from the crowd, calling for unique and effective eCommerce marketing strategies to be implemented.
Each minute that passes, savvy customers access discount codes via apps, follow influencers on social platforms, click on Facebook ads, read promotional emails, compare shopping marketplaces, and spend billions online.
To capture your customer’s attention in a digital world filled with unrelenting noise, you need to be on top of the eCommerce marketing trends and strategies for the year, which besides from gaining traction, are also the most likely to raise sales for your business. Let’s dive in and discuss how we recommend tackling e-commerce business in 2021.
1: Focus on your existing customers
The fundamentals of good business practice, much like the drivers of effective advertising, remain constant. It is only the way in which companies engage with their consumers that evolves and shifts over time.
As an e-commerce business owner, your most significant expense is customer acquisition. A lot of time and money needs to be invested in driving traffic and fresh leads to your website. Your ability to retain your customers can ultimately determine your success.
When it comes to those who have already made a purchase, things get a lot easier, with studies showing that a repeat customer will spend 67% more on your website and has a conversion rate of up to 20%.
How do you retain your customers? Through excellent customer service. Customer feedback is critical, so make sure you review this. If you are getting regular complaints about damaged goods, improve the packaging quality, or look for an alternative delivery provider. Excellent customer service should be a top priority for any e-commerce business.
2: Optimise your on-site experience to boost your e-commerce business in 2021
Chances are most of your customers will come to you via your website, and as such, it’s essential to provide your customers with the best on-site experience while making the most money from each customer as possible. There are two parts to this equation, and mastering both can often be a formula for success.
First off, let’s focus on the customer experience. Use an analytics tool to review how people are behaving your website. For example, Google Analytics provides you with invaluable information such as how much time people spend on your site, what pages they visit, and where they leave your site.
These insights can be used to optimise your site’s structure – this involves making sure your menu is well laid out, and there are links between your content. Optimising the user flow of your webpage will provide your potential customers with the best possible experience.
Secondly, you should be looking to increase the average order value and decrease your cart abandonment rate. You can increase the average order value by upselling and cross-selling to your customers while reducing your cart abandonment rate by setting up a cart abandonment email sequence.
An effective conversion rate optimisation strategy generates progressive profit-boosting improvements to your site. Through A/B or multivariate testing, you can see which version of a page is performing optimally. Testing these changes can ensure you provide site visitors with the best browsing experience possible.
3: Invest in disruptive technologies
As certain as the sun rising each day, we know new trends are bound to emerge and disrupt how we engage with our audience and generate sales. It’s the early adopters of these disruptive technologies that usually see the largest gains.
For instance, Instagram, many companies that joined the platform early and acquired a large following profited from their followers. TikTok went through this same boom in 2019 – so what will be next? Keep your finger on the pulse when it comes to disruptive technologies that could impact your sector. Become an early adopter where possible; it could be a game-changer for you.
Disruptive technologies don’t always shake up the market in the way you imagine or the extent, you predicted. However, when a new way to connect with your audience appears, the businesses that learn how to monetise the medium first generally reap the biggest rewards.
4: Outsource expertise support
Social media for business can have its own set of rules and be its own animal. By outsourcing social media services, you have access to an expert with a fresh perspective, an unbiased entity, separate from the company, which can be extremely enlightening.
As an e-commerce business, if you’re not tapping into the revenue streams that can grow your brand, you’re at risk of fizzling out. Instead of trying to dedicate hours each week to something outside of your own wheelhouse, you should have a social media guru working for you.
Your online store needs visibility to succeed and grow, making social media marketing pivotal to achieving this. Get the right team behind you to ensure you’re getting the best results from your campaigns.
A healthy combination of these tips could see your e-commerce business thrive in 2021. The world around us is changing rapidly, those who can adapt to emerging trends as soon as possible will always dominate the market.
How to boost your e-commerce business in 2021 is a feature post
