We can see that the e-commerce sector achieved tremendous growth during the global pandemic. Many things which were unthinkable a year ago were actualized during this period. Younger and older shoppers alike started buying online and slowly forgot their conventional brick-and-mortar stores to get items.
Even as the lockdowns are getting over and in-person shopping is being brought back, it is said that the e-com growth will continue at the same pace in the future.
However, suppose you are own an e-store or associate with any of the leading e-com marketplaces to sell your products. In that case, it is important to know the growth strategies which can lead you to success in this highly competitive environment. Let us discuss.
Growth hacks for e-com success
1. Optimize the e-com site
In the post-covid year 2021, we have to start again from the basics to ensure that we are fit to move ahead. Everything else you do to promote your e-com store may go pointless if your primary website is not optimized for the e-business. It is great to have simple clicks to check out, but no one may stay there for long without an overall user-friendly site. So, you have to evaluate and ensure the same with this checklist.
– Design – You may get an expert professional consultation to check your design and ensure it is user-friendly and intuitive.
– Search engine optimization – if you are not showing up on Google search, it is less likely that anyone may find you. Here also you need to work with an expert for optimizing search engine visibility.
– Chatbot – Adding a chatbot to your site will facilitate more effective interaction with the customers and help generate more revenue through the channel.
– Appointment scheduling – If any customers want to explore your products or services, one should let them set a callback or personal appointment to know more.
2. Focus on content
E-com companies should keep a close eye on the quality of the content they share through all channels to stand out. The traditional way of posting a couple of 500-word blogs is long gone.
You have to maintain a more comprehensive content strategy to reach real customers.
It should consist of vlogs, videos, podcasts, and also paid advertising to ensure more interactions. In order to create engaging content, businesses need to identify their actual customer needs and make content to fit these needs.
If you do not know what types of content your customers are longing for, then you may use this strategic approach to narrow down your approaches.
– Conduct a customer survey – If you want to understand what the customers want, ask them at the first point.
– Check what the competitors do – It will not hurt you to track the competition and see what they are doing in order to inspire the followers.
– Brainstorm – No one else knows your products and services other than you and your team. Sit with the internal stakeholders and brainstorm the point which you think your customers may be interested in terms of content.
A strong database may act as the backbone of your marketing and content strategy, for which it is ideal to consider a remote DBMS provider like RemoteDBA.com.
3. Have a solid social media marketing strategy
E-commerce businesses use SMM to engage their potential customers through various social media channels and further drive them to the portal.
The newcomers into e-com must develop a strategy for social media like live streaming of their events, frequent posting on social media pages, social media chatbots, and stories to bring more customers to their store.
They also need to leverage the avenues of in-app purchases and paid advertisements to cover their followers into customers.
4. Update email marketing list
Mailing is one of the oldest forms of marketing, but it is still relevant when it comes to promotional campaigns. But, compared to the old modes of email, which are now considered more spam, e-com businesses must try out smarter methods for mail marketing.
They should keep on updating the marketing lists and make them more effective. In order to update emailing list, you may send a small questionnaire or a promotional offer to the mailing list.
You may also ask them about the products and feedback to see what relevant information and updates they may like to get in the future. This is a good approach to see which are the active addresses to refresh the mailing list.
5. Offer more products
The ways through which consumers buy products have largely changed now. There is indeed a boom in online shopping, and more customers are buying products that they have not purchased online ever before. So, it is great news that offering trendy unconventional items to your website for online buying can bring unprecedented results to your e-com business in the coming years. If you have a product that did not go well online a couple of years ago, it is a good time now to start thinking of including it in your online cart.
6. Virtual reality experience with augmented reality
When it comes to customer experience, things are going on a larger scale in the future. We can see augmented reality as the major trend in 2021 with augmented reality experience in shopping experiences. With this application, people can see your products as to how it is being used in their real-life scenario. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, 3D modelling, etc., are also becoming powerful tools for e-com experience enhancement.
7. mobile-friendly e-com stores
Along with web-based platforms, mobile e-commerce is gaining momentum, and in the future majority of the customers may be making their purchases too through smartphones. As the customers are more likely to view and experience the products through their mobile phones, it is important to have your e-com store more mobile-friendly. If you have an existing e-com portal or page, it is essential to check whether it is mobile-friendly. You can use the Mobile-Friendly Test by Google for understanding this. You can also think of building progressive web applications for the e-store. PWA will load much quicker than normal websites and will also allow offline browsing.
So, 2021 and beyond is expected to be so successful in e-commerce businesses, so you need to be prepared for the changing technologies and trends. Make sure that you optimize the website for easy browsing and instant checkout.
By implementing such growth strategies, you can effectively handle the influx of more customers and also help grow your business to the next level.
