The e-commerce industry has become a major part of the economy. According to Statista, the e-commerce market in the United States generated $942 billion in sales in 2018 and is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2022. In addition, online shopping is growing at more than 12% annually.
Given these numbers, it’s no surprise that many entrepreneurs want to start an e-commerce business. However, before you do so, consider these tips for running a successful e-commerce business that you must look into.
Create a Simple and User-Friendly E-Commerce Website
A user-friendly interface is key to a successful online business. It’s vital to ensure that your users can navigate your website easily, find products and information, and get necessary customer service resources.
To create a successful e-commerce business, your website needs to be top-notch. There are a few things you need to keep in mind when creating your site.
Firstly, ensure that the design is simple and minimalist. You don’t want visitors getting distracted by flashy elements on the page. It will just distract them from what they came for in the first place.
Then, make the website easy to navigate. If visitors can’t find what they want quickly, they’re going to leave and never come back again. Setting up categories and subcategories on relevant pages helps customers browse by type instead of searching through hundreds of different products.
Lastly, ensure that it’s easy-to-read text throughout the website. This includes product descriptions so customers can see what they’re getting before purchasing anything.
Provide Good Customer Service
One of the most crucial factors in a successful e-commerce business is providing good customer service. Your customers should be able to contact you 24/7 and have their issues solved quickly, easily, and in a friendly manner.
You can provide this by having:
- A customer service phone line with representatives trained to handle any question or problem that might come up.
- An email address for inquiries that aren’t urgent but still require your attention.
- Live chat or text messaging option so that your customers can connect with you instantly at any time of day or night.
Training is necessary for your employees to ensure efficient customer care services. So, don’t forget to invest in employee training if you’re looking to provide a seamless user experience.
Find Fulfillment Services to Help You Manage Orders
When you’re just starting out, the last thing you want to do is spend all of your time packing boxes and shipping them off. Instead, find a 3PL fulfillment service that can store and manage your products while also giving customers an easy way to purchase from you.
For example, if your business sells clothing or accessories such as hats and t-shirts, it might make sense for you to partner with a fulfillment center that specializes in these types of products. The best fulfillment centers will offer the right level of service for both customers and sellers. They’ll have warehousing facilities that are secure enough so that customers can be confident their packages won’t get lost en route but still cost-effective enough, so they don’t break the bank running a startup eCommerce business.
Develop a Scalable and Flexible Business Model
While starting a business, you need to be flexible and ready to make changes. If the market changes, you need to be able to adapt quickly.
It can be tough for newcomers to know whether their business model is scalable and flexible. If it isn’t, they’ll have trouble staying afloat when things get rough. It’s not enough for your e-commerce platform to just be good. It also needs to attract customers who will keep coming back over time. At the same time, it needs to adapt and change if necessary.
For instance, when COVID first hit, e-commerce platforms were under tremendous pressure from all the orders they were receiving. So, many platforms had to reconfigure their servers to handle the extra load and hire new employees to handle customer support. You, too, need to prepare yourself to make these sudden changes.
Consider Every Customer Touchpoint
The beauty of e-commerce is that it can be done anywhere and at any time. That also means you need to consider every part of the customer experience. It includes customer service, product quality, pricing, and marketing.
For example, if a customer has a problem with their order or wants to return something for whatever reason, you’ll want to make sure your website makes it easy for them to do so. Ultimately, your final goal is to ensure their satisfaction.
If you want to succeed in e-commerce, you need to have a clear plan and a strong customer focus. Focus on the things that matter most, like product quality and availability. Keep the above-mentioned points in mind as well to ensure that you succeed no matter what.