How can E-commerce benefit your company?

E-commerce is a simple concept: turn a profit online. Tragically, the difficult part of e-commerce is to turn a profit. For some businesses, e-commerce has remained foreign; for others, it is a sole source of revenue–or better yet, an additional revenue stream. Retailers that can take advantage of the online space in addition to a brick & mortar location will enjoy an additional revenue stream. This blog was not written to sell anyone on the idea on e-commerce; rather, to explain how to get started with e-commerce (we shared our pros and cons for e-commerce in this week’s #MarketingMonday segment).

General Tips to Get Started with an E-commerce Revenue Stream

Everyone enjoys tips, hints, and tricks. Here are the ones we find most useful to maintain a successful e-commerce store. Note: These tips are not for creating a business online. Those can be found on Forbes, Shopify, and Fit Small Business.

Baby Steps

• At any moment, e-commerce can present a lot of unexpected problems. The circumstances will only be worse if the process is rushed. Introduce a few of your products and be well aware of the logistics. After that, expand at an appropriate pace. 

Portal Over Product

• The shopping behaviors of people offline vs online are different. Convenience is key for online shoppers. Make the transaction as seamless, safe, and efficient as possible.

A/B Test Ads

• A/B testing generally refers to the method of testing two different ad types to determine which ad will perform better. You can also A/B test your e-commerce portal: Color changes, different product pictures, descriptions, and contact information can make all the difference in marketing your products. Make this into a habit, adjust e-commerce pages on a regular basis to continually refine the marketing.

Of Course, Social Media

• A business’ success online heavily coincides with the brand’s online presence. Online shoppers scurry around the internet for product reviews and alternatives. When shoppers leave Google, if they have a social media, they will generally do research on social media about a brand before they buy. In a Forbes article about the effect social media has on e-commerce, they cite a Deloitte Study “47% of millennials say their purchase decisions are influenced by social media.” While not all demographics are influenced by social media, most still look for a brand’s influence in other areas of the internet.

Be Mobile Friendly!

• With over 2 billion projected mobile purchases in 2017, and mobile commerce raked in over $100 Billion per year, we don’t need to stress the importance mobile phones play in the e-commerce world.

Third-party Platforms or White Label Software

There are two ways to go about selling products online: a website with e-commerce functionality or an online retailer.

E-commerce platforms provide the platform to sell products- think Amazon, Etsy, Ebay, ArtFire, and Newegg. These are extremely popular in the DIY industry due to its ease of use. Why stress over marketing, coding, shopping cart features, portals, and funnels when a third party can do it instead? As long as the monthly fee is paid, a description is made, and guidelines are upheld, Amazon will handle the rest.

On the flip side, e-commerce software demands a more personalized approach. White label software allows users to more freedom to customize their portal. Another difference between the two is the plethora of companies offering this types of software.

Recommended Software

We looked around and the best e-commerce software is Shopify (Shopify isn’t putting any money into our pockets so we aren’t blowing smoke). E-commerce Platforms praised Shopify’s “impressive set of e-commerce templates, simple page builder, large app store and the incredible support” More compliments were shared in an excerpt from Business News Daily “In addition to providing you with an online storefront and payment processing capabilities, the software includes a Web host, website builder, inventory management, back-end functionality, marketing tools, customer relationship management (CRM) and more. It’s also super easy to use and requires zero tech skills.”  lastly, PC Mag gave us their Bottom line on the debate “Shopify offers small businesses everything they need to get started selling right out of the box. This flexible, easy-to-use e-commerce platform lets you expand features as necessary with third-party apps and add-ons.”

Ready for the next step?

Working with an online marketing agency can be a highly rewarding experience for a small business owner who is ready for growth and wants to focus internal resources on other aspects of their business. Schedule a 15-minute consultation with us today to learn more about how we can help you with your online marketing.