Starting your own business can be a nerve-wracking experience. Not only is your pride and your dreams sunk into a business, but also your financial stability. Needless to say, anyone who starts their own company is often very apprehensive and (hopefully) has been planning it for a while.
Starting an e-commerce website is no different. Even if you have a successful, brick and mortar business already up and running, taking that success and translating it online can be tricky. At this point though, most companies just don’t have a choice. The e-commerce industry continues to expand at a breakneck pace, and if you want your business to succeed in general, you have to take it online.
To do that, and do it successfully, here are 5 ways you can help make your e-commerce website more successful.
1. Don’t rush the launch
We understand this temptation: you’ve been working for months on a plan. You have a domain purchased and design at the ready, and it’s almost there and your itching to start posting about it to social media platforms, but this is where you should stop and reassess.
You only have one chance to launch your e-commerce website, so make sure you do it right. JJ’s House manager Jason ran into the same temptation when they launched www.jjshouse.com.
“It was torture not to launch, but in the end, it was best for our business, since we realized the website wasn’t 100% there yet. Instead, we took a bit more time and put up a ‘Coming Soon’ page instead. When we did launch, it was perfecting,” Jason says.
2. Test everything
Following what Jason said, launching a website is all about making sure everything works perfectly. Savvy web shoppers are unforgiving when it comes to a struggling or malfunctioning website. Before you launch any new products or pages, double and triple check all the functions, wording, and links so that you know that everything is working as it should.
3. Put your user experience first
Remember that your shoppers are unable to see, feel, or try on your products before buying them, so you need to get them as close to the experience as you can. When selling clothing like VeryVoga, their manager Yvonne holds to a few rules:
“Information is power. Give them details on length, fit, and fabric. Tell them how tall the model is and what size she’s wearing. Show the clothing out in the world and in videos. You should give your clients more information, not less so that you don’t end up with a ton of returns,” she says.
4. Focus on market dynamics
Market dynamics, defined as the factors which effect the supply and demand of products in a market, are as important to economics as they are to practical business application. It is crucial to know what your customers need and adjust your business model timely. Jason says, “Knowing and understanding customer needs is at the centre of every successful business. When we found wedding dress only cannot meet customers’ demand, we started to shelf variety of flower girl dresses, junior bridesmaid dresses and other wedding clothing. Knowing the approximate budget range of our customers, we added price filter and supplied cheap clothing like cheap flower girl dresses. It turns out to be inspiring”
5.Work your social media accounts
Your e-commerce website is not a silo. Incorporate your Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter accounts into the website and use each platform to funnel more traffic through each other.
6. Make it mobile
Your e-commerce website should be 100% mobile responsive. It should offer a genuine mobile experience that is seamless, accessible, and just as visually striking as your browser experience. Most online shoppers are using mobile devices first to visit an e-commerce website (especially if you’re pushing it through social media), so make sure they land on a page built for them and nothing they have to zoom and scroll about it to read product descriptions.
