8 Things to Know Before Starting an eCommerce Business
Are you planning to launch an e-commerce business?
Here are seven essential things you need to know before launching your first online store:
The Competition is Ferocious: Have you ever wondered how many e-commerce stores are currently online? According to recent estimates, the figure is somewhere around 20 million. This means that irrespective of your niche, your work will be cut out to gain an edge over your competitors.
You Need Something That Makes You Stand Out from the Crowd: Simply existing online as an e-commerce business is insufficient. You need to isolate some USP that positively differentiates you from your competitors. If your products and services are genuinely 100% unique, this is your USP. Otherwise, it needs to be some aspect of how you do what you do that is unique to your business. Your commitment to sustainability, charitable contributions, lowest-on-the-market prices—anything that makes your offer unique.
Marketing is Everything: You could create the most incredible online offer, only for nobody to ever hear it. Effective (and aggressive) marketing should be at the core of your e-commerce strategy from day one. Consider getting your primary marketing efforts underway before you officially launch your online store.
You Need to Know Your Audience: Your e-commerce strategy must be aligned with your target customer. In-depth audience research is essential to build a deeper understanding of what you are targeting and ensure sufficient demand exists for your products/services. Audience research should be approached as a continuous process – not a one-time task.
Content is King: Online stores that serve as glorified digital vending machines never succeed. Visit any successful e-commerce website to see vast arches of helpful information. FAQs, tutorials, instructional content, detailed product reviews, industry insights, blog posts, and user-generated content are all essential for building a viable e-commerce business. Consider what you can offer your target audience beyond the vital products and services you sell.
Your SEO Needs to Be On Par: If you like the specialist knowledge and skills needed to launch an effective SEO campaign, you may need help. Organic search marketing will determine where (and if) you appear in the search rankings. All aspects of your website need to be optimised for SEO to appeal to the major search engines and your customers. Basic SEO is no longer enough to make things happen in such a competitive e-commerce landscape.
Quality Customer Support is Mandatory: Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can automate your e-commerce store into a self-sustaining piggy bank. From day one, you can expect a constant influx of questions and queries from your customers. Some can be handled with FAQs and chatbots, but most shoppers expect to be able to converse with a real human being. The more products and services you intend to sell, the more time and effort you must dedicate to customer support.
Overnight Success Stories Are Rare: Last up, some e-commerce entrepreneurs earn their fortunes in no time. It is much more of a grind for the other 99.9% of operators. Success takes time, and you need to be ready to take the rough with the smooth. Combine patience and tenacity with a commitment to the continuous optimisation and improvement of your e-commerce website. Sooner or later, it will all pay off.